“I want to know what you discover, Daddy.”
“Why?”
“Maybe I’ll venture into investigations or bounty hunting. Maybe I’m just curious.”
“And maybe you just don’t want to tell me your reasons.” Grave chuckled. “But I’ll keep you posted anyway. Now I want to talk about you. Word has spread about your retirement. Have you made any plans for your future?”
“I think I’m going to spend a little time doing nothing. I want to eat all the foods I couldn’t in the palace and wear clothes in all the colors I’ve missed. I’d like to see what’s been happening outside of the palace walls, and reorient myself to society.” She smiled. “Then, I’ll figure out what to do with myself.”
Setting his hand atop hers, he gave an encouraging squeeze. “I think it’s wise that you’re taking time to find your bearings, instead of leaping without knowing where you’re going. Do you have an idea of where your other interests lie?”
“Not yet. Maybe I’ll make use of my training. Or teach. I haven’t decided yet.”
“You were always good with stratagems. I could send over training plans and you can help assemble some manuals.”
“Truly?”
“Yes, truly.” He gave her an affectionate smile. “It’ll be a good excuse for me to stop by more often. I was rarely able to see you when you were in the palace.”
Sapphire threw her arms around her father’s neck, upsetting his empty mug, but he didn’t mind, as evidenced by the crushing embrace he returned.
“Now show me around this palace of yours,” he said with a laugh. “So I can brag about it to anyone who will listen.”
It was much later when Wulfric was summoned to Sapphire’s office.
“I believe this is yours.” She leaned over the desk, and set his signet ring on the edge. Her demeanor was distant and rushed.
He moved slowly to retrieve the ring, betraying none of his relief. “Thank you,” he murmured. Now his freedom was assured.
She spun her chair to the side and waved him away in a dismissive gesture. She seemed distracted, lost in thought.
Wulf knew he should leave. Not just the room as she had indicated, but the entire country. The ring she returned to him was by itself just a ring and even close examination would reveal nothing suspicious. But when the talgorite was in contact with his body, it worked in conjunction with the nanotach. Together, they could transfer him instantly to his palace in D’Ashier and back to this place if he chose, as long as the signal wasn’t blocked.
In the blink of an eye, this could all be over. One or more of his concubines could assuage the lust that weighed heavily between his legs. He’d been on patrol too long. He was a man of a healthy sexual appetite and his powerful desire for Sapphire was due only to his long abstinence. Surely, that was the only reason…
“I want you,” he said before he could stop himself.
Sapphire tensed visibly at the sound of his voice, low and throbbing with desire. He watched her closely, noting the exact moment her eyes softened and her lips parted in response to his hunger. They had an undeniable affinity, despite the many things that stood between them.
“I should release you,” she whispered.
“You should, but you won’t. You’ve gone to too much trouble to keep me.”
“You need a woman.” She looked away. “All the mästares do. I’ve arranged for some of the fourth-year Sensual Arts students to visit a few days a week. They will arrive this evening. I think you’ll be pleased. They’re—”
“I don’t want someone else. I want you.”
Resignation crossed her lovely features. “That’s not going to happen.”
“Being inside you is all I can think about.” And when he was thinking about her, he wasn’t thinking about the cave. No other woman could do that. Maybe later, but not now.
“Sex between us would only complicate matters, Wulf, not make them easier. If you started thinking with your head rather than your cock, you’d admit I’m right.”
“You’re an insolent creature.” Something he wouldn’t have thought he’d find arousing. But did.
“And you’re not ruler here. If you want to command, go home.”
Wulfric drew air deep into his lungs. No one ever spoke to him as she did. She had no fear and refused to display the respect that was due a man of his station. All that fire and passion…He wanted to sink into it and forget everything else.
As he strode toward her, Sapphire remained still, relaxed in her chair.
“One time will never be enough,” she warned softly.
He stopped.
“Already, you no longer desire other women. Do you really believe that will change once you’ve bedded me?”
“You’re vain,” he said without heat. “Don’t confuse me with your besotted king.”
“That would be impossible.” She laughed and the throaty sound rippled down his spine. “I’m not speaking out of vanity, and you know it. You think I don’t feel the attraction between us? If you’re even half as good in bed as you look, I’ll want more. And I’m not without skills of my own. You would enjoy me immensely. You suspect how good it could be, that’s why the thought of other women is so unappealing. When was the last time you desired a woman who wasn’t interchangeable with another?”
His cock hardened further. Her bold challenge excited him. “Never,” he admitted. Staring at her, he felt as if she was some new, previously undiscovered species. “Do you ever not say exactly what’s on your mind?”
“I’ve spent the last five years never saying what I thought. I didn’t like it and vowed never to do it again.”
His smile was predatory. “Then allow me to be as honest with you. Unless you refuse me outright, I will have you.”
“You have another life to return to.”
“I’d say let’s hurry, but I have no intention of doing that.”
She rubbed at the space between her brows. “This is crazy.”
“Isn’t it?” He was glad that it was, and grateful that his heart raced and his stomach was clenched tight in anticipation. He was alive. A miracle in itself and he wanted to celebrate that with her.
“Arrogant bastard.” She glared at him.
Wulf moved around the desk and growled when she spread her legs, revealing her glistening sex beneath the short hem of her dress. She was as ready as he was. He reached for the drawstring at his waist.
“No.”
His fingers stilled.
She pointed to the floor at her feet. “On your knees, Prince Wulfric. If you’re so eager, you may pleasure me with your mouth.”
Frozen mid-step, he stared at her. Sapphire was going to fight him every step of the way. He searched her face, judging the strength of her resolve. He groaned inwardly at the obstinate set of her jaw and the defiant gleam in her eyes.
The prince in him was affronted at being ordered to forgo his own pleasure to service hers. But the part of him that was pure primitive male smelled her arousal and knew it was his to take. The two sides battled for only a moment.
A war of wills—it was a new and highly intriguing situation for him, a man who’d never had his will challenged in his lifetime.
After years of war and months on patrol, Wulf knew how to deny his baser needs, but he seemed unable to do so now. His ego chafed at the loss of control; his body ignored it in favor of the animal attraction that flowed thick and hot through his veins.
He decided then to use all of his considerable skill, charm, and physical attributes to make Sapphire burn as he did.
Lifting his gaze from between her legs, Wulf met her dark eyes with a raised brow. “So intimate an introduction should be preceded by a kiss, don’t you think?”
Her face clouded with uncertainty for just a moment before she hid her emotions behind a cool mask of indifference. She rose from her chair with a mysterious smile.
“What a lovely idea.” Her tone set him on edge. He was left wondering if he’d won the eng
agement or lost it.
They moved toward each other, every step increasing the sharp awareness between them. When she reached him, she placed her palms against the rippled ridges of his abdomen, then slid them slowly around to caress the corded length of his back.
Her touch was electric, her scent intoxicating. In the days since the ambush, he’d avoided any contact with the other mästares, making a wide berth when passing to avoid even a fleeting contact. The thought of anyone touching his skin made his stomach knot, but Sapphire’s touch was like warm silk—healing and soothing.
He drew her to him, holding his breath as her full breasts flattened against his chest and the heavy weight of his erection pressed into the softness of her belly. His nostrils filled with the scent of Draxian lilies and he buried his face in her hair to catch more of it.
Despite the many hours he’d spent looking forward to this moment, Wulf still wasn’t prepared. A shiver moved down his spine and coursed the length of his cock. He stared at her upturned face and knew in his gut that his next move was pure madness. Still, unable to do otherwise, he lowered his head and took her mouth, groaning.
The instant her lips softened under his, raw need flooded his senses in a rush so powerful he was almost dizzy with it. Sapphire moved with him, giving as good as she got, her tongue gliding along his, stroking against his. Her head tilted to take more, her lush body surging into him with a hunger he knew because he ached with it.
Shuddering at the fervor of her response, Wulf hugged her closer. He cupped her nape and gripped her waist, mantling her, sheltering her body with the size and power of his own.
It was heady, the combination of her obvious skill and his own. He had a dozen women at his palace who were more beautiful, and every bit as knowledgeable, yet no woman in his memory had ever aroused him as Sapphire did. Her kiss alone rivaled his most heated coupling. He could kiss her for days. Everywhere.
Wulf realized she had been far wiser than he.
Once wouldn’t be enough.
He groaned, knowing it was true, knowing they didn’t have near enough time to slake this depth of craving.
With shaking hands, he pressed her back into her seat and dropped to his knees, spreading her thighs wide with his hands. His mouth watered at the sight of her, slick with desire, swollen and pouting for the touch of his tongue.
“You’re wet.” His voice was so low he hardly recognized it.
She whimpered as he drew closer, then gasped as he licked upward through the soft hairless folds.
Her head fell back on a breathy sigh. “Oh, Wulf…”
His jaw tightened with the effort to remain where he was instead of rising to his feet, freeing his cock, and sliding into her. She’d welcome him, he knew. She would cry out and relish every deep thrust. But he needed her to give herself freely. He needed her to be hungry for him, famished, and with her spread out like a feast, he had everything he needed at his disposal.
Kneeling, he pulled her chair closer and planned her seduction with military precision.
Sapphire waited breathlessly, every muscle tense with anticipation as Wulf pulled her closer and arranged her to his liking. That he took such care with the preparations told her he intended to pleasure her for some time. The thought made her shiver. The last five years had been spent with a man who cared only for his own needs. To have a lover so completely consumed with the pursuit of her enjoyment was unbearably arousing.
He hooked her knees over his forearms and cupped her hips in his hands. “I hope you’re comfortable.” His breath blew intimately across her sex. “You won’t be moving for a while.”
“This is a bad idea,” she whispered.
“It feels damn good to me.”
Then he plunged his tongue into her.
Sapphire arched upward, panting, her short nails digging crescents into the arms of her chair.
Wulf groaned, the vibration moving up her torso and tightening her nipples. He nuzzled against her with his lips, the silky strands of his hair caressing her inner thighs. His grip was firm, his fingers kneading, his mouth gentle as his tongue glided without haste through the evidence of her desire to stroke over her clitoris.
“Wulf…” Her hips rocked upward to match his rhythm. She bit her lower lip to stem the cries that would betray her need. This man was a seducer. If he knew how rarely she’d been serviced like this, he would use it against her and weaken her further.
With a low growl, he stroked his tongue into her, then withdrew, repeating the gentle rhythmic fucking until sweat covered her skin and dampened her hair. Her entire body tingled, her breathing grew more labored, while the ache deep inside coiled to near pain. He was methodical, thorough, licking into every groove and crevasse, nipping lightly with his teeth, suckling teasingly on the hard knot of her clitoris. She’d never been taken with such patience and obvious enjoyment on the part of her lover.
Her pussy rippled around his tongue, and unable to bear another moment of the torment, she begged him, “Don’t tease.”
Pulling back, Wulf spread her with the fingers of one hand. “Are you not enjoying yourself?” The other hand released her hip and two long fingers pushed into her.
“N–no…” A shudder shook her frame. Her hands cupped her breasts, her fingers pinching her painfully tight nipples. “…no more.”
“No?” He rubbed inside her, caressing the slick walls of her sex with practiced fingertips. “I’ll have to try harder.” Wulf lowered his head and fluttered his tongue over her clit.
She could not have prepared for this—the slow, determined ravishment of her body. It was beyond her experience. “Please…make me come…”
Forming a circle with his lips, Wulf sucked her off as he fucked her with his fingers. Sapphire came in a spreading, blossoming climax, one that built with every pull of his mouth and every pump of his hand until one orgasm flowed into another.
It was devastating. Unlike the pleasure she attained by her own efforts, this was wrung from her with relentless skill. Yet Wulf was not unaffected. She felt his powerful body quaking beneath her legs as she pleaded with him to stop and attempted to push him away, but he was intent on some goal she couldn’t understand.
She cried brokenly, writhing under the onslaught.
Only when her hands fell to her sides and her legs hung limp over his shoulders did he desist and rest his cheek against her thigh with a breathless chuckle of masculine triumph.
As her senses drifted back into awareness, Sapphire resigned herself to the truth.
She was in deep trouble.
“You may rise, Wulf.” Sapphire’s voice was so passion-hoarse it only worsened his predicament.
“I don’t think I can.” His dick was so hard, he couldn’t move. But he managed a smile, satisfied that he’d pleased her so well.
Sapphire’s desire simmered just below the surface, sadly untapped, if his guess was correct. When was the last time a man had loved her body just for the satisfaction gained from her response? He wished he had weeks to do so. He could easily imagine days spent with her in his bed, reveling in her scent and the feel of her curves, her lush body arching and writhing beneath his own.
She cooed, the sound coursing over his skin like a tactile caress. “Let me help you with that.”
Tucking her legs in, Sapphire set the soles of her feet to his shoulders and kicked gently, thrusting him backward to the floor. Languid only a moment ago, she was now able to straddle him with impressive speed, her hands caressing his chest before any remnant feelings of helplessness took hold.
“I’m so glad you were spared and restored,” she whispered, untying his drawstring before tugging his pants past his hips. “Perfection such as yours should not be marred.”
As he stared up into her lovely, passion-flushed features, Wulf’s throat clenched tight with gratitude. Sapphire wasn’t coddling him, she was instead quite rough with him, but every time she pushed him, he gained a little confidence. And every time she gazed at him with su
ch heat, the chill of his ordeal melted a little more.
She circled his cock with confident fingers, angled him into position, then drenched the swollen head in the liquid heat of her mouth.
“Oh hell.” He gasped, his back arching, his balls drawing up painfully tight. “Don’t make me come too quickly.”
Lifting her gaze, her eyes twinkled wickedly and he knew he would receive no mercy from her. “You taste as delicious as you look.” Her tongue licked the drop of semen that beaded on the tip, then traced the length of a thick vein in a sinuous caress. “What a magnificent cock you have.”
She drew back, and the admiration in her dark eyes gave him such pleasure he hardened further. Curving both hands around his dick, Sapphire squeezed. “How big will it get? I can barely hold you.”
“Your hands are tiny.” He was burning up. His body was tense and hard all over, his skin damp with sweat.
“It feels marvelous,” she breathed. “The skin is so soft.”
“Put it inside you,” he groaned as she stroked him. “It feels much better that way.”
She shook her head, the silky strands of her hair drifting over his hips. The fingertips of one hand trailed over his rippling stomach, and he quivered under her touch. “I’ve never seen anything as good looking as your body.”
Wulf cupped her head gently. He didn’t pull her toward him, just massaged her scalp with the convulsive twitching of his fingertips. Holding her, even so distantly, was a wonder he marveled at.
“That feels good,” she purred, her eyes drifting shut.
He wanted to tell her that he would always make her feel good, that giving her pleasure was now a primary focus of his, but he could no longer speak. He was so close, on the edge…
She took him in her mouth again, using her hands to caress the length of his cock that wouldn’t fit inside her. She sucked him with strong, greedy tugs, killing him. With stunning ferocity, his orgasm was upon him, his back bowing upward, his semen spurting thick and hot into her working mouth. His shout of release was sharp and tormented, his body straining and jerking with the violent force of his climax.