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His gaze had turned strangely tender at whatever he saw on my face.

“The way you’re looking at me is very interesting, wildcat,” he murmured, and I blinked, my cheeks heating. If I wasn’t careful, this man would see far too much.

So I lowered my head and took him into my mouth.

He stiffened, and I opened wider. He was large enough to make my jaw ache, but I slowly slid down him, my core heating as he let out a pleased, male sound. He pushed my hair away from my face, and I glanced up to find him staring at me.

Lorian’s eyes heated, and a low growl rumbled from his chest as I took him deep. He sucked in a breath. “That’s it.”

He thrust gently at first, his hand in my hair holding me in place for him. “Eyes on me,” he demanded, and I met his gaze, my eyes watering. His next thrust bumped the back of my throat, and I gagged. He did it again, hissing as I swallowed around him. “You’re so fucking perfect.”

I lifted my hand, using it with my mouth. His thighs tensed, and my own arousal burned hotter. My nipples were hard points, my legs shaking, and his eyes practically glowed with possessive hunger as he watched me take him deep.

“Enough,” he snarled, and I blinked.

My head spun, and then I was in his arms as he bent me over the cot, urging me to my knees. His hand slid to my clit, gently caressing, and my muscles tightened.

“Already close, wildcat?” He removed his hand. I let out a string of curses, and he laughed.

“You’re hiding something from me. Perhaps you shouldn’t get to come.”

I lost the ability to speak, and he laughed again. The wide head of his cock pushed inside me until it was all I could feel, my body stretching to accommodate him. Would I ever get used to his size?

I’d frozen, and he slipped his finger over my clit once more, the momentary pleasure allowing him to thrust fully inside me.

My breath caught, my body began to tremble, and he swept one hand down my back soothingly, before sliding it around to cup my breast, his thumb scraping over my nipple. I arched my back, and he made a pleased sound as the angle changed.

He hit something inside me that made my thighs clench. I was groaning now, my head hanging low as he pounded into me with long, rough strokes.

“More,” I demanded, and he gave me more. More and more, until all I could do was bury my hands in my blanket and push back against him, begging in low groans.

“You make me insane,” he growled in my ear, his huge hand sliding down to tease me, stroking my clit in time with his thrusts.

I sucked in a breath. “Don’t stop.”

“Never. It will be like this forever, wildcat,” he rasped.

It wouldn’t.

Lorian seemed to hear my silent thought, because he nipped my neck, stroking over my clit as his thick cock drove into me.

“Come,” he demanded.

And I did. On and on it went, my climax sweeping through me as I shuddered in his arms. Distantly, I was aware of him growling his own pleasure, his hands holding me still as he spilled inside me.

* * *

I sat in The Hearth, chewing absently. As usual, there were eyes on me, but it felt as if there were fewer than usual. Lorian had left to find Galon, and I’d taken a quick detour to the only female healer in camp. She’d provided me with a tonic that would prevent conception, along with a handful of herbs. “One leaf a day,” she’d told me.

“Prisca.” Demos stood in front of my table, offering me a strained smile. “Can we talk?”

My stomach tightened, but we needed to clear the air. Still, I wasn’t looking forward to the moment Demos realized the queen he hoped I’d be had never truly existed. All my potential had been snuffed out the night I was taken.

I nodded, taking my final bite. One of the cooks plucked my plate from the table with a smile.

Demos led me back toward the river. Only, instead of finding a rock to sit on, he kept walking until we were surrounded by a copse of trees. He’d obviously visited earlier, because a wide blanket was laying over a patch of grass in the shade. He gestured to the blanket. “Sit,” he said.

I complied. My heart hurt when I looked at my brother. Something inside me fractured when I attempted to come to terms with the fact that I would never be who he wanted. I’d never be the queen he’d envisioned when he’d thought of the hybrid heir. I’d been his sister for weeks, and I was already failing at it.