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"I hated watching them touch you," she admitted, the confession slipping out before she could reconsider it.

Zexx pulled back slightly, his eyes meeting hers with an intensity that made her breath catch. "And yet you're the one here with me," he said, his voice a low rumble that sent heat pooling low in her abdomen. "The only one I want."

“And you are the only one I want.”

He made quick work of her dress, his warrior's hands surprisingly deft with the intricate Crestek fastenings. As the diaphanous fabric fell away, the warm, moist air caressed her exposed skin. Then he dropped his pants and kicked them aside, leaving no barrier between them.

Zexx stepped into the pool first, the water reaching his waist, rippling around his powerful form as he extended his hand to her. She took it, allowing him to guide her into the warm embrace of the water.

The sensation was exquisite—silky heat enveloping her body, supporting her weight as she moved toward him. Small jets of bubbles tickled her skin, the water's mineral content leaving it feeling impossibly smooth. She glided into his arms, their bodies meeting with slick, wet heat that intensified every point of contact.

"So beautiful," he murmured, lowering his head to trace a path along her collarbone with his lips, drops of water clinging to her skin like jewels. “Not so different from Dothvek females, yet like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”

She arched into his touch, her entire body responsive to him in a way she'd never experienced with any Crestek lover. There had been others, of course, but those encounters had been physical release and little else. She hadn’t imagined there could be more. Certainly nothing like this.

When his hands cupped her breasts beneath the water's surface, thumbs circling the sensitive peaks until she gasped his name, she felt something beyond physical pleasure—a pulse of his own desire echoing through her.

"Can you feel me?" she whispered, wondering if this impossible bond flowed both ways. "My thoughts, my feelings—can you sense them as I sense yours?"

His eyes widened slightly, surprise flickering across his features before understanding dawned. "Yes," he said, his voice rough with emotion. "It shouldn't be possible—not with a Crestek—but I feel you. Your desire, your pleasure…your heart."

The admission sent a wave of vulnerability through her. As chancellor, she had learned to guard her thoughts, to present only what she wished others to see. The idea of Zexx sensing her unfiltered emotions should have terrified her. Instead, letting the sensations wash over her was like liberation.

"Show me," she urged, pulling him closer in the water, craving the heat of his skin against hers. "Show me what it means to be truly connected."

He needed no further encouragement. His mouth claimed hers in a kiss that left her breathless, his hands exploring with increasing boldness beneath the rippling surface. The water splashed gently against the pool's edge as they moved, their bodies creating small waves that echoed their growing passion. When his fingers parted her thighs, she gasped, the sound reverberating in the steam-filled chamber. Through their strange connection, she could feel his satisfaction at her response, his pride in drawing such uninhibited sounds from the normally composed chancellor.

"No one sees you like this," he growled against her throat, his words both question and statement. "No one else knows how you come apart."

"No one," she confirmed, her voice breaking as his touch became more insistent. "Only you, Zexx. Only ever you."

The possessiveness in his eyes made her heart stutter. This powerful warrior, who could mercilessly face down sand serpents and enemy warriors without flinching, looked at her as if she were something precious and rare.

He guided her to the pool's edge, turning her around and placing her hands to the smooth stone of the ledge. He pressed his body against hers from behind and moved his hands to cup her breasts, as Linnea tipped forward and instinctively spread her legs. Zexx nestled his head in the crook of her neck, rumbling a growl as his cock slid between her legs. Linnea twitched her ass to notch his crown at her entrance, then with a single powerful motion, he thrust inside her as he nipped at her neck.

Linnea cried out as he held himself deep, the heat of the water easing the stretch but not lessening the sensation of being filled so completely she could barely breathe. Something shifted between them—some final barrier dissolving. Then Zexx dragged himself out with exquisite slowness only to drive back inside her and make her grasp at the stone ledge.

“Is this what you want?” he husked into her ear. “You want to give up control? You want to be taken by a barbarian from the sands?”

She nodded, unable to voice her desires. But he was right. She did want to abandon all her power and forget making decision after decision. She wanted him to be in control, to take her, to pleasure her without having to be told how. And considering his Dothvek abilities, that was exactly what he could do.

He nibbled Linnea’s ear as he entered her so slowly she thought she might scream, each of his ridged rings sending frissons of pleasure through her. “You like being taken by a barbarian from the sands. You like letting me have my way with you, don’t you?” He ran a hand up her throat and tipped her head back so that it was flush with his. “You love being fucked by a Dothvek who will never bend his knee to you, don’t you, my pretty little chancellor?”

She should have rejected every word he said, but all of it was true. “And you love burying your cock inside a Crestek female you swore to despise.”

He growled again and thrust harder as he released her neck and dropped his hands to her hips. Water cascaded around them as his movements were measured at first, controlled, but as their pleasure built, that control fractured. Each thrust sent ripples across the pool's surface, water splashing over the sides to dampen the stone floor beyond.

His rhythm became more urgent, his breathing ragged against her skin. She bent forward and tipped her ass higher to draw him deeper, meeting each thrust with a desperation that matched his own. The sounds of their passion mingled with the gentle splashing of water and the soft bubbling of the pool.

Her release came first, washing over her in waves that left her trembling and calling his name, her voice echoing off the chamber walls. He followed moments later, his powerful body tensing as he thrust hard and fast and then bellowed his release, the sound reverberating through the steamy air.

Then Zexx pulled her down into the water, coiling his arms around her and holding her. As she marveled at the strangeness of her situation, Linnea, chancellor of the Cresteks, remained wrapped in the arms of a Dothvek warrior, their slick bodies still humming with pleasure, their breathing gradually synchronizing in the quiet of his bathing chamber.

"I must say that diplomatic relations with the Dothveks have improved dramatically since your arrival."

His laughter rumbled beneath her ear, the sound full and genuine. "Is that what we're calling this now? Diplomatic relations?"

"Would you prefer 'cultural exchange'?" she teased, her hand sliding down his chest beneath the water, feeling the ridged muscles tense beneath her touch. "Or perhaps 'peace negotiations'?"