Queen Takes Rose (Wicked Villains #6) - Katee Robert Page 0,54

so many fucking barriers between us, but the promise of something more remains.

I’m not sure what happened last night that put us even more at odds, just like I’m not sure how to retake the distance lost. I tend to go after every problem like it’s a battle to be won, but that approach won’t work with Aurora. She’s just as stubborn as I am, and she’ll dig in her heels and fight me until her last breath if I try to bully her.

No, this will require some finesse. Some…seduction.

Or maybe that’s just an excuse as I trail my fingers lightly over the arm she has thrown across my stomach. Her skin is so unbelievably soft. Everything about Aurora seems designed to entice, from her carefully curated exterior to the flames she hides within. Those flames draw me as much, if not more, than the package that contains them. This woman would be right at home with the Amazons.

I always was attracted to strength.

It’s the reason why I prefer my submissives to be sweet and biddable. It makes them safer, ensures that I’ll never forget myself and become too attached. Only a fool who can’t see beneath the surface would call Aurora sweet and biddable.

She rubs her nose against my chest and shivers. “Let’s pretend this never happened.”

“In a moment.” How quick she is to put distance between us. Last night, I had intended to play out a scene that started in the restaurant and continued back here at the penthouse, but our talk derailed my intentions. For the first time, I can actually feel the seconds of this assignation slipping through my fingers. Not enough time. The distance between us is too gaping to cross with timid steps. If I want her, I have to take her.

Talking won’t work. Not yet. First I have to bridge the space in another way.

I clasp the back of her neck and draw her up to take her mouth. She resists for the barest moment, but it doesn’t last past the first nip of my teeth against her bottom lip. Aurora makes a sound almost like she’s in pain, and then her hands are in my hair, and she’s arching into me as if she can’t get close enough.

Two sides to the same coin. She wants me, but she doesn’t want to want me. I smile against her mouth. Too bad. You’ve given me the key, and I’m more than happy to use it to get what I want. I release her neck and stroke my hand down the smooth line of her back to grab her ass, pulling her up a few inches so I can reach her mouth easier. Our legs get tangled up, and her thigh presses to my pussy. The shock of contact almost derails me, but I have plans this morning, and I fully intend to follow through on them.

In a moment.

Right now, I’m enjoying the way she kisses me too much to stop. Again, that voice deep inside me shivers awake. It could be like this all the time. But only if I play my cards right.

I roll Aurora onto her back and press her down into the mattress. She moans against my mouth, trying to pull me closer. I nip her bottom lip. “Hands against the headboard.”

“Malone—”

“That was a command.”

She sighs dramatically and obeys. I’d believe the brat act if she weren’t shivering against me, the very picture of need coiled into a pretty package. I shift back to kneel between her thighs and just look at her. “It strikes me that I haven’t explored you properly.”’

“Pretty sure you did that the first night.”

I flick her thigh, making her jump. “I’ve been lax on the rules, but we’re reinstating them for the duration of this scene. Be silent unless it’s to answer a question or request permission to come.”

Rebellion flares in Aurora’s dark eyes, but she manages to resist it. At least for the moment. I smile and run my hands lightly up her thighs and over her hips. “Do you want children, Aurora?”

She blinks at me, her mouth dropping open. “What?”

I can’t believe I just asked her that. For all my intentions to keep my planning careful, the words just sprang into existence. “We’ve talked about how little I like to repeat myself.”

“Ah.” She gives herself a shake. “I don’t know. Maybe. I keep waiting for the urge to show up or my ovaries to twinge when Tink talks about babies, but maybe I just