Page 118 of Thief of Hearts

He made a strangled noise that made me think he’d do it quickly to get his answer, but he very slowly pulled the fabric down my legs and I liked the soft, sliding sensation. When he was down at my ankles, I lifted up one foot and then the other and he tossed the pants away.

He kissed the back of my calf, the right leg and then the left. Then the hollow behind my knee on one side and the other. He did this all the way up my legs, stopping when he reached the undergarment I was wearing. He moved to the base of my back, kissing his way up my spinal column until I felt like I was going to pass out. I couldn’t stop trembling. All I felt was heat and desire and I needed him now.

Zain’s hands went to my hips, as if he intended to turn me around, but he hesitated. We stood there in silence, my breathing harsh and ragged. Then he took a step back and I cried out in protest.

“The spy is gone. We can stop,” he said.

“No.” I turned around and threw myself at him. I pressed my lips to his and I felt the shock in his body, but it only lasted for a second and then he was pulling me to him, kissing me, touching me.

Fanning the flames higher and higher. I told him, “I don’t want to stop.”

“Neither do I.” He kissed me until I thought I would collapse from it. He ruined my mouth. “On the bed?” he asked, his voice rough and hoarse.

“I don’t care where,” I said as I tugged on his tunic. I wanted it off. I didn’t want there to be anything between us.

He somehow managed to undo his belt and get his tunic up to his neck, all while still kissing me. He only broke the kiss long enough to get it over his head, and then he pulled me into his arms. My chest brushed against his and I moaned. Yes. This. This was what I had wanted.

His kisses turned frantic, desperate, completely wild. All the heat swirling inside me circled, liquefied, and went low until all I could do was make incoherent moans as he kissed and moved his body against mine.

I was only slightly aware of him pushing me back until we hit the bed and he helped me to lie down. He stood above me, taking in every detail.

“You are so beautiful it should be a crime,” he said, and I found myself wanting to giggle, which was very unlike me. “I want to steal you and keep you with me forever.”

My heart somehow managed to pound even harder at his words. Was he saying—

Did he want this to be more?

I reached for him and he extended his hand toward me—

And there was a knock.

He rattled off an impressive litany of curse words. “Does that door have a lock?”

“Maybe if we just stay quiet, they’ll go away,” I said.

The knock came again, more insistent this time. More swearing from Zain as he grabbed his tunic and then tossed mine to me. I slid it over my head, and so did he. When he opened the door, I half expected him to yell at whoever was standing there.

I heard the steward’s voice. “We received word that you were, ahem, enjoying yourselves and might appreciate additional company. The king wants you to have an excellent send-off, so he has arranged for his concubines to entertain you.”

Zain’s body blocked the entire doorway and I couldn’t see anything. What if Actos had sent different concubines? How would we work around that?

I nearly sighed with relief when Nesdahlia and Cotys walked in.

The steward wished us a good night and Zain slammed the door shut. I could feel the frustration coming off him in waves. He walked into the washroom and slammed that door, too.

My body felt too heavy, the thwarted desire making my stomach and core ache. I had to put all that aside and greet the Thracian girls as if they hadn’t just interrupted us.

I promised myself they would stay a couple of hours and then Zain and I would be alone again. “How long should we keep you here this time?”

“We need to stay the night,” Nesdahlia told me. “The king says he expects it.”

It was like she’d dropped a weight in the center of my stomach, crushing me with disappointment.

Zain emerged from the washroom and I said, “The girls have to be here all night.”

He didn’t look anywhere near as disappointed as I felt, and I wondered whether he was covering it up or if it didn’t bother him the way it did me.

Men usually just needed a place and a partner. I had offered him both. Just because he was attracted to me didn’t mean that he saw a future for us.