A Kingdom of Stars and Shadows (Stars and Shadows, #1)

by Holly Renee

“Take it,” he growled, and his hands tightened against my throat and my thigh. “If you want me, take it, princess.”

He kissed me as if every bit of the power that was prophesied to flow through my body fueled him with every swipe of his tongue.

“Tell me that you’re mine, princess. Even if it isn’t true, I need to hear you say it.”

“Why are you so cruel?” “This isn’t cruelty, princess.” He chuckled softly, and the sound felt like a warning. “This is me doing everything in my power not to steal you away from this place so that I can keep you for myself.”

“I want to rid myself of this longing I have for you. I wish to fuck you out of my system so that I can kneel before you like the rest of the kingdom without dreaming of what you taste like between your thighs.”

“Every thought I have of you is treasonous, the way my hands ache to touch you, deceitful. Even my dreams make me a traitor of my own kingdom.”

“Then stop,” I whispered as I straightened my shoulders. The way he spoke of me as if I was a poison that was infecting every inch of him. “That’s the thing, princess,” he whispered before his lips pressed against my bare shoulder. “I don’t want to.”

“But my anger with you does nothing to extinguish my want. If anything, I somehow want you even more now. I want to mark your beautiful skin with proof of my touch so everyone knows that you belong to me.”

“It already took everything I had not to bend you over that throne and fuck you until no one was confused about the fact that you were mine. Not whoever tried to harm you, not the queen, and definitely not my fucking brother.”

“And now I’m kneeling between your thighs that are marked with a mix of your magic and my own, and I am still desperate to mark you with my fingers just as harshly. But you already have enough to hide, princess.”

“Only someone wicked could make me want to fall to my knees before her and pledge my loyalty to her with my tongue. My family be damned.”

“I haven’t asked for your loyalty, Evren.” “No?” He stepped even closer to me and ran his knuckles along my hand. “You’ve simply demanded it of me with every breath you take. You may not have asked, princess, but gods, you have it regardless.”

“What was it that he said?” He cocked his head to the side as he watched my lips open in a sigh. “That no one else can touch you.” He pressed the book harder against me, and my back straightened against the chair. “Technically, I’m not laying a single finger on you, princess.”

“He couldn’t be threatened by a book, could he?”

“Take from me what you know he’ll never be able to give you.”

“Eyes on me, princess,” he commanded, and my gaze snapped open to meet his. “I want to watch you while you fall apart beneath me. Let go. Let me see all of you.”

“Good girl. Come apart for me right here in the library where anyone could catch us.”

“There is nothing you can do that would be wrong, princess. However you want to touch me is more than I could ever beg of the gods.”

“You undo me every time my name is uttered from your lips.”

“That’s it, princess. Scream my name while they eagerly await you. You are their savior but my demise. You are to ruin every part of me.”

“I don’t give a damn if it was my father himself, princess. No one will hurt you and not see the end of my blade.”

“You may be blessed by the stars, princess, but you were fucking made for me. Fate be damned.”