Page 137 of The King has Fallen
When he kissed his way from my mouth, along my jaw, to my neck, I sighed with relief and let my head drop back, wrapping my arms around his neck.
When he made it to my ear, he nipped the lobe sending a cascade of goosebumps down my side, then he turned his head and whispered, right in my ear.
“You have no clue how it torments me… the thought of you gone and alone. Away from me. From my protection. The thought of other men looking at you—I could kill them just for that, Yilan,” he breathed.
“But—”
“But I will not,” he rasped. “If he is true to his word—if he protects you, gets you out of here, makes you safe… it is me who will owe the life-debt then, Yilan.” He took a deep breath, but didn’t move, just held me against him. “If he gets you to your King safely, I will swallow my pride. And when we are reunited, I will bow to him in gratitude. Because losing you… Yilan…God—”
I inhaled sharping, turning my head and taking his mouth, whimpering when he gripped my face and held me into the kiss.
He shuddered when I reached for his weapon straps, then his buttons, then his leathers.
His body seemed to rock with waves of tension, then of need.
One moment he’d kiss me deeply, growling for me. The next he’d pull back, his hands tight on my arm, or clamped to the back of my neck, and then the bond would vibrate with fear.
“I’m here,” I whispered whenever he tensed. “You belong to me, Melek. And I belong to you.”
He groaned and dove in to kiss me again. We undressed each other hurriedly, him walking me back towards the bed.
It was crazy, I knew—there was no time. But it wasnecessary.It could be the last time. I prayed it would not be, but it wasn’t even lunch yet and already the threats were multiple. I knew if anything else happened, he’d insist on leaving so that I would go. Fear clutched my heart at the thought.
With a little gasping cry, I pulled him closer. He growled and picked me up, swinging me into his chest and crossing the tent to lay me on the bed, then crawling up after me.
I trembled with need for him, frantic,terrifiedof what was to come and the many and varied ways it could go wrong.
There was no time. No more chances.
And so I begged for him, pulled him to me, reached for him, stroking him and marveling at the thrumming need that sizzled between us, lifting my hips, trying to reach him, whimpering when he didn’t take me immediately.
There was a gasping moment when I thought he would. He’d settled between my thighs and pinned me to the mattress, he kissed me as if I was water in the desert. And he rumbled in his chest in the way that teased me from within.
But then, just as his hips began to roll and I thought he’d take me, he hesitated.
He lay over me, both hands in my hair, his breath thundering on my cheek as he kissed me, and he just… froze.
I was gripping his neck, sliding my fingers into his hair as well, and I went still. My eyes flew open—to find him staring down at me, a startled expression on his face.
“What?” I whispered. “What’s wrong?”
With a low, rumbling growl, he kissed me, his tongue demanding, insistent, his body pinning me to the bed, and his arousal pressedso close.He kissed his way from my mouth,down to my neck, then back to my ear, holding my head so that I couldn’t turn from him.
“You aremine,Yilan!” he rasped.
“Yes! Yes, that’s what I’m–”
“But if you ever betray me, you will succeed in destroying my people as well.” His eyes were dark, his face tight and pained.
I blinked, staring at him as he rolled his hips and slid against me, so my jaw dropped.
“Melek, what—”
“I cannot be defeated by weapons, Yilan. But you? You would stop my heart. And so take down the greatest army of all time with a simple word.”
Tears blurred my vision. “I would never—”
He plunged into me, snarling his need and his invasion was such a shock I gasped and clapped an arm to his back, clinging as he took me, his breath thundering in my ear, his body shaking, hislovethrumming in the bond. And then he threw himself backwards, gripping me, pulling me with him so my stomach plummeted as if I’d fallen from a great height. And when I shrieked and clung, it was to find myself in his lap, his arms around me, his hands clamped on top of my shoulders, holding me down into his thrusts. His head thrown back, and his great, gorgeous throat bare, those tendons at the sides of his thick neck standing proud as he gritted his teeth against losing control.
