Iloria Read Free Page B

you?”
    “Yes.” The word sounded impossibly strained, and Iloria realized she was panting. “Farran?”
    “Yes, Iloria?”
    He liked having her at his mercy, she could hear it in his voice. It made her want to push him, test his self-control. “Fuck me with your fingers.” Naughty words her courtesan tutor had taught her, and she used them now the way Farran used his hands—to tease. “Make me come.”
    A sharp growl tore through the room, and he closed his hand on her thigh and pushed it wide. “Do you even know what the words mean, or were you educated in all the things to say to make a man wild?”
    “One does not preclude the other.” His eyes were stormy, but she could feel he wasn’t angry. “I know what the words mean. I could show you, if you like.”
    Farran caught her hand and lifted it to his mouth. Dragging his tongue over her fingers, he licked two of them until they glistened, then guided her hand down her body. “Show me.”
    Yes, if there was anything that might convince him she could handle his demands, this was it. She could show him that she knew physical pleasure, lonely though it had been. And then, perhaps, he would make love to her.
    Iloria shuddered and slipped her hand between her spread thighs.

    Overconfidence had led him into many an ill-advised battle in his youth, but none so foolish as this. Farran rocked back on his heels and watched his demure, well-bred wife slide her fingers into her cunt.
    Sweet goddess, forgive him for encouraging her.
    She arched her back with a sigh and pushed her fingers deeper. “Is this what you need to see?” she asked in a whisper. “I may be a virgin, but that doesn’t make me shy or fragile. It only means no other man has touched me.”
    The little witch had to know how the words would stir him. How instinct would roar its pleasure at knowing the mate he intended to take would know bliss from no male but him.
    He was being managed already, by a scrap of a girl who should have cowered in terror from him. It should have been infuriating, maddening...and all he could do was press the heel of his palm to the front of his breeches and wish he was in private so he could deal with the painful arousal.
    Or perhaps dealing with it here was the answer. She might not be so eager when she saw how tiny her fingers were compared to his cock. “You needn’t be fragile to be unprepared for the demands of a mating.”
    Iloria’s dark eyes flashed, but she didn’t argue. “Shall I continue, then?” Her hand moved, slowly at first, until she broke her silence with a whimper and began to rock her hips to meet each hard thrust of her fingers.
    Just that quickly, the beast snapped his leash. Feral possessiveness roared up, and he closed his fingers around her wrist and dragged her hand from her body. “Mine.” It came out as a snarl. He had to close his eyes to fight back the urge to drive deep into her body and revel in being the one who made her whimper in pleasure.
    She didn’t pull away, but she did hum soothingly. “Touch me,” she pleaded. “Bring me the release you promised, and show me yours.”
    His fingers were so much wider than hers. He pushed two inside her and groaned at the tightness of her body, as hot and wet as she was. “Too much?”
    “It’s...different.” She clenched her hands in the covers. “Don’t stop.”
    He wouldn’t, not until she panted and begged for the pleasure to end. “Tell me what else your courtesan taught you.”
    “M-many things.” Iloria writhed under his touch. “But one intrigued me.”
    A wise man wouldn’t ask. “What was that?”
    “She said that pleasure dulls even the greatest pain. I wonder...” She lifted her hand to her breast and pinched the nipple standing hard under the diaphanous silk. “ Oh . I—I think—” The words dissolved in a sharp cry.
    She was beautiful when she came. Free, her head thrown back, her slim throat working as she made sweet, needy noises—and if he focused on