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“Nothing has to happen tonight,” he assured me. “Sex can’t be forced. Intimacy takes time to develop, even if it’s just the most basic physical kind. You have to be in the right state of mind to enjoy it. Because without joy, what’s the point in any of it?”

I realized the turn our situation had taken—the man who had nothing was comforting the woman who had it all. But I had no willpower to refuse his comfort, shamelessly soaking his attention and the warm sensation of his touch.

“It takes time? So sex isn’t really like pulling a tooth out, is it?” I managed a smile. “Yank and done?”

“A tooth? I sure hope not.” He chuckled. “I’d love to think I can make it far more enjoyable for you than that. But only when you’re ready for me.”

Chapter 7

Ari

There was a certain urgency in our situation. I had a marriage looming in my future with a groom to educate on things I had no experience in.

But Salas’s words relaxed me.

“Nothing has to happen tonight.”

It was like a knot had been released, letting tension escape.

With a gentle squeeze of my hand, Salas rose to his feet. “Thank you for the pleasant evening, Your Highness.”

“You’re leaving?” I sprang from the couch.

With nothing happening tonight, Salas’s presence in my bedroom was no longer necessary.

He nodded. “I should go.”

A tendril of unexpected wistfulness tugged at my heart, as if I wasn’t ready to part with him yet. I glanced at the door to the sitting room where Gem and her army of guards camped out for the night.

“They expect you to stay until morning, Salas. You may as well do that. Stay.”

He gave me a long look, as if testing my resolve about the offer.

“You said nothing needs to happen,” I hurried to explain. “We’ll just sleep. I have a big bed. I don’t think I have a nightshirt big enough to fit you, but you can sleep just the way you are.” I gestured at his outfit from the material so thin, it could be used as a veil. “I have a spare toothbrush and an extra blanket too. And I don’t think I snore. So...”

He smiled at that last statement.

“A night without listening to the snoring of a few dozen other men in the barrack sounds tempting.”

“So, you’ll stay?”

“Thank you for your offer, Your Highness,” he said with a formal bow. “I accept it.”

BRIGHT SUNSHINE WOKEme up. I squinted at it, confused. Why was the sun so high already? Then, I remembered. Salas stayed the night. My heart leaped with a jolt of nerves or thrill, or both.

We’d left the patio doors open before going to bed. My lacy curtains swayed in the cool morning breeze. During the night, I’d dragged the cover up to my ears and burrowed under Salas’s back like a rodent, seeking warmth from his large body. He was sleeping on his side with his back to me, also completely wrapped into his own blanket.

I shifted to get my glasses from the night table, and he stirred, rolling onto his back.

“Morning, Princess,” he murmured with an easy smile, as if it was a normal thing for us to wake up together.

“Morning.” I rose over him on my outstretched arm.

The sunshine brightened his eyes to honey-amber once again. From this close, I could also see the golden flecks and dark streaks in his irises. It looked too pretty, almost magical, for a simple man like him.

“You have freckles,” he said unexpectedly. “How have I not noticed them before?”

As I watched him, he clearly had been studying me too.