Her eyes fluttered open and she stared up at him as she lifted one hand to cup his cheek. “Are you sure this is what you want? You haven’t taken me from behind yet.”
The question startled him, mostly because it hadn’t even occurred to him. “I like looking at your face.”
“Oh.” Her mouth curved up, her eyes shyly pleased. “I’m glad.” She rubbed her thumb over his lower lip, the touch soft, almost tentative. “I like watching you look at me.”
He bit the pad of her thumb and kept up his careful thrusts. “What do you see? A man or a king?”
Her smile widened, turned wicked. “Oh, a king of course. All I want is to bask in the glory of your highness’s perfectly chiseled jaw and manfully--”
Rais rolled them to one side and slapped her ass. “Behave, damn it.”
He felt the sting of her teeth against his shoulder before her head fell back, and all of the teasing had vanished from her eyes. “You, Rais,” she whispered. “I always see you.”
The man was mollified. The beast, however, reared inside him, stirred by her teasing. Rais pulled away and swatted at her ass again. “Roll over and grab the headboard.”
She obeyed without a murmur of protest, coming to her knees before bending down to clutch at the base of the headboard. “Like this?”
He answered with a single hard thrust, one that took him deep into her body, and a tortured groan. And even that wasn’t loud enough to drown out her cry of pleasure. “Again, please...please!”
His hands trembled on her h*ps and he had to bite his lip, but he stopped, still buried inside her. “You teased me. Now I tease you back.”
Avani had lost her grip on rational thought. It was the only way to explain how desperately she wanted to prod at Rais, to drive him into claiming her. Reckless, considering she’d already told him she wasn’t his to take.
But she wanted to be. She needed to be.
No. She pushed back against him and tried to urge him to movement. At least movement would keep her from thinking. From yearning for things that shouldn’t be.
Instead, he stayed still and stroked one hand up her back. “Ask.”
“Please.” It sounded more challenging than pleading, so she tried again. “Rais, please.”
He leaned over her and scraped his teeth over the back of her shoulder. “Beg.”
“I am.” But not the way he wanted. She clenched her eyes shut and rubbed up against him. “I’ve been begging since you kissed me.”
“No, you haven’t. You’ve been pretending to beg.”
With words she’d pretended, maybe, but her body had betrayed her time and time again. Maybe she should be grateful he didn’t realize yet that he had such power over her. But her body betrayed her again, and this time words followed. “Because you can’t beg when you already have everything you want.”
“Do you, though?” he rasped. His h*ps bumped against hers, just a quick rush of sensation. A promise of more to come. Need burned inside her, but so did a sharp thread of satisfaction at being held on the edge.
She twisted her head so her lips brushed his jaw. “You haven’t been listening. I’m at your mercy, Rais. Make me come, make me wait, make me scream. I’m at your mercy.”
“Yes.” He followed the low growl with a surging thrust, then another. He rode her hard, pulling her back to meet him, rough eddies of power swirling around them as he f**ked her. Not soft or pretty, not careful lovemaking.
He f**ked her, and every claiming thrust wrapped his magic more tightly around her, until she feared the marks would never truly fade. She’d go through her life craving this man, needing him because nothing would ever be this good again—
Her body was already primed, but she fought the rising pleasure with everything in her. She’d rejected Rais. She’d asked the impossible, as if she had any right to dictate how the future king chose his mate. I may never feel this pleasure again.
So she wallowed in it. She savored the heat of his body and the unquestionable dominance in his strength. She shivered at the next brush of his magic, heat and intangible need that expressed itself in a tingling caress.
His next thrust went deeper, stroked along neglected nerves that sent liquid fire racing through her. Her fingers lost their grip on the headboard and she barely felt the impact as her elbows crashed into the bed, too lost in the sudden sensation.
And maybe she could beg after all, because her lips parted and words tumbled out before she could stop them. “Again, please Rais, right there...oh God—“
He growled loudly as the wild power in him swelled and burst through her. His hand clenched in her hair, and he panted her name between harsh groans. The thrusts were wild, desperate, but it didn’t matter. The next one hit just right and pleasure upended the world.
She screamed, maybe his name, maybe just noise. Her fingers clenched around the bedding as if it would anchor her, keep her from losing herself in the shuddering waves of heat that accompanied every fierce spasm.
Rais drove into her one final time and shouted his release. His fingers dug into her hip, holding her close as he ground against her, riding her through both their orgasms.
The hand on her hip was the only thing keeping her on her knees. Avani closed her eyes and let her cheek rest against the rumpled sheets, unable to gather the voice to say more than his name. “Rais.”
He heaved a shaky sigh and rolled them both to the bed, still joined. He brushed her hair away from her neck and panted against her skin. “What is it, Avani?”
She’d noticed him for years. He’d noticed her for a day. The girl might have fooled herself into believing their attraction was deep and lasting, but the woman knew better. Kings did as they pleased. Loved as they pleased. A moment of impulse now could bind her to him forever, but Rais would never be similarly bound. Not unless he wanted to be.
His body felt warm behind her. She couldn’t make a foolish promise on the hope of a day of sex, but she could enjoy the way he felt and pray the need for him would fade. So she rubbed back against him with a quiet, contented noise. “I feel very, very good.”
She had to have imagined the way he tensed. “I’m glad. You should get some sleep.” Then he kissed her neck and slipped away.
It was the last thing she expected to hear. She rolled over, and her stomach twisted when she saw him reaching for his pants. “You’re leaving?”
“I’d planned on making this a short visit.” His face was inscrutable. “Have to get back as soon as possible.”
The high priestess had made it clear that Rais was overdue a visit and needier than usual. Avani had been prepared to spend several days secluded with him while he worked out his frustration.
She was supposed to have time.
He pulled on his pants, and some tiny, terrified part of her considered the possibility that she’d failed. She was twenty-three and still a novice, and he could be leaving because her magic hadn’t been enough. Because her body hadn’t been enough. It took no special skill to lie passively while a man took his pleasure, after all.
Her chest ached as she sat up and gathered the blanket against her body, as if modesty would make her feel less like a failure. “Did I--Will you be all right? If I wasn’t...enough, you should find someone else. So you won’t be in danger.”
“No, you were...” He looked at her for a long moment, his eyes dark. Then his lips curved into a gentle, sad smile. “You did well, little one.”
Nothing had hurt this much in her pampered, sheltered life. And even knowing Rais could break her heart, even knowing it was foolish, she couldn’t stop herself. “If you were still interested--”
“Stop.” He dragged his hands through his hair. “Don’t apologize or compromise your decisions, Avani, least of all for me.”
Because she’d offended him beyond repair. Or because a taste of her when the beast wasn’t in control had been enough to kill any desire to possess her. He had his pick of women, ones more beautiful, more talented, more innocent, more whatever he could possibly want.
Avani closed her eyes so she wouldn’t have to see him leave, and tried to tell herself it was for the best. “I hope you’ll be safe, Rais. I’ll give your regards to my uncle, and I know my aunt is hoping you’ll favor her with a visit again soon.”
His silence was deafening. “Thank you for your kindness and concern. Please tell them I’ll--I’ll see them when I can.”
The stilted, miserable conversation was worse than the pain of losing him. But she’d have no one to blame but herself if she let him go without telling him the one thing that mattered. “I was truly blessed to have you as my first. I’ll never forget it.” Not even if she wanted to, she wagered.
He said nothing else. The door closed behind him, a quiet, stark statement on how easy it would be to forget her.
She’d made her choice. The smart choice of a mature, fortunate woman who didn’t have to settle for a king’s wandering attention. Or worse, a mating like that of Rais’s father, who was rumored to have a long-term mistress who owned his heart and body while his mate had to settle for the cold sheets of his empty bed.
Avani knew better. Raised by those close to power, she knew that the king had no mistress. If anyone owned his heart, it was without the comfort of flesh. Kings could do as they pleased, but strong rulers did what was honorable. If Rais took a mate of good breeding and found no long-term pleasure in her body, he would do the honorable thing. A cold, proper marriage, with carefully scheduled sex as a means of producing heirs.
For her, a life living on the crumbs of lingering affection when her uncle’s status and wealth could guarantee her the luxury of love. Unless he loved me.
The worst thing of all was knowing she hadn’t been brave enough to take that chance.
And now she’d never know.
Chapter Three
Rais tripped over the rucksack in the middle of his tent. He regained his balance, but not before driving his toes into the metal frame of his cot. Pain shot up his leg, and he growled viciously. “I need bigger quarters, Jarek.”