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“Come to me, my princess.” Salas lifted me into his arms, then carried me to bed behind the screen.

I kissed him as he lowered me onto my silk bedspread. Tomorrow, I would have to find a way to live the rest of my life without his kisses. But tonight... Tonight, he was all mine, to hug and kiss to my heart’s content.

“As much as I love seeing this shirt on you,” I tugged at the fabric over his chest. “I really want it off right now.”

“As you wish, Your Highness.” His voice turned light and playful, and I didn’t even mind his use of the honorific this time.

Rising on his knees over me, he pulled the shirt off over his head.

“Just to warn you,” he said, tossing it aside. “It’s been a while since the groomers worked on me last.”

“Good,” I murmured, sliding a hand up his chest against the slight prickle of the new hair growing there. “I finally get a chance to feel the real you.” I pressed my nose to his collarbone, breathing him in. “To learn your true scent.”

Through the mild fragrance of the plain soap he’d used before coming here, I smelled salt and earth of his skin, the musk of the male warmed by the sun, and the fresh air of the fields next to the city wall where he’d been working lately.

“You don’t miss the fancy perfumes?” He helped me take off my crown, then raked his fingers through my hair, freeing it from the bun.

“Not even a little bit.” I nuzzled his chest before sliding a hand down his torso. I stopped my fingers at the waistband of his pants, uncertain. “How are we going to do this?”

“In the most delightful way possible.” He chuckled softly, bringing my hand to his mouth to kiss my fingers.

“I heard it hurts the first time,” I worried.

“Not with me. It won’t,” he assured me.

I soaked up his confidence. For once, I was more than happy to relinquish all control and follow someone else’s directions. I trusted Salas to know what to do.

Sliding his hand behind my back, he unclipped my bra, then took it off, along with my underwear. I didn’t hide my nakedness from him this time. Instead, I welcomed the rush of thrill when he kissed my breasts. He sucked the tip of one into his mouth, gently tugging at the bud of my nipple with his teeth. His rough palms glided up and down my sides.

It was easy to trust him. The last memories of anyone touching me were of Salas, and all of those memories were good.

Anticipation fanned my desire. I parted my legs, needing to feel his touch everywhere. He accepted the invitation, gently cupping me between my thighs.

Massaging me gently with just one finger, he trailed his kisses down my body. The prickle of his beard felt invigorating. Hot flushes of desire burst in my lower belly, making me squirm under the caress of both his lips and his hands. Holding my thighs open, he lowered his head between them, then dipped his tongue inside me.

Warmth spread through me. I gripped his hair, rocking my hips against his mouth. There was no apprehension anymore. Nothing impeded the pleasure rolling through me.

He licked gently at first, but gradually increased the speed and pressure. My pleasure grew like a tightly wound spring, ready to burst. When I thought I couldn’t take it anymore, that I might die, lost to this bliss, he pulled back.

“Salas...” I begged in a needy whimper.

“Yes, sweetheart?” His hand replaced his mouth on me.

The change of sensation dropped my arousal from the white-hot melting point to a strong, steady flame.

“I need...” I moaned, lifting my hips into his hand.

“Patience, my darling princess. Patience is everything.”

Shifting back a little, he kissed my chest while slipping the tip of his finger inside me. His thumb gently tapped and rubbed the spot where I needed him most. I moaned. Swells of pleasure rolled through me, slowly building higher under his control.

He shifted just a little more down, then dipped his head between my legs again. The glide of his tongue between my thighs added a new thrilling note to the symphony of sensations he played through my body.

He added another finger inside me, massaging and stretching me. Probing and testing. All the while, his thumb kept playing the tantalizing rhythm on and around my most sensitive spot.

Rising on an outstretched arm, he watched me. I loved seeing him over me like this. His hair framed his face. His eyesglistened in the moonlight. I held his gaze, wishing to remember this moment for as long as I lived. But he pressed his thumb just a little harder, pleasure surged, and my eyelids fluttered closed.

I was only half-aware of his erection pressing against me. The stretch of his invasion synched with the thrill of approaching orgasm that rushed my body. His thumb rubbed harder, and ecstasy flooded me whole.