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uld smell her now, vanilla, intoxicating. And he was drawn into those crystal blue eyes. The urge to haul her into his arms was overpowering. Haul her into his arms and do what, he asked himself? Shake her? Throttle her? Kiss her?
It was to kiss her, he admitted to himself. And he sure didn’t want to stop there.
Her voice turned to a whisper, her breath sweet against his own. “Take it or leave it, Raif.”
He took it. But it wasn’t what she was expecting.
He had a fleeting glimpse of her surprised gasp, before his lips came down on hers. His arm went around her waist, jerking her tight against an instantaneous erection.
She pushed against his shoulders, struggling to speak.
But he didn’t back off. His kiss was carnal and determined. He overwhelmed her mouth, his tongue assailing the seam of her lips. His free hand plunged into her hair, fingering its satin smoothness, trapping her against his mouth.
Then her hands stopped pushing, and her lips went pliant. She opened to let him in.
When her tongue tangled with his, fireworks ignited his brain stem, sizzling their way to the top of his skull. Her body molded against his, and he braced himself, letting soft meet hard.
Her lips were parted, and she was kissing him back. A whimper sounded deep in her throat. She wasn’t fighting, not that it had actually occurred to him to care. Well, not until this second, when he remembered who they were and what was between them, and now he knew he’d have to bring things under control.
But not yet.
For a stolen moment longer, he was going to let this passion race between them. He wrapped his arms fully around her, coupling their bodies together, pretending it didn’t have to end. Her own arms went around his neck, pulling the little tank top, revealing a strip of her bare skin at her midriff.
He ran his fingertips along the warm softness. She shivered, and he bent her backward, boldly running his hands beneath her top, stroking her flat stomach, trailing his thumbs below the mound of her breasts.
“Prince Raif,” she gasped, and the sound of his own name arced his arousal.
He kissed her temple, her ear, the curve of her neck. One hand explored her bare skin, while the other cupped her bottom, holding her firmly against the driving need of his body.
She pressed her forehead against his shoulder, still squeezing him tight, drawing deep, labored breaths. “We have to stop.”
His mind screamed no, but he forced his hands to still.
“Right,” he agreed on a strained gasp.
“This isn’t getting us anywhere,” she rasped.
That wasn’t strictly true. But it was getting Raif a whole lot of places he didn’t dare go.
He’d never lost control like this. His sex life was carefully orchestrated, planned, executed. But Ann had gotten under his skin in a way that was dangerous. Especially considering who she was.
How had he forgotten who she was?
He drew back, steeling himself. “I hope you didn’t think to use your body to change my mind.”
She blinked at him. “You kissed me, remember?”
“To put you in your place.” At least that was how it had started. “But you took the opportunity quickly enough.”
“Is that the way things work in Rayas? When a woman stands her ground, you accost her?”
Raif wanted to laugh at Ann’s protest. She’d been an enthusiastic participant in the kiss, and they both knew it.
“I’m the crown prince,” he drawled, refusing to either defend or explain. “If that’s the way I want things to work, that’s the way they work.”
“You have absolute power?”
“Absolutely.”
