The Crowned Captive
Exquisite Danger

Morana stalked through the dark alleys of the city, fuming and utterly lost. She had heard the familiar footfall and smelt the sharp scent of spice on the wind. Rowan stalked the shadows behind her, waiting to pounce, but she didn’t care. She welcomed it in fact, the chance to see just how far her training had gone. She would happily break that pretty little face of his if he dared touch her. He would heal too quickly for her liking, but she would get some satisfaction at least.

She rounded a corner into another alleyway, working deeper into the slums of the city. In the depths, creatures scurried away from her intrusion. She had no clue what she was looking for, knowing only that it was going to hurt. She heard footsteps behind her, quick on the dirt, and smiled. Whether it be Rowan or someone else, her challenge was here.

They grabbed her then, shoving her against the wall with a growl. She grinned, her own eyes feral as she looked up into the mossy depths of those before her. Red hair streaked down Rowan’s face, gleaming in the moonlight. He glared down at her, face steely as he pressed his damned dagger against her throat, hard enough that she felt the trickle of blood running down her neck. Her grin only widened as she bit her lip, watching Rowan’s adam’s-apple bob as he swallowed. He had never seen this side of her before, and she hoped it scared him shitless.

“You are to come back to the castle with me to talk this out like rational people,” Rowan began, his voice leaving no room to protest. It was entirely the wrong thing to say to her. Morana fake pouted back at him, eager to deepen the mess.

“Aww, poor liddle Rowan has hurt feelings,” she mocked, glee swimming through her at his furrowing eyebrows.

“Poor little Rowan is going to get in a world of shit for having the Princess walking around in the shadiest part of town without an entire armed guard, Morana. I know you are angry, and I understand. But please just come back and talk.”

“Oh, you know nothing Rowan. You are too blind to see a snake reared to bite,” Morana breathed, pressing forward into the dagger against her neck as she grinned. Rowan balked, easing off ever so slightly. Seeing her chance, Morana pounced.

Her knee drove up between his legs, hard, throwing him off balance. His eyes widened as in the same movement she brought her foot down on his instep, grabbed his wrist and pushed. He yelled as he fell, scrambling to grab the dagger now in her hand and regain his footing as she kicked out at his face. Her foot connected with his jaw, a satisfying clatter of teeth ringing out through the alley. And he fell like a sack of potatoes. She crouched over him then and he looked up at her, dazed and confused. She pressed the dagger against his neck now, wrapping her hand in his hair to pull his face to look into her eyes.

“You have trained me too well, Rowan, to treat me like some fucking damsel in distress. You made this mess, and you made me the monster, so fucking deal with it,” she spat, and his eyes widened as she brought down the hilt of the dagger against the side of his head. He collapsed then, losing consciousness as she dropped his head and threw his dagger to the ground beside him. She would not back down, not today. Scowling at his unconscious body, she prowled deeper into the inky darkness.

She had barely made it two blocks before something grabbed her once more, forcing the breath from her body as she was slammed against a brick wall. Stars danced before her eyes as they slammed her head into the brickwork and pinned her utterly with their body. A growl reverberated through them then, shaking her to her very core, and the scent of spice wrapped around her. She grinned as her vision cleared, her face mere inches from Rowan’s again.

“You are lucky I don’t tie you up and drag you back to the castle kicking and screaming, princess,” he growled, baring his fangs in threat. Morana felt the heat building in her core then, a wicked inferno, and did not have the sanity to scold her body for it. Angry Rowan was sexy in ways she couldn’t even begin to describe, and she needed some form of release despite the fact he was the reason she was so beyond furious right now.

“Tie me up, Rowan, I know you would love to,” she purred into him, looking up at him with heavy-lidded eyes. The grin never fell from her face, even as she ran her tongue across her teeth and bit her lip. She felt the tightness in his trousers push into her then, and she let out a sultry laugh.

“You have no idea what you are asking for right now, Morana,” he growled again, his eyes flaring with dark lust. “I would not be able to control myself.”

“If you aren’t man enough, just let me know and I will find someone else to service me. I am sure there would be a lineup at any tavern I found myself in.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” he hissed.

“You have made it obvious you care more for your fucking crown than me. I will do anything I please,” she replied, pressing herself into him then. She laughed again, the heady scent of his arousal wrapping around her.

“I will not be able to control myself.” His voice nearly broke now, something desperate in his eyes as she ground herself into him again.

“Did I ever ask you to?”

There was no response as Rowan’s mouth crashed into hers, his body pressing every inch of her into the wall. She cried out as his mouth made its way down her neck and he bit down on her shoulder, leaving yet another bruise against her pale skin. His fingers fumbled at the ties and stays on her training leathers then, nearly breaking them in his bid to get the clothing off. She gasped as he growled when they finally came undone, yanking the top off of her and slamming her into the wall once more. His mouth found her breast then, leaving his mark as he stripped her of her trousers. The cold air shocked her naked skin in the alley and the stone scratched at her, but she cared little as Rowan’s mouth roved lower. He lifted her as he crouched down, slipping her legs over his shoulders as his mouth met her sex. She cried out in pure pleasure as his tongue found her clit and he plunged his fingers inside of her. She wrapped her fingers through his hair, unable to control her moans as he feasted on her ravenously. She rolled her hips into his face as he clutched her thigh with his free hand in a bruising grip. Her crescendo came closer, and she clamped her legs around his head, ready to ride his face through her pleasure. He pulled back, and her cry this time was of pure disappointment.

“After your little stunt before, I don’t think you deserve it,” Rowan purred as he slid her back to shaky feet. His mouth crashed down on hers, his tongue exploring her mouth as she tasted herself on his lips.

He lifted her again so her legs were wrapped around his waist, and she tipped her head back in anticipation of his cock within her. She gasped as his hand grabbed her jaw, forcing her eyes down to his.

“I want to see your every reaction tonight, princess,” he purred as his tip teased her entrance. “Do you understand me?”

“Yes, Rowan,” she murmured, eyes fixed on his even as his hips bucked into him, pleading for more.

“Use my proper title seeing you want to be treated like a whore,” he growled, grinning up at her. Morana’s heart jumped into her throat at the words.

“Yes, my Lord,” she whimpered as Rowan pushed himself just a touch further inside, not far enough.

“That’s a good girl.” Rowan’s hand shifted to her neck then, setting her already thready pulse spinning out of control as he sheathed himself to the hilt within her. She cried out, back arching against the wall and eyes fluttering shut as the wave of pleasure rode through her. She cried out once more to the sharp sting that spread across her cheek, looking down at Rowan once more with surprise.

“Take your eyes off me one more time, and I am leaving you here in a puddle of your own longing and finding someone else,” he ground out. “I am sure there would be a lineup at any tavern, of course.”

“Yes, my Lord. I am sorry,” she breathed as he lazily thrust into her once more, nearly taking her breath away. His eyes did not leave her face the entire time, even as his hand tightened on her neck, cutting her blood supply.

He did not hold back after that, plunging into her without abandon, all aggression and lust as he stared at her, grinning at the pleasure that wracked her. His force was bruising and the pace a frenzy. It drove the very air from her lungs as her head spun thanks to his hand at her neck. She whimpered as her climax neared, feeling herself twitch uncontrollably as that blissful crescendo crept towards her core. Rowan moaned with her as the fingers of pleasure clawed at her very soul and her world shattered. Rowan forced her face to look at his, even as she fought for control over her body through pleasure.

“I fucking love the feeling of you cumming over my cock, Morana,” he moaned as he thrust into her. Aftershocks wracked her body, stealing her breath as his eyes bored into her very soul. The stone wall scraped at her over-sensitive skin, and she struggled to breathe over the force of his length bruising every spot it reached. She whimpered, the stretch of him filling every inch of her too much. He growled then as the muscles in his jaw fluttered. Moments later, he pulled her closer to him, crushing her body between his and the wall as he roared, his pleasure dripping down her thighs as he lazily thrust a few more times. They stood there, utterly entwined for a handful seconds, before Rowan pulled back to look at Morana’s face.

“I don’t care the perks, Morana, you are my everything,” he whispered, eyes soft and mouth gentle as he looked over her wrecked form. “You hold part of me that nobody has before. I care for you, deeply so. Please remember that,”

Morana only had the strength to nod absently as he scooped her up, cradling her as he slid down the wall instead. He held her naked form against him for a long minute, stroking her hair and peppering her forehead and cheeks with kisses, until she felt she could stand. He helped her dress, pulling the pants up her legs and the tunic over her head for her. She did not protest as he scooped her up then, holding her against his chest as they worked through the city once more.

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