Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 115347 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115347 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
At his side, Red twirled and danced and chuckled. A vision of joy. And his.
Sweat beaded on his brow, desires he’d fought for so long flowing to the surface. Finally, they stood inside his—their—tent, the crowd dispersed. His heart clanged harder. Streams of sunlight illuminated the twirling dust motes. Other scents washed away, the fragrance of citrus and flowers teasing his nose. An aroma he longed to explore in great detail...
“Alone at last,” he rasped, hooking a lock of hair behind her ear.
Her breath hitched, a hint of nervousness invading her features. She kicked off her shoes. “Are we going to get naked now?”
“You are.” The rough tenor of his voice shocked him. Had he ever sounded less civilized?
“But not you?” she asked, unable to mask her disappointment. Her hand strayed to his chest.
When she saw what lay hidden beneath his clothing... No, best to give her time to get used to him. He clasped her wrists and moved her palms to his shoulders. “My tunic stays on this time.”
“But why—”
“You won’t even notice,” he interjected, refusing to answer. Though he hated the need for this. His actions with his wife should differ from what he’d done with his mistresses, with whom he’d merely unfastened his leathers. Still, he ended that line of conversation when he lowered his grip, cupping her backside and spreading his fingers wide. Such lush, giving flesh. “We have time. We’ll get there.” Perhaps one day.
“Oh, all right,” she said, toying with the ends of his hair. He loved when she did that.
Moving his grip to her face, he cupped her soft, silken cheeks. “You are my every fantasy come to life.”
Her expression glowed with a feminine power he wished to see each day for the rest of his life.
“If I do anything you do not like tonight,” he told her, “you have only to tell me and I will stop. We will go as slowly as you wish.” No matter the strain it put on his body.
Mine to protect from any threat.
“What if I don’t want to go slowly?” she asked, shocking him to the bone. “What if I want to go fast and hard?”
Questions he’d never thought to hear directed at him. Muscles flexed and toughened in response. “Then I will oblige you—the second time.” Happily.
He bent his head, and she rose to her tiptoes once again. They met in the middle, their lips pressing together. A heated collision with staggering results. His cells burst into flame. His senses deepened. The taste of her—the purest temptation. The scent of her—intoxicating. The feel of her—electric. The wisp of her breath—a caress inside his ears. The beauty consumed him.
A groan rumbled in Micah’s chest, up his throat, liberated as she opened for him. Tongues rolled together. Only his second kiss in the whole of his life, but oh, the difference! He’d taken his former mistress’s mouth like this only once. The first female to ever show interest in the act. But she had pulled away soon after he’d started, and he’d never tried again.
He licked at Vee’s tongue. Savoring. He refused to speed up. Why would he want to hurry to the end? He loved this. The twining. The mingling of breaths. Clutching hands. Gasps and mewls. Rasping breaths. More fire, burning hotter and hotter.
Who cared that his body ached? He’d never known desire like this. Such ferocity!
He felt Red in each racing beat of his heart, as if desire alone powered the organ. He...couldn’t think anymore. Thoughts fragmented, each one revolving around a single objective: more. Kissing. Hands roaming further.
She wrenched her face from his. Between rasping breaths, she told him, “I want to see your body. Show it to me. Please! Don’t make me wait for this, either.”
His blood flashed cold; his cheeks heated. Should he oblige her in this? Shouldn’t he?
If he waited and she despised the sight of him, regretted wedding him and avoided his bed—after he’d tasted her feminine bounty? A travesty not to be born! But...wouldn’t it be better to know her reaction now?
Acid seared the back of his throat. Was she soon to be disappointed? “I must warn you. I am heavily scarred.”
“You have more than one? Really?” Almost giddy, she traced her fingers to the hem of his tunic. “Show me, show me, show me right now. As queen, I insist.”
He reached for the edge of his tunic as well. Gulped. Was he truly going to do this?
As he began to lift the material, a bell tolled in the distance. An alarm bell. Once again, his blood flashed cold. A threat approached.
When the bell tolled a series of three short clangs followed by a long one, he knew. Belua. They’d come for him.
“What’s happening?” she asked.
“Invaders.” He gripped Red’s chin, peered deep into her eyes and pressed a swift kiss to her lips, then issued a single command. “Stay here. Guards will be stationed at the door in less than a minute.”