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He bit back a desperate groan and brushed a strand of hair from her face. “Linnea.”

“I love the sound of my name on your lips. Almost as much as I love taking your cock in my mouth.” Without another word, she slid her lips over the crown, swirling her tongue around the silky skin. She moved her mouth down, taking as much of him as she could before sliding her lips back up.

His hips moved as she continued to suck him, and his breathing became ragged. When his cock twitched in her mouth, Linnea squeezed the base, but before she could suck harder, Zexx was reaching down and pulling her off him and up his body. His hand replaced hers at the base of his cock as he positioned her on top.

Linnea braced her palms on his chest as she hovered over him, thinking that forbidden fruit had never tasted so sweet. As she sank down and their bodies joined, a desperate moan slipped from her lips. Her body had been aching for him since the moment she’d left the Dothvek village, and she’d never felt as complete as when he was inside her.

Linnea moved herself on top of him, her head tossed back, and her eyes closed as she allowed herself to sink into the sensations. His ridges stroked her just right and she tilted her hips forward to rub against the ridges above his cock, her pleasure building.

Zexx gripped her hips, moving her on his cock as he thrust up to meet her. “Look at me, Linnea.”

She was barely aware of his words until he repeated them. Then she opened her eyes and locked onto his, letting her head fall forward and her hair cascade around her face. As his thrusts became faster, Linnea slid her hands to his slick chest, feeling the rapid beat of his heart.

Then her body started to shudder, and she threw her head back, her mouth opening in a silent scream as ripple after ripple of delicious tremors coursed through her. Zexx thrust once more before holding her onto his cock as he roared, his body jerking with his release.

Linnea flopped forward, her body sagging as she fell onto Zexx’s chest. She didn’t care that the furs and blankets were tangled beneath them or that they were both glistening with sweat. She rested her head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat slowed to a steady rhythm.

As she lay curled beside him, she couldn't help but wonder what tomorrow would bring. How could she look at him in a formal setting and not remember the feel of his skin against hers?

As if sensing her thoughts once more, Zexx tightened his arm around her. "Don't," he murmured sleepily.

"Don't what?" she asked, tracing idle patterns on his chest.

"Don't start planning how to keep this secret, how to manage the political fallout, how to balance your duty with your desire." His voice was rough with satisfaction but tinged with understanding. "That's for tomorrow's light. Tonight belongs to us alone."

She smiled against his skin, marveling at how well he already knew her. "When did you become so wise, Dothvek?"

He chuckled, the sound rumbling through his chest beneath her ear. "Perhaps your Crestek strategy is rubbing off on me."

"A cultural exchange indeed," she whispered, allowing herself to sink into the warmth of his embrace, pushing thoughts of tomorrow's complexities into the distant future where they belonged.

For now, in this tent-like sanctuary high above the city, she was simply a woman in the arms of a warrior who had somehow breached all her carefully constructed defenses. And for the first time since she’d become chancellor, she felt utterly, completely at peace.

ChapterSixteen

Zexx jerked awake, disoriented by the unfamiliar surroundings. For a heartbeat, he couldn't place where he was—this wasn't his tent in the oasis, nor the cold stone chamber he'd been assigned in the tower. The fabric draped overhead was familiar yet wrong, the scent of spices and perfume mingling with something uniquely feminine that tugged at his memory.

Linnea.

The realization crashed over him as he registered the warm weight of her curled against his side, her dark hair fanned across his chest, her breathing deep and even in sated sleep. The chancellor of the Cresteks lay in his arms, naked and vulnerable, their limbs tangled among furs and blankets meant to emulate his home.

Moonlight streamed through the high windows, casting silver patterns across her golden skin. The bells on the draped fabric had gone silent, the only sounds now her gentle breathing and the distant hum of the city below.

Then panic seized him as he noticed the position of the moons through the window.

How long had they slept? How much time had passed while they'd lost themselves in each other?

"Linnea," he murmured, gently shaking her shoulder. "Wake up."

She made a soft sound of protest, burrowing closer to him. Even half-asleep, she was captivating, and it took all his willpower not to give in to the desire to hold her until dawn.

"Your adjunct will be expecting me to leave the dinner," he pressed, his voice urgent but low. "We need to move quickly."

Her eyes fluttered open, confusion giving way to understanding as she took in their situation. "What time is it?" she asked, her voice husky from sleep.

"Late," he replied, reluctantly disentangling himself from her warm embrace. "Too late for a diplomatic dinner to still be in progress."

She sat up, the furs falling away to reveal all of her body in the moonlight. The sight nearly undid his resolve to leave. Her skin bore faint marks from his attentions, small reminders of their passion that sent a surge of primitive satisfaction through him.