The Leopard King (34 page)

“Let’s see how wet you are.” Exquisitely gentle, he grazed her slick folds with thumb and forefinger, sending a shock of pleasure to her clit.

“I love you,” she gasped.

There was no stemming the words, no reason to anymore, but their effect on him was profound. Though half-closed and dreamy eyes, she saw an answering flush bloom on his cheekbones, and she didn’t imagine the tremor in his hands. Suddenly, he settled between her thighs and hooked her legs over his shoulders.

“Say it again.”

“I love you, Dom. I love you.”

Each time she whispered it, sometimes a moan or an outright cry, he rewarded her with a lavish sweep of his tongue, faster, sweetly rhythmic, until
love
and
Dom
was all she knew, apart from the fierce pleasure spiraling in her sex. He eased one finger inside her, then two, hooking them so her entire body bowed off the bed. Pru went rigid, so turned on she couldn’t stand it, but somehow unable to come. No matter how she twisted or writhed, satisfaction hovered tantalizingly out of reach.

He rose over her then and took her mouth with brushes of lips and tongue. Pru tasted her own salt-sweetness and dove into his kiss, undulating against him all of her melted and yearning. Dom tormented her with little flickers of his damp fingertips, here and gone, grazing her nipples, the curve of her spine, and the softness of her pussy. Her breath came in runaway gasps, until she went lightheaded.

It took her a moment to process that
he
was holding her back, whispering, “Not yet, kitten. Not quite yet.”

Their bond was so deep that his will drove her desire, kept her stretched and trembling, on the brink of an earth-shattering orgasm.

She’s mine,
Dom
marveled.
Totally and completely mine.

The world narrowed in scope to this woman—his wife—her body and their bed. In that moment, he stopped caring about taking his time, about control, and he spooned up against her from behind, so hard that he could burst the second her skin glided against his. At first, she didn’t seem to get the position, but when he put his hand on her hip and tilted, she cried out.

That’s right. This way will be slow and sweet.
As he pushed into her, he wrapped his arms around her completely and set his lips against her shoulder.

Sheer pleasure overwhelmed him. He flattened his palm on her abdomen as the sensation of being part of her suffused him. When he let go of his tenuous control, her shivering reaction sank into him, their desire on constant loop.
It feels so good when she fucks me.
Something about that wasn’t quite right, maybe, only it was, and his steady thrusts quickened as she pushed back, grinding on him until he could come just from the sweetness of it.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered.

Cupping her pussy, he strummed her clit as he worked into her from behind. She was all wet heat—
so hard. I’m so fucking hard.
Words melted out of his brain until there was only the rasp of him panting with each stroke and her shuddering sweat as a light orgasm pulsed through her. She squeezed his cock in delicious waves, but from the raw need still rolling off her, it wasn’t enough.

“Take me.”

“Can you feel how close I am?” He let go of everything except her, pushing deep and holding still, so she must feel the throbbing.

She answered with a deep groan, and the way she swiveled her hips drove him over. The orgasm that drenched him was hers, his, all tightening, arching sweetness, and he fell into her pleasure like it was an endless tropical sea, just as she swam in his. With careful fingertips, he stroked her to another orgasm after he came, and he would’ve gone for more if she hadn’t pulled his sticky fingers away to kiss them.

“I’m on overload,” she whispered.

With a smile that wouldn’t quit, he held her close and licked the sweat from her shoulder. “I’d ask how you feel, but I already know.”

“It’s better,” she said in a wondering tone. “I didn’t really think it could be, but it is.”

“Is that a compliment or a complaint?”

“How am I supposed to know? You just fucked me senseless.”

Though he was satiated for the moment, his cock twitched in response. “You’re trying to get me worked up again.”

“Feels like you’re not quite done anyway.” Pru gave a teasing squirm that locked him into a half-erection.

“Does it please you to be this filthy?”

“Endlessly,” she purred.

“I think that’s my line.”

No matter what she said, Pru must’ve been exhausted because she dozed off in his arms. Dom caught a nap too, and when he roused, the music was still thumping away outside. Her skin smelled of him, commingled sex and sweat. He wished he could parade her through the hold as a possessive statement, but he doubted she’d be amused by such primitive inclinations. At some point, he’d slipped out of her, but having his dick pressed up against her ass was enough to get him going again.

If I’m not careful,
she’ll sex me to death.
For some odd reason, he wasn’t sad about it.

“You awake?” she whispered.

“Sort of. Barely.”

“I feel like I owe you a blow job. Though you have a way of making my head fuzzy, it seems like you’ve done all the giving in bed lately.”

Dom nearly choked on his own saliva. “You don’t
owe
me anything. If that’s something you want to do, however, I probably wouldn’t say no.”

“Probably, huh?”

“I’m pretty worn out, you understand. Near dehydrated at this point too.”

“You make me sound like a succubus,” she protested.

He smirked. “Sorry.”

When he first woke up, he hadn’t been contemplating round two, but it was impossible to deny that she had him stirred up.
Again.
Dom moved so that it wouldn’t be so obvious, and Pru took the opportunity to face him. Her gaze went immediately to his stiff cock.

“You
do
want a BJ.” She made this fact sound like an amazing discovery instead of an obvious truth.

Before he could say a word, Pru wriggled between his legs and settled like she meant to spend her life there. He swallowed hard, unable to muster a verbal response, but then his situation got worse, or better. Both, actually. From the teasing licks to his thighs, she intended to repay his earlier treatment in kind.

I won’t survive this.

It’s a good way to die.

She ran her tongue upward, nuzzling into the crease near his balls, and he lifted his hips, breathless. He fought the urge take control, shove her head where he wanted it, but this was about Pru choosing to give, not his ability to take. So he fisted his hands in the blanket and absorbed the relentless pleasure of her soft mouth. When she finally wrapped her lips around his dick, he opened his fingers and stroked her cheek, trying to focus on how it felt to her, how he tasted, as a means of slowing his urge to thrust.

I want to fuck your mouth.

As if she sensed that desire, she gasped, her breath hot against his skin.
Don’t play. Suck me.
Ever so slowly, her head began to move, her suction gaining intensity as her gaze held his. Her nails scraped lightly against his balls in a tantalizing rhythm that matched the pressure of her hungry mouth. Her delight surged over him, nearly overwhelming in its wildness. His taste seemed to kindle her to greater eagerness, and she watched his face for each flicker of response.

She loves this. She wants it. She needs to lick me until I come apart.

Liberated by that realization, he tangled his hands in her hair, no longer interested in restraint. What she wanted wasn’t his submission, exactly, but proof he ached for her so much that he could deny her nothing. Dom surrendered to the high, hard impulse to rock into her mouth; at first, her eyes widened, but she took his strokes with increasing excitement.

Since he’d come recently, it should’ve taken much longer to reach this state, but with each of her huffs and moans, it jolted him higher. When he noticed that she was humping her hips against the covers, he snarled in desperation.

“That’s good,” he bit out. “Get yourself off. But don’t stop sucking me.”

A high-pitched moan that was almost a whine vibrated against his shaft. Her round ass rose and fell in tempo with her head. The scent of her maddened him. If he didn’t know she craved the hot gush of his juices, he’d spin her so quick and eat her until she came all over his face. Picturing that drove his hips faster, his cock flexing in her mouth.

“You’re so sexy,” he breathed.

And that was enough. She came with a ripple of her beautifully arched back, and her mouth clamped down in response. His own orgasm flooded him, deeper and stronger than should’ve been possible. Dom moaned her name and held her head still when she would’ve continued. Just the stillness and pressure was enough during the aftershocks.

Once his shaking arms steadied, he dragged her up to rest on his chest. Pru closed her eyes, exquisitely wrecked. He petted her sex hair and admired his own role in creating that dishevelment.
She loves me. She’s all mine.
Incoherent glee ran amok in his bloodstream, along with serotonin and a cocktail of endorphins.

“What now?” she asked, sounding sleepy.

In a flash the answer came to him, but for optimum results, it should be a surprise, the best he could manage under the circumstances. Briefly he hesitated, considering what she’d said about needing time to brace.
It’ll work out better than last time. I’ll flip the script.
Somehow he kept his expression neutral when he answered, “I guess you’ll just have to trust me.”

“I do. Always.”

Leaving the bed after she drifted off was one of the toughest things he’d ever done.

A
few hours
before dawn, Pru woke alone in a tangle of blankets to the lingering scent of recently snuffed candles. Groggy, she stumbled out of the bedroom and found neither Dom nor her father.
This wasn’t a dream. It all happened.
Yet it was hard to be confident, even though she suspected Magda had dragged him off to some critical meeting.

Her timing definitely sucks, though.

Then she noticed the sole candle flickering in the center of the room, well away from everything else, so it couldn’t be considered a fire hazard. The wax had melted until the wick swam in a pool of it, and the glass was hot to the touch when she shifted it aside to dislodge the piece of paper beneath. Pru couldn’t remember if she’d ever seen a note from Dom before.
Yes,
she decided,
a long time ago
.
And it wasn’t to me.
Holding it to the light, she skimmed what he’d written once, twice, and tried to make sense of it.

My precious wife,

Consider this your heads-up. Something marvelous will happen soon (besides the obvious), so be ready. Brace yourself as needed, and then come find me. I’ll be the one waiting for you, forever and always.

Your loving husband,

Dom

PS – Put on the dress hanging on the hook beside the front door. I’ve shaken it clean as best I could, and we’ll make our own glamour from here on out.

Amused and reluctantly intrigued, she washed up in cold water and then donned the dress he’d chosen, a splendid yellow statement that defied the weather. As she put out the candle, someone knocked. Hurrying, she slipped into her cutest intact shoes and went to answer. To her surprise, it wasn’t her mate, but Joss, beaming so bright that Pru checked behind her for a spotlight, as her cousin only ever looked this happy on stage.

“You know something,” she guessed.

“No hints. He’s told you enough that you can’t call this an ambush. And I’m
so
happy for you.” The last sentence came out as a joyful squeal.

“So you’re my escort, then?”

“And me,” her dad said, stepping out of the shadows.

She hadn’t seen him dressed so nicely since before her mother passed away. Sheepish, he straightened his lapels and tugged at his tie, then he offered his arm. It was three in the morning, the music still playing, and she had
no
fucking idea what was going on.

I guess you’ll have to trust me,
Dom had said.

Time to prove that I do.

With a smile, she set her hand in the crook of her father’s elbow, and Joss linked with her other arm. The floor was still uneven, but she didn’t notice it as much with her family on either side. Even the broken steps didn’t take as much navigating, and she didn’t ask for explanations, content to be guided to whatever Dom had planned.

With the lateness of the hour, some of the initial wildness had settled, but a shocking majority of pride members and allied guests were still awake, and most were gathered in the park. Someone had strung fairy lights, and sleepy musicians plucked out a soft, heartfelt melody as her party approached the pergola. There was no snow any longer, only the damp, bare ground, where something beautiful would one day grow.

That’s life,
she thought.

Maybe it was because of the darkness, but the weight of so many eyes didn’t feel punishing. Pru only wondered where her mate had gone. And then he stepped out of the crowd wearing a dark suit that fit him beautifully. The silver and black of his hair caught the twinkling lights, reflected in his eyes. There were no words to express how her heart swelled. As she feasted her eyes on him, she realized that the shadow that always lingered on him was gone.

With a flourish, he presented a bouquet of flowers rescued from the greenhouse, and she couldn’t stop herself from clutching the blooms to her chest, no more than she could help breathing in their sweetness or the tears that spilled down her cheeks.
This is too much.

But he was only getting started, apparently. Dom kissed her cheek and whispered, “You don’t have to talk. Just listen, all right?”

The heat in her cheeks didn’t come from embarrassment but a surfeit of joy. “Okay.”

“We didn’t get to have a proper wedding,” he called, signaling to the band for a pause. “So I thank those who stuck around tonight to celebrate with us.”