Rejected by the Alpha of Fire

A Princely Dream

Cindra’s POV

It took no time for me to realize that I was dreaming and in that hallway again. The tension that had been coiling in me before was gone. I was there for a reason, a purpose. Something hot, almost burning, wrapped around my elbow and pulled me quickly and quietly into a room I didn’t recognize, like he’d been waiting for me.

Had he?

The room was a mash-up of the various parlors and bedrooms I had seen in the palace, decorated in the familiar reds and golds of the Azer family. The floors gleamed from the low-burning fire, and every piece of furniture looked newly made or preciously cared for. It looked oddly fitting to be Helio’s room.

I met Helio’s gaze. Our eyes locked, but neither of us said anything. We just stood there, too close for comfort, yet not enough for anything real. Anticipation burned in his eyes. The air around us sizzled, sparking. He smelled like forest and sweat and his bare chest was carved in hard lines cast in shadows from the fire.

“What are you doing?” His voice was a low murmur. There was no malice in his expression for once, but I recognized something else in the narrowing of his eyes and the tilt of his head.

“I couldn’t wait.”

He ran his tongue along his lower lip and pulled me closer. I shuddered against his hard body. The heat rolling off him sank into my skin. I was melting, like the ice in spring.

He cupped my face gently, tenderly. The warmth of his breath drifted over my lips, teasing me. I tried to lift up on my tiptoes to meet his mouth, but he drew back with the softest disapproving sound.

Patience, he seemed to say.

I didn’t have any patience. I wanted to taste him. My mouth watered at the thought. I wanted it so badly, I could hardly stand it. But he teased me, moving close enough so that our lips only grazed. Like he was barely able to restrain himself. There was a question in his eyes.

It would be wrong of us to proceed. If anyone found out, if anyone ever knew, what would happen to me? To him? To us? I could still back out of this, even though his eyes and the grip he had on me said he wouldn’t let me go easily.

Fear and worry bubbled up, but those feelings quickly dissipated. In this room, imagined yet so realistic, I could allow myself to follow the path down what might have been. His eyes glowed softly and he drew closer, stopping once our faces were mere inches apart. I waited for my mind to end the dream, to kick me out, but it didn’t.

The first warm press of his lips made me shudder. A desperate keening sound rattled out of me, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. He lifted me, thrusting his tongue into my mouth, leaving the faintest hint of expensive liquor on my tongue.

Raw power pulsed just beneath his skin as he carried me across the room, devouring me like a roaring flame. I couldn’t escape even if I wanted to. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and we tumbled onto the bed that cradled us like the softest cloud. He trailed his fingers up my legs as he pushed my nightgown up. His touch was electrifying, sending shivers down my spine. Heat pooled and knotted in my abdomen, twisting tighter and tighter as he lifted my gown over my head and tossed it behind him.

Helio’s eyes burned with intensity as he looked at me like he had never seen me before—in awe, with desire, with a need that made it difficult to stay still.

He kissed me again, pushing me to lie down and leaning over me so every part of our bodies touched. He settled most of his weight against my hips and I opened my legs for him. His shorts had disappeared, and all I could feel was the unfamiliar solidness of his body against mine. My blood burned hotter with every stroke of his tongue.

He groaned and rocked his hips against mine, sending a shock of pleasure zipping through me. I scrambled to breathe and make sense of it all. I knew a cursory amount about s*x but the sensations overwhelmed me. Every nerve ending was on fire.

He hushed me with a soft, soothing hiss of air against my lips. Then he nipped my bottom lip, sucking it into his mouth. Like sparks to kindling, the intensity began to build back up to an uncontrollable blaze.

I wanted more, but I couldn’t articulate that need. I couldn’t think or speak. As if he’d read my mind, he slid his hand down my chest and between my thighs. His fingers barely fluttered against me, but the pleasure was so intense it almost hurt. I dug my nails into the solid muscle of his arm, so deep I was sure he would bleed, but he didn’t even flinch. Helio kissed me like he owned me.

And maybe he did.

He touched me like it was the only thing he ever wanted to do. My mind couldn’t keep up. The dream grew hazy with pleasure and sensation. His broad shoulders gleamed in the firelight. I could hear my own gasps of pleasure and little murmurs of his voice whispering things I couldn’t make out.

An endless wave of heat and pleasure washed over me. Any more and I would burst into flames. Any less would leave me wanting for more.

“Helio,” I gasped, clinging to him as the dream started to fade. “Helio, please.”

I didn’t even know what I was asking for, but as I closed my eyes and that pleasure snapped and explode through me, I didn’t care.

This was everything I had ever wanted in a way I couldn’t even describe.

It was perfect.