"Should we move to the King’s chamber?" Lauren asked when they went to the bedroom after dinner.
She went to her vanity table and started taking off her jewelry.
"It’s the biggest in the royal chambers. I thought you might want to enjoy all the privileges as the King."
"I am fine here. Why, do you want a bigger room?"
She saw him walk towards her in the mirror. She dropped her diamond earrings on the table and was about to take off her necklace too, but she stopped when Alec’s fingers touched her nape and unclasped her necklace.
With her hair tied in a classic updo, she could feel his breath against her bare nape when she crouched to plant her skin a lingering kiss.
The necklace fell on the table with a thud as Alec snaked his arm on her waist, pulling her close to his body.
"I believe we have an unfinished business," he whispered, his lips gently traveled to the crook in her neck.
She shivered.
"You can’t drink blood from me. You’ve taken more than a sip this morning."
"Who says I want your blood?" He bit her ear, making her gasp. His hand on her abdomen slowly went up until it reached her breast.
Although she was still fully clothed, it did not stop her from feeling the warmth of his hand cupping her mound as though she was bare.
"You might want to give me a strip show. I won’t mind," he suggested darkly.
She looked at him in the mirror with sleepy eyes. She smirked at him playfully despite her intoxicated face.
"A man can dream."
She turned to him and pulled his collar to kiss him. He held her waist as he crouched more so she wouldn’t have to lift herself too much.
But the rough kiss she expected from him did not come. He kissed her tenderly as if she was a delicate thing he could not afford to break.
And his tenderness made her feel a hollow in her stomach. The way he kissed her aroused something inside her... and it was definitely not lust.
She broke the kiss, panting.
"I don’t like that," she croaked.
Alec’s brows furrowed.
Before he could ask, she added, "I don’t like tender kisses."
Because she wanted to be reminded that this... all of the things happening to them behind closed doors were just lust. That they were just fulfilling each other’s needs as one of the benefits of their agreement.
She wanted nothing more than that.
His look was quizzical as if he was trying to decipher her thoughts.
But he didn’t need to figure out what she was thinking. So before he could raise a question she couldn’t answer, she pushed him towards the bed. He didn’t exert effort to fight her force and let her push him.
When he was already sitting on the bed like she wanted, she stripped in front of him, tearing some laces in the process. His starry eyes had turned pitch black with a dark red lining on his irises as he watched her get rid of the layers of her clothes one by one.
Lauren didn’t waste a second. After taking off her clothes, she joined him in the bed, straddling him.
Alec looked at her with a bewildered expression.
"Lauren, this is just your second time. Let’s take it slow," he said while he was helping her unbutton his shirt.
"I thought you don’t like it slow? You’ve done me a favor for not wrecking me on our first. I can manage now." Her tone was a little annoyed.
How many times had he told her that he had no patience for slow lovemaking? What he wanted was a whore who could provide him pleasure without restraint, but with the hesitation and control in his eyes right now, it was like he didn’t want it this way.
She pushed herself onto his body and kissed him, bruising her lips in the process because of how hard the kiss was. Alec didn’t respond at first but he eventually kissed her back.
She arched her body when she felt his maleness poking her center against his pants. He withdrew from the kiss and buried his face in her neck as he muttered a soft curse.
"Are you sure you can manage? Because I don’t think I have a lot of patience for you tonight. I might not take you just once," he whispered darkly and traced her collarbone with his lips, sucking some parts along the way.
"Should I be scared?"
Alec raised his head to look at her. Her sleepy eyes and seductive tone made his jaw clench. Her messy auburn hair adoring her angelic face and naked body was a sight a man would trade anything for.
"You should be." There was a little warning in his tone.
"I don’t mind getting hurt. Just fuck me."
His face darkened at that. She could feel his amazing control taking over.
"You won’t want to know how many women I’ve killed while I’m fucking them, Lauren. You shouldn’t be saying that you don’t mind getting hurt," he growled at her.
"I told you I am not the type who will easily break." She smiled. "But if you lose control and kill me like those women, I guess I’d die happily?"
His dark silence and unforgiving wrath made her shut.
For a moment, she thought he would throw her across the room because of how irked he was, but he only stared at her with soulless orbs.
"That is not something to joke about, Lauren," his voice was firm and full of authority.
She couldn’t say a word. His glare was threatening her like a sharp blade on her neck.
"I can never afford to hurt you," he said quietly that his voice got drowned by the loud beating of her heart.
He was all serious.
She wanted to ask why. Why he was suddenly caring about her. Why he was giving her a different kind of warmth. If he was trying to evoke emotions in her, or playing with her to entertain himself. But the question never left her lips.
Because the truth was, she was afraid to know the answer.