He raised his head and slowly lowered his lids to half mast, his bluish-silver eyes focusing on her like a wolf with a trapped doe. “I don’t believe the Queen of the Realm should use such base language.”
The low rumble of his voice, the inherent danger threading through each word, nearly distracted her from the fact they were talking about him. “I don’t give a shit.”
Every tiny movement, every royal thought focused with incredible precision in those metallic eyes as they focused on her. Completely and absolutely. He didn’t move. He appeared to barely breathe. Yet the strength of that focus kept her rooted firmly in place. How could so much power come from one gaze?
She lifted her chin—the potent energy swirling around the room belonged to both of them.
Then he grinned, and she lost her breath for a moment. Okay, maybe more of the power was his. For now.
At the realization, her temper spiked. “Do you really think I failed to see you coming?”
He cocked his head to the side, a glimmer of challenge sparking his eyes to flint. “Do tell.”
The pure arrogance of his stance, the full cockiness of his words forced a rushing sound to fill her ears. “I saw you. In visions.” She slapped her hands down on her hips. “I’m ready, Dage. I know what you can do”—she showed her teeth, lowering her voice—“and I prepared for it.”
He pushed away from the desk, standing to his full height. She locked her knees to keep from stepping back; even so, her legs trembled with the need to retreat.
His eyebrow lifted and his lips tipped in the slightest amusement as if he enjoyed her struggle. “You have no idea what I can do.” Silky and dark, his voice slid over her skin, raising goose bumps and need.
Damn him. She hadn’t backed down from a challenge her entire life. “Try me.”
Surprise flashed across his hard face before blue completely banished the silver of his eyes. “As you wish.” He flicked a glance at the top button of her sweater, and it flew through the room to ping against a Russell painting. The second hit the doorknob and the third a window. A dark flush played over his high cheekbones. “Shall I continue?”
She kept her hands on her hips, refusing to make the obvious move and clasp her sweater together. It lay open to just below her bra, and a small part of her enjoyed the heat filling his eyes when the cool air brushed across her breasts, pebbling her nipples through the sheer satin.
He’d moved quicker than she’d expected, but now she was ready. “Kiss my ass.”
His head jerked up and he took a step toward her. The air changed, heated, stilled. He dropped his gaze to the next button, and she threw up a shield. Imagining shards of ice between her sweater and his eyes, she pushed.
The button remained closed, and Dage lifted his chin, then tilted his head to the side. “Indeed.” Wonder filled his eyes, even as a muscle began to tick in his jaw. “I very much would like to avoid breaking you, mate.”
His words sent a chill down her spine, rivaling the imaginary ice protecting her clothing. “I don’t believe you could.” The words came unbidden. She knew better than to challenge him, yet some things couldn’t be helped.
He inhaled deeply as if stealing control from the oxygen around them. “You forget, Emma. Your new trick is here because we’ve begun the mating process. Your power comes from me.” He gave a slight mental push against her shield, as though testing her strength.
She pressed back, relieved when her block held firm. “Maybe.” Of course this power came from him—it certainly wasn’t human. “But it’s mine now.” And it was—sheer intelligence had prepared her to take, adapt, and learn. The king fooled himself if he thought her anything but a worthy adversary.
“Is that what you are?” he asked, his gaze traveling up the cashmere to her eyes. “Are you sure that’s what you want to be?”
She faltered and he snatched the fourth button out of the air as it zinged by his ear.
“Stay out of my head, Dage.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I believe all bets are off, sweetheart.” Flipping the button through the air, he caught it in his other hand. “Two buttons left, then the clasp of your bra.” He slid the tiny disc into his pocket. “Then your skirt.” His hands went to the buttons of his silk shirt, slowly undoing each one until the material hung open to reveal a broad chest. “Then those satin panties that match your pretty bra.”
Then what? She gulped in an uneasy breath and eyed the door.
A sharp click of the lock snapping into place provided her first clue. She focused back on Dage.
He smiled slow and dangerous. “Then what? Well ... then I’m going to bend you over this desk and fuck you until you scream my name.” With a shrug of his strong shoulders, the silk shirt dropped to the floor, revealing tanned, hard muscle. “I guess you were right. The smoothness is bullshit.”
Chapter 6
Emma’s knees trembled in earnest. But it wasn’t with fear—not even close. Want and need slammed so hard through her she wondered how she didn’t combust right then and there in the well-appointed gathering room. She cut her eyes to the desk, then back to the King of the Realm.
His hands went to his belt, drawing out the motion of releasing the buckle and pulling the leather through the loops. She waited for him to drop it to the floor with his shirt and lost her breath as he tightened his grip on the belt instead.
He raised an eyebrow. “I’m going to give you one chance here, Emma.”
The woman in her wanted to either kick him in the balls or rip his pants off and take him hard and fast. “What would that be, Dage?” Pride filled her at the steadiness of her voice.
“Drop the shield, remove the rest of your clothing, and ... come here.” His voice rumbled down to smooth silk at the end.
Her rational side warred with her emotional side as the air beat around them with a tension of its own. Desire, raw and pure, fought with the pride she’d held on to her entire life. “Bite me.” Apparently pride won out.
Dage placed the belt next to him on the desk without breaking eye contact. “I plan to, mate. Never fear. Probably right after I mark you as I should’ve done last night.”
She took a step back. “But you promised.”
“I promised I wouldn’t mark you last night, love. And I didn’t.” His gaze traveled down her form and up again, leaving a tingle of awareness along every nerve ending. “You’ve lost the right to bargain with me now.”
Bargain? Bargain? The man wanted to brand her and he thought this a negotiation? The flush burning her face actually hurt.
And then ... he waited. A powerful being, one who could’ve struck fast and hard, he waited. Eyes dark, muscles tense, hands at his sides. For the love of God, why didn’t he just toss her over the desk?
The uncertainty, plus the unfairness of the fact that he had three hundred years as well as advanced biology on her, spiked a fury through her that filled her bones. Or maybe the basic need clawing beneath her skin did that. Either way, she channeled every bit of that energy into fortifying her shields. To keeping him out.
“You’ll never keep me out, Highness,” he said, soft and slow.
“You want to bet?” she snapped out, readying her stance. She’d learn to block her thoughts.
The smile sliding across his face could never be considered kind. “Bet? You already threw down the gauntlet, Emma. The battle has continued this length of time only because I’ve allowed it—to grant you a chance to retreat, as you know you should.”
Retreat? Not a fucking chance in hell. Pure strength of will had her slamming imaginary mental shields around her brain. She nearly jumped at the sound of them clicking into place.