Page 142 of The Spider Queen
Part II
Prologue
He sinks into me. I’m hot, full, desperate, aching. My back scrapes across the stone altar, but I don’t care about the pain. Thane is inside me, clawing to get to the heart of my desire. It’s a punishment, what he’s doing. Making me feel exquisite pleasure without letting me go over the cliff. He takes out his anger on my body, denying me release. He is ruthless in his thrusting, and because he’s an ancient immortal, he will never tire.
“You fell in love with him,” he growls.
My body bows, and my eyes slam shut. There’s a noise—feral, basic, animal. It comes from me, I realize.
“Poppy,” he demands. “Open your eyes and look at me.”
When I refuse, he stops moving and grips the sides of my head.
My eyes flip open. His gaze is dark, swirling with emotion and maybe madness. Thane has been imprisoned for hundreds of years. An ancient immortal that knows no bounds, no limitations, caged within four stone walls for dozens of human lifetimes.
“You are mine. Do you understand?”
“I don’t love you,” I whisper.
He smiles. It’s not a thing of beauty but of terror. He continues to smile as he thrusts hard.
I cry out because I can’t help it.
I cling to him because I want him.
And finally—finally—he lets me come.
Chapter 1
My body was awash with lust.
Insatiable.
I wanted Thane. I didn’t care that he wasn’t the man I loved.
Over me, inside me. Our bodies slick with sweat…
A hand trailed down my back, and I arched in pleasure. I leaned into it, wanting more. I cracked my eyelids open, expecting to see Thane.
But I was alone.
The lights flared to life. No. Not lights but torches, which illuminated the ebony stone floor and walls that were etched with ornamental scrolls.
Any hope that I was still in my Charleston apartment quickly disappeared. This wasn’t a nightmare. This was my new reality.
The last moment I could remember, I’d been a spider, staring into Thane’s dark eyes. Now I was human again.
How had that happened? How did I get here?
I struggled to take a deep breath, trying to infuse rational thought into my bleeding emotions. Emotion was messy. Reason would get me through this.
Yet my mind couldn’t come up with any logical explanation. I needed someone to fill in the gaps. But there was no one here.
My hands stroked the black sheets—silk, with a hazy sheen. I gripped them and brought them to my chest as I slowly looked around.
Two burning silver torches took up the entire wall but didn’t give off any smoke. Frowning, I scrambled from the gargantuan bed to step closer to them. I was too short to see what caused them to burn and I didn’t smell any oil.
Magic.
