Page 40 of The Prince and His Stolen Groom
A bead of sweat trickled down Brendon’s neck, over his chest, down and around the hills and valleys of his muscles. I couldn’t look away, my mouth as dry as the Desolated Lands would be if the spell really broke and evil mages rushed in. I shook my head, forcing myself back to the issue at hand. “Since that’s the case, you can—”
“We’ll put our heads together and figure it out for ourselves.”
If he put his head anywhere near me in this state, we weren’t going to be doing much talking.
“Let me take a shower first.”
My internal thoughts were screaming:No, no, bad idea, absolutely terrible idea.Somehow my mouth formed the words: “Sure, go right ahead.”
He never even looked at the open front door as he went into the bathroom. The shower turned on, and my head filled with images of the water cascading over him. His hands, lathering up soap, caressing his chest, then lower, tracing a long trail down …
I shifted in my seat uncomfortably and grabbed the nearest pillow, clutching it in my lap until my knuckles turned white.
His shower was thankfully quick and disappointingly short. Actually, he spent longer in there with the water off than with it on. It suddenly occurred to me that he might not have any fresh clothes to change into and he was probably unsure how to proceed without walking in front of me naked.
Jumping up, I ran upstairs to grab him another set of clothes. At the bedroom doorway I froze and stared at the scene in sheer horror. All of the contents of my special trunk—every goddamn piece—were spread out on the bed, like a display at a museum.
“You have quite the collection.”
I spun around with a shrill yelp. “Stop sneaking up on me!”
He gave me an innocent look. “But it’s so easy. You never bother to guard your back. Though maybe that’s not true, I did notice some things missing.” He approached the bed, and only then did I realize he was fully dressed. I totally wasn’t disappointed about that at all.
“What’s missing?” I asked as I scanned the bed again.
He idly picked up a red cat-o-nine tails, fiddling with the soft hearts on the end. “You’ve got whips, paddles, ropes, candles, even a collar. But no dildos?”
I blushed and muttered, “I’mnota bottom.”
“Really?” He arched a brow.
“Why is that so surprising?”
“You just always seem to enjoy it when I—”
“Stop, stop, please just stop talking.” If he continued, my face would grow so hot that I’d set the whole tower aflame. I sat on the bed, then realized one of the toys was poking me in the ass and shoved it away petulantly.
The bed shifted as Brendon sat down next to me, close enough that if I reached out, I could touch him, but far enough away that he wasn’t crowding me. “Have you tried it?”
“Have you?” I snapped back.
“Yeah, a few times.”
The admission surprised me, and I slowly raised my head to look at him. “And you … enjoyed it?”
His lips quirked in mild amusement. “She was a professional, so she certainly knew what she was doing.”
I pictured Brendon on his hands and knees, back arched, face flushed, and eyes closed in ecstasy. Or would he prefer to be on top? From what I’d seen so far, he seemed to like to be in control. I pictured him choosing his own pace and the depth of each thrust, equal parts triumphant and aroused.
It was exactly how I’d imagined myself for my first time, and nowhere near what had actually happened. Mouth dry, I whispered, “I tried once, with my first partner. He wanted to switch things up, but he was definitelynota professional. It hurt like hell, nothing about it felt good.” He’d left shortly after that, and while a lot of outside factors led to our breakup, I’d always kind of wondered if that incident had made his decision easier.
“Wasn’t the fun kind of pain, huh?” Brendon asked as he picked up a whip and twirled it over his fingers. “Is this magical too?”
“The bruises fade within an hour,” I explained, snatching it from his hand and tossing it into the trunk.
His brow furrowed slightly. “I thought half the point of a whip was to leave marks.”
“They can be a lot of fun during play, but have you ever tried to sit through a court session with a black-and-blue ass?”
