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I may have memories of doing this in another life, I may have even drunkenly done this with the sorcerer inthisone, but this time, there’s no alcohol orespiritusto blunt my nerves.

“Selene.”

My shoulders tense at the sound of his voice, which is somehow tender and intimate andknowing. I don’t know how it’s knowing—unless he’s been eavesdropping on this entire inner dialogue.

“Come here, little mate,” Memnon says, his voice gruff. “I am tied up and yours to do with as you please.”

I draw a deep breath and turn to Memnon. It takes so much to let him look his fill at my naked body. And he does. He looks and looks, swears under his breath, and looks some more.

Eventually, his gaze moves to my face, pausing on my cheeks, where I can feel the hot rush of blood staining my skin.

“You’re embarrassed,” he says, surprised. Never mind that he’s lying naked and chained to the bed. “We’ve done this many times.”

“It’s not that,” I say as one of my orbs of light dips in close before bobbing back up above us.

What is it?he says down our bond.

But the answer is right there.

Casual intimacy is fun and easy for me.Thisis something else. Not even the lightly kinky aspects of it can hide the fact that this entire night, I’ve been seeing Memnon differently. I’ve pursued him not as some drunken mistake but because I wanted to touch something real and deep.

And that’s terrifying when it comes to the sorcerer. The moment Memnon’s greedy, devouring eyes recognize I’m no longer keeping it casual, he will be all in, pressing his advantage. And like he said, he’ll continue to tie himself closer and closer to me in every way that he can.

I should walk out of the room right now. There’s a couch to sleep on, and there are other unexplored rooms to this house that likely have beds. We can still keep this relationship carefully contained.

The damnable truth of it is that I want my mate. I want him so badly my skin throbs from it and my magic is acting out to make it happen.

So I return to the bed, climbing on like nothing was ever amiss. Once more, I straddle Memnon, though I’m havingtrouble meeting his face. My eyes would much rather take in all the lines of his tattoos.

But I do force my gaze up. “I can do anything to you,est xsaya?” I ask. It’s not really a question of whether I literally can. He’s already given me that power over him. It’s a question of whether he’s okay with it.

“Anything,” he agrees fervently. “I am yours.”

He is right there, his face so close, his heart laid bare before me.

The look has me feeling shy and skittish all over again, and only my deep-seated desire to be close to him keeps me from backing down.

You’re in control, I remind myself.

I move down his body and grasp his cock. He’s already rock-hard, and I’m intimidated all over again by how large he is, which is silly. Leaning over it, I take the head of him into my mouth.

Memnon hisses, the chains rattling as he nearly rises off the bed.

“Gods, Selene.”

I swirl my tongue over the head of him, pumping my fist up and down his shaft. The sorcerer’s muscles have gone taut with tension, and when I take him deeper, those manacles clink together again.

“Fucking witchcraft, that mouth of yours…” he mutters, making me smile around him. He groans when he feels the action. “Only do that again, my queen, if you want me to come in your mouth. I have no resistance to those smiles.”

Much as I’d enjoy bringing him to release this way, I’m not ready to be done with him yet. So I let my grin fall away, and I work him until his hips are bucking and he’s whispering praises in Sarmatian, his head flung back against the pillow.

Only then, once I’ve gotten my fill of him, do I move, releasing his shaft so that I can straddle his hips. I rise up on my knees and position his cock at my opening. The head of it skims between my folds.

Memnon groans as his eyes fix on that point of contact. His gaze rises to mine, and my earlier insecurities are gone.

Thisis right. Finally, it’s right.

Slowly, I sink down on him. The headboard creaks as Memnon strains to stay still, letting me control the pace.