The Toad Prince

Chapter Twenty-Four

Nadaria grinned and wrapped her hands around his neck. She could smell the sweet scent of tobacco mixed with a woodsy spice. “Is that so? Because I have to say, you are my worst student.”

“What?” he said, his eyes wide with faux indignation. “How so?”

She arched her eyebrow at him. “Do you even know one step of swing dancing?”

He snickered and shook his head.

“Exactly.”

He kissed her neck, a spot he doted on, and she felt him take a deep breath. “Well, I don’t think it’s my fault.”

“So it’s mine?”

“Absolutely. I prefer other types of dancing with you. With swing dancing, there’s way too much… standing.”

“Is that where Sorin, the naughtiest man I’ve ever known, draws the line? At standing?”

He laughed and twirled her, as if they were dancing, and pushed her back into the tree when he caught her against his chest. Her heart had already taken off, soaring in her chest, and his weight pressed against her called forth the curl of desire that he seemed to own all rights to these days.

His voice was full of smoky desire, asking, “What is that supposed to mean? I feel like you want to see what I can do to you standing up. Like, a challenge.”

A tremor of excitement ran through her, and her skin heated, flushing with anticipation of his touch. He shifted and caught the hem of her dress, lifting and running his fingers up her bare leg. Her heart stuttered with the touch, and she inched her legs open.

Sorin chuckled with wicked intent, and his hooded eyes glowed, the sensual amber lit by desire. “So yes? That’s a yes?”

She brought her mouth to his, and, as usual, their tongues did more dancing than they ever managed to. His fingers slid their way towards the ache between her legs, and he met the fabric of her underwear. They were a new pair, the ones Nicoleta made for her, so obviously they weren’t made of the same spandex material as the pair she’d worn here.

He tried and couldn’t pull them aside, so his hand drifted to the seam at her hip. She moved to help him push them down her legs, but heard the distinct sound of ripping fabric, and her eyes whipped open.

“Hey!” she said, breaking the kiss. “I just got those today!”

He didn’t look sorry at all, his trademark smirk and dimple appearing.

“I had to do it at least once. It was more fun than I expected.”

“Well, that was—” She bit down on her lip as he ran a finger through the gathering wetness at her core. Her hips jerked, trying to seek more, and he smiled.

“Good? You were going to say good, right? Because now I’m free to do this.” Her body spasmed again as he parted her folds and drew lazy circles around her sensitive bud of nerves. “You were going to say you couldn’t wait another second for my touch, weren’t you?”

He moved his fingers down and pierced her flesh, pushing through the softness of her center. His movements weren’t hurried, and the leisurely plunge of his finger in and out stirred the tight coil of desire in her core. When his thumb found her c**t again, the movements together wrenched small, strangled moans from her.

She kissed him again, and panted against his lips, “Yes. Yes, I promise that’s what I was going to say.”

He smiled and pulled her bottom lip through his teeth. “You lie so pretty.”

He kissed down the column of her neck, sucking at the tight tendon of her throat, and then nipping it. She gasped, and a wanton wave of heat cascaded through her. Her fingers laced tight in the hair at his nape, and she dug her nails into his scalp. His hand didn’t stop, but his kiss did, and he breathed hard against her.

“My gods… Nadaria, do you desire my bite?” He’d suspected it before, but that was the most aggressive she’d ever reacted to his attention at her throat.

“Sorin… I-I don’t know.”

He curled the finger inside her, hitting a spot that sent a wave of electric fire quivering through her. A sharp cry ripped out her, and her knees knocked.

“Tell me,” he demanded. “You tell me right now if the thought of my bite heats your blood.” He withdrew his finger and ran it up and down the slit of her core. “I beg you, tell me if some of this wet desire comes from the thought of my teeth sinking into you.”

He pushed two fingers into her and curled them, dragging them against that same sensitive spot.

“Oh, my—yes!” she cried. Her legs turned to jello, and she moaned, holding tight to his neck. His free hand hooked under her knee, and lifted it into the crook of his elbow, opening her legs wide.

His voice was heavy with lust. “Yes, what? Say it.”

“Your bite scares me a little,” she panted. “And… intrigues me a lot.”

That answer perplexed Sorin, and he was unsure how he felt about the revelation. Old habits made his stomach lurch with discomfort at biting her, but his fangs burned with the desire to taste her. A wave of wild bewilderment and sinful lust danced a tempestuous waltz through his veins, and he shuddered.

Nadaria knew she’d shocked him, and he had gone still, probably lost in a turmoil of conflict. The sharp ache he stirred in her core was impatient, not willing to wait, and she moved her hips to seek the release he’d promised.

A low, guttural growl rumbled through him, and her body trembled with the warm sensation of his tongue sliding from just above her collarbone to just under her ear. She could feel his fangs dragging alongside it, and her pulse thrummed like a hummingbird uncaged in her veins.

She thought he would actually do it, but he whispered, “f**k. How you tempt me.”

Sorin stepped closer to her, caging her against the tree, and laid his cheek on top of her head. His hand between them found its ruthless rhythm again, his fingers and thumb pushing all the right buttons, and her breaths were short, shallow gasps.

“Sorin…” He was so sensual when he spoke to her, and she always thought to say sexy things back, but she inevitably became this incoherent, moaning mess where his name was the only word she could remember.

His voice was a husky rasp, saying, “I’ve never felt what I feel for you. I have desired, yes, but the raw need you inspire is maddening. This constant ache to have you. To be inside you in every imaginable way… gods, you don’t know what you do to me. Everything is so different with you.”

The words and what he was doing to her body proved too much. He held her snug, supporting her with his arm under her leg while she tumbled over the edge, and the shuddering waves of ecstasy roared through her. The release left her trembling, trying to pull herself together as he found her lips with his and eased his hand out from under her dress.

“So, you don’t draw the line at standing. Got it,” she teased, kissing his neck. “You’ve made your point.”

But he seemed to be more breathless than she was, still clutching her tight. “I don’t think I draw any lines with you. And the ones I have drawn… you make them blur.”

No biting. No loving. No hoping. They were all being called into question. She was making a mess of everything.

“Plus,” he said, chuckling. “I will take any excuse to have my hands on you. I enjoy proving things like that to you very much. Please, keep challenging me.”

Nadaria held up her bandaged arms and frowned. “Well, my hands are pretty much out of commission.” They weren’t really that bad, but she had something else in mind.

He still had her leg hitched up and pressed forward with his hips, his rigid desire obvious through the thin material of her dress. Sighing, he said, “That’s okay. I guess I will have to survi—”

Her mischievous giggle cut him off, and before she lost her nerve, she elected to be as bold as he was. Sorin was shameless, uninhibited, and absolutely not shy with intimacy. He never seemed to be satisfied until she was boneless, falling apart in his hands, and overwhelmed with pleasure.

Nadaria broke free of his grasp, and cupped his face, kissing him, trying to tell him with her lips how much she… liked him.

Sorin sensed the change in her, and could hear her pulse racing. “What are you up to?”

She ran her hands down his chest and his stomach, dropping to her knees when her hands hit his belt line.

Sorin’s eyes widened. “Oh, gods.”

He glanced over at the windows to make sure no one else was aware of the greatest moment of his recent life happening out here.

Nadaria opened her emotions to him, letting the heat of his desire stir a new fire in her blood.

She unzipped and unbuttoned his pants, and he muttered, “Your hands seem okay.”

Her gaze whipped up to him, her eyebrows lifting. “Well, I can stop.”

“Now? Curse or no, I’m pretty sure I would die if you did.”

A nervous giggle bubbled through her, and she reached in, wrapping her hand around his shaft and easing him out while her heart raced. His breathing was choppier, heavier, and he placed his hand flat against her cheek.

Nadaria wasn’t particularly experienced in this department, but as with everything in her life, she let keen intuition and instinct guide her. She flicked her tongue over the head of his c**k, her heart leaping when he groaned low in his chest.

With one hand on his hip, and the other curled around the base of his length, she moved to take him deeper into her mouth. His entire body tensed and shuddered, his hips jerking to meet her.

She sucked him, her cheeks hollowing at the constant up and down movement. Sorin worked hard not to be too aggressive, used to being in control of their intimacy, and wanting to follow her lead. His hands rested on the tree and he watched her, sure he was living in a dream.

She licked up his shaft and swirled her tongue around the tip, making him moan. How unexpectedly naughty she was.

“f*****g gods,” he ground out. “This is as close to heaven as I’ll ever get, no doubt.”

Nadaria moaned, and he sucked in a sharp breath, making her giggle, and making a soft growl rumble in his chest. She explored with her mouth, learning what made his breath fast and shallow, what made his hips move to her, and enjoying the control she had over his pleasure.

When he could bear it no longer, his hand fisted in her hair, and he rocked to meet her. She felt his hip muscles tightening, shifting under her hand.

“Oh, love,” he breathed. “I’m going to—do you want me to?”

She moaned what sounded like a “mm-hmm,” and he tightened his grip, both in her hair and on the tree, and thrust his hips into her mouth and hand.

Nadaria felt his body stiffen and closed her mouth over him, feeling him spasm against her tongue. She’d never experienced it like that before, all the way to his finish, and felt satisfied with herself.

Sorin’s hands clamped on her arms and he lifted her, securing her between himself and the tree. His cheeks were flushed with excitement and pleasure, and he grinned, gazing down at her through thick lashes.

“You are a wild woman.”

“Me?” she laughed, breathless. “You’re just a bad influence.”

“Am I corrupting you, my sweet witch?”

“Uh, yeah.”

His lopsided, dimpled smirk appeared. “Well, thank the gods I’m finally good at something.”

They snickered together, and she stared up at him, biting her lip. No one had ever made her feel the way she felt when she was with him.

“What are you thinking?” he asked, running his thumb over her cheek.

She ran her fingers down his forearm, where her tattoo decorated his skin.

He tensed, sensing she was thinking about things with very serious implications.

Nadaria sighed, not bold enough to admit her true thoughts to someone she wasn’t even sure could ever love again.

“That I better get back inside.”

Sorin nodded, hoping Mihal would smell his scent so deeply intertwined with hers and f**k off.

“I will see you upstairs after, though?”

“Of course,” she said. Her heart was heavy and achy, but it was also light and happy. She was struggling to understand what she was feeling.

She always thought the True One bond would be simple. Find him. Be swept off her feet. Happily Ever After.

But things with Sorin were not so easy. She certainly felt swept off her feet, swooning for him whenever he was near, but their happily ever after was not so simple.

He smiled and stepped away from her, and she took two steps before stopping. Looking down, she saw her ripped underwear was just chillin’ around her ankle, and she blushed.

Sorin was snickering behind her, and she bent, grabbing and freeing them. Turning back to him, she pressed up against him and tucked them into his pants pocket.

“I guess you can keep these.”

His eyebrows lifted, his eyes flashing with excitement, and he chuckled, the sound dark and mischievous.

“How naughty you are tonight.”

She placed a quick kiss on his lips, and grinned, before turning and hurrying back into the house.