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“I don’t need a bed for this,” I say.

“I do,” Memnon says with too much fervency. He leans into me and nips my lower lip. “There will be time to make love like the heathens we are. But tonight, I want to savor your skin and the look in your eyes. They hold my whole universe in them.”

I swallow, growing serious. We’ve done this many times in the past week, but I’ve always, always had my guard up. But when I woke this morning, fresh from an evening of hell, all those guards I put in place to keep Memnon out were ripped apart.

The sorcerer’s eyes drop to my throat, and he presses a gentle kiss there. “My fierce queen, who battled death to save me, who gave up much so that we could be here in this moment.” His gaze flicks over me, and I think he sees that I’m ready for the slow sex he’s been promising and all the intimate connection that comes with it. “My exquisite mate, who has beenexceedinglypatient with me.”

He lays me out on the bed, then follows me onto it, fitting himself into the space between my thighs.

Despite the patter of rain, the world has grown very, very quiet.

“Let me show you how I love you,” he breathes.

He grabs my legs, sliding his hands down my thighs like he can’t help but touch me before spreading them obscenely apart.

Memnon dips his mouth to my core. “I promised you I’d feast on your pussy,” he says against my sensitive skin, and I moan atthe way even that casual brush of his lips sets my nerve endings on fire.

He kisses my pussy then, his tongue slipping inside me briefly.

I arch off the bed, nearly coming undone from that alone.

Memnon groans, leaning his forehead on my pubic bone. “You’redripping.”

I’m breathing heavy, though he’s hardly touched me. I run my hands over his shoulders, reveling in the roll of his muscles.

Memnon dips his head to press a soft kiss to my clit. I nearly yelp at the sensation.

“I hate to break my earlier promise,” he says, “but—” Another roughened kiss to my clit that sets me alight. Memnon lifts his head, and our eyes meet across the expanse of my body. “I did not imagine you would look at me tonight the way you have been or say the things you’ve said.”

With that, he drags himself up the length of my body until his hips are cradled against mine.

My hands glide up the rippling muscles of his abs, then circle around to his back.

The sorcerer stares down at me. “Don’t look away,” he says. It’s equal parts command and plea.

“Don’tyoulook away,” I say, turning the command back on him.

“I won’t,” he vows.

He reaches between us, adjusting himself until his cock is right at my entrance, and I’m about to glance down at where we touch?—

“Eyes on me,” he reminds me.

I inhale shakily.

Watching my every movement, Memnon shifts his hips and begins to sink inside me.

I suck in a breath as the head of his cock stretches me. The sensation is intoxicating, but I’m still caught up in his face. That face I first saw in Rome all those years ago. It’s grown hardened and more rugged since then, but for the first time in this life, I realize it’s notjusta handsome face, it’s a beloved one.

That makes my heart pound all the faster.

Once he’s fully seated in me, he goes still again, and the two of us remain locked in each other’s gaze.

“You can look away now,” I say softly. I don’t honestly know if my orders hold any power over him.

“I don’t want to,” he admits.

I don’t want to either.