AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Nothing could have prepared him for the sight of her, on her knees before him, taking him into her mouth. For the feel of her lips as they’d closed around him.
His heart jolted at the memory. Her gaze as she had stared up at him had been so strong, so determined—every inch a queen—and yet also so full of that fierce compassion, it had nearly unmanned him.
She sat up beside him with her back to him, then shifted away, as if she were about to leave his bed.
‘Don’t go...’ he said, grasping her arm, the words harsher—and more needy—than he had intended.
She glanced over her shoulder, then sent him a guarded, almost shy smile that made his heart thunder against his ribs. ‘Okay,’ she murmured, settling back into his arms.
He gathered her close, deciding not to question the urge to hold her—an urge he had only ever had with her. After all, he intended to make this woman his wife—and soon. He had shown her precious little tenderness so far... Perhaps it was time for him to dig deep and find that part of himself he had discarded to survive.
He felt strangely content as he cradled her back against his chest and pressed his face into the fragrant curls that haloed around her head.
But, before long, the liquid weight pooled again in his groin, making him harden against her bottom.
‘Don’t get any ideas, buster,’ she said, her voice sleepy. ‘You’ve exhausted me.’
He let out a gruff chuckle—enjoying the way she always stood her ground.
‘Ignore it,’ he said. ‘I have no control over my reaction to you,’ he added, surprised—and a little concerned—to release it was the truth, and another first with her.
He gathered her wild curls in his fist to place a kiss on her nape. She shuddered in response, and a fierce sense of possessiveness flowed through his veins.
‘I did not use protection,’ he said. ‘Will this be a problem?’ he asked, even though it would not be a problem for him. If she were to become pregnant, it would only help his cause. The thought of her slender body heavy with his child sent an erotic charge through him that felt completely disconnected from his desire to make her his queen.
‘Are you healthy?’ she asked with a directness that surprised him all over again.
He caressed her neck with his thumb, tracing the graceful line down to her shoulder, unable to stop touching her. Perhaps he should be offended, but somehow he found her bluntness refreshing and beguiling instead. Was that the afterglow too?
‘Yes, I am healthy. I have never taken a woman without protection before now,’ he admitted, realising this was yet another first. He traced his fingers down her side, then settled his hand over her flat stomach, imagining a child—hischild—growing there.
Fierce pride joined the possessiveness.
Children had always been an abstraction before now. He had accepted he would have to provide heirs as part of his responsibilities to the Zokari throne, but the thought of Kaliah Khan having his son—or daughter—made it seem so much more real. And something he found impossibly arousing.
She would be his then. Always.
‘My concern is only about a possible pregnancy,’ he added, wrestling the conversation back to where he wished it to be. He’d always intended to use protection. The explosive passion in the moment had ensured no thinking had been done at all. But now the chance of a pregnancy seemed fortuitous. And a golden opportunity for him to press his case.
She sighed, then threaded her fingers through his to draw his hand away from her belly. ‘There’s no need to worry. I’m on the pill.’
Disappointment flooded him, and he frowned.
‘Why is this so?’ he asked, something hot and uncomfortable piercing his happy glow. ‘When I am your first lover?’
She stiffened in his arms and glanced over her shoulder. The indignation in her eyes contradicted the blush on her cheeks somewhat.
‘I’m fairly sure that’s none of your business, Kamal,’ she said.
Of course, it is my business. You are to be my wife.
He bit down on the thought. It was too soon to press her on this. Then she added blithely, ‘But, just for the record, you weren’t my first lover.’
Okay, this is too much.
‘How is this so when we both know you were a virgin?’ he demanded. Was she playing games with him again, trying to pretend she had not been untouched?
‘Again, not your business,’ she said, pulling out of his arms and scooting off the bed. ‘I think I should return to my own tent. This was obviously a mistake.’
