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His kiss grows firmer, and I part my lips, some instinct in me wanting to find his tongue with mine. Our tongues tangle, and I think I might just die from desire. Who even am I?

Excitement fizzes through me. I shift my position slightly, to bring myself onto my knees, and wrap my arms around his neck.

We’re still kissing, our tongues dancing now, the passion growing between us.

I press myself against the hard muscles of his chest, aware there’s only a slip of material separating us.

Heat pools between my thighs. My nipples harden and crinkle beneath my nightgown.

He seems to sense this as his hand leaves my hair to cup one of my breasts over my clothes.

His thumb brushes my nipple, and I gasp into his mouth.

Have I been longing for this moment, ever since we danced all those years ago? I’d felt this energy between us even then .

He kisses me harder and pinches my stiff nipple between his finger and thumb. It’s hard enough to hurt, but the sensation seems to have a direct line to my pussy. I squeeze my thighs together, increasing the pleasure.

Is it real, though? Or is this how everyone feels when they’re with an Incubus? It’s as though I’m drugged, and he’s become my addiction. After all the pain and fear and grief of the past twenty-four hours, all I want is to forget everything and allow this to happen.

Ruarok breaks the kiss. “I want to touch you, Princess. I want to push my fingers inside you and hear you come.”

No one has ever spoken to me in such a way before, and I whimper at the thought. Can he tell how much I long for his touch, though I can’t bring myself to give voice to the words? I’ve never told a man what I want before.

I think of his cock, how big and long it is. Has it grown again now, just by kissing me? I can’t seem to help myself. I reach down and cover him with my hand, just as he’s covering my breasts. Dear gods, he is hard, and by the feel of him, fully hard, too.

He sucks air in over his teeth.

“Did I hurt you?” I ask, suddenly worried.

“No, Princess, quite the opposite. Do it again.”

The loose material does little to impede my way, and I’m able to wrap my hand fully around his girth over the top of his pants, with the material still between us.

I trace my fingers up the outline of his length and then back down again.

A tiny patch of the material has grown damp, and, from the tales Skylar has told me in the past, I know that’s because he wants me.

His hand moves from my breast, and he cups my chin. “ For ten years, I’ve dreamed of this moment. It’s what’s kept me going the entire time in that forsaken cage.” He kisses me again, his tongue mapping out the inside of my mouth. “You have no idea how much I want you.”

His hand leaves my breast and trails down my stomach, to reach beneath the long skirt of my nightgown. His fingers run up the inside of my thigh, and I hold my breath. My wings flutter behind me in anticipation.

It suddenly hits me that I’m half-dressed, with my hand wrapped around my stepbrother’s cock, with him about to touch me in a way no man has touched me before.

I yank away from him, deliberately putting space between us.

“No, we can’t. You’re my stepbrother. This is…wrong.”

He frowns in confusion. “How can it be wrong when it feels so good?”

“By law, we are brother and sister. What will people say?”

“Fuck other people. Plenty of other cultures encourage the coupling of siblings to keep the bloodlines pure.”

“We are not of the same bloodline.”

He smiles, like a feline who’s got the cream. “Exactly. So it shouldn’t matter.”

Perhaps he’s right, but it’s not his reputation that would be in tatters.

Men are always judged differently than women.

If people knew we were together, in that way, he would probably get slaps on the back and other men buying him drinks.

I, on the other hand, will walk into a room to find people whispering, and most likely my ability to rule called into question.

The only person who would squeal with joy and demand to know every detail is my lady’s maid.

As much as I’d love to have that conversation with Skylar, as I trust her completely, it’s not worth risking the kingdom for.

I snatch up my blankets and hold them against my chest, as though they can offer me some kind of protection.

Hurt and disappointment is evident on his handsome features. Those cheekbones are sharp enough to cut glass, those eyes so dark I feel I could fall into them forever.

“I’m sorry,” I tell him. “I didn’t mean to lead you on, but I do mean it when I say this can’t happen.”

“Are you telling me it doesn’t feel good?”

My cheeks burn. “That’s beside the point.”

He leans in again, cat-like, or perhaps it’s more snake-like, as though he’s going to slide himself across the bed toward me.

His tone is soft, hypnotic. “You’ve had a difficult time.

Let me take your mind off things, if only for a short while.

No one else needs to know. It will be between only the two of us. ”

“But I will know!” I protest.

“What does that matter? Are you saving yourself for marriage?”

I shake my head. “No, I will never marry. The kingdom is my husband.”

It crosses my mind that I’d considered the possibility of having to marry someone from another kingdom to secure the safety of our people, but then I push it from my head.

“If you will never marry, then why not take some pleasures where you can? Where is the pride in being a virgin queen?”

He’s right, there is no pride in being a virgin queen, but I also don’t want to give someone else any control over my body, and especially not him.

“You are my stepbrother, and you are half Incubus. I know what you do, how you get your power. Is that your plan? To drain mine to use for yourself?”

He draws back, his forehead furrowed. “Princess, it hurts that you’d think of me that way.”

“Am I wrong?”

“I only wanted to make you feel better. I saw you were suffering, and I wanted to make that right. I’m sorry if I did the wrong thing. You have to understand it simply comes naturally to me to use physical affection as a way of connecting with someone.”

My body craves him. Maybe he’s right, and no one else would know. I entertain the thought of lying back and allowing him to do whatever he wants to me. I have no doubt he’s good at what he does.

I strengthen my resolve.

“Prince Ruarok, it is the middle of the night, and you shouldn’t be in my chambers. I’m asking you to leave now. Please don’t make me ask you again.”

With a sigh, his shoulders drop, and he rises from the bed. My gaze locks on the huge erection tenting his pants. He makes no attempt to hide it, and it occurs to me that my stepbrother has zero shame when it comes to sex. In that way, he is the complete opposite of me.

We would be a terrible match.