Page 103 of Storm of Fury
Capturing her wrists, he flipped her onto her back and found himself in the chasm between her thighs. One of her hands slid up his spine and then she was undulating beneath him, rocking into his touch and moaning.
Gods. His mind went blank as her hand splayed across the back of his scalp. Solveig kissed as though she meant to stake her claim upon him, and thedrekiwithin him liked it. It wanted to claim her in return, to finish what they’d started all those years ago.
He caught a glint of gold out of the corner of his eye and saw the knife rising.
Instinct surged. Marduk captured her wrist and rolled them, slamming her fist to the floor. The knife rang against the stone, but she didn’t let go of it. A flick of her wrist and then the blade was at his throat, though he gripped her firmly.
And he saw now, what he hadn’t seen then.
Rage mixed with desire.
Fury undone by lust.
She had never capitulated. She wouldneversubmit.
But though she’d clearly plotted to drive the knife through his heart, she hadn’t entirely counted upon the effect his physical presence would have upon her.
Marduk bit her lower lip. “Trying to get rid of me so soon?”
“Did you honestly think I would ever trulydesireyou?”
He kissed his way along her jaw, his breath a whisper over her skin even as the knife pressed against his carotid. The scent of desire was in the air, and it wasn’t just coming from him.
“I think you’re lying to yourself,” he breathed, his teeth skating over her chin. “I think… maybe there’s another reason you were so disappointed I fled. Did you miss me, Solveig? Did you remember that one time we almost kissed? Did you dream of it every night for the past ten years, replaying it over and over in your mind? And did you let yourself touch your sweet wetness when you did think of it?”
She had the knife to his throat, and yet he saw her hesitate. He felt it in the core of his bones.
It went against every instinct to ignore the danger, but he kissed her again, hot and wet and openmouthed. She hadn’t feigned her earlier desire.
Solveig the Fierce, who had claimed to despise him from the start.
“I hate you,” she panted as he traced his lips down her throat, and slowly pushed the knife away.
“I think you’re lying—” He bit her earlobe as he whispered her darkest secret into her ear, “—because I don’t think you hate me at all.”
Their eyes met, and hers were full of dark flame.
“You wanted me, didn’t you?” He thrust against her, that delicious friction igniting the mating instinct deep within him. Marduk growled, turning her head to the side with his fist still clenched in her hair. He bit the soft muscle where her shoulder met her throat, and Solveig gasped, her spine arching to press her body closer to him.
Well, now.
From spitting hellcat to undulating kitten.
“I always wondered why you claimed to despise me from the moment we met….” Another kiss, this one gentle, as he worked his way down. His tongue lashed against the hollow indentation at the base of her throat, and he felt her still. “I came to this court with a gentle manner, but you were bared steel. And I tried to win your trust—for I’ve never met a challenge I couldn’t surmount—but every time I tried to make you smile, it felt like crossing swords. And we would always end in an argument. Always two storms colliding against each other. And it’s because of this, isn’t it?”
Sliding his hand down her shirt, he palmed her breast.
“You want me.” His whisper was one of dawning realization. “You’ve always wanted me.”
And she had hated him for it. Despised him for this little chink in her armor.
All these years, and it finally made sense.
Solveig nipped at his wrist. “You arrogant fool. You think your pretty face and charming words could ever—”
“Ever, what?” One button surrendered beneath his deft fingers. Two. “Ever make you submit?”
His lips chased his touch, finding the smooth curve of her breast. They were bound with a scrap of linen, but he tugged it lower and claimed the insistent thrust of her nipple with his mouth.
