By the Horns (34 page)

He raised his head to meet her gaze again. “You’re scared. I am too. I lost you once and it destroyed me.” He sighed. “I can’t let you go again.” His grip tightened on her wrists.

“It’s not a choice,” she whispered the painful truth.

“Isn’t it, though?” The vulnerability in his eyes sliced through her. More than anything, she ached for him to be right. Even when he was wrong.

“She’s the fucking Matchmaker.” He let out a frustrated sigh. “It’s her job to make people fall in love.”

“Not us, Kassian. We were never allowed to.”

She flexed her fingers, desperate to stroke his cheek and comfort him. Even if there was none to be found.

“No. I don’t accept that.” Hardness coated his tone. His muscles tensed as if frustration built inside him. Mingled with desperation and the purity of a cause like love. He’d be a bloody thorn in the Matchmaker’s side.

But even thorns could be ripped out.

Chapter 30

Kassian leaned in and inhaled Nat’s delicate coconut suntan lotion scent. She reminded him of the beach, of the surf and sea. Of the good in his life. “Dammit, Nat. You have to let me
try
.”

She bit her lip and shook her head. “She’ll hurt you. Or me. Either way, you’ll suffer.” Her dampened lashes lifted. “I can’t let that happen. I’m sorry, Kassian.”

“No. I lost you once because you didn’t trust me with the truth, didn’t trust me to fight for you. I have and I will continue to. Nothing you can say will stop me.”

Pain flashed in her eyes. “I wish I had told you then, but I made a choice, and it’s one I can’t ever go back on.” She tested the strength of his grip on her wrists, attempting to break free with timed tugs, but he held her firm. She’d hear him out.

“I’m not asking for your permission to love you, Natalie.” He brushed the backs of his fingers down her cheek. “My heart belongs to you. Let me fight for yours.” He groaned as his other hand slid along the curve of her hip. Fuck, she embodied every sexual desire he’d ever had. Her skin so soft. Her body so welcoming.

A tiny whimper escaped her throat. “I don’t know how to.”

“Let me show you.” He seized her mouth with his, thrusting his tongue inside. Shoving her body against the door, he ground against her, crushing her with just the right amount of pressure. He’d show her. She was his. He refused to accept any other possibility.

If he’d lost himself in her then, damn, he never wanted to find the way back.

She was everything he couldn’t have, and everything he’d spend his last breath fighting for. She was his Nat.

Giving her up once had cost him years of numb living. With her, he was alive again. He tore his lips from hers. “Don’t you see? It’s too late. I can’t go back. I can’t return to the life I had without you. Either way, I’m damned. If I’m doomed, I’m going to have you first.”

This time, he’d take what he hungered for from her. The satisfaction he’d lived so long without. The fulfillment he craved.

Freeing her wrists, he trailed kisses down her throat, cupping her breast and bringing it to his mouth. He sucked her nipple through her tank top, making her moan low in her throat. “Are you wet for me?”

“Very,” she purred convincingly, but he was determined to discover the proof for himself.

He palmed her damp sex, then shoved her pants down along with her frilly lace thong.

Her clothes piled around her ankles, and she stepped out of them. She shrugged out of her top and tossed it into the pile. “Well, now that you have me naked, what are you going to do with me?” Her sultry taunt spiked more lust into his already stiff shaft.

“I’m going to test my flexibility theory.” Before she could ask for details, he lifted her thigh and draped her leg over his shoulder while unbuckling his pants. She unzipped the front and freed his hard cock. Gripping the tip, she guided him into her and he shoved deep on the first thrust.

She tossed her head back and cried out in pleasure. He wrapped his free hand around her pretty little neck, stroking her creamy skin while he pounded into her. She was so fucking wet his cock slid in and out, coated in her essence. So tight, the resistance threatened to squeeze him until he came.

Despite her words, she craved him as much as he did her. She loved him, whether she knew it or not. He’d been right, and even if she never spoke the words, he sensed her love in her touch. In how she gave herself to him with so much trust.

He groaned, buried inside her, and paused. “Take me in, baby. All of me. I want to feel your tight pussy begging for more.”

She whimpered as he flicked his tongue across her nipple, then along her neck, and paused to nibble her ear.

“Tell me you want me. You want this.” He withdrew to the tip and pushed inside her, sinking deep.

“I want you.” She moaned, closing her eyes.

“No, Nat. Look at me.” He nudged her chin so she had no choice but to gaze at him. He hungered to see it all. Her eyes sparkling at him. The blissful smile on her face as she came.

He lifted her higher and pinned her wrists again with one hand.

“Let me touch you.” She squirmed against him.

“
Uh-uhn
. You’re going to let me fuck you. Long and rough. You’re going to come for me so hard, you’re going to scream my name.”

She shivered. Oh, yeah. He grinned. She liked the dirty talk. “Say it.”

“What?”

“You want me to fuck you until you scream my name.” He stopped thrusting, waiting for her answer. “Tell me or I’ll bloody stop.”

“I want you to fuck me.” She caressed his earlobe with her tongue. “Until
you
scream
my
name.”

The vixen. He shuddered as she flicked her tongue along his ear again. “Yeah?”

“Yes,” she murmured. “Let me go, and I’ll prove it.”

“
Nah-uhn
. Not this time.” He nipped her lips, ground against her, and pumped into her a few more times. Her breathy cries drove him crazy. If he didn’t make good on his promise soon, she would on hers.

He dipped his free hand between them and found her sweet clit.

“Not fair.” She panted. “You’re not playing fair.” As she tossed her head back, her sheath shattered around his cock, clamping down until the urge to impale her consumed him.

He thrust deep, gritted his teeth, and grunted her name, three, four times, long and slow. “Nat,
ungh
, Natalie.”

He coaxed himself to orgasm without ejaculating, rolling his hips and driving forward with each groan, prolonging the pleasure for both of them.

His cock stopped throbbing and the pulsing of her pussy ceased. Her legs wobbled as he let go of her wrists. He draped them around his neck, slid her leg off his shoulder, and wrapped both of her legs around his waist. After pressing soft kisses to her mouth, he nuzzled her cheek and walked them to his bed.

Perching on the edge of the bed, he untangled her arms from around his neck, but she still clung to him.

He refused to let go, too, because he shouldn’t have to. Neither of them should.

Whatever it took, he wouldn’t give her up. Not when she was the best thing that had ever graced his numb life.

“I won,” she purred in his ear.

“Won what?” He quirked a brow at her.

“You screamed
my
name.”

***

Nat awoke to an unsettling tingling in the back of her neck. Something was off. After Kassian had made love to her again—and she’d screamed his name—sleep had overtaken her. Tied in their game, she’d drifted off, nestled in his strong arms encircling her.

Protecting her.

He couldn’t protect himself
from
her. Was it too late? Had she ruined his life…again?

Sighing, she wriggled out of Kassian’s tight embrace, careful not to wake him, and slipped out of bed. Tossing on her clothes, she snuck outside for some fresh air.

The moon and the stars illuminated her path as she headed toward the third level gardens. So peaceful here. Such a beautiful, homey place.

Not mine. A person like herself couldn’t make a claim on a home.

A cool breeze rushed over her. She frowned and wrapped her arms around her middle. Strange. Moist warmth coated the night air, yet she shivered.

“Hello, Natalie.”

She jolted and spun toward the familiar feminine voice.

The Matchmaker stepped out of the shadows. “You know why I’m here?” She folded her red-nailed hands together.

“Yes.” Nat swallowed hard on the word. Her time of reckoning had arrived. She hoped the punishment would fall on her and not Kassian.

“Come with me. It’s time for you to leave this place.” The Matchmaker faded back into the shadows.
Wait, did I imagine her?
Nat shifted on her feet, blinking and hoping it had been a hallucination.

A moment later, the woman’s red nails tapped the stone corner.

Damn. Right.
Never delay in the obedience of an order.
Nat rushed forward and followed the Matchmaker down a set of stairs leading out of Kek Lok Si.

Kassian would hate her when he awoke and found her gone. Perhaps it was better like this. She’d never had the guts to say goodbye last time and was even more of a coward now.

She steeled her resolve and fortified her heart, sprinting down the stairs. As she rounded the corner, her vision blurred, then faded to black.

***

Nat scrunched her eyelids. Her fingers reached for Kassian, but her brain argued she’d left him… If not in Kassian’s bed, where the hell was she sleeping? Her eyes jerked open at the same time her extending hand resisted. A clink of metal. She whipped her gaze to her right wrist and then twisted to the left.

Cuffs? Oh, hell.

None of this made any sense. She’d been following the Matchmaker. Unless… The Matchmaker had chosen to punish her, after all.

Dammit. She tugged on her shackled wrists, but they held firm. A long chain looped through a circular ring fastened to the wall. She pushed off the floor and assessed her surroundings.

A clean prison cell with whitewashed walls. No windows. One door, the top half secured with bars. The ten-by-eight room was spacious enough. A toilet in the far corner, with a half wall for privacy.
Fun.

Her chains were long enough to reach every corner. She paced the perimeter, searching for signs of weakness and tugged on her cuffed wrist. Could Snake break these? She sighed. What would be the point?

She had to hand it to the Matchmaker. The woman had called Nat out on her disobedience. Now Nat had no choice but to suck up this punishment. Even if she used Snake’s strength to escape, her blood oath bound her. The Matchmaker could find her any day of the week.

Being a Lotus wasn’t a job she could ditch when a new opportunity arose. It was a lifetime, no refunds or exchanges, kind of deal.

She should have better explained the rules to Kassian, but she hadn’t wanted to stomp across his hopes. And, okay, she’d been in a smidge of denial.

She sank to the concrete floor with a huff. Heels clacking echoed far down the hallway, moving toward her cell. A key rattled inside the lock. Old school security. Interesting.

Clack clack clack
. Nat braced for the Matchmaker’s chiding stare.

Instead, an elegantly dressed woman stepped into view. Her traditional Chinese dress fit like a glove, the green silk hugging her body and highlighting her…red hair?

Nat shot to her feet. Gunmetal gray eyes smirked at her through the bars. Fuchsia lips curved to reveal movie star white teeth. In one manicured hand, she dangled a set of keys.

“Hello again, Natalie.” The woman’s voice was as silken as a viper’s.

Nat hadn’t met her before but, oh, she knew who this bitch was.

The Empress. The AWOL member of the Council of Elders. The woman who helped orchestrate the schemes of Lucy’s uncle and Zhao.

She fisted her hand to stop the anxiety pounding through her veins and making her body tremor. The Matchmaker hadn’t brought her here. She’d been duped. Double-played.

By someone else’s disguise. A damn good one at that.

“What do you want?” Crossing her arms, she leaned against the wall. She’d already given away her surprise, but succumbing to intimidation wasn’t in her nature.

“To the point.” The Empress winked. “I like that.” She slid one hand down the bar, scraping the metal key along the steel. The squeal sliced through the air, sending shivers down Nat’s spine.

“I’ve had my eye on you, Natalie, for a long time.” Her voice had a husky, seductive quality. No doubt it worked wonders on the male gender.

Not so much on Nat.

She regarded the woman, unblinking, as Snake’s abilities allowed her to do.

The Empress emitted a laugh resembling a giggle. “You are marvelous. With the Snake, you must be unstoppable.” She lowered her voice as if she whispered a dark secret. “You shall be. I have the power to free you from the Matchmaker’s clutches. Just say the word, and your life will be your own once more.”

A bead of sweat trickled down Nat’s spine. What was the Empress up to?

The Empress’s lips curved again. “One little word, Natalie, and you will be free to love your Kassian.” She slid her hand down the bar and mouthed, “One word.”