Читать книгу His Virgin Princess - Grace Goodwin - Страница 9

Dani, Bryn’s home, Feris 5

I was in the biggest bath tub I’d ever seen. It could be classified as a hot tub on Earth, but it wasn’t quite as scalding. And this one was in the bathroom, not outside. It was actually in the floor. The water was warm, had some kind of scented oils that smelled like the outdoors and I had the best view.

Gage was in the shower, the thing they called the bathing tube on Everis, and soaping up his torso. He had zero inhibitions, not one ounce of modesty, for he knew I was watching him.

Von and Bryn had responded to our comms immediately. After Gage explained what had happened, they’d readily agreed he needed to remain in hiding. Whoever wanted him dead had to think they’d succeeded, at least for now. Until there was time to unravel who was involved.

Bryn offered his home as a place for us to recover and hide. Since he and Gage had never met, had zero connections other than having mates from Earth, Gage felt comfortable enough with the option. There weren’t many available. As a leader of the Seven, Gage had a very public life. I imagined him to be like a famous person on Earth, where everyone knew the moment he sneezed.

That was why we gave Bryn our coordinates and he showed up, Von, Lexi and Katie in tow, in a shuttle. That was the term he called it. Me? It was like a tiny space ship out of a Star Trek movie. Transporting across the galaxy from Earth was one thing; I hadn’t been conscious. This? I’d been awake and in awe. Sure, I’d just found my Marked Mate, saved him from a certain death, but I was in a space ship. Flying over Everis. It made me realize we definitely weren’t in Kansas anymore.

And when Bryn handed Gage a handheld metal rod that glowed blue and apparently healed injuries when waved back and forth over them, I was in technology overload. But when Gage crouched before me and waved the wand over my ankle and the pain lessened, then eased entirely, I was amazed. And annoyed. He’d been tortured and left for dead and he wanted to heal my ankle? The idiot! I’d convinced him I was fine—it would always swell and ache even after a space wand was waved over it—did he use it on himself. It was hard to tell his cuts and bruises were healed based on the blood and dirt covering him, but he perked up, the tense lines of his body and around his mouth eased.

And now that we were settled into Bryn’s house—his big, huge, amazingly large house—we were alone. Bryn had pointed to where Von and Lexi would stay and Von hoisted his mate over his shoulder and carried her off. I doubted I’d hear from them again, unless it was sounds of them fucking carrying down the long hallways.

Once we were alone in our suite of rooms—it wasn’t just one darn room, but three along with the bathroom with the huge bathtub—I became modest. We weren’t dream sharing. Gage wasn’t in danger. He was healed and whole and right in front of me.

By the look in his eyes, he’d wanted to touch me, kiss me, and a whole lot more. To pick up where we left off in the dream before my stupid ankle had woken me up. But there was no way I was letting him get near me until I showered. I was all for spontaneous, wild monkey sex, but I didn’t want to smell like a monkey when we finally got naked in real life. I didn’t want him to see me with greasy hair and stinky armpits for our first real kiss.

He’d turned on the water for the tub to let it fill while I cleaned myself in the shower first. Then I could relax in the deep water. I wasn’t going to argue with that, and so I’d nodded. He’d walked out and left me alone…until a minute after the shower shut off. Then, he’d knocked and entered. My body was shielded because of the deepness of the tub and when he’d looked at me, standing so darn tall and dark and handsome, my insides did melt a little. And other places, too.

I’d thought he’d want me to turn around, but no. A slow smile spread across his face as he’d shucked off his filthy clothes, exposing inch by glorious inch of his hard body. Perhaps he was a touch leaner than usual since being left for dead, but he still looked incredible. Broad shoulders, tons of olive-colored, toned skin. He had black hair on his chest, a smattering of it that tapered down to his navel—an innie—and then to a thin line that went beneath his pants. And when he’d pushed off those pants, I’d discovered he didn’t wear underwear. He was also very erect and when he saw me ogling, he grew harder. Longer, the bulbous head curved up toward his belly and…whoa, that was going to fit in me? Everywhere? Just because I gave him a BJ in a dream didn’t mean it was going to fit down my throat. Or in my bottom.

My nipples hardened and my inner walls clenched at the thought.

Only when I realized I was staring, wide eyed, mouth open, had I looked away. My cheeks flushed as hot as the water in the tub. He’d turned, went into the bathing tube and started scrubbing. And the view from behind wasn’t half bad either.

Now, watching him lather up those muscular pecs and dense thighs had my ovaries jumping for joy.

“Do you have family worried about you?” I asked.

His hands stilled on his belly and I wished I could climb in and wash him myself, run my palms over every inch of him. I was sure he wouldn’t mind, but I wasn’t quite there yet. I had no clue what I was doing, and I didn’t want to make a fool of myself. At least not until after our first kiss.

“My mother died when I was two. I don’t remember her at all.”

“And your father?”

“He has been gone for nearly a year. The ascension ceremony is scheduled to take place on the anniversary of his death.”

“I’m sorry.” I was. I could practically feel his pain radiating from him. Such a strong body. Strong, warrior spirit. Seeing him hurting was worse than feeling the pain myself. “What was he like?”

“He was strong. Honorable. A member of the Seven. A true prince. I can only hope to live up to his legacy.”

“As a prince?” Did he mean that in the I’m from a royal family way, or was that just a title they gave high level politicians on Everis? I had no idea. But I was no princess. I felt more comfortable in hiking boots than a tiara.

“As a man.” He stood proudly, staring at me, the hunger in his eyes so intense I would swear I could feel his touch from across the room. The water ran over his healed body, dripping and following every curve. Every shadow. Lower. God, he was magnificent. Huge. Everywhere. I glanced up to see he enjoyed my inspection. Without doubt, I didn’t have the acting ability to hide my lust for his perfect body.

“What about other family?”

“My parents weren’t Marked Mates so my father mated a second time. Again, not a Marked Mate.”

“I heard finding your Marked Mate is rare.” I moved my hand across the surface of the water, playing with the few bubbles, trying like hell to ignore the heat coming off my mate, and not the physical kind. I’d never wanted a man like I wanted him, and the wait was making me edgy, hyper-aware of everything. The coolness of the air on my shoulders, the heat of the water, the popping of bubbles on my sensitive nipples.

“It is. Very rare. My father died almost a year ago. What is a mate of your parent called on Earth?”

“Stepmother or stepfather.”

“Then I have a stepmother, Mauve, and a stepsister, Rayla, who is three years younger than I. Rayla was from Mauve’s first mate, who was killed hunting a bounty on a Prillon criminal.”

“No other brothers and sisters? Uncles? Cousins?”

He shook his head, turned and tilted his head back to wash his hair. It was shaggy, a slight shadow of beard on his face making him look dark and dangerous and sexy. So sexy. I devoured him with my eyes.

“No. None. I am the heir to my father’s seat on the Seven. My family descends from the original ruling families. I am a prince to my people, and you, Danielle, will be their princess.”

Princess? Me? Dani from Florida. A princess? Insane.

I had to look away to form a coherent thought about something besides being the central character of a Disney movie. I couldn’t even sing. I was too skinny. Too small. I didn’t have the curves to fill out that kind of dress. I didn’t talk to mice, or birds, or any other kind of creature. I hunted deer and ate them for dinner. I didn’t talk to them or dance in the woods singing songs to squirrels. I wasn’t regal or refined, and the ridiculous wave I saw the royals do on television back on Earth would give me carpal tunnel. Seriously? What were we talking about? Me? Royalty?

No.

Family. Right. I cleared my throat and pushed all princess thoughts aside. “I don’t have any family either. I don’t remember my mother. She didn’t die, she just decided she needed to go back to the city. She left when I was four, to go off with the yoga instructor from the recreation center in town. I heard they got married and moved to California.”

Gage was lathering his hair now and I ended my words. Watching him was more interesting than my worthless mother. And it wasn’t just his gorgeous face I was ogling. With his arms up, his back arched and in profile, his cock thrust out and up from his body. I couldn’t miss it. I licked my lips, remembering the soft feel of the skin, the taste of the bead of fluid that came from the tip in my dreams. How hard it was. Hot. How it pulsed against my tongue.

“And your father?” he asked.

I felt the familiar pang of sadness when I thought of my dad, but I no longer felt lonely. My heart was slowly being filled by Gage.

“My father died last year. He taught me everything I know about surviving in the wilderness. He was a hunting and fishing guide. Took people into the wetlands to hunt, to the rivers to fish. We spent at least two months in the mountains up north in Montana every summer. He was a good man. A great father.”

The shower shut off and he opened the tube door. Came out. I stared as he walked to the tub, his body dripping with water, his muscles flexing and bunching as he moved with confidence. Ease. Even with a big club between his thighs.

“I am sorry that he has passed on to be with the Gods.”

I blinked furiously. I would not cry now. So, I nodded.

“Before my mark flared to life, I was expected to marry Rayla,” he said, and I was thankful he moved back to his soap opera life. “The royal engagement has already been announced.”

My mouth fell open. Definitely soap opera. “You’re engaged to your sister?”

He grinned as he slid into the tub, sank down until his shoulders sank beneath the water and moved right in front of me. Placing his hands on the edge of the tub on either side of my head, I was pinned in place. “Not by blood. She is well-loved by the people, a commoner who would become a princess. She is kind and selfless, involved in many organizations that help the common people.”

Holy shit. He did not just use the word common in relation to his sister. Stepsister. Whatever.

“Is she beautiful?” I wanted to smack myself for asking that, but the damn words popped out before I could rein in the little green monster roaring to life inside me. Jealousy was a bitch, and I really didn’t want to hate my future sister-in-law.

“Yes. She is.” He lifted his hand to my hair, held a strand in his fingers as his gaze dropped to my lips. “But not as beautiful as you are.”

I blushed; I couldn’t help it, not with him looking at me like he was ready to pounce. I wanted to yell at him to hurry up, but I was trapped like a deer in the headlights, frozen. Waiting for him to touch me. Worried he still wanted someone else. “Does she know? About me?”

His gaze softened, drifting to my lips. I struggled to breathe. “Yes. She was thrilled.”

I frowned. “She was happy to not become a princess?” That did not compute. No one could be happy giving up this gorgeous hunk of man.

“Yes. We were both trapped by duty. Now she is free to marry for love, not obligation. I love her, Danielle, she is my family, mine to protect.”

“You love her?” Gah! Could I sound more like a babbling idiot? But it was completely his fault. I couldn’t think. Not with the heat of his body rolling over me like a drug. And his lips. I was staring. Starving. I’d dreamed of him night after night, lost him, found him, but he’d never been mine. Real. Not like this. And the hunger roaring to life inside me wasn’t normal. It was terrifying. Too much. Too strong. I was spinning out of control, my body not my own, but his. Aware of his heartbeat, the pulse at the base of his neck. God, his scent was like a drug, filling my entire body with heat.

And the thought of him with another woman? The part of me screaming about that was wild and raw, edgy and feral. I’d never felt like this before. I was afraid to move, afraid if I moved one muscle, I’d lose control and pounce. Mark him. I wanted to rub my body all over him, like a fucking cat claiming territory, marking him with my scent—because I knew the others would smell my skin on his, know that he was mine. It was wrong. Strange.

I couldn’t stop wanting to do it anyway.

God, maybe I was an alien, because this was innate. Instinct. I felt like the Hunter now.

We were no longer dirty. No longer hurt.

“I love her as a sister and nothing else. But it is nothing compared to how I feel about you. I am your family now, Danielle, and you are mine.”

Shaking. Can’t breathe. Can’t breathe. I needed him to touch me. Needed it more than I needed oxygen. I licked my lips, pleased when his gaze followed the gesture and his eyes grew dark with heat.

“Prove it.” I glided through the water and pressed my body to his, chest to chest, lifting my fingers to run through his hair as I’d been longing to do.

The first contact was like a jolt of electricity, my body crackling with heat and lust and want. It was his turn to freeze, to fight for control. Closing my eyes, eager for a taste of him, I pressed my lips to his, claimed his mouth in a kiss.

I was gentle. Soft. My lips lingered. Pulled back. It was an invitation that I knew he wouldn’t even try to resist. I wanted him. Needed him to touch me, to make me feel like I truly belonged to him after fighting so hard to be with him. But I wasn’t experienced. I didn’t really know what else to do except give him permission to do anything he wanted.

No. Everything, he wanted. Everything we both needed.

I broke the kiss and wrapped my arms around him, holding him tight. Close. As close as I could get. Fighting back a tidal wave of emotion, of love and longing and lust and a million other things I couldn’t process, let alone name. I fought back the tears building like walls of fire behind my eyes and pressed my lips to his ear. “I need you, Gage. Please. I need to be yours.”

“You are mine.” His arms came around me and he held me there for long minutes, both of us fighting for control, both of us trembling, our breaths ragged. His arms were like bands of steel around me, and I’d never felt safer or more connected to another being. Was this love? I didn’t know. Love felt like such a tame word for what I was feeling. This was obsession. Devotion. Need clawing its way through my body like a wild animal, threatening to tear me open from the inside.

He held me until my trembling passed, until I relaxed in his arms, content to let him hold me, his hands roaming my back, tracing my curves, learning my body as I surrendered to his touch.

“Have you ever been with a man, Dani?”

“No. Not in the way you mean.” I was grateful that my cheek rested on his shoulder, that he couldn’t see the dark crimson heat I knew stained my cheeks. “I kissed a few boys in high school, but never…you know.”

“Then my first objective will be to wipe the taste of all other men from your lips.”

Whoa. But that wouldn’t be a big deal. It wasn’t like any of those fumbling…

I didn’t finish the thought as Gage’s hands lifted to cup the back of my head and he gently lifted my face to his once again. His touch was gentle, but the kiss was not. His lips claimed ownership, his tongue diving deep to taste me, conquer me. Make me forget who came before.

Melting. That was the only way I could describe what happened to my body. I kissed him back, the deep moan that came from the back of my throat a sound I didn’t recognize. But he did, his mouth became more aggressive, more demanding, and I gave him everything, eager to taste and be tasted.

He tore his lips from mine and lifted me to the edge of the tub so I sat facing him. Panting. Ready for more.

His hot hands lifted to my knees, slowly pushed them apart. “Spread your legs, Dani. I want to claim what’s mine.”

My knees were wide before my brain could scream a protest. I wasn’t like this. I was not this wild, uninhibited lover.

But I was.

With a grin that made my nipples pebble and my pussy throb, he placed a hand between my breasts and slowly pressed me back until my back was on the smooth tiles that lined the tub area. I expected to feel cold, but there were towels laid out, thick and soft, and I realized he’d been planning this moment from the beginning. Had thought of my comfort, even as he…

“Oh, god.” The words burst from my lips as his mouth clamped down on my clit. No sweet seduction, no slow build or teasing. He sucked me into his mouth like I was candy, then fucked me with his tongue, his groan, the trembling in his hands all the proof I needed that he wanted this. Wanted me.

Mouth on my clit, tongue flicking over the sensitive nub, he slid one finger deep into my pussy, filling me, and I gave up trying to watch him. My head fell back on the towels and I arched my back, lifting my hips, buried my fingers in his hair, silently begging for more.

He worked my body like a master, and I held nothing back as the world exploded again and again, my pussy clamping down on his finger like a fist, the muscle spasms making me sob, then beg, then scream. It was too much. Too intense, the feelings that coursed through my body overwhelming. My ears tingled, colors danced behind my closed eyelids.

When I had nothing left, when I was shaking and spent, my voice raw from screaming, he slid his finger from me, kissed my clit and pussy gently one last time and pulled my sated body from the edge back into the water and into his arms. Held me to him, arms wrapped about me, as if he was what kept me from floating away. His smile was filled with pure male satisfaction, but his eyes held something more. Something tender and real I’d never seen before. I couldn’t look away. “Gage,” I whispered.

With a soft order for me to hush, he lowered his lips to mine, the spicy taste of my arousal on his tongue making me wild once more. The dazed, sated feeling faded and I hungered. I had no idea if this was the Everian in me coming to life, the Huntress needing her mate, but I needed to know his true taste. I needed to conquer him as he’d conquered me.

I spun us in the tub and he let me have my way as I kissed him. Devoured him, pressing him back until he was where I had been moments ago, his back to the edge. “Out, Gage. It’s my turn.”

He said nothing, but the lust in his eyes was pure, aroused male as he lifted his body and sat on the edge of the huge bathtub. He didn’t lie back, and I was grateful. The water running over his rock-hard chest and defined abs made me want to follow the trail with my tongue. So I moved close and did just that.

Rising up onto my knees, I reached for him, kissing him one more time before tracing a drop of water from his neck, down, over his collarbone. His chest. I lingered, tasted his hard nipple. The musky scent of man, my man, filled my head, making me dizzy. These huntress senses were overwhelming. Powerful.

Heaven.

My entire being filled with his essence. I drew him into my lungs. My gaze lingered over every inch, making sure the ReGen wand hadn’t missed any bruises or cuts. I recalled a particularly bad burn and some black bruising I’d seen over his right ribs. My hand traced the lines of his body, inspecting him as my gaze followed suit.

“I am healed, mate.”

“Hush.” It was my turn to fuss. To worry. To reassure myself that my mate was alive and well. Whole. Mine. I kissed the area where I knew the wound had been, over and over, telling him without words how important he was to me. He groaned, his hands coming to bury themselves in my wet hair, not to hurry me, but to connect us, to acknowledge my gift.

When I was ready, I worked my way down over his stomach, admiring every inch of this Elite Hunter and his hard body. He was too beautiful to be real. Definitely too beautiful to be mine. But I wasn’t going to argue with fate, or Warden Egara’s matching protocols, not now. Not when the hard tip of his cock was inches away from my lips.

I licked the tip, the drop of pre-cum glistening there. That was mine, too. He was mine. All of him.

“Dani.” My name was a plea and I was only too eager to give my mate what he needed.

As he had done, I was not gentle. I swallowed him down, took him into my mouth with an aggression that shocked me. But his growl, the shift of his hips, the tightening of his fingers into fists in my hair let me know he was under my control now. Mine, just like in the last dream we’d shared.

Wrapping my hand around the base of his shaft, I worked him with my mouth. My lips. Sucking. Licking. Tasting him. He was silk over steel. Big. Hard. I gave a moment’s thought to how this huge cock would feel in my ass. Stretching my pussy. The very idea made my pussy ache, my breasts feel heavy and full, my breathing quicken. I’d just come, yet I wanted it again. I needed more.

God, he tasted perfect. Wild and musky and all man.

I took him deep and lifted my free hand from his thigh to his balls, rubbing and playing with them. Claiming them as well. They were mine. His seed was mine. I would carry his child. I would be his everything.

My name burst from his lips, his hands buried in my hair held me to him as he came, his seed spicy, different. Mine. I swallowed it down, every single drop.

Spent, he slipped back into the water and pulled me into his arms. He held me like that for a long time, neither one of us speaking as his breathing slowed, his heartbeat calmed. We didn’t need to talk.

When I was a wrinkled, pruned thing, he lifted me from the tub and dried me off first before tending to himself. The pattern continued as we readied for bed. He made sure I brushed my teeth. Watched as I combed and braided my hair. When I asked for pajamas, he frowned and refused, saying we would always sleep skin to skin.

That was just fine by me.

And when he wrapped himself around me, every hard line of his body pressed against mine, and we drifted to sleep, for once, I didn’t feel the need to dream.