Step by step, I remind myself that she’s not there.

Step by step, ever upward, I remind myself that she’s got more important things to look to than whatever this is. As I rise I tell myself, again and again, that Aurora nearly died today. That it was her brother, not me, who saved her life.

That right now, she probably just wants to hug her family, be with them, drinking cocoa by a roaring fire or whatever the fuck it is they do. Even though the present I’ve got for her is heavy in my pocket, I remind myself that it’s not going to get used tonight.

But I need to go anyway. If nothing else, I want to be there, in the place where we’re together. In the place where it doesn’t matter that we’re not supposed to do this, where Aurora is utterly and completely mine, no holds barred.

I push open the door, breath held, hoping against hope, but she’s not there.

I told you, I think. Of course she’s not, you lovesick idiot, she’s with—

Standing in the shadow, next to a window, nearly invisible, a figure turns toward me with a swish of black silk, and my mouth goes dry.

“Declan,” she whispers.

“Aurora,” I murmur.

The moonlight plays off her curves, and she walks toward me, slowly. There’s something panther-like in her gait, something sinful and dangerous that’s never been there before.

Instantly, my nerves sizzle. My cock goes rock-hard and my whole body thrums.

I might be in control here, but Aurora has all the power. She could say one word and ruin me, another word and I’d walk from here to Russia for her.

“I didn’t think you’d come,” she says, tilting her head to one side.

“I didn’t think I’d find you here,” I say, shutting the door behind me, turning the heavy iron key in its lock.

Aurora licks her lips, glances at the lock, looks back at me. She walks up to me, still dangerous somehow, and I’m rooted to the spot, mouth dry with pure lust.

“Declan,” she murmurs again, her voice a purr, pure poetry.

I put one finger on her lower lip, trace it down her cheek, her neck, to the hollow of her throat, between her breasts. I can see her nipples harden under the flowing silk, her eyes heavy-lidded.

“I need you to ruin me,” she whispers, and in one quick motion she reaches behind her neck, unbuttons something.

Her gown falls to the floor, a puddle of black around her feet, Aurora’s pale skin glowing in front of me. She’s completely naked, her nipples hard pebbles on her small, perfect breasts.

Jesus, there’s nothing I’d rather do.

I claim her mouth, kissing her until she bruises, lifting her out of her dress and pushing her backward until she falls on the bed with a small, “Oh!”

Her red hair pools around her, and I grab her by the waist, tossing her until she’s lying properly on the bed, legs wide open. I can already smell her arousal, her breath coming in quick gasps, her chest rising and falling.

I reach for my belt, but I’m not wearing one. No tie either, not even a bowtie, because I ripped the goddamn thing off the second I could.

Fucking tuxedos. How’s a man supposed to tie a woman up after a formal event?

I grab one of Aurora’s hands, close it around the brass bar of the headboard. She grabs it with the other automatically, and I shove her knees wider, pushing my clothed erection into her wetness. Aurora moans, her hips rolling and back arching.

“Don’t let go,” I growl. “Understood? Don’t. Let. Go.”

I grab her chin in my hand again, my cock grinding against her. God, I can already feel her wetness soaking through my tuxedo pants, onto my cock, and I tighten my fingers on her chin just a little.

“Say yes,” I whisper roughly.

“Yes, Declan,” she whispers back.

I kiss her hard, claiming her mouth with mine, grinding against her, my cock already sticky even though I’m wearing pants. I move my lips down, biting the cords in her neck, her collarbone. Probably hard enough to leave a mark, but she can wear a fucking turtleneck.

I bite harder. Aurora gasps. I glance at her hands on the headboard, knuckles white, her words echoing in my ears.

Ruin me.

I bite, suck, lick her neck until the purple blossoms just under her skin, marking her as mine. I do it again just under her collarbone, leaving a path behind myself, one more on her delicate pale breast just above her nipple before I close my teeth around that.

Aurora cries out, moaning, her whole body a vibrating string that I’ve plucked. Her legs wrap around me and pull me in, her hips working unconsciously against my cock.

I reach down with my other hand, pressing into her hip, and still her against the bed. I’m rough, rougher than I need to be, but her breathing goes ragged as I hold her down against the bed, dragging my teeth over her nipple.

I bite, I lick, I suck until it’s puffy, bright pink even in the moonlight. She’s still bucking and writhing under me, still soaking through my tuxedo pants with her arousal, a little more with every ounce of force I apply to her.

I move to her other nipple, just as rough with that one. I push my hand to her dripping pussy, push three fingers inside her with no warning, and she rewards me my rolling her hips toward me, forcing them a little deeper so I bite her bruised nipple to remind Aurora who’s in charge.

“Oh God, yes,” she moans quietly, sighing. “I fucking love it when you’re inside me.”

My whole body surges with the words. They’re fucking magic, but I suck the delicate skin of her breast into my mouth, giving her yet another reminder of who’s been there, and move my fingers faster, crooking them against the front wall of her channel, the spot I know makes her come in seconds.

“Aurora,” I say, finally taking my mouth from her nipple. “I want you to come when I say.”

She just nods, breathless.

“Yes,” she says, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Not a second before,” I tell her, working my fingers even harder. I can feel her muscles fluttering around me. She’s close.

I circle my thumb around her clit, watching her ribs expand and contract with pleasure.

“It feels so good when you fuck me,” she moans.

“I’m not fucking you yet,” I remind her.

“It feels good anyway,” she whispers, the whisper slowly turning into a moan.

Her muscles are starting to clench, her eyes sliding closed, her head turning to one side, so I slow my hand. I stroke her inner walls gently, lessening the pressure, my thumb moving slower around her clit.

“Look at me,” I order, and she opens her eyes.

“Let me come,” she begs, her gaze steady on mine. “Please, Declan.”

“Not yet,” I murmur, hand still working.

I bite a nipple again, suck it hard, make her moan. Her whole body shudders but I still don’t let her come.

She said ruin me. By the time I’m done with Aurora, I want her shaking, weak, barely able to move.

I want my princess limp on the bed, completely and utterly mine, body and soul.