Page 32 of The Sunbound Princess
The ache between my thighs twisted into pain. I sucked in a breath, my vision darkening. “I can’t see,” I gasped, blinking rapidly. I needed the light. I’d never been without it.
“I’ve got you,” Nikolas said, his hands warm on my shoulders. “Focus on my voice.”
A tremor swept me, making my teeth chatter. I clung to him as the darkness receded. The scent of pine and leather wrapped around me.
Him.He smelled of the forest—of sunlight and leaves and smoke from the fire he’d tended with his long, skilled fingers.
Fingers he’d used to hunt our dinner. To find gold when we were starving. To stroke Dain’s cock, moonlight spilling over their slick bodies as they came together.
“It’s not all right,” I croaked. The darkness fled, and Nikolas was real and solid in front of me. He held my gaze, his pupils huge black dots surrounded by brown. They should have been ordinary eyes. Boring, even. But they weren’t. They were soft and rich, the color like melted chocolate.
“It will be,” he said, but his voice was rougher. He shuddered, his fingers tightening on my arms. The stubble on his jaw had grown thicker, giving him an even more roguish look than before. A lock of chocolate-brown hair spilled over his forehead.
Only half-aware what I was doing, I slid my hands up his chest. His pecs bunched, muscle shifting under my palms. His face was so close to mine, his eyes burning with hunger as fierce as my own.
But that couldn’t be right. He desired Dain. And yet, he looked at me like he was barely holding himself back from…something.
“What?” I breathed, the flames crackling around me.
A low growl rumbled from across the room. “Nikolas,” Dain said, a warning in his tone. “We can’t.”
“We can’t what?” I asked, need clawing at me as I looked at Dain—and swiftly caught my breath.
He’d straightened from the chair, his bulk appearing even larger against the backdrop of the elegant bedchamber. Moonlight highlighted his square jaw and the proud angles of his face. But it was his eyes that made my heart race faster.
Because Dain wasn’t looking at Nikolas. No, his gaze was fixed on me, his blue eyes glittering with undisguised hunger.
Confusion joined the lust pumping through me. “I don’t…” I began, only to clamp my lips together. He couldn’twantme, could he?
The heat in his gaze said otherwise. Dazed and aching, I turned back to Nikolas, who watched me with the same expression. And he held me, clutching my shoulders like a drowning man clinging desperately to something solid.
He held onto me like he couldn’t bear to release me.
It was the love potion. It had to be. He and Dain only wanted each other.
More heat blasted me. I doubled over, breaking Nikolas’s grip as a cry ripped from my throat. The fire inside me burned hotter. My clothes were sandpaper against my skin, every brush of cloth setting new bonfires in my bones.
“It’s too much!” I cried, tears clogging my throat. I stumbled back, clawing at my high neckline as I put distance between me and Nikolas. “I can’t stand this!”
He lifted his palms in a soothing gesture. “Bel, it’s going to be all right. Just?—”
“No,” I gasped, tugging at my collar. Gods, it was strangling me. My gown was too tight. I couldn’t breathe. Gasping, I pawed at my clothes. Fabric ripped. My fingers found a tear in my bodice, and I grasped it and kept on ripping. Buttons scattered across the floor. No matter. If I didn’t get my clothes off, I’d burn alive in them.
“Bel…” Nikolas rasped, his voice like gravel. “What are you doing?”
I ignored him, tearing at my skirts, my chemise, anything that touched my fevered skin. Piece by piece, I flung my clothes away until I stood nude in the center of the room. My breasts heaved, my nipples tight and dark pink with arousal.
The copper tub beckoned, promising relief from the inferno. I staggered toward it, barely registering the men’s swift intakes of breath. Water sloshed over the sides as I plunged in and sat.
For a moment, the fire subsided. I gripped the sides of the tub, lukewarm water lapping at my waist.
The reprieve didn’t last long. Just as I let my shoulders relax, the heat rose again. The burn streaked to my center, the ache in my sex unbearable.
With another broken sob, I plunged my hand under the water and found my clit. I gasped at the first stroke, my hips bucking involuntarily. Desperation gnawed at me as I spread my legs and worked the tight point of my desire. Tipping my head back, I panted toward the chamber’s beamed ceiling. Water tugged at the ends of my hair as I surrendered to lust.
Release struck all at once, bowing my spine and putting a scream in my throat. White covered my vision. My scream shook loose as I rode the waves of pleasure, each one sweeter than the last. I spiraled toward the ceiling and then flew apart, not caring if I ever came down.
But I did, awareness returning as I floated back to myself. Eyes closed, I sagged against the side of the tub, my clit still throbbing and my breath coming in ragged gasps.
