Page 23 of Stolen Princess's Secret

He smiled then, and all but melted her with its sweetness. ‘You can go again.’ But this time when he began to move, his hips were slow and sure, with a sensuous roll and drag guaranteed to send her into orbit anyway. ‘Better?’

She closed her eyes on a particularly close brush with the end. ‘Not exactly going to fix my problem.’

‘How sad,’ he murmured into the skin of her neck, and did it again, and again, as she arched up into him, chasing whatever wild magic he was delivering. There was no going back now—only up, up.

And over.

‘Bastard.’ It had to be said.

Tomas found his completion moments after Claudia left earth, and she laughed, because it was all so glittering bright and perfect.

His hair clung to his forehead in damp curls. Her princess bun likely resembled a bird’s nest. She pressed a kiss to his temple as his ragged breathing slowed and so did hers. Their bodies were so in sync. She laughed again, inviting him to share her joy. ‘Whatever will we do for an encore?’

Tomas said nothing, and she re-entered the earth’s orbit with a searing sense of disappointment. Their bodies hadn’t lied but minds lied all the time. Memories lied. Self-evaluation was notoriously unreliable.

‘Don’t say anything awful,’ she begged.

‘You’ll bruise.’ She could barely hear the words within his gravelly rumble.

She could work with that. ‘My lover’s desire mapped out on my skin. A compliment.’

‘Don’t humour me.’

‘There’s no shame in honest desire. My marks will be on you too. I want you to regret their fading.’

He drew a ragged breath.

‘I want this.’ Could she be any more direct? ‘I want to be with you like this again. Don’t pack all that fierce, gorgeous emotion away. There’s nothing wrong with it. I don’t bring out the worst in you, do I? Because, from where I stand, this is the very best of you and I am here for it. Why can’t we see where this attraction ends?’

‘You’re a myth.’ He loosened his hold and stepped away and moments later she was sitting naked on the table while he tugged his trousers into place.

‘And you’re not?’ She began to laugh, harder this time, and wondered whether he’d still be here when laughter turned to tears. She’d known that rushed intimacy might deliver a rough landing, and that she would feel fragile in the face of his withdrawal. She’d taken that risk anyway. ‘You’ve been my rescuer since I was seven years old. For real to begin with, and then in my dreams. But I’m prepared to consider you a real person—complex and flawed—if you’ll do the same for me.’

‘I’m no rescuer,’ he said, and the tight fury in his voice made her stop and listen, even though she’d scooped up her dress and the best thing to do would be to put it on rather than strangle it with her bare hands. ‘I wanted to find you and keep you safe but, no matter where I looked, you weren’t there. I failed you.’

‘No! You saved me from so many beatings. You spoke up for me and persuaded your father to take me under his wing and gave me a getaway place and moments to look forward to. Once they took me, I didn’t really expect you to—’ Save me. But she had expected that, and maybe deep down she still expected him to make life here in Byzenmaach more bearable. ‘I knew you wouldn’t come for me. How could you?’

And yet how many nights had she stayed awake hoping he’d crawl into her tent, hold out his hand and whisk her to safety? Especially in those early days. Maybe Tomas wasn’t the only one who needed to deal with the past and admit all the emotions. Even the ugly ones.

‘I mean, I could dream, but you were just a boy and I knew there was nothing you could do. You were powerless, like me.’

‘Is this conversation meant to make me feel better?’ He’d half turned to stare at her from beneath a lowered brow and he was every bit as forbidding as the apex predators he served.

‘I’m rather hoping it’s not going to send you straight to therapy,’ she muttered, slipping the gown over her head. ‘Who cares if I’m a fantasy princess to you and you’re a Galahad figure to me? We can work with that. Neither of us is powerless now. We have control of our lives going forward. We’re outstanding together in bed, even if our communication elsewhere still needs work. And I for one have worked my arse off to get to this moment and I’m exhilarated.’

By the time she’d wrestled the gown in place, he had the buttons on his shirt done up and was helping himself to a glass of water over by the sideboard. He poured one for her too, but didn’t bring it over.

‘So, can I pencil you in for a private dinner and dessert some time soon?’ she asked. ‘After you return from your trip into the mountains?’

‘You’re relentless.’

‘Is that a yes?’

He shrugged and drew attention to those stunningly broad shoulders, and she tried not to let her eyes glaze over with renewed sexual appreciation. Probably too soon. But he noticed her reaction, and was that a slight shoulder muscle flex just for her? Maybe there was hope for them yet.

‘I’ll be away for at least three weeks.’

She’d waited longer for less. ‘Okay.’

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