Reign of Darkness (The Prince's Assassin #2) - Ariana Nash Page 0,57

more real than anything Vasili had given him before, even the heated, fury-fueled kisses.

It felt like an acknowledgment of some kind, but Niko couldn’t guess at what. Whatever he guessed, he’d likely be wrong. For now, the touch was no more or less than a touch. And that would have been enough, but then Vasili’s fingers trailed suggestively up his sleeve, eliciting a thrill in Niko’s blood that went straight to his cock.

When Vasili leaned a hip against the rail, fixing Niko in the middle of all his attention, the heat in Vasili’s gaze hinted at where this might go.

Niko tasted his own pulse on his tongue, his heartbeat suddenly thick and loud.

Vasili danced his fingers across Niko’s chest, over a shoulder, and up his neck, and it was all Niko could do to hold himself back from grabbing the prince by the hips and thrusting a kiss on him that would probably earn another slap.

He shifted closer, a hand on Niko’s chest, adjusting Niko’s stance to walk him back against the rail. Niko had no desire to stop this, even as half his sense told him to. The last thing on Etara’s earth he needed was to get further involved with Vasili. But he’d never been very good at resisting temptation, and the prince was definitely that, especially when he leaned in and his light fingertips stroked Niko’s jaw. Vasili was close enough to kiss now, but the prince held back, lifting his gaze as though assessing or waiting or judging. Niko didn’t know which. He tipped Niko’s jaw up, his mouth so close that the sizzling promise of a kiss had Niko’s cock rapidly hardening.

Niko brought a hand around and captured Vasili’s hip, needing leverage to hold him in place.

Vasili tilted his head. “Don’t.”

Niko removed his hand and braced both against the rail instead, but he added a twist of his top lip as he did, not entirely comfortable relenting.

“Good.” As a reward, Vasili bowed his head, brushed his cheek against Niko’s and lower. The prince’s hot, vicious mouth suckled at Niko’s neck. His tongue flicked, so devastatingly light that Niko’s groan was out before he could stop it. Rough-and-wild-and-fast Vasili, he could handle that whirlwind. But this slow and gentle, teasing and light Vasili was fucking torture. The wicked gleam in the prince’s eye revealed he knew it too.

Vasili shifted his hips, deliberately grinding close. Friction sizzled all the way up Niko’s spine.

“Ah,” Vasili warned. “Hold the rail, Nikolas.”

He hadn’t realized he’d grabbed the prince’s waist again and quickly returned his grip to the rail. The angle meant Vasili leaned into him, plastering his hard body close. By the three, it was like being handed a feast while starving and not being allowed to sample the bounty.

Vasili’s mouth teased Niko’s open, subtly convincing Niko’s lips to part. He darted his tongue in. Soft and warm and made to unravel the most restrained of men. The teasing kiss left Niko gasping.

Vasili’s left hand gently clasped Niko’s neck while his right slipped lower, carving between their pressed bodies to find Niko’s cock. His palm brushed roughly through Niko’s trousers fabric, finding its goal.

“Fuck,” Niko spluttered. His body responded, hips tilting, angling his need deeper into Vasili’s hold. Vasili had his cock palmed, and all rational thought abandoned Niko’s head. “Let me touch you?” he growled out, only adding the question at the slight tilt in the final word.

“No.”

Niko panted through gritted teeth. Need simmered through his veins, lighting him up, building to a painfully bottled ache, and Vasili held the tap closed. Held his cock in his grip and wasn’t fucking moving. “You’re killing me.”

Mischief glittered in the prince’s eye. He knew exactly what he was doing, and by the three, it was horrible and wonderful at the same time. Vasili’s talented fingers molded around Niko’s cock as much as the trousers fabric allowed, and he began to rub. It wasn’t enough. Niko needed more.

Vasili plucked on Niko’s shirt laces, spilling them open. His wet lips and tongue swirled along Niko’s collarbone. Blunt teeth nipped, his fingers squeezed, and Niko gasped at it all, the stimulation coming too fast. And he still couldn’t get past the fact Vasili was doing this. Forbidden Vasili. The man he didn’t dare touch. He gripped the rail harder, squeezing so damn tight his knuckles ached. Vasili’s hand rubbed and squeezed and kneaded, and Niko was about to lose his mind and his load.

Vasili kissed him suddenly. He sucked on Niko’s lower lip as