Hunted: A Claiming Novella (The Claiming) (4 page)

Ryon stroked her like a perfectly tuned
guitar, his teeth sinking into her neck. He was claiming her in his own way,
marking her with his dominance as she came.

After the hardest shivers died down, he
caressed her sex like he might caress a kitty cat. The deep satisfied sounds
coming from his throat nearly made her swoon. The power he could wield over her
was too strong. He could devastate her.

“You didn’t say it,” he remarked.

She couldn’t even open her eyes yet.
“Say what?”

“My name, if you’ll recall.” Oh, that.
Luckily, he didn’t sound like he cared much.

“I didn’t,” she agreed.

He chuckled against her neck.

“Is that laughter I hear?” That sound
opened her eyes and she turned around to see a smile faltering from his face.

“I do laugh on occasion, Pen.”

It was hard looking at him. Hunger was
written across his face in his low-lidded, sexy expression. His erection tented
his pants with pent-up, virile desire. Penelope licked her lips before meeting
his gaze again.

Ryon looked like he knew exactly what
she’d been thinking. He was studying her nipples when he added huskily, “I do
take repayments. I’ve always wondered what your mouth would feel like on my
cock.”

She sucked in a sharp breath. He’d never
dared to speak to her in such a way before. The words didn’t shock her. It was
who
spoke such words that did surprise her. He normally had such a prudish
mouth.

Invariably her gaze dropped to his
waistband. She had been teasing him tonight. He
did
make her orgasm
which was quite wonderful. Her muscles felt loose and relaxed now like she’d
just finished a long rub.

Maybe she should return the favor…

Penelope cupped his cheeks and pulled
him down for a lasting kiss. She ran her hand down his chest. Mounds of hard
muscles rippled over his abdomen. The skin at his hips was tight and firm, the
color tanned and perfect. Such a fine specimen of man. She lifted his shirt up
to reveal his stomach. The muscles bunched and rolled under her inquisitive
gaze.

“What are you doing?” he asked gruffly.
Hearing him sound unsure brought a wicked smile to her lips.

“I thought you wanted me to suck on your
cock?” asked the predator to the prey.

He glared at her, not trusting her one
iota. She couldn’t blame him.

Then he dropped a bomb that made her
stagger. “I’ve dreamt of it.”

“You’ve dreamt of it?”

He paused, then, “More times than I can
count.”

She squirmed and pressed her thighs
together which in turn applied more pressure to her sex. Who knew the general
could surprise her with such wicked thoughts. “And did I suck your cock in
these dreams?”

He looked like he might smile.
“Sometimes. Other times I was eating your quim or fucking it.”

Her
quim
twitched with arousal.
Penelope ran her hand down the length of his shaft, grazing it over the prickly
material of his trousers. With a single finger she stroked him to test his
girth and strength. Quite viral and unyieldingly stiff. She licked her lips but
didn’t admit that she’d had dreams too. Fantasies, all of which involved Ryon
Ward,
her
general, and them naked.

“And how do you fuck me in these
dreams?” she asked softly. Her touches were growing bolder.

He struggled to keep his breaths normal.
“Every way imaginable. But each times ends up the same.”

“Curious,” she said. “I do wonder…how’s
that?” Wetness leaked from his blunt cockhead, moistening his trousers. His
cock must ache to be released from their confines.

“With you holding onto me, taking all my
thrusts. Then I fill you with my seed.”

She couldn’t think of anything else to
say. He’d stunned her stupid with his sensual imagery. His fantasy sounded
deliciously appealing to her. Her arousal made her flush and her breasts ache
with heaviness. The thought of having such a big male rutting above her until
he finished made her insides gooey.

“Sounds…exciting.”

“Not as exciting as feeling your hand on
me.” His head rolled back to expose a masculine expanse of neck. She wanted to
kiss and nibble it while she stroked him. She wanted to suck on him until he
spurted his seed all over her tits.

He must have caught her contemplative
look. “What are you thinking about?”

She didn’t hesitate to tell him. In
fact, she grew excited thinking about what his reaction might be. So she
repeated her dirty thought to him in a rushed whisper. “Sucking your cock until
you come on my tits.”

He cupped the back of her head,
unnervingly pulling her toward him. “Please,” was all he
said.
A dark glint sparkled in his eyes.

It sounded like a dying man’s plea.

Penelope could only resist so much; even
she had her breaking point. And apparently that point was seeing Ryon’s look of
unadulterated pain across his face. She reached inside his trousers and found
the hot rod of flesh waiting for her. She pulled him out to meet fresh air.

His cock was long and thick, the skin
tight but soft. And so hot, he nearly singed her palm. Ridges and veins were
vivid from unrepented arousal. She stroked him once with a loose-fingered grip.
She preferred her seductions to move slowly, teasing ever more until she built
him up to a fever pitch.

Poor Ryon looked like he’d been at a
fever pitch for hours.

His hand came up to curl in her hair as
his breaths quickened. His eyes were wide with surprise at her mouth so near to
his cock, gazing at her with hunger and wonder. She darted out her tongue and
licked gently around the spongy tip of him. His cock bobbed for more.

She opened her mouth to finally suck him
deep and feel him down the back of her throat—when someone called her name.

“Penelope!”

Branches snapped and again the voice
called out. “Where are you already? Penelope! Are you out here?”

Penelope stood in a rush. “My boss!”
She’d completely forgotten. “I’m supposed to be working. I have a whole show
planned for tonight. I have to get back to work!”

Ryon grabbed her elbow before she could
dart away. He looked wild and irritated. It was incredibly sexy.

Knowing she was leaving him unfinished
sent a thrill through her blood like electricity. Penelope fixed her top, then
shimmied away with an apologetic smile. “I have to go.” A giggle escaped at his
frustrated grimace.

“Now?” he growled. His jaw slid side to
side.

She flashed one last look at his mighty
cock before nodding. “I have to go. Truly! I’m sorry.”

And then she was gone, leaving Ryon at
the pond with his cock locked and ready to blow.

Lord, he loved that woman.

Chapter 3

“State your business.”

“I’m here to see the king. Upon his
request,” Ryon added. All this introductory business was mandatory but
necessary. They both knew he had been summoned and why he was here.

The royal protocols were in place
because of tradition and still they continued to use those outdated rules in
their society. They each had to act the right part, say the right lines, even
though Ryon and the king had been on a first-name basis for the better part of
fifteen years.

They’d studied together at the academy.

Ryon had even helped the king to bed
after a drunken night gone wrong. Never had Ryon seen so much vomit in his
life. And he never wished to again.

At the steward’s nod, the guardsman
wearing the opulent royal militia garb of red velvet, white fur, and silver
halberd, opened the antechamber doors. Ryon entered the king’s private
chambers. The room was a personalized mix of a study and a bedroom. The king
worked long hours, often late into the night. He enjoyed keeping his work close
to where he slept. Made things easier, he supposed.

Feminine titter, quickly accompanied by
a softer laugh caught Ryon’s attention. He cleared his throat roughly. Two
naked women, hair pinned high atop their head in curls worn with studded tiaras
lay languidly on the king’s round mattress.

One woman was brunette and stared at
Ryon like a leopard wanting to pounce. All the while she stared, she stroked
the blonde woman’s stomach beside her like a pet. The blonde woman was lying
there with her eyes closed and looked like she might be sleeping after a rather
vigorous amount of
play
from the king.

Lionel “Lyle” Hargrowe, King of Tarlè,
stood out on the balcony at the rear of the room. He smoked a thin, black
cigarette and was reading some papers. The creases in his forehead were
burrowed deep as he read.

Ryon crossed to him, ignoring the cooing
calls from the female companionship on the bed. Lyle didn’t have a wife but he
did keep a mistress, or several, as some royalty did. His tastes lay with the
beautiful women of which he partook freely.

After his father’s fall into illness, Lionel
had taken over the kingship. As king, Lyle had managed to stave off an unwanted
marriage since his parents were no longer alive to push such proclamations onto
him. He had never been quiet about his disdain for marriage.

The king’s head lifted as Ryon
approached. He cracked a welcoming smile. Their friendship had grown deep over
the years, becoming more of a brotherhood than a friendship.

“About damn time you made it. What’s
kept you?”

Ryon took a cigarette that Lyle offered
and lit it. He didn’t smoke regularly but this was an occasion for one. “I went
to see Penelope.”

Lyle grinned; the king was
unquestionably attractive to women with his shoulder-length coppery hair and
hazel eyes. King or not, the man would never have a problem finding a willing
woman to bed. He was fit from the military training he kept up during his few
free hours. Ryon had been seeing him less and less on the training fields.

The news hadn’t been leaked to the
public yet, but there’d been a possible Avagarian attack on a small home in the
east of the kingdom. A home was ransacked, then burned and the male from the
house, a devoted husband, went missing. It’d been a long time since an
Avagarian attack. They had all begun to feel safe under such calm. The burnt
house and missing person was a cruel reminder they could never drop their
guard.

The sound of a sharp gasp sent him
looking back over his shoulder at the two women. Honestly, it didn’t matter if
their faces were pretty or not; their bodies were healthy and ripe and naked.
That’s all a real man needed. Much as Penelope’s body looked earlier tonight at
the pond. He ground his teeth as his cock jumped at the reminder of her. He’d
felt her stiff nipples, had cupped the tight flesh at her backside,
had
felt her tongue caressing his with fervent ardor. She’d
wanted him. Had encouraged him. He’d felt her come apart in his bare hand.

“Can’t say I’m surprised to see you’re
looking sour this evening. I take it you’ve received your missive then,” Lyle
said.

“You’re a rich prick, you know that?”
Ryon responded.

The brunette was still watched him with
ardent intent in her eyes. The blonde woke up and the brunette pulled the
smaller woman against her like lovers hugging. The woman cupped the blonde’s
rather sizeable tits and smiled, revealing a row of white teeth. Too bad she
was wasting her time on him.

Laughing, King Lyle flicked his burnt
out smoke over the railing. It landed on the cobblestone private courtyard
below. “I won’t deny it,” the king said at length.

“Why didn’t you tell me beforehand?”

“And spoil the surprise?” The king
arched an eyebrow. “Honestly, there was no easy way to tell you. Her name ended
up on my dossier. It was my choice. So I chose.”

“Why her?” Bitterness rankled his
nerve-endings like grated sandpaper scratched across the tongue.

“Why not her?” he challenged. Lyle
headed back into his room without sparing a glance at the action taking place
on the bed.

Ryon turned his back to the women, the
brunette of which now had her mouth wrapped around the other woman’s breast.

“The fact is, she’s the right age and
her health will not get any better. When I saw her name on the list of
potential female candidates, I decided to push things into motion.” Lyle rummaged
in his desk until he pulled out a quill and ink well. He scribbled on some
papers. 

“I heard talk that you fancied the girl.
Quite a spirited ballet dancer she is. I saw her perform last year. She has the
most succulent---”

“Watch your mouth,” Ryon cut in.

Tension crept in between them like a
static charge. Then Lyle cracked a grin which deflated the tension.

“See, this possessiveness, it’s unlike
you. I can hardly recognize my friend, the general, honestly.”

The women were moaning and gasping, the
sounds beckoning Ryon’s thoughts and mind. He’d been too long without sex and
Penelope had him past the limits. He needed to get home and find some release.
Soon.