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The shadow of Cat’s nipples, already enlarged in pregnancy, and the hair covering her sex, which had been trimmed by the beautician that morning, were clearly visible through the shimmer of silk.
Gold and silver thread and what looked like real gemstones were em
broidered in Moorish patterns in the robe’s bodice and hem. The garment flowed around her, accentuating her curves, while the deep V almost reached to her navel.
Kasia had spent ages brushing and drying her hair after her bath. The thick waves sparkled in the candlelight, while a few curls had been teased out to caress her cheeks.
Kasia had also washed off the heavy wedding make-up and replaced it with the barest hint of lip gloss, which made her mouth glisten in the evening light.
Cat sucked in a tortured, tremulous breath.
Her skin hummed with agonising sensation, as if she were being stroked all over at once.
Kasia grinned at her in the mirror, her face a picture of approval and anticipation.
She didn’t recognise herself as the mousy academic who had first met Zane less than three months ago in Walmsley’s office. She looked sultry and sexy and bold, in charge of her own sexuality. Which wasn’t entirely true. She still wasn’t the most experienced woman on the planet.
But over the next weeks and months that would change.
Getting to know Zane—getting close to him, learning what made him tick, discovering his likes and dislikes, his strengths and weakness—was going to be an adventure equally as exciting and exhilarating as becoming Narabia’s Queen and unlocking the limits of the passion they shared for one another. And then they would be embarking on a whole new adventure when their baby was born.
She’d already begun to sample the good stuff. This dramatic change in her life and circumstances was overwhelming at times, but that was only because it was so unexpected. Nothing had prepared her for this journey, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t adapt and enjoy it.
All she needed to do was embrace each new experience as it came and not panic herself into an early grave, before she got to the best stuff.
Love had gone terribly wrong, for both her parents and Zane’s; neither of them had any experience of a happy marriage. But perhaps that was a good thing. It would make them more cautious, more measured. Maybe Zane’s advisors were right after all.
Love would be so much stronger if it grew out of shared intimacy, shared responsibility, rather than some ephemeral notion based on nothing more than an incendiary physical attraction.
‘Leave us, Kasia.’
Cat jerked round to see Zane’s large frame filling the arched doorway of the chamber.
He no longer wore the full ceremonial robes he’d donned for the marriage ceremony. The sabres, his boots and headdress were gone. His closely cropped hair shone black in the glimmer of candlelight. But he still looked magnificent, the loosely fitted dark trousers covered by an embroidered tunic, which had an open V down the middle, revealing far too much of that impressive chest.
A new bolt of heat loosened Cat’s already trembling thigh muscles.
‘Yes, Your Divine Majesty.’ Kasia bowed deeply, then fled from the chamber, but not before sending Cat a mischievous grin, which reminded her of the grin her friend had sent her once before. The first night she’d slept with Zane.
Not just Zane any more. Her new husband.
She pushed a staggered breath out of tight lungs as he walked towards her, his bare feet muffled on the thick silk rugs.
‘You look exquisite,’ he murmured as he brushed his thumb against the pulse that was battering her collarbone.
‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘So do you.’
He laughed, the deep chuckle disconcerting. She hadn’t meant to say anything amusing.
‘I thought that damn ceremony would never end,’ he added. His thumb drifted down to circle the nipple poking against the transparent silk of her robe.
It tightened painfully, and she gasped. Shocked by the instant arousal, the flood of moisture even his slightest touch could evoke.
Passion erupted at her core.
‘Are they more sensitive?’ he asked, and she nodded.
Why did her live-wire reactions to this man suddenly feel too extreme, too needy?
