In the Flesh Read online

  They had almost killed him, the fools. The memory of Wulfric’s horrifying network of injuries would haunt her forever. It was a testament to his resilience that he remained proud and unbroken after such abuse. His will to survive was strong and admirable.

  Aching with the knowledge that he would be gone when she went home, Sapphire pushed him from her mind. The only future contact she would have with him would be through news reports in the media. Look, but don’t touch or covet. In the brief time she’d known him, he had become an ever-present specter in her thoughts. Her body was attuned to his on a deep level. He had only to look at her and she became aroused, hungry. She knew he was thinking of all the ways he could please her, which was entirely removed from the king’s weighty expectation for how she would please him.

  Quite simply, she would miss Wulf, but keeping him had not been an option.

  “Who in Sari would wish to purchase Wulfric?” she wondered aloud.

  “Wulfric, is it now?”

  She purposely ignored the query, schooling her expression into bland lines. “I’m as intrigued as you are. I’d like to join your investigation.”

  Grave laughed. “Getting restless already?”

  “I’ve been restless the last few years. I’m ready for change and a little excitement.”

  He clasped her hand in his large one and squeezed. “Well, I’d love to have you. How about we start on Firstday?”

  “Why don’t we start tonight?” The thought of returning to her home and finding Wulf gone was depressing. Her father’s company would provide a welcome distraction. “You’re staying with me, right? We can drink until we’re silly.”

  He gave a regretful shake of his head. “I wish I could, but the king is making an appearance tonight. He spends more time away from the palace since you left. Now that I’ve been seen, I will have to stay in my quarters or he may use me as an excuse to visit you. Considering his mood lately, I don’t think that would be wise.”

  “Poor Daddy.” Lifting to her tiptoes, Sapphire kissed his cheek. “I’m going home before he arrives. We’ll talk more on Firstday.”

  “I’ll be there bright and early, sweetheart.”

  “I love you.”

  Despite the crowd around them, he caught her close and squeezed her tight. “I love you, too.”

  It was well after midnight by the time Sapphire returned to her home. The interior was dimly lit and quiet, with most of her mästares either out for the evening, as she’d suggested, or in bed. She went straight to her bedroom, striding quickly over the threshold as the doors retracted, then slid closed again behind her.

  “Keep the lights off,” she ordered, when they didn’t come on immediately.

  Trained to be comfortable with moving in the darkness, Sapphire advanced easily through the space, setting her jewelry on the vanity before slipping out of her dress. The garment pooled at her feet and she kicked it away before starting toward the comfort of her bed.

  She was mere steps away when a rustle of sound stilled her. Paused in mid-stride, she waited, alert and wary.

  “Your clothes reek of men’s cologne.” Wulf’s deep voice rumbled across the space between them.

  He was directly behind her. If she hadn’t been distracted by melancholy, she would have felt his presence sooner. His fury radiated like a heat wave.

  She shifted away silently, knowing that when she spoke, he would be able to pinpoint her position. “You’re not supposed to be here,” she whispered.

  “We have unfinished business.” His tone was icy and originated from a different location in the room.

  He was circling her.

  Sapphire moved toward the bed, her intent to place the massive piece of furniture between them. “We have nothing.”

  Wulf tackled her from behind, twisting before they hit the bed to take the brunt of the impact. Surprised by the assault, she was easily overpowered. He rolled over her, pinning her arms above her head and her writhing body beneath his.

  “Guardian!” She arched upward, attempting to dislodge him.

  There was no reply. The only sound in the room was the harshness of their combined breathing.

  “She can’t help you,” Wulf murmured. “I disengaged her alarm and her control of this room. She can’t send for help and no one can get in.”

  “She’ll find a way to notify the guards.”

  “I don’t think so. She likes me. Who do you think let me in here to begin with?”

  Sapphire refused to believe him, struggling against his grasp until she realized he was as naked as she was. She moaned as the minutes continued to pass without any sound from the Guardian. Wulf’s skin was on fire against hers, his cock thick and hard against her thigh. “Let me go.”

  “Who were you with?”

  “That’s none of your damn business.” She increased her efforts to buck him off.

  Trapping both of her wrists in one of his hands, Wulf reached between her legs with the other. Her belly clenched as he parted her and stroked through the lips of her sex. He dropped his forehead to hers with a harsh exhale.

  The tension drained from his frame and his body relaxed against hers. “You’re untouched.”

  “You’re insane.”

  He continued to tease her with his fingertips. Her blood heated from his touch, but her rage burned hotter.

  “You’ll regret this,” she snapped.

  He brushed tender kisses across her eyelids. “I’m sorry if I frightened you.”

  “You can’t do this, Wulf. We can’t do this.”

  His lips continued to move featherlight across her face. “Do you have any idea what I’ve gone through these last hours waiting for you?” He licked the corner of her mouth. “Or perhaps you know? Perhaps you felt the same every time the Sensual Arts students came?”

  “Now who’s vain?”

  “You watched to see if I took one of them to bed,” he purred, his lips slipping along her clenched jaw.

  “I did not.”

  “Yes.” His velvety voice curled around her in the darkness. “You did.”

  His tongue thrust into her ear and she shivered beneath him. Her body betrayed her by melting into his hand. He growled softly and stroked the slickness of her desire up to her clitoris, where he rubbed with perfectly gauged pressure. She whimpered, her senses inundated with the scent of his skin. Wulf was so hot. A fully aroused and determined male animal. And he was skillfully building her lust to match his.

  “I waited for you,” he whispered. “I was fit to kill, thinking you’d turned to someone else.”

  “Why would I go out for sex? I have thirteen virile men right here.” She deliberately left him out of the number.

  He nudged her legs wider. Two fingers thrust inside her, sinking knuckles deep in one fierce glide, contradicting her without words. “Who were you with?”

  “W–what…?” She couldn’t think.

  He chuckled and she could picture the smug look on his handsome face. The man was too arrogant; a trait that turned her on. She wanted to be pissed at him, not creaming all over his hand.

  “Why didn’t you leave?” she asked with a tortured groan as he fucked her with steady, rhythmic plunges. She was so damn hot for him she was soaking his fingers. She could hear how wet she was and knew it was driving him crazy. His cock thickened and throbbed insistently against her thigh.

  “I won’t leave until I have you, Katie. I can’t.”

  The sound of her name on his lips undid her, coaxing a lone tear to slip past her lashes and down her temple.

  Wulf slipped a third finger inside her, stretching her to fit him, stroking her clenching inner walls with tender skill. His mouth pressed kisses along her breasts, his lips parting to surround a hard, aching nipple and its tiny ring.

  “Stop.” She writhed beneath the relentless lashing of his tongue. He teased her nipple, nipping it with his teeth, before suckling her with long, drawing pulls.

  He spoke against her skin. “I couldn’t sto
p touching you now even if the entire Sarian Army was outside the door.”

  Sapphire moaned, seduced by his desire for her. “Hurry, then. Finish this.”

  His laugh was a richly triumphant sound that swelled in the darkness. “I won’t rush this. I want you to give yourself completely. Nothing held back.”

  “We don’t have time.”

  “Act as if we do.”

  “For one night?”

  “For tonight. Then I’ll go.”

  Sapphire closed her eyes. “Alright.”

  Her hands were released and his weight left her. Taking advantage of the freedom, she rolled from the bed and darted to the window. A flash of light mellowed into the steady glow of a real candle. She blinked, her eyes adjusting to the sudden illumination.

  “Where did you get that?” she asked, surprised.

  Wulf smiled and her breath caught. “From Dalen. He claims women find real candlelight arousing. Do you?”

  He stood within the circle of the golden glow, magnificent in his nakedness. He was flushed with heat and rock hard, his gaze dark and possessive. He had no right to look at her that way, but she liked it.

  “I’ve risked my life to keep you,” she said.

  “I’ve risked mine to stay.” He raked her from head to toe. “How stunning you are.”

  Wulf’s voice dropped even lower and his thick cock swelled further. “I love how you force me to fight for you every step of the way.”

  “Tomorrow, you have to leave.”

  “I don’t want to think about tomorrow.” He approached.

  “We have to think about it. It’s only a few hours away.”

  He held his hand out to her. “So let’s not waste any more time.”

  “You take this too lightly.”

  “I’ve neglected my responsibilities to my people to be with you,” he retorted. “An attempt has been made on my life, and as the days pass, the trail to the assassins grows colder. I don’t take this lightly. I don’t want to want you. But you gave me life when I was hoping for death and you made me want it. There’s nothing light about this.”

  She took a step toward him, drawn to his passion and raw honesty.

  Wulf reached her and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her feet from the floor. His mouth claimed hers with an ardor that broke what little resistance she had left.

  Her arms slipped around him, pulling him tightly against her. She stroked his back, her fingertips kneading the hard muscle beneath the satiny skin. His groan rumbled against her lips, and before she registered movement, he was pressing her down into the bed. She cupped the firm flesh of his buttocks and urged him closer, cradling him in the apex of her thighs.

  Despite her desire, Sapphire felt like crying. Through the heat that clawed at her, reason prodded, demanding her attention. She thought of her king, her father, her freedom—torn between her loyalty and the realization of a dark fantasy she’d never known she had.

  Rolling, she took Wulf under her, keeping her mouth joined with his. His hands reached for her but she stopped them, lacing her fingers with his and pinning them to the mattress.

  “Let me touch you,” he said hoarsely.

  “No.” She managed a seductive smile. She needed control, not just of herself but of this encounter. Her livelihood was the satiation of carnal desire. If she focused on the mechanics, perhaps she could reduce this overabundance of feeling to something manageable. “You wanted me to give myself to you.”

  Her lips moved across his face. She kissed his eyebrows and eyelids, then the tip of his nose and his chin. When she nipped at his throat, she felt his erection jerk between her legs. She rubbed her wet pussy along the satiny length until he groaned, then she stilled, teasing him with the damp heat of her desire.

  “Don’t play with me,” he growled. “I’ve waited long enough.”

  Sapphire rose slightly, leaning over him until her breasts pressed into his chest. She slid down until the broad head of his cock was lodged at the slitted entrance to her body. She quivered at the feel of him. He was big and hot and hard.

  Slowly, she pressed downward, taking the first thick inch with a sharp exhale. Impatient, he bucked upward and she gasped as he fed more of his cock into her.

  Wulf froze. “Am I hurting you?” His voice was lust-thickened. “You’re so tight. I want to fuck you until you fit me like a glove.”

  She ground herself onto him, biting her lip to keep from crying out as he thrust insistently, working deep into her. The sensation of being stretched to the limit refocused her, reminded her to keep this sexual. Physical. Nothing more.

  He cursed. “Relax. Let me in.”

  Sapphire released his hands, sat upright, and closed her eyes. She gave herself up to him, letting him shift her, move her, work her onto him until he was as deep as he could go.

  A desperate whimper escaped her, then another. Wulf’s breath hissed out between clenched teeth. “Yes,” he growled, gripping her hips, pumping her up and down on his cock. “That’s it…keep doing that, Katie…keep making those hot little sounds…”

  The rough carnality of his words made her slicker, and the ride became easier. She concentrated on the tempo and her own breathing, finding his rhythm and matching it. Stroke for stroke. He increased the pace, swiveling his lean hips and thrusting high and hard. Their breathing grew more labored, the need more urgent. She moved faster, settling into an erotic pounding rhythm.

  “Look at me.”

  Sapphire tilted her head back and kept her eyes squeezed shut.

  His fingers on her thighs gripped her painfully, halting her movements.

  “Are you working?” he snarled.

  Lightning quick, Wulf wrenched her to the bed and pinned her beneath him, thrusting balls deep. She gasped, startled into looking at him.

  “You thought I wouldn’t notice?” His fist wrapped in her long hair, arching her neck to his ardent mouth. “When every part of me is focused on you, you thought I wouldn’t notice that you were holding back? Sex is sex. I can get that anywhere. It’s you I want. All of you. That was the deal.”

  “You’re getting what you wanted.”

  “Not yet. But I will.” Wulf began to fuck her with long, deep plunges. “I can ride you all night…until you give me what I want.”

  She tried to close herself off, but he wouldn’t allow it, driving hard and fast into the very heart of her, breaking the concentration she needed to separate mind and body. She panicked, panting harshly, her heart racing until she was dizzy. Struggling to get away, she found herself trapped by her restrained hair and Wulf’s pounding cock.

  He couldn’t last. Not like this.

  Sucking in air like a swimmer too long under water, Sapphire changed tactics, spreading her thighs wider so that he could plunge deeper. His skin was slick with sweat, his lungs heaving for breath. He rose above her, trapping her gaze with his.

  With a slow, seductive smile, he hit the end of her and began to grind. “Oh no, Katie. I won’t come that easily.”

  He pulled back, tugging his cock from her greedy depths, then screwing back into her. It burned her, that deliberate thrust, flushing her skin and knotting her womb.

  “It feels good, doesn’t it?” His voice was deeply sexual. “I love how you squeeze me. You’re so soft and slick. I want to come more than I want to breathe. But I can wait.”

  “Don’t.”

  “Yes.” Wulf continued the seductively slow plunge and retreat, watching her. Studying her reactions, repeating movements that made her crazed for him.

  She had no defense against his sexual siege. Her body adjusted to him, then welcomed him. She had never felt such pleasure. His cock filled every crevasse inside her as if it were made for her. He rocked his hips and she couldn’t stifle her moan. The friction was irresistible, urging her to work with him. As she thrashed beneath him, his hands moved over her, gentle and soothing.

  “Shh.” He gathered her closer. “Don’t fight it. Let go.”

  “
Wulf…”

  “Feel how deep you can take me?” His tone was reverent and tender. “What a perfect fit you are for me? You were made for me, Katie.”

  Detachment was impossible. If he’d focused on the sex, she would have as well. But he made the sex a part of a larger whole and she wasn’t strong enough to resist the connection.

  Cupping a breast in his free hand, he plumped it, then lifted it to receive the attentions of his mouth. The moist heat of his breath burned across the straining nipple. “When you’re in my bed, these jewels will be talgorites.”

  The royal stone of D’Ashier.

  “One night,” she insisted, tightening in anticipation of her coming orgasm, her hips lifting eagerly to meet his.

  His voice came slurred with desire. “You’ve been mine from the moment we first saw each other. When we’re lying in my bed, in my palace, and I’m buried deep inside you, you’ll know just how completely you belong to me.”

  Wulf’s possessiveness curled around her as surely as his body did.

  “Damn you, Wulf. You can’t—”

  He increased his pace. “You’re so wet…so hot…I’m the last man who’ll ever touch you.”

  She moaned, focused solely on the simmering tension inside her. All of her skill and training fled her mind. She could only feel Wulfric moving within her, over her, so handsome he stole her breath and reason. She arched up, pressing herself against him. “Please…”

  Releasing her hair, he rose above her, shoving his arms beneath her legs and opening her fully to his possessive drives. “That’s it, Katie,” he urged. “Don’t hold back…”

  Wulf plunged deep. It was almost painful but not quite. He was so skilled, he knew where she was most sensitive. He rubbed the flared head of his cock over and over the spot, deliberately driving her out of her mind.

  Sweat dripped from him onto her, branding her with his scent. Wulf growled low in his throat, an animal sound of pure pleasure as he rode her. She gripped his clenching thighs, digging her nails into the rock-hard surface, her entire being consumed by a lust so fierce it scared her.