Cinder and Char Read online

  “I’m getting to the point. Did you know those glass slippers are a national treasure for my planet? A family heirloom, if you will.”

  “You can’t have them back,” Cinder repeated.

  Annoyance flickered in Char’s eyes, but he continued. “As I was saying. Every ruler of Woof is given those heels to present to his mate.”

  Cinder nearly hyperventilated at those words.

  Mate? Despite coming from a backwater homeworld and working in a dump like Kies, he wasn’t a complete backward planet-billy. He knew the denizens of most shifter-inhabited planets mated for life, and being someone’s mate was as good as an officially binding marriage. Cinder had also heard a rumor from somewhere that shifters transferred unique body-altering compounds to their mate during a mating ritual, enabling them to become pregnant. Cinder would rather die than walk and feel like a whale for a few months.

  “Why would you give something like this to me?”

  “What do you think, Cinder?”

  While he kept his hands contained, Char looked like he wanted to devour Cinder both inside and out, have his body as well as his heart. Cinder didn’t think he would mount much of a resistance when it came to the demands of his body, but his heart, he’d keep. Thank you very much. Surely the wolf prince was having him on.

  “Is this some kind of joke?”

  Cinder nearly jumped out from his seat when Char slammed his fist down the coffee table. The prince’s hands blurred into the dangerous outline of claws before blurring back to human skin.

  Char took a breath. “I never make jokes, Cinder. You’re my fated mate and I’ve been searching all over the galaxy for you. I don’t intend to back away.”

  Cinder withdrew the treasure from his jacket and held them out. Despite how the delicate and beautiful heels glittered in all their finery, owning them wasn’t worth it, was it? Cinder’s eyes flicked from the heels to the gorgeous man in front of him.

  Hadn’t the young and naïve him always imagined being spirited away from the strip club by some prince from a far-flung and exotic planet?

  “What do you intend to do with little old me?” Cinder was asking for it, and he knew it. He couldn’t help tempting the predator, though. The way the alpha werewolf was becoming so damnably possessive just by this single conversation was pushing away his sass and calling to his hidden submissive side.

  Char’s thick fingers hovered on Cinder’s knee, and this time Cinder didn’t pull away. He watched, captivated and mesmerized, as the alpha’s hand trailed up to rest on his thigh. His cock hardened with the proximity of all that male strength.

  “I can smell your arousal flooding beneath your tight little latex bodysuit, Cinder,” Char observed, his voice deep and husky with ill-restrained desire. “I admit the hot pink outfit suits you quite well. It covers your juicy body, but it hides nothing from the imagination.”

  Cinder shivered, growing hot. Heat sizzled from his belly and insides and straight to his cock. He admittedly had a weakness for men who appreciated his superb fashion sense. Char had hit him hard from all angles by complimenting his clothes, by calling to his love for heels, and simply for being such a gorgeous and muscled male specimen.

  “Ah yes, I wore this one-piece with the intention of seducing you, Prince Char,” Cinder said dryly.

  The remains of his bravado were swept away when Char’s strong hands lifted him and positioned Cinder on his lap, facing him. Even with his legs spread on either side of Char’s muscular thighs and his erection staring back at Char, Cinder refused to be embarrassed.

  He was about to cross his arms against his chest to let out an indignant huff, but Char caught his wrists easily. Cinder’s breath hitched. The prince’s hands felt unbelievably large, warm, and rough against his smooth skin. It was alarmingly easy to think about what those hands could do to him.

  “What are you doing, you ill-mannered brute? Princes don’t manhandle their princesses.”

  Char snorted. “I doubt I’m the kind of prince most damsels-in-distress dream of. I just want to examine the merchandise—the mate—I’ve purchased.”

  Cinder colored. How dare the man refer to him as merchandise?

  Damn. It was such a turn-on, though, and it called to all the times he’d had dirty slave-captor fantasies and pleasured himself in the tiny capsule apartment he shared with his oblivious elf roommate. Cinder tried not to squirm under Char’s inquisitive gaze. He didn’t like feeling so exposed and so open to the other man’s intense examination.

  Cinder took deep breaths. He tried regaining his composure and the tattered remains of his dignity.

  “If I’m supposed to be your fated mate, then you shouldn’t have to purchase me. Going along that line of thinking, shouldn’t I be swooning and willing by now?”

  He swallowed when Char released his hands to push the jacket from his shoulders, then play with zipper at the base of his throat. Cinder’s pulse throbbed in response.

  “You’re willing enough not to fight me, aren’t you, princess?”

  It would’ve been a thousand times better if Char simply jerked the zipper down, but no, he took his time so Cinder could practically hear the metal sigh as it unveiled more of his flesh.

  “Get on with it,” Cinder whispered, hating the vulnerability creeping into his voice. “Stop tormenting me.”

  “Why should I, when I know how you crave being tormented?” Amusement mingled with hunger in Char’s wolf-like eyes.

  “I don’t like being tormented at all.” It was a weak argument. Cinder was about to cave in, to yield with helpless and reckless abandon and they both knew it.

  “Do you see how your body’s straining to rub against mine, or the way your prick’s straining against the fabric of your bodysuit?”

  Down the zipper went, exposing his bare chest and belly, still creeping downwards to bare the rest of him.

  Cinder shuddered, feeling everything. He was aware of his legs lewdly on display for the feral prince in front of him. The feral prince who seemed capable of devouring him in a few bites.

  “Your talented little mouth can spin a hundred tales, Cinder, but your body doesn’t lie. Now, hands on your thighs. Don’t move them.”

  Cinder obeyed the order mindlessly, the latex sliding smoothly beneath his fingertips.

  Char left the zipper and the hot pink fabric hanging about Cinder’s waist and leaned close. Char’s mouth captured one of his nipples, making Cinder draw in a shaky breath. Heat caressed the sensitive area before Cinder felt the slight edge of descending teeth.

  Char’s bite mercilessly delivered a bolt of desire from the soles of his feet to his addled brain. Cinder supposed a part of his brain had been misplaced, but he had no interest in getting it back. His back arched, and he let out one soundless cry. Char’s hands trailed down the length of his body, his touches firm and lacking any ounce of gentleness.

  Char withdrew his mouth, licking his lips with obvious satisfaction.

  “You taste so fine, Cinder. I can’t wait to have you. Do you know how hard it is for me?”

  “What’s hard?”

  Cinder could feel the slight ache of Char’s bite. For a moment he wanted to leap out of Char’s lap to see if the prince had left behind an imprint of his teeth. What was happening to him? Cinder had never had a thing for possessive and handsome rough men, but Char marking him seemed inexplicably right.

  Char moved to his other nipple. Cinder watched the wolf’s tongue run a lazy circle around the nub, leaving a wet trail. It made Cinder shiver. Again, Char’s mouth latched onto the flesh. Again, the prince sent another wave of desire through him.

  “Restraining myself from simply pushing you on the ground and fucking you…” Char growled almost absently.

  “Oh, Gods.” If Char was capable of rendering him to a silly swooning and moaning creature by just lavishing attention on his nipples, he wasn’t sure he could take more of this.

  Weren’t shifters known for rough handling and even rougher sex?
Why did Char handle him like a piece of treasure, like he was one of those specially bred virgin concubines sought by kings and emperors from wealthy planets? Didn’t the man know Cinder was just a simple mortal with great fashion sense?

  “Your gods have nothing to do with this, but I can assure you the primal deities of my planet revel in all manner of pleasure.”

  “It was just an expression.” Cinder gave up explaining and trying to fight so hard.

  “So sweet. So fine.”

  Char licked at the hollow of his collarbone and Cinder wondered if he was going to mark him there too. “I want everyone to see you’re mine, Cinder. That you belong to me and me alone.”

  “I think there’s a term for being too much of an alpha male.”

  The hand wandering back to the forgotten zipper stopped. No, Cinder thought, trying to press forward so Char’s hand brushed against the metal again. All he ended up doing was making the big man laugh.

  “You like big, bad alphas though, don’t you Cinder? But you’re terrified of completely surrendering yourself, both body and soul.”

  Char’s words reverberated through him. How the prince managed to hit the mark, Cinder never knew.

  “You said my body never lies and maybe that’s true. You can have my body and mark it all you want, Char, but my soul and heart will never belong to you.”

  Cinder gasped when Char pulled him forward for a damning kiss and began to consume him. The kiss incinerated any whisper of brewing rebellion. The rough pads of Char’s fingers fastened tightly against the nape of his neck, preventing escape, although Cinder had no intentions of flight.

  Char sucked and nibbled at his lower lip with reckless abandon, as if he never wanted to forget Cinder’s taste. Cinder eventually opened his mouth to receive Char’s heat, which flooded down his throat like a golden rush.

  Char’s tongue fucked him thoroughly until he grew heavy and breathless with need.

  If this was just the start of Char’s possession of his body, then Cinder couldn’t wait to feel the prince’s enormous prick angling towards his willing ass.

  Cinder wasn’t sure why, but he was beginning to crave the prince’s rough but sure touches. Knowing the other man wanted him on such a level made him heady with desire. It made him cease thinking.

  Char kept one hand on his nape, while the other slid to the bulge of his latex-encased cock. The prince didn’t slide his hand inside his half-opened suit, although he could’ve done so to ease Cinder’s itch. Instead, he rubbed at Cinder’s throbbing member, silencing Cinder’s moans and gasps with his heated mouth.

  When it came to sex, Cinder was always the one in control, but ceding his control entirely to Char was incredibly arousing. He pushed himself into Char’s hand, wanting to tear the latex fabric off so his naked cock could feel the texture of Char’s fingers. Char continued to caress him while his hungry mouth nipped on the bare skin of his shoulders and chest.

  Cinder was nearly driven mad each time the bristles of Char’s stubble scraped his smooth skin. The other man was so raw, so masculine, and every inch primal. When Char’s amazing mouth closed over his left nipple, he arched his back at the sudden pleasure flooding his core.

  “Cinder, I want you to come for me.”

  Char’s deep, dominant command was enough for his traitorous body to obey. His cock began to empty into the tight latex, flooding him with sensation. Char’s grip on him tightened, holding him as Cinder rode his orgasm out.

  When he came to, gasping and panting like a spent animal, he found Char stroking lazy circles on his back.

  “Bastard,” Cinder whispered. “Stop playing around and just screw me.”

  “Why would I do that, Cinder? Like you said, I only have you for three weeks, and I intend to enjoy every second of you.”

  Those large hands hooked into the hot pink fabric pooling at his waist and with a small measure of strength, simply began to tear it off him.

  “Hey! This is one of my favorite bodysuits.” Cinder slapped at Char’s hand, but he felt like a puppy pawing at a wolf.

  Char caught his wrists easily and Cinder realized he was now sitting completely naked on his lap.

  “I’ll buy a hundred more of these. In hot pink, magenta, orange, whatever. I’ll provide anything you want or need.” Char nuzzled at Cinder’s neck, and looked annoyed when Cinder put a hand on his cheek.

  “What now?”

  “It’s only fair I see your goodies too.”

  “Fine. Besides, I want to see your face while I fuck you anyway.”

  “What?” Cinder yelped when Char easily lifted him by his waist and settled him down on the couch. Logical thoughts refused to come when Char starting giving him one hell of a strip tease.

  Cinder’s mouth watered at each piece of clothing Char dropped. Underneath what must be his planet’s drab, but thankfully tight military uniform, was a smoking hot body. Cinder felt like a greedy little kid at a candy store as he appraised the hard planes of Char’s pectorals and his tight abs.

  His eyes finally settled on the steel-hard monster curving upwards between Char’s legs. It was beautifully thick and long, and Cinder wondered it would fit into his tiny hole. His lips felt dry.

  “Daunted?” Char was fumbling around the cabin and managed to produce some lube. Why there was lube within easy reach, Cinder didn’t know. Perhaps the man brought all his lovers here, but right now he didn’t care.

  “Not the least bit.” Cinder let out a surprised sound when Char was suddenly by his side, gently pushing his chest down so Cinder lay flat on his back on the couch. Then Char was parting his legs, tracing a finger down his embarrassingly thickening cock, to his asshole.

  “I’m not going to hurt you, Cinder,” Char said eventually. “But I want to fill you up completely, fuck you raw until your body knows who it belongs to.”

  Cinder bit his lip. He didn’t want to tell the prince it wasn’t what he was worried about. Although he should been, given he was about to surrender himself to the throes of animalistic passion with a shifter. Shifters, especially dominant alphas, weren’t like normal men. They could last an incredibly long time.

  What really concerned him was how badly he wanted to feel Char buried deep inside him. Once Char claimed his body, he had a feeling his heart wouldn’t hold out long. Char wasn’t like any of the men Cinder had been with before.

  There was just something about the prince’s brand of possession that called to him, making him willingly submit.

  “Take me, Char,” Cinder whispered as he looked into those intense, hungry amber eyes.

  Cinder shivered as large hands began to trace the flesh on his inner thigh and up his waiting hole.

  “There’s so much of you I want to taste,” Char murmured in an uneven voice.

  Char fingered the sensitive bit of flesh before applying a generous amount of lube onto his fingers and Cinder’s slit. Char massaged the flesh, slipping one and then two fingers in, making him groan.

  “Char, please.”

  Cinder could feel Char scissoring his way in, preparing him for access. He closed his legs firmly around Char’s waist, making the prince chuckle.

  His fingers felt like steel on his legs, and Cinder felt him nudge several inches of his cockhead in. Cinder gasped when Char continued to slowly push his way in, moving his way past the ring of muscle and deeper into his eager hole.

  “You’re so big,” Cinder managed, trying to relax the muscles of his ass at the slight burn.

  “Take all of me in, baby,” Char commanded, fingers deliciously digging into his thighs. “Feel me inside you.”

  “I feel you.” Cinder sighed with relief as Char began to move, withdrawing and hammering into him with deep and leisurely strokes. The burn gave way to an intense grinding pleasure. Cinder began to lift his hips, eager to receive Char as the prince began to increase his pace.

  Char began to slam into him, harder and deeper, furiously stroking the fires burning deep inside Cinder. Char closed a ha
nd over Cinder’s weeping cock and began to fist it as he continued hammering himself into Cinder.

  “Oh, Char.” Cinder screamed as those fingers tightened. The dual sensations of Char’s fingers servicing his prick, and the prince’s hungry cock thrusting into him was too much for him to bear.

  “Come for me, Cinder.”

  Again, Cinder splintered at that command. Pleasure flooded through his core and spread to the rest of him. He was vaguely aware of Char gasping as he drove in deep. The prince’s warm cum began to fill him as his sac finished emptying.

  “That was…” Cinder fumbled for words, but Char pressed a finger to his lips.

  Cinder licked his lips wickedly and began sucking on Char’s thick digit.

  The prince groaned. “You’re going to be the death of me, Cinder.”

  Char didn’t leave immediately. While Cinder was sure his men had knocked on the cabin door a few times, the prince told them to leave him alone. Char carried him to the cabin’s bathroom and began to clean them in the shower before settling him against his chest, in an enormous, no doubt expensive, jetted tub. Warm water began to caress Cinder’s skin, making him sigh.

  “I could get used to this,” he murmured. Cinder settled himself more comfortably against Char’s broad chest.

  “You could, could you?” Char asked, sounding amused.

  Cinder refused to answer him.

  Damn. He was beginning to like Char’s fingers rubbing circles on his back. Even if Char was one possessive bastard, it looked like he was going to thoroughly enjoy being spoiled.

  Chapter 3

  Char couldn't completely focus on what his lieutenants were saying about the landing conditions on Planet Woof. He was too busy noticing his new mate trying to contain his eagerness as he peered out the airship bridge's domed glass windows. Although Cinder tried to look indifferent, Char could see how stretched his seat belt was, and how he craned his neck to its limits.

  He couldn't blame him. The planet’s luscious, savage and wild jungle terrain looked back at them from the windows and vid screens flickering on the bridge.

  Aside from Cinder’s homeworld and the shitty mining planet Char had rescued him from, he doubted Cinder had many off-world experiences. Char intended to change that. As soon as he settled government and clan politics, he could take Cinder on a proper honeymoon throughout the Ever-after Galaxy.