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“Should I stop, ma bohinya?”

I knew better than to succumb to the fire that his simple touch had stoked, but I couldn’t help myself. “No. Make me forget, Warlord.”

In the next moment, he was naked, spreading his clothing on the sand. Then I was naked as well, the air around us smelling of musk and salt and mint. He dropped to his back, pulling me over on top of him, then staring up at me. “I’m yours. Give me my orders, Warqueen.”

“Let me have you,” I whispered, shifting down so his pierced cock jutted between my mound and his stomach, and the bars of his warrior’s ladder slid enticingly against the slick parts of me as I moved. It didn’t take long before I was gasping for relief. I lifted my hips up, sliding him into me as he watched, reflected moonlight shimmering in his eyes. His lips parted and he murmured:

“Her hair is the hue of the night sky above,

Her eyes darkened pools, holding magic and pain.

But if asked why this beauty’s the goddess I love,

‘It’s her heart,’ I would answer, again and again.”

I made a sound that might have been laughter or surprise, though the tears that stung my eyes felt like grief. “Not bad, Warlord. You’ve gotten better.”

“I’ve had a bit of practice.” He thrust upward and at an angle, twisting around so the bars on his cock rubbed in a way I’d never felt before.

And needed to feel again. Heat hazed my mind in the way it had when we were young, but this time, there was an insistence I’d never felt before. Not from without, but within.

I needed this man, this Alpha. I needed to connect to him with more than a ring, gemstone beads, or even a tattoo.

I needed his claim on my body, and his on mine.

Words fell from my lips before I knew what I was saying. “My love, my love!” And then suddenly, I was coming, leaning forward while his hands wrapped around my shoulders, and my mouth was open. My teeth found the juncture between his shoulder and neck, and I bit down as his knot nudged my opening.

His skin broke easily, as if it wanted to let me in.

His blood was on my lips and his hands so tight, it was almost painful as he cried out, “Rada!” Invisible whips of pleasure tore through me, through him, binding us.

For a moment, I wondered if Edan would know. Would he feel the bond? But the bite on my neck stayed quiet, the chill from Skadi’s mark circling it like a tiny blizzard.

Satisfied, I let go of my bite, licking the taste of Goran off my lips. “Yum,” I half-purred. His shocked blue eyes met mine, his mouth dropping wide. I almost giggled.

“Woman!” he growled, his lips curling up in dark satisfaction. In the next instant, I was on my back on our discarded clothing, and he loomed over me. Wonder and lust painted his face as his braids fell around us, making a curtain to hide us from the world.

He reached down to my slick-soaked mound, his clever fingers working in the space between us to bring me to the edge again and again before he groaned and thrust deeply. A strange climax that began at the cold space below my belly button began to roll through me as he pressed his cock into me once more, stopping before the knot pressed against me.

“May I, ma bohinya?” he rasped.

“You’d better, my Warlord,” I replied, and lifted my left arm to his mouth. “I need your mark on me, Goran.”

Even if Edan would know. Even if the thought of being bound to another male in this way scared me.

He hissed and placed my wrist to his lips, then bit down gently as he plunged inside me, his knot stretching me wide. It was pain and bliss, connection and revelation. I could feel him inside me in every way.

“My husband,” I whispered as he emptied himself into me and half-fell onto his elbows, my wrist still at his lips. His warm heat surged inside my walls, his knot keeping the seed from falling out.

He was laughing breathlessly when he finally rolled us both to our sides, waiting for the knot to diminish. “You bit me,” he murmured. “I’m yours.”

“You always were, you stupid Warlord. And I was always yours.”

“Always?”

“From the very first moment you snuck me into the treasure room at Wargate Hall and pretended not to see me steal those pearl-studded hairpins.”

“I would give you every treasure in that room as a mating gift,” he said softly, “if they weren’t already yours.”