Page 62 of Tall, Royal and Grumpy

I smiled to myself. “I mean, considering you’re the one who’s making us both wait because you wanted to respect my feelings, I don’t think I could mistakenly think you were using me, Kai. Ever.”

He huffed an amused sound. “And you have made it your mission to drive me mad because of that decision since,” he growled lightly. “And it’s working, Babble. It’s fucking working, but…”

“But?”

“But I need you to understand you were right.” He drew back enough to look me right in the eyes. “I can be assertive. But I want to be—more so.” He visibly swallowed. “As much as I want to be gentle with you, I want…”

He squeezed me closer, but he didn’t say anything, seemingly struggling to admit what he wanted aloud. I could have filled in the gap for him, but I didn’t. It felt important to let him say it himself.

I brushed a reassuring thumb across his cheekbone as he opened his mouth again. “I want to be rough with you, Esmeralda. More than just rough.” He looked right into my eyes. “I want to be something like a…a dominant to you. But I know not everyone likes that, or they think it’s weird or wrong, and if you don’t want that, if you don’t want me to be, I won’t be.” He shook his head. “Ever. I would never do anything you didn’t like, Esmeralda. Nor would I ever hurt you.”

Maybe it was the way he said it—quick, worried, almost apologetic—but I had a feeling Meg was the one who had made him feel that way. That it was wrong or that he needed to be sorry for what he liked, which wasn’t true. And I hated that so much.

I captured his mouth in a kiss, heavy but quick. “I want you to dominate me, Kai,” I said against his lips. “And I know you would never hurt me, but you don’t have to worry about hurting me either. We can discuss our limits, and we can have a safe word too. Something obvious and easy to remember, and something we can both use too.”

“Monkey,” he muttered after a few moments, searching for agreement.

“Monkey,” I echoed, smiling widely. “I like that. Easy to remember and obvious.”

A comfortable silence fell between us. All soft smiles and softer stares. But softness wasn’t what I wanted from Kai anymore. Especially when I could still feel the bulge of his dick.

I cocked my chin playfully. “Aren’t you going to touch me now, Mr Perfect Prince?” I purred, squeezing his shoulders as I edged a little forward on his lap. “Or are you hesitating, because truthfully, you’re all talk and no walk. Only able to play half games with me.”

He narrowed his eyes, ominous heat flaring through them and spurring thrill through me. “You know.” I rolled my hips on a sigh; he was rubbing right against my clit through our clothing. “Kiss me but won’t fuck me. Chase me but won’t capture me.” His fingers dug deliciously hard into my waist.

“Call me a brat.” I smirked. “But don’t have the guts to tame me.”

His hand came out of nowhere. As vicious and fast as a snake as he clamped it around my throat and dragged me to him. I gasped in shock, a molten ache of wanton delight ripping through my core.

That was all it took. One. Fucking. Touch. And there was a puddle in my sheer thong.

“Just because I haven’t,” he whispered so deceptively unassuming that the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, “doesn’t mean I can’t, Babble. So, watch what you say.”

With a hard thudding in my chest, I quirked my brows. “Then prove it. Because I don’t believe—”

Kai mashed his mouth over mine, squeezing on my throat lightly as he took full advantage of my surprise. He thrust his tongue right into my mouth, his lashings bordering on base and bruising—the complete opposite to how a prince was meant to kiss by the standard of society and fairy tales. But I took it with a moan of gratitude, wrapping myself around him as if he was my source of life.

He mapped my bare thigh with a pawing hand and slipped under my shorts. His callused palm rubbed my skin to gooseflesh before he squeezed my arse cheek. Hard. Needy moans lifted from our throats, and I drank his as eagerly as he drank mine. But then he stole his mouth away from me.

“Tonight will only be about you,” he panted, straightening his glasses. “Is that clear?”

Hopelessly wet and voracious, I nodded. At that point, I would’ve agreed to damn well anything he had said.

“Turn around and put your back to my chest.”

I might have been a brat, but I was also eager to please, hungry for praise and affection. So, the moment he let go of my throat, I was scrambling off his lap to do as I’d been told. The TV screen went black just as I slumped back against the secure warmth of his chest.

Within seconds, he lifted his knees and spread his legs. He swiftly hooked my bare thighs over each of his thighs, the soft cotton of his pyjama bottoms rubbing against my hot skin. My feet didn’t quite touch the makeshift mattress under us, leaving me suspended, but the helpless feeling of being completely at his mercy only turned me on all the more.

He cupped my chin in his palm, gently tilting my face up to him. “Are you okay?”

I nodded. “Yes. Are you?”

“I am.” He stroked my jaw. “Promise me you’ll use ‘monkey’ if at any point you want me to stop.”

“I promise. But promise me you will use it too, Kai. And if I ask for something you don’t want to do, then you will tell me.”

“I promise.” He touched his lips to mine so softly it was more of a caress than an actual kiss.

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