me extra height. Aurora licks her lips. “You would like to pretend you’re special, wouldn’t you? Just because you’ve spent years watching me doesn’t mean you know me, Malone.”
“Such a mouth on you,” I murmur. I can’t quite resist dragging my thumb over her full bottom lip. “You won’t provoke me into doing what you want.”
“If you say so.”
The challenge she presents thrills me to my very soul. It’s been so long since I had to work for something, for someone. When you’re queen—or what passes for it in my territory—people are all too willing to offer you everything you could ever dream of. It’s enough to tempt a person to flirt with war just to alleviate the boredom.
Yes, Aurora will do nicely.
“Your safe word.”
“Thorn.” She practically snarls it.
I permit myself a cold smile. “For your insolence, you won’t be permitted to orgasm tonight. Please me well during this scene and I’ll lift the ban in the morning. Keep up this bratty behavior and I’ll extend it.” At her shock, I almost laugh. “It’s really simple, Aurora. Be a good girl, obey, and you’ll be rewarded.”
She stares. “You’d really deny me for the next two weeks, wouldn’t you?”
I don’t want to. The desire to bring Aurora to orgasm, over and over again, is like a sickness in my blood. I crave this woman in a way that made me wary enough to avoid her for years. But if I give an inch on this battlefield, she’ll take a mile.
“Yes.”
She gives another of those aggravated breaths that thrill a dark part of me. “In that case…” She smiles, as bright as a sunny morning. “I bow to your every will, Mistress.”
The smile is a lie, just like the submission is a lie. Oh, she’s submissive. There’s no doubting that. But Aurora spent years playing the sweet, biddable girl. The persona she’s settled into since taking over as Megaera’s second-in-command is closer to the truth, but it’s still an act. She’s been wearing a mask since she started working at the Underworld, and I want to know what lies beneath it.
I leave her standing there and walk to where I store my toys in a massive antique wardrobe. I take my time considering my choices. As if I haven’t played this scene out a dozen times in my mind before contacting Hades.
Anticipation is half the battle. It softens the submissive, primes them to be in the right headspace for what comes next. I bypass the rainbow of strap-ons hanging in a precise row and snag a silver chain with three clasps on it. I run it over my fingers as I walk back to Aurora, letting her get a good look at it.
I press my free hand to the small of her back to keep her from retreating and bend down to take one nipple into my mouth. Her shocked gasp pleases me as much as the fact that I finally, finally, have my mouth on her again. This time, she isn’t in control like she was at the virginity auction awhile back, sliding her fingers into my mouth in front of a room full of people and retreating before I was anywhere near satisfied.
This isn’t required, not really, not when she has her nipples pierced now. I don’t care. I want to taste her, so I do it. First one breast and then the other. I could spend hours playing with her breasts, but I ignore the temptation and force myself to move to the next step. I fasten the nipple clamps, one after another. “Too tight?”
“It’s fine,” she snarls.
“Mmm.” The thin chain pulls at the clamps, weighing them down a little, adding to the sensation. I sink to my knees and give her an arch look. “Spread your thighs.”
She considers disobeying. I can see the conflict written across her pretty features, the desire to submit coming up against her perverse need to fight me every step of the way. Desire wins out, like I suspected it would. Slowly, oh, so slowly, she spreads her thighs.
Like many of the submissives in the Underworld, she’s chosen to go completely bare down here. Her clit doesn’t technically need the same treatment I gave her nipples, not when she’s so blatantly turned on that she’s practically dripping down her thighs. This woman might act like she loathes me, but she’s getting off on what I’m doing all the same.
I part her pussy. She’s so fucking soft, so hot and wet, I almost forego my