"By the end of the night, you'll have taken everything I have to give."
"Give me...let me come. Mercy, just this once."
She writhed. On the verge. So close, yet not close enough. He slid another finger into her, and it was a tight fit, stretching her further. Filling her up. And it was so much better...and so much worse.
He flicked his tongue over her aching bundle of nerves, showing absolutely zero mercy. Not that she wanted any, no matter how much she'd begged for it. This was everything she'd ever dreamed, everything she'd needed without knowing she did.
"I'm going to sink into you, Shaye. You're going to spread your legs and welcome me, take every inch."
"Yes." Oh, yes. The thought of this man inside her hurled her over the sweet edge. Pleasure exploded inside her, and her inner walls spasmed around his fingers, clenching them tight. A scream, a sob as flashing white lights blinked behind her eyes.
He loomed above her, spreading her legs to open her fully. To expose her completely.
He poised himself on the brink of penetration.
"Wait! What about children?"
"I took a potion. I can't get anyone pregnant until it wears off."
Good, that was good. She wasn't ready for a family.
"Once I'm inside you," he said, "you will be mine. Say it."
"I'll be yours." There was no denying it. She was his. Now, this moment...forever?
Like an animal, he growled his approval. His wild eyes glittered with heat and possession.
She reached up to tangle her fingers in his hair...draw him closer. Will never push him away again. His chest pressed against hers, and she could feel the fine-grained sand that still clung to him from the fight, adding friction, another depth of pleasure.
"Kiss," she beseeched.
His head swooped down, and he claimed her mouth. The moment their tongues touched, he slammed inside her. No waiting. No gradually letting her become accustomed. He was simply in her fully, as if he couldn't go another minute without being one with her.
She cried out in his mouth, still so aroused, so slick with desire. She'd been prepared for him, but a slight sting remained.
He stretched her erotically, filled her inexorably, but didn't move. Now he allowed her to become accustomed to him.
On and on the kiss continued. She tasted herself on his lips. Tasted him, the heat of him, and the passion. In and out his tongue probed...eventually, his body began to move in sync. In and out. Slowly, then quickly, hurtling them both toward the stars.
"Can't...slow...down," he panted. "Need..."
"More."
Tension coiled in her stomach, in her blood. He twisted his hips, hitting her in a new spot, and she screamed, exploding for the second time.
"Shaye!" he roared. He pumped into her. "Mine."
Mine, she silently repeated.
The climax gripped her, more intense than the first, making her shudder against him. Her knees clenched on him, and to the heavens she soared. High, so high.
He joined her there as he gave a final, pounding thrust, his eyes squeezed tight. Bliss consumed his features.
"Now. Time for round two," he growled.
VALERIAN HAD NEVER felt more powerful. Strength radiated from him, filled him, pulsed and sizzled inside him. He always felt invigorated after sex, but this... No, never like this.
And with Shaye it hadn't been sex, he thought. It had been lovemaking. A union . Total and complete. Especially the second when they'd licked her favorite fruit off each other.
Mine.
The word refused to leave him. He'd never felt so possessive of another person. Actually, he'd never felt so possessive of anything, including his cherished sword. Including the palace. She'd tasted like no other woman. Erupted like no other woman. Pleased him like no other woman. Strengthened him like no other woman. All of his injuries were healed.
He was the nymph, and yet it was she who wrapped him in her sensual spell. She who enslaved him.
She snuggled into his side, nestling her curves against him. He could feel the soft exhalations of her breath and thought he would die without this woman. He would simply perish. Cease to exist.
He wanted to give her the world, wanted to offer her everything her heart desired.
Keeping the palace had been the right decision. He would not have his woman homeless, staying in whatever shack he could find for them.
I will cherish her always.
When he'd returned to the dungeon, and she had not been inside the cell, his heart had stopped beating. Panic, dread and fury had consumed him. He'd nearly hacked Dylan and Terran to pieces. Then, when he'd seen Shaye as relaxed and at ease as if she hadn't a care in the world-while standing next to the portal-he'd panicked again.
How close he'd come to losing her.
Then she'd begun issuing orders with bravery and wisdom, acting every bit the queen she was meant to be, and he'd been struck by love for her.