Of course, none of the men she’d dated had ever made her entire body thrum with a desire so heightened she could actually detect the moisture pooling in her sex.
She pressed her thighs together and tried to ignore her burgeoning arousal, but when Akeen brushed another strand of hair behind her ear, a rush of tension and longing curled in her nether region. A sudden wave of dizzying lust stole her breath, forcing her to inhale with little gasps.
Embarrassed, she felt her face heat.
“The king has a lot of bastards, but it seems you’re the most famous of them all,” she said. As soon as she got a moment alone, she planned to Google the fuck out of his name. Except, she wasn’t sure how soon that private moment would come. If her libido got its way, she would be waking up beside this gorgeous bastard prince come morning.
“I try not to pay attention to the tabloids. Not everything in print is true.”
“So, you’re not the sex crazed bad boy the sleaze rags make you out to be?”
“Sex crazed?” He laughed for a second, then his face turned serious, his dark eyes intense as he held her gaze for a lingering moment. “Depends on the woman.”
She grinned wryly and drew herself up taller, mimicking a confidence she didn’t quite feel. “Yeah, I’m the same way. Uh, of course, I mean, it depends on theman.”
Smooth, Cora. Real smooth.
Her poise started to wither, but when his features transformed into a genuine smile, she decided she hadn’t blundered too badly. But the smile didn’t last long; the serious, dark lustful look soon replaced his humor.
The air around them suddenly felt charged with electricity, as if a violent thunderstorm was about to break overhead. If Cora had been able to tear her gaze from Akeen’s, she would have looked up. But his stare held her so profoundly captive, he might as well have her tied up. Her breath hitched at the image this random thought provided.
“How long until you return to America?”
“Five days.”
“Not good enough. I’m going to want you for longer.”
The possessiveness in his deep rumbling tone caused her pussy to spasm yet again.
Before she had time to protest his continued brashness, which she found infuriatingly charming, he cupped her face and leaned down to capture her lips in a soft, sensual kiss that soon turned urgent. A series of deafening blasts made her gasp against his mouth, but when she opened her eyes and pulled back slightly, peering at him in confusion, she saw the colorful explosions reflected in his gaze.
“Fireworks,” he breathed.
He clutched her face harder and leaned in to press his lips to hers again, sliding his tongue inside and claiming her with a force that left her as breathless as the crowd on the balcony became from cheering at the fireworks.
Cora settled her hips against his and reveled in the feel of his growing hardness as he deepened the kiss.Oh yes. More please. He tasted like champagne and the chocolate cheesecake that had been served earlier, and she couldn’t seem to get enough. She’d been parched for too long and now she finally had water. She wanted to drink and drink and drink.
His masculine growls and mounting passion were rapidly tearing down her defenses. She became putty in his very capable hands, and she knew, without a doubt, that she wouldn’t be sleeping alone tonight.
One kiss and he suddenly owned her.
* * *
“Wow, this place is impressive,”Cora said, gazing around the entryway of his luxurious quarters.
In truth, he had one of the smallest sets of rooms available to the royals, but then he was the only bastard of his father’s to live in the castle. Still, he was glad Cora was enthralled by his home. He cared more about her opinion than he ought to, and this sudden realization troubled him.
The last woman he’d fallen hard for had betrayed him, and though years had passed since then sometimes the wounds resurfaced and he started erecting walls around his heart. He sought women out but hadn’t really gotten to know one in a long fucking time. He took a deep, steadying breath and forced himself not to shut out Cora. Maybe now it was time. Time to take a chance on a lasting relationship. He could easily imagine the little sunflower walking down the aisle toward him, resplendent in an elegant Ismallian wedding gown, her eyes beaming with affection.
Fuck. When had he turned into such a romantic? Good thing she couldn’t read his mind, because if she knew the path his thoughts had taken, she would probably have already tried to bolt from his room.
But he’d already entertained thoughts of spending more than one night with her. Before he’d even kissed her, he had known one fuck wouldn’t be enough. Her spirit captivated him. She was a heady mixture of confidence, femininity, and innocence wrapped in the sexiest fucking package he’d ever laid eyes on.
Yes, Cora was the kind of girl he could definitely envision himself marrying. The pretty young women from Ismallia he’d spent time with—most of them daughters of wealthy businessmen or members of Parliament—didn’t enchant him or challenge him as Cora did.
Of course, she probably thought him nothing but a spoiled rich playboy. Why the fuck had she come upstairs with him? He grasped her hands and stared down into her eyes, drinking in their bottomless blue depths as he pondered the reason she’d come with him so willingly. Not that he was complaining, but he’d anticipated having to chase her harder.
“I have to admit,” she said, blushing, “that no one has ever kissed me like that. I hope you don’t think I’m, um, easy, because I’ve never done anything like this before.”
