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He broke the kiss only to lift her up into his arms and carry her into the dimly lit bedroom, with its huge king-size bed. Julia kept her eyes on Kaden, as if to look away might break the spell.
With a kind of reverence Kaden divested Julia of her jewellery and started to take off her clothes, undoing her dress at the back so that it fell open and then down to the floor in a pool of silk and satin at her feet, heavy under its own weight.
She stood in her underwear with her head tipped forward as Kaden took the pins out of her hair so that it tumbled around her shoulders. She could feel him open her bra, and shivered deliciously when his finger traced the line of her spine all the way down to her buttocks. Her breasts were heavy, nipples tight and tingling.
Gently he turned her to face him again, and pulled the open bra down her arms and off. She felt self-conscious for a moment, aware of her bigger breasts and her rounded belly. But under Kaden’s hot gaze all trepidation fled. He cupped her breasts, eyes dark and molten as he moved his thumbs over the taut peaks. They were more sensitive now, and Julia groaned softly. Her hands were shaking with need as she reached out to take off Kaden’s jacket and shirt. The buttons were elaborate and proved too much for her clumsy ministrations.
Kaden took her hands away and she watched, dry-mouthed, as bit by bit his glorious torso was revealed. Stepping close, she pressed a kiss to one flat nipple, tugging gently with her teeth and then smoothing it with her tongue. Kaden’s hand speared her hair, holding her head. Julia exulted in his rough breathing, in the way his chest filled to suck in more air.
Her hands had found his belt and buckle. Urgently she opened them and pushed his trousers and briefs down to the floor, freeing his impressive erection. Drawing back for a moment, she looked down, feeling dizzy with desire. She reached out a hand and touched him, stroking the hard length, feeling the decadent slide of silky skin over steel.
“Julia …”
Kaden sounded hoarse. Julia acted on pure instinct and bent her knees until she knelt before him on the floor. Still holding him, she took the tip of him into her mouth, tongue swirling around him. Fresh heat flooded through her at doing something so wanton, and she only dimly heard Kaden say harshly, “Stop … God, Julia, if you keep doing that I won’t—”
She felt Kaden gently pull her head away. She looked up, and the feral, almost fierce expression on his face reminded her of a wild and beautiful animal. He pulled her to her feet. “You don’t know what you do to me. I won’t last … and I want you too much. I need to be inside you. Now.”
Within what felt like seconds they were on Kaden’s bed, with not a stitch of clothing between them. Kaden’s hands smoothed down over Julia’s curves, her belly. She reached for him. “Kaden, I need you.”
His hand dipped between her legs, feeling for himself that she was ready, and if Julia hadn’t been so turned on she would have been embarrassed by the triumphant glitter in Kaden’s eyes.
He settled his lean hips between her legs, one hand on her thigh, pushing it wider, careful not to rest his weight on her belly. Julia arched her back, nipples scraping against his chest.
And then, just when she was about to plead and beg, she felt him slide into her, inch by delicious inch, filling her and stretching her. Eyes wide, she looked at him as he started to thrust, taking them higher and higher.
Time was transcended. All that existed was this blissful union. And Julia was borne aloft on a wave of ecstasy so overpowering that it seemed to go on for ever, her whole body pulsing and clenching for long seconds even after Kaden’s seed had spilled deep inside her. After a timeless moment he extricated himself and pulled her tight into his chest, arms wrapped around her. Julia wondered for one lucid moment before she fell asleep if this was a dream.
Kaden lay awake beside Julia. His heartbeat was still erratic, and a light sweat sheened his skin. Julia was curled into his chest, bottom tucked close into the cradle of his thighs. Already he was growing hard at the feel of her lush behind. Once again he was struck with the immutable truth that no other woman had this effect on him after making love. He felt all at once invincible, and yet more vulnerable than he’d ever felt.
One hand was on Julia’s belly, his fingers spread across the firm swell. He put the feelings welling up inside him down to knowing that she was pregnant—with his babies, his seed. Undoubtedly that was what had imbued their lovemaking with a heightened intensity.
But as Kaden finally let sleep claim him his overriding feeling wasn’t one of peace at being able to put the experience into a box. It was the same disconcerting one he’d had in B’harani, when he’d seen Julia wearing that necklace. He felt as if he was sliding down that slippery slope again, with nothing to hold onto, and there was a great black yawning abyss at the bottom, waiting to suck him down.
A few hours later, as dawn broke outside, Kaden woke sweating and clammy, his heart racing. He’d just had a vivid dream of nightmare proportions. He’d been surrounded by a crowd of faceless people and held back by hundreds of hands as he was forced to watch Julia make love to another man. He’d wanted to rip that man limb from limb. He felt nauseous even now, as it came back in lurid detail.
He looked to where Julia lay sleeping on her side on the other side of the bed and felt all at once like holding her close and running fast in the opposite direction.
Two weeks after that cataclysmic wedding night Julia was wondering if it had been a dream. It felt like a dream, because they hadn’t made love since then. Kaden had been cool the following morning at breakfast, while Julia had felt as if she’d survived an earthquake.
He’d informed her, while barely meeting her eyes, “Unfortunately local elections are coming up this week, which means that we’ll have to postpone a honeymoon.”
Julia’s insides had curdled in the face of this remote man. How could she have been seduced so easily into thinking she’d seen something of the young man she’d fallen in love with?
“That’s fine with me,” she’d answered stiffly. “I hadn’t expected anything else.”
And then he’d said, “I’ve arranged for you to have lessons in Burquati history and royal protocol. You’ll be well prepared for any public engagements. I should be able to accompany you until you get your bearings. The lessons will give you a broad overview of everything you need to know, and some tuition in our language.”
Now Kaden shifted on the other side of the dinner table, and Julia glanced up guiltily to see him assessing her. His eyes dropped to her hand.
“Why aren’t you wearing your engagement ring?”
Julia looked at the plain gold wedding band on her finger and flushed. “I was afraid I might lose it.”
She saw his sceptical look, and then felt a surge of adrenalin. The fact that he’d clearly been avoiding coming to bed until she was asleep for the past two weeks, while she lay there aching for him to touch her, was inciting hot anger.
She lifted her chin. “The truth is that I don’t like the idea of wearing a ring that was given to your first wife.”
“Why would you feel that?”
