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Do you want more, he asks,or would you like to stop here?

More?I echo. I’m sated from whatever he did with his mouth, but the thought of there being more to explore heats my blood.

He searches my face, the firelight dancing in his eyes and casting his scar into stark relief.You didn’t think that was it, did you?

“Maybe?” I say aloud, then bite my lip.

He touches my lower lip with his thumb, his brows furrowing.Can I confess something to you?he says.

I nod, fighting the urge to cover myself now that my body is cooling.

His fingers trail down from my lip to my neck, then fall away.I know very little about intimacy beyond what I’ve heard, he says.

Thisis the Memnon I am familiar with. Vulnerable, his heart laid bare.

But I want to knowyouintimately, he continues.More than anything.

I reach for him then, pulling him close, my lips finding his. He kisses me again, passion tempered by a sweetness I feel through our bond.

I want that too, I say.

He breaks off the kiss to see my expression. “Do you want it right now?” he asks, searching my gaze. “Because we don’t have to do this tonight?—”

“Yes, I want this with you right now.” Whateverthiseven is.

Inexperienced or not, Memnon must have a better idea than I do because he pushes himself to his knees and spreads my legs once more, staring again at my core.

It’s slightly less mortifying now that he’s already placed his mouth on the area. I even find it a little…alluring.

Grabbing his concerningly large phallus, he rests the tip of it against that part of me he slipped his finger into earlier. Only, his penis is much larger than his finger.

I tense, certain that whatever orifice exists between my legs, it’s not going to fit him. But to my utter shock, hedoesbegin to sink into me. I whimper at the sharp bite of pain, and Memnon pulls out.

Are you okay?he asks, concern etched on his features.

I nod.Is it supposed to hurt?I ask.

I think it can for women, he says,but…I’m not certain.

It really hits me then that powerful, ferocious Memnon doesn’t have the answer because he has never been with a woman. I want to pick apart why that is?—

You know why, he interrupts, his eyes heavy on me.There has only ever been you.

Emotion lodges in my throat.

I still want to do this, I say.

Memnon looks a little torn. Finally, he takes a deep breath and presses a hand to my abdomen. Beneath his touch, I feel his magic sink into me.

What are you doing?I ask.

I don’t want this to hurt you.

Once his magic takes root, he tries again, lining up his phallus with my opening. Then, for the second time, he presses into me.

There’s no more pain, but there’s a pressure and fullness that comes with the intrusion. Memnon shifts, leaning forward and bracing himself over me as he continues to sink into me, deeper than before. Then deeper still.

I grip his back, my fingers digging into those rolling muscles as my body gives way for him, even when I’m sure there’s no more room. Whatever that place is inside me, it stretches and accommodates until I feel Memnon’s pelvis meet mine.