Wonderland 2: King of Spades Read online

  Darronn let out a low rumble and Tok trotted faster. Alexi had to bite her lip to keep from giggling, and she never giggled unless she was drunk.

  One thing she noticed was that his people did not look at him with fear, or with reverence as if he was some kind of god. Instead they smiled and appeared open and friendly like they were used to him working right beside them. Yet she could clearly see their respect for their king, too.

  The village reminded her of a cross between a medieval setting and something more fantastical. Carts laden with produce, hay, and things Alexi didn’t recognize, traveled along the wide street…but with no obvious means of locomotion. No horses, no motors, no person even guiding them. Vendors stood behind boxes of fruits and vegetables that hovered without support, and unusual objects appeared and disappeared at random.

  The road was paved with flagstones and all kinds of shops lined each side. Everything was clean and well kept and it smelled wonderful…of fresh baked bread from a bakery, roasted meats from a street vendor, and ale from a tavern. Her stomach rumbled again, and she realized it had been a good day since her huge meal and night out with Annie.

  At the thought of her cousin, her smile turned into a frown. If Alexi didn’t get back to her soon, Annie would freak. She was calm and quiet, a real southern lady, but she could get riled in a hurry if people she loved were in trouble.

  When Alice had vanished, Annie had searched for her as hard as anyone had. Even though Annie had told Alexi she needed to get on with her life, she knew better than to believe that her cousin would follow her own advice. In her own quiet way, Annie would continue the search for Alice and never give up. And if Alexi didn’t make it back…damn. Annie might even blame herself for not walking Alexi into the house and making sure it was locked up tight.

  And of course Aunt Awai would go ballistic. Never mind Alexi’s administrative assistant, Angie, who also happened to be a friend.

  Nope, not even going to consider not getting back home. Alexi never let down the people she loved.

  When they were beyond the admiring stares of the villagers, Alexi was almost disappointed. She could understand how models and movie stars enjoyed showing off their assets to the public—it made her hotter than ever. And best of all, it had made Darronn crazy.

  As Tok carried them from the village and climbed higher on the mountain, Alexi caught glimpses of a massive earth-toned structure through the trees. It blended into the mountainside, like an incredibly huge work of art.

  “Did it please you to have my people look upon your body?” Darronn asked in a furious tone, breaking into her thoughts.

  Holding back a laugh, Alexi replied, “And what if it did?”

  Darronn’s voice deepened. “You will learn to respond to me in a manner befitting your station.”

  Alexi rolled her eyes. “Get off it already.”

  He actually growled. “Your punishments continue to grow.”

  “Whatever.” She was too damn lightheaded and hungry to argue with him right now, and she was afraid that he was going to make her beg for food. She could just see it now, her dying of starvation because he was too stubborn to stop trying to make her call him Master.

  And she was too stubborn to give in.

  When they finally broke through the cover of trees, she could clearly see the château spilling down the hillside, flowing with the terrain. She straightened in her seat, pulling away from Darronn as she absorbed the most beautiful place she’d ever seen.

  “It’s gorgeous,” she said aloud, without meaning to.

  “Welcome to Spades.” Pride filled Darronn’s voice. “Your new home.”

  She ignored the comment and instead concentrated on the terraced gardens, the balconies and large windows that must give a breathtaking view of his realm.

  When they reached the utmost point, at the highest floor of the building, Darronn guided Tok to what she thought must be a stable. Unusual animal sounds came from the stable, like the sounds Tok had made upon occasion during the ride to the château.

  Darronn swung off Tok’s back then pulled Alexi off in a quick movement, her hands still bound behind her. He spun her around and clasped one hand on her ass cheek, forcing her tight to him while his other hand cupped the back of her head and held her still. “You are a stubborn wench,” he said in a fierce growl, his green eyes blazing as though lit with fire from within.

  She met his gaze dead on. “And you’re a stubborn ass.”

  Darronn brought her roughly to him at the same moment he lowered his mouth to hers. His lips crushed hers, and her head spun with the thrill and excitement of the barely contained power raging through him.

  He was furious with her, but he wouldn’t hurt her, she was absolutely certain. Her instincts had never failed her. King Darronn might be a bad boy, but he was a good man…who just happened to want to get his way all the time.

  Well he’d met his match in Alexi O’Brien, and if he hadn’t figured that one out, he was sure to in a hurry.

  Darronn pulled away from her and snarled. With a roar he threw Alexi over his shoulder and strode toward his château and his quarters. The anger and lust burning through Darronn was beyond anything he had felt in his almost two hundred and forty Tarok years.

  “Neanderthal!” Alexi wiggled against his back and shouted, “Put me down!”

  He positioned his arms just beneath Alexi’s ass so that her quim would not be seen by members of his château. With his mate over his shoulder, her breasts and mons were covered, away from curious gazes. He no longer questioned why he felt such desire to keep his future queen as his own. She belonged to him, and never again would he share her in any manner. In the presence of others, she would always remain clothed.

  The sound of Darronn’s boots rang out against the polished black granite as he strode down steps that led him through the magnificent beveled glass and wood doors, the wood carved from the finest ch’tok trees. Alexi continued to order him to put her down, and before any of his servants could hear her, he swatted her naked ass with the flat of his free hand.

  She yelped and moaned all in one breath, and Darronn’s cock was surely going to explode. Torches lit his way as his long strides ate up the endless hallway of polished black granite as he headed toward his quarters. Servants remained scarce, apparently sensing his foul mood. Darronn had never harmed any subject within his realm and he never would. Nevertheless, when his mood was dark, those in his employ stayed clear.

  When he finally reached his quarters, Darronn shoved the doors open with his magic and used it again to slam the heavy wood behind him. He slipped Alexi from his shoulder and tossed her into the middle of his bed.

  Alexi landed on her back, her legs splayed, her eyes wide, her lips parted, and her hands still bound behind her back. Her folds were swollen and glistening with moisture, and her nipples large and taut.

  Growling, Darronn paced the floor at the foot of the carved wooden bed. He had to regain control. He could not allow this wench to gain the upper hand on him in any way.

  With a twist of his fingers in the air, he used his magic to release the binding he’d placed on her bracelets.

  “About time.” She pushed herself up so that her freed hands now braced her, but she didn’t close her silk-clad thighs. Instead she tossed back her head and waited, as if daring him to slide between those thighs and take her.

  “You have earned more punishments, wench,” he said as he continued pacing.

  “And you don’t get it, do you?” Alexi moved so that she was on her hands and knees, moving to the edge of the bed, toward him, in a slow feline crawl, and he came to an abrupt stop. Her breasts swayed, almost mesmerizing him with their movements, and her tiger charm dangled from her navel. “I don’t care what you think, or what you do to me. I will bow to no man.”

  “In that you are greatly mistaken.” Darronn strode to Alexi and grabbed a handful of her auburn hair and held her head in front of his furious erection. “If I order you to suck my cock
, you will.”

  “No.” She shook her head and her mouth brushed against his leather breeches and he half thought she intentionally did it to drive him mad.

  “If I order you to lie on your belly so that I might take you from behind, you will do so.”

  “Nope.” Alexi skimmed her tongue along the outline of his erection, and despite himself his cock jerked in his breeches. “I’ll do it only if it’s because that’s what I want.”

  Darronn grabbed Alexi’s waist. In a quick movement he sat on the bed and had her settled across his lap. She gasped and tried to move, but he had her positioned so that her ass was up in the air, her arms and hair hanging over her head. He slid his fingers between her thighs and forced them apart so that he could see her folds. Her warm scent nearly drove him to take her, damn the training.

  “Let me up, Conan.” She struggled and pounded at his boot-covered calf. “Ow. What’s that thing made of—steel?”

  Alexi wasn’t sure what Darronn was going to do to her, but she had a good idea that he was going to spank her…and she hoped he would. Her pussy was already wetter at the thought, and even struggling against him, acting like she didn’t want it was turning her on even more. The masterful way he handled her was sexually exciting, and not demeaning at all—not like calling him Master would be. That was pushing things too far.

  She moaned as he rubbed her ass with his palm. “What will it take to teach you your rightful place, firecat?”

  “I’m your equal, Darronn.” She squirmed in his lap, feeling the hard press of his cock against her hip. “When are you going to realize you can’t control me?”

  “Do you understand why I am punishing you?” he asked, his calloused hand stroking her ass cheeks in a slow, rhythmic movement.

  “Just do it already.” Alexi arched her hips up toward his hand. “And then fuck me.”

  A sharp inhalation, like she’d thrown him for a loop, and then his hand smacked her ass. Hard.

  Alexi shouted, more from the surprise than from the sting. Before she had a chance to catch her breath, he swatted her again and again, each time in a different location.

  The sensations were wild and unexpected. She’d been turned on by the thought of being sexually spanked by a powerful man, but she’d never imagined it would be like this. His swats smarted, but each sting turned into immediate warmth that spread over her ass cheeks and straight to her pussy.

  Just when she was about to come, Darronn flipped her off of his lap and onto her back on the bed. A glaze of passion and need filled her vision, and she prayed that he was going to drive his cock into her. But instead he slid his palms beneath her stinging ass cheeks and lowered his face toward her pussy.

  Alexi nearly came unglued as he paused and took a deep breath, as though drinking in the rich scent of her juices. “I want your cock inside me, Darronn.”

  He dipped his tongue into her core and she cried out, arching into him. “Such a sweet, sweet taste,” he murmured, as though lost in the moment. Then he laved her in one long stroke from core to mound.

  She shouted and grabbed his head, clenching her hands in his hair as if that might allow her to hold him there until he finished the job. Darronn only paused a moment, perhaps warring with himself for giving her any control at all. But then he pressed his face against her folds and sucked on her clit.

  A shriek tore from Alexi, so loud and so long, that it was a wonder the windows didn’t shatter. Her hips jerked against him as her orgasm nearly split her in two. Darronn gave a growl of satisfaction as he continued to press against her, to force her to another orgasm, then another.

  She struggled against him, trying to get him to stop. The pleasure was too exquisite, too much to take. She’d thought the spade had been unbelievable, but Darronn’s mouth took her even further, until he finally let her go.

  While he watched his mate recover from her many orgasms, he studied her flushed face and body, the heavy rise and fall of her chest, the fluids drenching her folds. The need to take her was beyond any need he remembered ever experiencing in his life.

  Control. This was about him gaining control of his woman.

  His need for her was so great he had to obtain release now. If it had been any other wench than Alexi that he endeavored to train, he would have sought out Kalina or any one of the servants, like the voluptuous Kira. In the past he would have taken several wenches at once. But now that he had found Alexi, he could no longer think of himself with any woman in any way. It occurred to him that now he understood why Jarronn would only enjoy Alice’s pleasures.

  For Darronn would have no woman but Alexi in his bed.

  He kept his gaze focused on her glazed aqua eyes as he unfastened his breeches. He didn’t dare spell his clothing away, or the feel of his bare skin against hers would surely drive him to take her. Not that clothing could stop him.

  Darronn climbed onto the bed and straddled Alexi, pulling out his cock at the same time as he neared her face. Her eyes grew wide, and he heard her murmur something that sounded like, “Ohmygod,” and “King Kong.”

  Before she had a chance to deny him with words, he placed his cock to her mouth. She parted her lips and he slid into her wet warmth.

  Alexi took him deeper than he had expected, her eyes focused on him while her tongue swirled around the head of his cock and she applied strong suction. She brought her hands up and wrapped one around the base of his cock, and cradled his bollocks with the other. With any of his women in the past, he would never have allowed them use of their hands without his permission. He demanded total submission and complete control.

  But Alexi…what in the name of the skies was she doing to him?

  She made soft moans as she sucked him, and her eyes told him how much she enjoyed his cock in her mouth. He braced his hands on the bed, above her head, determined to take more control, and started thrusting his hips harder and faster in and out of her mouth.

  The need for his woman had built to such incredible proportions that his climax slammed into him like an avalanche roaring down from a Tarok Mountain peak. He bellowed as he came, his shout loud enough to thunder through his château. His fluid spurted into the back of Alexi’s throat as she sucked him and sucked him, until he pulled his wet and still firm cock out of her mouth.

  She licked at a drop of his fluid that had dribbled down the corner of her mouth. “I need your cock in me, Darronn. Now.”

  He shook his head and eased away from her until he stood at the foot of the bed. “A bath will be drawn for you and dinner shall be served in these quarters.”

  Darronn ignored the lust and surprise in her eyes, and fastened his breeches as he strode toward the doors. He shoved the wood open with his hands, but used his magic to close and lock them tight so that his future queen could not escape.

  After leaving Alexi, Darronn shifted into a tiger and loped down the long hallways of his château, his paws silent against the granite floor. He slipped away from his home and into the darkening forest and prowled through the ch’tok and sini trees. He made not a sound as he slipped between bushes and bounded over crystal streams. His gaze took in all that surrounded him, and his sensitive hearing caught every sound, from the chirrup of crickets to the scamper of mice amongst the forest’s damp leaves.

  His thoughts turned toward Alexi’s concern for her missing sister. Should he tell her that Alice was now High Queen of Tarok and the Queen of Hearts?

  A rumble rose up in his chest. If he did it was likely she would want to leave immediately, making it far more difficult to convince her that her place was with him in Spades. No, he would wait until the appropriate time, when he decided it was time for her to know.

  In all Darronn’s years, never had he known such a frustrating and stubborn woman as Alexi. At his every turn she defied him. She reveled in her defiance, even.

  Within his soul, he knew that Alexi’s heart needed to heal from past wounds—he sensed it as clearly as if she had told him aloud. He knew that she needed to
give control to him so that she would no longer feel as though she must take on the world.

  But how will I convince her of that?

  He had already shown weakness with her. As any good Tarok King or Master would, he should become stricter, should rein the wench in and keep her under tighter control.

  Yet even as the thoughts crossed his mind, he pictured Alexi refusing him at every turn. With his physical and magical superiority, he could force her to bow down to him, could take everything away from her until she gave into his demands.

  But he did not wish to force her. He wanted her to experience enjoyment, not anger or frustration, or pain beyond what was exciting and pleasurable. No doubt her fiery spirit would not allow her to be dominated.

  Do I want to break that spirit?

  Shaking his large head, Darronn gave a low growl and plunged deeper into the forest. No, he did not wish to break her. He reveled in his future queen’s passionate nature, admired all that he had seen of her.

  How then to train her to serve at my side?

  Compromise was the word that came to his mind, but did not easily come to his tongue. He was King of Spades, damn the skies, and his subjects followed his orders without question.

  However, Alexi was not his subject, and had not been raised in the ways of his world. She would be his queen, not his servant. Could, perhaps, different rules apply to her?

  He was king. He made the rules in his kingdom.

  Alexi had asked for clothing when he demanded it of her, but she had refused to call him Master. Was it enough that she asked for what it was that she wanted, without referring to him in such a manner?

  With the grace of his species, Darronn bounded over several felled trees and caught the scent of an anlia buck nearby. His belly roared with hunger and his predatory senses kicked in. Perhaps a hunt and a good feed would clear his mind.