Chapter 96 Chapter Ninety-five
ARA
The door to the suite slammed shut behind us with a heavy thud, the lock clicking like a starting gun.
Thayne didn’t waste a second. He spun me, my back slamming against the wood as his mouth came crashing down on mine in a kiss that was all teeth and hunger.
There was no gentleness or slow build, it was just raw, devouring need. His tongue invaded my mouth, claiming, punishing and tasting me like he’d been starved for weeks instead of hours.
I moaned into him, my hands flying to his bare chest, nails scraping over chilled skin and hard muscle.
He growled in response, the sound vibrating through my lips, my bones. One large hand fisted in my hair, yanking my head back to expose my throat. His mouth descended on my throat, hot, open-mouthed kisses turning to bites that stung and soothed in the same breath.
He marked me, hard enough to bruise, sucking at the pulse hammering beneath my skin.
“You’re mine, Arayna,” he rasped against my neck, his voice turning into a fierce mix of gravel and fire. “Every fucking inch.”
His other hand shoved between us, ripping at my clothes with impatient violence.
In less than five seconds, cold air hit my breasts, but then his palm was there, rough and scorching, kneading one roughly while his thumb flicked over my nipple until it ached.
I gasped, arching into him, my thighs clenching around the throb already pulsing between them.
Thayne didn't ask or wait. He shoved the now ruined fabric down my hips, taking my panties with them, until I was bare from the waist down.
His fingers plunged between my legs without warning, two thick digits sinking deep into my slick heat before curling deep and hard.
I cried out, my head knocking back against the door.
“Fuck, you're soaked,” he snarled, pumping roughly, his thumb grinding my clit in merciless circles. “You’ve been dripping for me since the river, haven’t you?”
“Yes….. aaaaaaahhhhh!” The word broke on a sob as he added a third finger, stretching me, fucking me with his hand like he couldn’t wait another second.
He withdrew abruptly, and I whimpered at the loss, only for him to spin me again, bending me forward over the nearest surface: a heavy oak dresser against the wall.
My palms slapped the wood for balance. Behind me, I heard the rasp of his zipper and the rustle of denim shoved down just enough.
Then the blunt, hot head of his cock nudged my entrance. He didn’t ease in. With one brutal thrust, he buried himself to the hilt, stretching me wide, filling me so completely that my vision sparked white.
I screamed his name, my fingers clawing at the dresser as he pulled back and slammed home again. This time he went harder, deeper, setting a punishing pace that shook my womb.
Oh God. The twins. I should tell him to slow down, I should—
His hand fisted my hair again, arching my back as he set a ruthless pace, his hips snapping forward, skin slapping skin, every stroke driving the air from my lungs.
“Look at you,” there was nothing friendly about his voice as he spoke, “Taking my cock like you were made for it. Like you’ll die without it.”
I couldn’t answer, I could barely breathe as he fucked me relentlessly, one hand sliding around to pinch and roll my clit until I shattered.
My orgasm hit me like a freight train, my pussy walls clamping down around him, pleasure ripping through me in violent waves.
But he didn’t stop. He rode me through it, his thrusts turning erratic and savage, until he slammed deep one final time and came with a guttural roar, hot pulses flooding me, marking me inside just as thoroughly as he had outside.
We stayed locked like that, him buried deeply inside of me, his chest heaving against my back, my body trembling around his.
Only when the aftershocks faded did he ease out slowly, turning me to face him.
His eyes were still dark with hunger.
“That was just the beginning,” he murmured against my lips.
I believed him. And I couldn’t wait for round two.
I opened my mouth to protest or beg for more, I wasn’t sure which, but a sharp, insistent knock thundered against the door.
“Your time is up!” Nadia’s voice rang out from the hallway, dripping with dry impatience.
Thayne let out a string of filthy curses under his breath, as he scooped me up, my legs still trembling as he wrapped my thighs around his waist.
“Fucking terrible timing,” he growled, carrying me effortlessly into the en-suite bathroom.
The shower was already running, steam curling thick in the air, the glass walls fogged from the heat.
He stepped us both under the scalding spray without letting me go, water sluicing over our sweat-slick skin and the evidence of what he’d just done to me.
His hands were everywhere, washing me with quick, efficient strokes that still managed to ignite fresh sparks along my nerves.
Soap-slick fingers slid between my thighs, cleaning his release from me with deliberate thoroughness, his thumb brushing my oversensitive clit just enough to make me gasp and clench around nothing.
“Later,” he promised darkly against my ear, nipping the lobe hard enough to sting. “I’m nowhere near done with you.”
Twenty minutes later, our hair still damp, with our bodies hastily dried and dressed in borrowed clothes that smelled faintly of pine and gun oil (yuck), we descended the stairs back to the lobby.
Nadia stood near the massive stone fireplace, one brow arched high as if she knew exactly what we'd done. I was sure she did.
Her guards flanked her discreetly, their eyes averted but alert.
She took in our flushed faces, the faint red marks peeking above my collar, the way Thayne’s hand rested low and claiming on my back.
“Feel better?” she asked dryly.
Thayne’s only response was a slow, predatory smile that promised violence to anyone who commented further.
Nadia rolled her eyes. “Good. Because playtime’s over. We have two crime lords to bury.”
She gestured to the room beyond the foyer archway where there were maps already spread across a heavy oak table.
Thayne’s arm tightened around me as we moved forward.
“We’ll use Ara as bait,” Nadia blurted out finally, the words dropping into the room like a live grenade.
The room went dead silent. Maps rustled faintly under the weight of the sudden tension. Her guards shifted, their eyes flicking to Thayne.
Thayne didn’t move at first. He stood behind me, one hand resting possessively on the back of my chair, the other idly tracing the curve of my shoulder.
But the second Nadia spoke, that hand froze. Then it tightened, his fingers digging into my skin hard enough to bruise.
The air around him turned arctic. His voice, when it came, was quiet. Too quiet.
“Say that again.”