High Stakes (The Kingdom Book 2) (6 page)

I turn carefully, and it doesn’t hurt my ribs as much as I thought it might have which reinforces that I’m just bruised, and it’ll only take a few days to heal. When I’ve turned around fully, I look up. Denham’s hand is outstretched just in front of my face at eye level. He has his palm full of bubbles, and his head dipped with a wicked gleam in his eye. I don’t have any time to react as it takes me a couple of seconds to take it in. He blows hard and the bubbles cover my face, making me jump and squeal. I push my hands into the deep water in front of me to move backwards fast, but all it does is create a wave of water, which hits Denham’s chest and splashes up into his face. He gasps and when his eyes meet mine he raises a brow and grins. He leans forward ever so slowly, his hands rest on the bottom of the bath and he pushes himself up onto his feet so he’s crouching like an animal that’s about to stalk his prey. My eyes widen, locked with his. My breath hitches. His body is covered in a layer of silky bubbles and all of a sudden there’s a familiar crackle in the air, and it’s not so playful anymore. It’s carnal.

He settles his knees on either side of my thighs, trapping me underneath him, and his eyes don’t leave mine the whole time he’s moving.

As his chest moves forward, I move back as far as the tub will allow until I have my back pressed to the marble, and Denham has his chest pressed to mine.

His head dips, and he kisses a path from my neck, along my collarbone.

“Now that I have you all soapy and wet in the tub, what am I going to do with you?” Denham whispers into my skin.

He trails his fingers from my shoulder, down my chest and pushes the bubbles aside that have clung to my skin and I let my head fall back and rest on the edge of the rolled top of the tub. He brushes his fingertips slowly over my bruised ribs, then inhales a sharp intake of breath. “Fuck … Ari …”

I snap my head up to look at him, as his whole face changes from turned on to worried.

“What?” I ask, confused.

“Your ribs … Look at your fucking ribs,” he says scraping his wet hands through his hair.

I glance down and sure enough, there’s a deep, vicious looking bruise the size of my hand, spanning the side of my ribs. I knew they were sore but until now I hadn’t even thought to look at my bare skin.

Denham gets to his feet and gets out of the tub. He wraps a towel around his waist and although I don’t miss his obvious erection, he ignores my glances.

“Hey, where are you going?” I call out to him.

“I’m getting out, I’ll wait right here until you’re out, then I need to get back and get dressed,” he says, muttering more to himself with a deep frown marring his face.

“Denham.”

“I won’t be far, just shout when you’re done.”

“Denham,” I say, more forcefully this time and he looks up at me. “I’m not broken.”

He glances down, staring at a spot on the floor, anywhere but me. When he looks up and catches my eye he sighs, “No, Ari. But you are bruised.”

“Then be gentle with me,” I answer seductively.

“Ari …” he warns.

“What? You can’t be gentle?”

“I’m worried I’ll hurt you,” he says softly.

“I know you won’t,” I answer him with the utmost certainty.

His eyes roam my body, lingering on every curve that he can see above the water. His exploration stops at my ribs and he frowns.

I dip my palm into the water, and pick up a handful of bubbles. I gently smear them across my skin, covering the bruising in the hope that if he can’t see it, he’ll at least be able to push back the feeling that I’m damaged, even just for a short while. As I move my hand, my fingers skim my nipple and it hardens underneath the soft white bubbles that are left behind.

“Are you purposefully making it difficult for me to say no to you, Ari?”

“Yes,” I answer simply. “I want you, and if you say no to me, well … I may be a while longer in here than it takes to wash my hair.”

The confidence he fills me with, possibly teamed with whatever painkillers I’m on right now, makes me braver than I’ve been before. The fire that he has lit, is well and truly burning, and the feeling of desire consumes me with every heated look he gives me or his touch on my skin.

I hold his gaze, and pull my bottom lip between my teeth before slipping my hand beneath the surface of the bubbles, and between my legs. I’m nervous. But, I’m also beyond turned on, and I can see from the outline of Denham’s towel, he is too. It’s not that I’ve never touched myself before. I have. But, I’ve never done it in front of someone. I’ve never wanted to, until now. My index finger slides across my sensitive clit, and that initial touch forces a jolt of sensation through my body. A soft moan leaves my lips as I slowly work in small, gentle circles, building the pressure and intensity. Denham’s eyes have only left mine to follow the path of my hand but his voyeurism is hindered by the layers of soft white bubbles.

“Stunner … “

“Yes,” I answer breathlessly.

“You need to stop that.”

I smile at him seductively, quirking a brow in challenge, before I close my eyes and let my fingers move across my slick flesh. My breaths start to become faster and shallower. I hear Denham’s towel drop to the floor and his footsteps come closer to me. My skin prickles with anticipation.

“You trying to show me you don’t need me, Stunner?”

I open my eyes to find him gloriously naked, and standing right next to the tub with his hands braced on the edge.

“Mmm hmm,” I answer before taking my time to look him up and down as he did me. I could look at him all day. I want to kiss every ripple, every dip in his tan flesh.

“Oh, I have no doubt you can get yourself off, but I’m going to show you how good it feels to have me do it.”

I groan at his words and my tongue snakes out to skim my lip. He leans forward plunging his hand through the surface of the water and pushing my fingers out of the way. His index finger is longer, wider and rougher than mine, and the difference in sensation pushes my arousal up a gear.

He kneels next to the bath tub and levels his eyes to mine. I watch his pupils react as his hand moves deeper. He pushes a finger inside of me, and I gasp. Not because it’s painful, it doesn’t hurt. He’s gentle but assured at the same time, and although this isn’t the first time someone has touched me like this, it feels different. It’s a consuming arousal that travels through my body and forces a reaction from all of my senses with the smallest of movements. When he gently crooks his finger towards the front of my stomach, I push my hips forward and let out a cry. Denham reacts by crashing his mouth to mine. He moans a deep throaty moan, and drags my bottom lip between his teeth. His finger pushes in and out of me, curling and sending sparks through my whole body.

“Arianna.”

“Yes,” I pant. My body is being worked into such a frenzy that although I’m not moving, the sensations are making me breathless.

“Tell me what you want.”

“I want you,” I say, as I sit upright, holding his gaze and pushing myself to my knees. He grumbles a little at having to lose contact with me but raises himself to standing, and bends at the waist, bracing his hand on the side of the tub, meeting me at eye level and watching me with curiosity etched across his face.

“I want us,” I whisper and reach up with my hands to drag my nails gently down his thighs. He shivers and pushes his hips forward involuntarily.

The way his eyes are heavy with lust, and his body is straining to keep control, makes me want him in every way possible. I know he’ll try and be gentle with me after seeing my bruising and once again I find myself thinking up ways I can convince him that I’m not broken. I want him slow and sensual. I want him fast and hard. I want him every way imaginable.

I push my hands across his skin and splay my palms across his ass. When I pull forward gently, he silently protests by pushing against me with equal pressure. When I dig my fingers into his flesh, he chuckles.

“I know what you’re doing,” he warns.

“Then you’ll know I’m about to do this—”

I pull his ass forward as far as I can without throwing him off balance, and his hands leave the tub so he can stand up straight. I take his cock in my hand and stroke firmly from tip to base and back again. I wet my lips with my tongue, and lean forward to take him in my mouth. When he hisses in a breath and mutters “Fuck.” I know I’ve got him. I close my lips over him and swirl my tongue around. He swells in my mouth, and I can tell it’s taking every ounce of his composure not to thrust his hips. I don’t want him to be gentle with me. I don’t want to be treated with fragility. I take him deeper into my mouth, hitting the back of my throat, and I moan with determination.

“Ari, you can’t … oh fuck, that feels so fucking good,” he groans, and while his muscles are taut, I feel him relax knowing he can’t hurt me this way.

His hands tangle in my hair, gently at first but with more tension as I move faster, his breaths become more rapid and he loses a little of his composure. This is what I want. I want him undone.

I want uninhibited, carnal, explosive exchanges. I want us to explore each other’s bodies as if it were the first time and neither of us have fear nor false expectations. He makes me want to push forward, to do all these things with him. I just need to make him see that he doesn’t need to be so cautious. Slowly but surely, I’m doing it. And when the time comes that we are both 100 percent on that level … Oh my god, it’s going to be explosive.

His fingers flex and grip tighter in my curls, and with every move of his hand, I suck a little harder.

He pulls back and cups my chin softly. “Just so you know, I won’t always be gentle with you. I won’t fuck you while you’re battered and bruised but that doesn’t mean you can’t come ...”

“Good,” I reply.

“But I can’t take you hard while I know your bones will protest. I can’t do it knowing that I could cause you pain.”

He pauses before he takes his hand from my chin and he strokes himself. “Touch yourself, Ari. Make yourself come.”

He knows I like to watch him. I think I could actually come just by watching. I know he likes to watch me, too. The voyeur in us creeps out when we are together. I have no desire to watch anyone else but him though. The erotic way he moves his hand, the way the rise and fall of his chest gets faster with every stroke. It’s rhythmic. I feel empty because I want him inside me but the pressure of an orgasm is building and I feel like I’m going to combust if he doesn’t touch me. If
I
don’t touch me.

I slip my fingers between my legs and instantly ignite, the sensations bouncing through my body kick up a notch and I moan, knowing it will drive him crazy as much as needing to release the tension I had held in my chest.

I want to taste him, to feel him. I want him inside of me but I know he won’t do it so I focus on the sensation, and the reality in front of me. Denham King taking himself in hand.

He cups my face and draws my head upwards toward him, forcing me to kneel up as high as I can go. Then he takes my mouth with his. He’s firm and commanding, caught up in the moment, but he’s not nasty or vicious.

He’s claiming.

Claiming me.

Claiming what we have and letting me know that nothing has changed. In fact, it’s strengthening. With every shared breath, every intimate touch, I’m falling harder for him.

His tongue sweeps the roof of my mouth, and I whimper at the sensation it sends down my spine. He plays my body effortlessly, and for a second I question how he’s so damn good at this. My stomach churns at the thought, but Denham kisses me harder and all the negativity dissolves. It disperses, leaving behind an electrifying certainty.

His hand moves faster as he continues to stroke himself and he kisses me harder, groaning in my mouth.

I pull back, look him in the eye and grin before I bend at the waist to take his cock in my mouth.

I suck in just the tip and he keeps stroking with his hand, and when I look up at him with my mouth full, he shudders. “Fuck, Stunner.” His words rush out on a needy breath, which makes me suck him harder. “I’m close … Ari, are you close?”

I nod. I
am
close. Real close.

My fingertips work in faster circles, pushing harder, needing to find more friction. He strokes faster and we both moan as we reach the point of orgasm.

He grates out a “Fuuuuck” between gritted teeth and rests his free hand gently on the back of my head. His hips start to twitch and his face tightens.

“Ari … I’m going to come, you don’t have t—” I cut off his words by sucking harder. He grunts from deep in his chest and seeing him reach his climax starts the spasms of my own orgasm to detonate and roll through my body. I moan around his cock at the same time as he explodes and comes in my mouth. Our climaxes peak simultaneously and meet, causing our bodies to convulse and shiver.

It feels like it lasts forever when in reality it’s just a few seconds.

Denham braces his hands on the side of the tub, and I collapse back on shaky legs into the bubble filled water. Both of us are panting and trying to catch our breath.

When Denham raises his head to look at me, he grins and shakes his head.

“What?” I say

“You, Ari,” he says grabbing up a fresh, dry towel and holding it open for me to wrap up in. “Just you. Come on, out,” he orders.

I stand up carefully, as my legs are still unsteady and I realize where the saying ‘Weak at the knees’ comes from. He helps me get out, and wraps me tight in the white fluffy towel. He doesn’t release me. Instead, he pulls me into him and gazes into my eyes. He sees right into my soul, I’m sure. “Every hour we spend together, you amaze me more and more, Stunner.” He pauses and brushes the stray hairs from my face. “You’re stronger than you know,” he whispers, before placing a gentle, lingering kiss on my forehead. I lean into him, feeling every crease in his lips and every emotion he’s trying to convey.