Chapter 17

CHAPTER17

It had been hours since we mounted our horses and left the bodies of the guards lying in the forest. It infuriated Evren to do so, but both he and Jorah had decided that we didn’t have time to bury them if we wanted to make it out without another attack.

No one hardly spoke as we rode. Evren was still behind me, his hold on me so much harder than before, but I didn’t fight it. I welcomed his touch, even as my gaze devoured every inch of the trees. I felt on high alert, and Evren’s whispered words that we were okay did nothing to calm me.

Not until the line of trees thinned and I could spot the trails of sunlight just beyond the edge of the forest. We passed through that line, and a weight lifted off my chest as the sun beamed against my skin. I felt instantly warmer, but I still leaned back against Evren as I tried to make sense of what was to come.

“There’s a small town just ahead,” Evren spoke against my neck. “We’ll stop there for the night and rest.”

I nodded my head, although I wasn’t sure stopping was the best idea. But real food and a real bed sounded lovely, and I wasn’t foolish enough to pass it up. And even though Evren said that he was healed, I knew the prince needed to rest.

And I needed my space.

I stared down at my wrist as we made it to the edge of town. The scar that Gavril had caused was now covered in a new mark. The starlight and shadows stared back at me and reminded me of what we’d done. The difference between a mark due to what was taken and what was willingly given was stark.

I only noted two buildings in the town as we approached. A tavern with billowing smoke escaping from a small chimney and what I assumed was a blacksmith across the dirt road. There were no people out on the street even though I could make out small houses in the distant fields.

“This is Iladonia.” Evren nodded toward the small village. “They’ve kept watch on the border of the forest for centuries.”

“What are they watching for exactly?”

“Any threat to the kingdom.”

Jorah led his horse directly in front of the tavern, and Evren followed suit. We stopped there, and Jorah dismounted before grabbing the reins from Evren.

“I’ll find boarding for the mares.”

Evren nodded. “We’ll get us a room.”

Evren dismounted before helping me down from the horse, and I shook out my stiff limbs. “Come on, princess. If nothing else, I know this place has some decent ale.”

He clasped my hand in his, and my hand zapped with his power. He pulled me inside behind him, and the large fire that took up the majority of the back wall roared with heat.

I trembled against the heat, and I hadn’t realized just how cold I was.

“Here.” Evren led me to the back of the tavern that was only filled with a few other patrons. None of them paid us any notice as he pulled out my chair at the table closest to the fire. “I’ll be right back.”

I rubbed my hands together as he walked up the long bar that took up one entire side of the pub. There was a young girl working behind it, and she smiled softly at Evren as he approached. Jealousy bloomed in my chest, but I forced it down.

She nodded at whatever the prince was saying before opening the sole door behind her. She disappeared for a moment before she returned and began speaking to Evren as she grabbed three glasses and began filling them with ale.

A young boy pushed through the doorway she had just gone through, and he balanced three wooden bowls in his hands. He blinked up at me as he approached, and the smell of stew made my stomach growl.

I hadn’t realized how hungry I was either.

“Ma’am.” He dipped his head before sliding one of the bowls in front of me.

“Adara.” I grabbed the spoon quickly and shoveled a bite of the hot stew into my mouth. The boy watched me as he set the other two bowls at my sides.

“I’m Ren.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Ren.” I looked over the boy who was covered in dirt and soot. He was dirty, but he looked healthy. The muscles on his small frame telling of the life he lived.

“It’s nice to meet you as well.” He looked over his shoulder to where Evren was now taking a key from the woman. “Are you here with the captain?”

“I am.” I nodded and took another bite. The flavor was divine and the meat tender. “This is delicious.”

“Thank you.” Ren blushed as he watched me eat. “I can get you another bowl. I made it myself.”

“That’s very kind of you, Ren, but I shouldn’t.” I took another large bite, and my eyes fell closed as the stew warmed my belly.

“Hi, Ren.” Jorah’s voice drew my attention, and I opened my eyes just in time to see him sitting down beside me. “What’s the special today?”

“Rabbit stew with root vegetables.” Ren beamed proudly.

“It’s amazing.” I pointed my spoon to my almost empty bowl.

“It looks like it.” Jorah laughed before grabbing his own spoon. “But it usually is.”

“Where are you and the captain heading today?” Ren shifted on his feet just as Evren approached the table and set the large glasses in the center.

“I can’t tell you all my secrets, Ren. What kind of captain would that make me?”

“I didn’t think of that.” Ren rubbed his chin as he stared up at Evren, and admiration shone in his eyes.

Evren mussed Ren’s hair with his hand before pulling out the seat at my side. “Keep training. You’re going to make a fine captain one day.”

Evren flipped him a coin, and Ren caught it in his hand before smiling broadly. He ran back behind the bar and spoke to the woman who I assumed was his mother.

“That was kind.”

“He’s kind to us.” Evren nodded toward Jorah before pushing an ale in his direction and the other in mine. “Why wouldn’t I be so in return?”

“There are lots of men in this world who don’t return kindness.”

“Well, I’m not one of those men.” He shrugged as if his answer was that simple, but it wasn’t.

Evren said it so simply, but it mattered far more than he realized. He was a part of the royal family that I hated, but I had begun to trust him more than I had ever trusted anyone else in my life.

“Have some ale.” He pushed it toward me before laying a key in front of Jorah. “Then we’ll all get some sleep.”

“Where’s my key?” I held out my hand just as Jorah choked on his ale.

“Here.” Evren held the key in his hand but pulled it away as I reached out for it. “Not happening, princess. We’re sharing a room.”

My stomach tightened at the thought, but I had to force away my want for him. I needed to think, to try to make sense of what I was doing, and I couldn’t do that with him in the same room.

“I want my own room.” I pressed my hands against my thighs as I spoke.

“There are only two available, and I took them.”

“Then you room with Jorah.” I nodded to the guard, who was quietly eating his soup.

“That’s not happening.” Evren shook his head and took his own bite.

“Why not?”

“Because, princess. We were just fucking attacked, and I’m not letting you out of my sight for even a moment. You can room with me, or all three of us can room together. Those are your two choices.”

He stared me down, and I matched his gaze. I knew he was being reasonable, but I didn’t want to be. I wanted to demand that he leave me alone while every part of me was screaming for him to stay.

I raised my ale to my mouth and took a long pull as he watched me. I wiped my lips with the back of my hand. “Can I at least go to the room while you two finish eating, or is that against the great captain’s regulations as well?”

Jorah laughed before he quickly cleared it with a cough.

“Straight to the room.” Evren dangled the key in front of me. “Remember, if you try to run, I will find you.”

The urge to tell him that I couldn’t run again if I wanted to was overwhelming, but I wouldn’t give that much of myself away. Not when he already had more of me than I had ever intended to give.

“Noted.” I snatched the key out of his hand before standing. He watched my every move as I pushed my seat back in and moved around the table.

“Up there.” He nodded toward the stairs. “Second door on the right.”

I nodded and quickly made my way up the old wooden staircase. It creaked under my weight, but held true until I finally made it to the top. There were four doors in the hall. Two on the right and two on the left. They all looked identical except for the varying stages of wear, and I shoved the brass key into the second door and pushed it open.

The room was small and most of the space was taken up by a tiny bed and copper tub. I stood at the tub and stared as every part of my body ached.

I kicked off my boots at the end of the bed and pulled my dagger from them before laying it against the cover. My clothes were soiled and ripped, and had traces of mine and Evren’s blood.

I felt desperate to take them off and crawl into the bed wearing nothing, but that wasn’t possible. Not unless I could somehow manage to barricade the doorway closed with the tub.

A soft knock sounded at the door, and I jumped. Pressing my hand to my chest, I cracked the door open and peeked outside to see the woman from downstairs standing behind it.

“I just thought you might like a change of clothes.” She held up a white cotton dress in her hands along with a towel. “Evren thought you might like for me to run you a bath as well.”

“That would be amazing.” I opened the door wider, and she ducked her head as she stepped inside. “Thank you.”

“Of course.” She blushed before setting the fabrics on the bed. “If you lay your soiled clothing outside the door, I will have them cleaned and mended for you before you wake.”

“You don’t have to do that.” I shook my head as she lifted her hand, and water streamed from the wall like a waterfall.

“It’s no problem, miss. The captain pays us more than our share when he stays here. It’s my honor to take care of his guest.”

“Well, thank you.” I tucked my arms against my chest. “I don’t have money, but you do have my gratitude.”

The woman stared at me for a moment as if she was trying to figure me out, then her face softened before she turned back to the tub. The water inside was steaming as she poured in an oil from the pocket on her apron. “That should help your muscles.” She pushed the stopper back in the jar before pulling out another filled with what looked like herbs and flowers. “And that should help with the captain.”

“Help how?” I laughed, and she smiled at me over her shoulder.

“However you want it to.”

The smell drifted through the small room as the steam billowed about the space, and I took a deep, relaxing breath.

“I’m betrothed to the crowned prince of Citlali,” I told her, and she cocked her head to the side.

“Yet, he’s not the one who holds your heart.”

It wasn’t a question, but I still felt the need to answer her. “My heart belongs to me and me alone.”

“You are a brave but foolish girl.” She put her last vial back in her apron before she waved the flow of water away. It disappeared instantly as if it had never been there at all. “Love makes us foolish.”

I didn’t answer her because I didn’t know what to say. Love? I wasn’t in love with the man who sat downstairs drinking ale. I wanted him more than I had ever wanted anyone before, but that wasn’t love.

“I’m not in love.” I stepped out of her way as she moved to get by me.

She hesitated with her hand on the door before looking back at me. “Just place your clothes right outside the door. The soap is next to the tub.” Then she opened the door and slid outside without another word.

I undressed slowly, careful to try to keep myself covered in case I had any more visitors, then I dipped a toe into the bath. It was blissfully hot, and I sighed as I sank down inside it and tossed my shirt into the pile on the floor.

Steam rose off the surface of the water, and I breathed in the heat before holding my breath and slowly sinking below the water. I closed my eyes as the water engulfed me, and I tried to clear my head. My lungs began to burn, and all I could think about was Evren and what he was doing down in that pub right now. What were he and Jorah talking about?

Were they strategizing? Were they discussing me?

Had Jorah watched as I begged Evren to touch me in the middle of the woods?

I surged up out of the water and gasped for breath. Running my hands over my face, I pushed the water out of my eyes and stared down at my body. There was bruising along my skin, and I didn’t know how much of it had been there from my night with Gavril and how much of it was new from our attack.

I gently scrubbed the dirt away from my skin with my fingers before the mark on my wrist caught my eye, and I lifted it out of the water to get a better look. Seven dots of starlight danced along the dark skin there. I could no longer make out the scar from Gavril beneath, but it was still there, just hidden beneath Evren’s mark.

I traced the starlight with my fingers, connecting them along my skin as if they were freckles. My mother had done that once upon a time to the marks on my face. The thought made me both angry and sad.

“What are you thinking about?”

Water splashed out of the tub as I screamed, and Evren chuckled as he raised his hands in surrender.

“Hell, I didn’t mean to scare you.” He was lying on the bed with his back against the wooden headboard, and he looked so damn at ease as he watched me.

“When did you get in here?” I covered my breasts with my arm causing him to grin. “Did you use your magic to do so?”

“No.” He wiggled his black-stained fingers in the air. “I used these hands to open that door while you were apparently having a moment under the water. It’s not my fault you didn’t check your surroundings.”

“Get out.”

“I’d much rather watch.” He smirked and lifted one of his arms behind his head. “The view is perfect from here.”

I shifted in the tub, giving him my back, and heard his deep inhale.

“Gods.” He stood from the bed, and I watched as he made his way to me.

“What are you doing?” I tightened my arm on my breasts and pressed my thighs together. He was still wearing his black trousers, but his boots had been removed along with the top buttons of his shirt.

“Your back.” He touched my shoulder, and I tensed. “It looks awful.”

“Thank you.”

“That’s not what I mean.” He dropped to his knees beside the tub before his fingers skimmed along my shoulder. “You are breathtaking, but you’re bruised. If I could go back and kill him again, I would.”

“You mean my mark is breathtaking?” I asked as I scooped some water in my hands and let it trail over my knees.

“No, princess. I mean you. With or without those marks, you are the most exquisite thing I have ever seen.”

I turned to look at him, and he was staring at me like he meant every word that had just passed through his lips.

“Please let me take care of you.” He didn’t wait for my answer. He unbuttoned his shirt sleeves before slowly pushing them up his arms. Then he grabbed the soap and poured it out into his hands. “I need to take care of you after I let this happen.”

He dipped his hands into the water, gathering moisture, before rubbing his hands together.

“You didn’t let this happen.”

“I did.” He stared up at me just as his hands met my shoulder. “I am more responsible for these bruises on your body than you know.”

He wasn’t to blame, but if he needed this to help clear his conscience, then I would give it to him.

I lifted my hair off my back as his hands roamed over me and gently washed my skin. It felt divine as he touched me with so much care and precision. He poured more soap into his hands before he raised them to my hair and scrubbed the soap throughout.

I bit down on my lip as he met the spot where my hair had been pulled from my scalp, but I tried my hardest not to let him see the pain.

“Have you washed many women before?” I chuckled softly as he moved to the ends of my strands and worked the soap through.

“No. You’d be my first.” He smiled. “I have never wanted to care for someone like this before you.”

My chest ached, and I tried not to read into what he was saying.

“You take your duty seriously, Captain.”

He met my gaze as he let my hair fall against my back, and the urge to lean backward and kiss him was overwhelming. “I do.” He nodded, and his hand slid behind my neck and back into my hair.

He dipped me backward into the water, and I blinked up at him as he cupped water in his hand and let it cascade through my hair. “But what I feel for you has nothing to do with my duty, princess.”

I swallowed hard and looked away from him as he finished his job. I hated every word he was saying to me. I couldn’t want that between us. I couldn’t have it.

And I knew it would do nothing but hurt us both in the end.

Because regardless of what he said, I was nothing more than the Starblessed and he was the captain of the royal guard. No matter how you looked at it, our fates would never align.

He lifted my head before resting my neck against the back of the tub, and his gaze was questioning as he poured more soap into his hands. I dropped my hands timidly, and he ran his soapy hands over my shoulders and down my arms.

“How is your wrist?” He lifted it into his hands before gently rubbing soap over the new scar.

“It’s better.” I looked at the markings he left there just as his fingers pressed against them and made them thrum with life. “It’s so much better than it was before.”

“The starlight suits you.” He cupped some water and rinsed away the suds he had just created. “I have never met another Starblessed more befitting to wear these marks.”

“It feels weird to have new ones.” I lifted my hand and ran it over the markings on my wrist. “They feel different than the others.”

“How so?” He took my hand in his and quickly worked the soap up my other arm as he listened to me.

“The markings on my back and face, they feel like me. They are no different than my skin or my hair. They are just a part of me despite how people want to use them, but these new marks, they’re me but not. They also feel like you.”

His hands stalled on my arm for a long moment. “What do you mean, they feel like me?”

I bit down on my lip as I thought of how to explain it. “I have always been able to feel you along the markings on my face and back.” I raised my hand to touch my face, and Evren moved his hands to my neck and chest. “Whenever you touch me or use your magic, I can feel you along my markings more than anywhere else. But with these new marks, they feel aflame around you. It’s like they recognize you before I even get the chance.”

Evren stared into the water for a long moment with his hands motionless against my upper chest. “Does this happen with anyone else?”

“I can feel others. Others with magic.” I shook my head gently. “But it’s not the same.”

“And with my brother?”

“I can feel him, but it doesn’t compare. Everyone else feels dull compared to you.”

A tremor ran down Evren’s spine as he stared into the water. “You can’t say things like that to me, princess.”

“It’s the truth.”

“It doesn’t matter.” He shook his head just as his hand dipped below the water, and he cupped my bare breast in his hand. “Hearing you say that makes me want to cover you with my marks. I want the whole damn world to know that your skin is adorned by me and me alone.”

I gasped as he pinched my nipple between his fingers.

“I want no one to look at you and be confused about whose you are.”

“But I’m not yours, Evren.” I pushed my head back against the tub as he kneaded my breast in his hand while he watched through the water.

“The fuck you aren’t.” His hand pushed through the water before he cupped my sex in his palm. “Every part of you belongs to me. Everyone else be damned, princess.” His finger slid between my folds, and I whimpered as he barely grazed over my nub. “Even your body knows it. It calls to me like a fucking prayer.”

I lifted my hips in the water, chasing his hand, and he growled. He wrapped his hand around my thigh, the edge of pain turning me on more, and I wasn’t prepared when his grip tightened further and he hauled me from the tub.

Water dripped from every inch of me as he fell back on the floor against the foot of the bed and hauled me against him. I had no choice but to straddle his lap as he forced my chest to his, and I could feel just how desperately he wanted me beneath my thighs.

“Gods, princess. You drive me fucking crazy.” He shoved his hand into my dripping wet hair before he pulled my face down to meet his. He kissed me, hard and thoroughly, and I kissed him back with just as much need. We were lips and tongue and teeth, and it became impossible to tell where one of us began and the other ended.

I pushed my hips down against his as he kissed me, the wetness between my thighs having nothing to do with my bath, and Evren groaned.

He pulled my hair back in his hand, and I whimpered as my neck was fully exposed to him. He ran his nose along the length of my neck, breathing me in before his lips began tasting me. His other hand pressed against my bottom, and he encouraged the way I had started grinding my hips against him. His teeth bit down so hard I was worried he’d break skin.

“You have no idea, Adara.” He spoke against my neck as I sped up my movement. “I could feed from you right now and put us both out of this misery. I could bring you more pleasure than you could possibly imagine.”

“What?” My voice trembled as I tried to make sense of what he was saying.

“That need you felt in the forest? Just think about how fucking good that would feel while I am fucking you. Think about my magic running through your blood while my cock is buried deep inside of you.”

I trembled against him as I continued to chase that high.

I wanted everything he spoke of. I feared it, but gods, I wanted it.

“I want you,” I whispered, and his hands tightened in my hair.

“You have me, princess. For whatever you want.” He kissed me again, and I raised my trembling fingers to his shirt. I fumbled with the buttons, nervous yet eager to get it off of him, and Evren didn’t rush me. He pushed my hair out of my face as I worked the buttons down his abdomen and pulled his shirt from his trousers.

I pushed it from his shoulders, revealing his torso, and I slowly ran my fingers over him.

“What are these scars from?” I ran my fingers over the scarred skin, and he let out a harsh breath.

“Too many battles,” he said it so easily. “Each one leaves a scar.”

I looked up into his eyes, and I knew that he meant more than just what it left on his skin. What had he been through? What had they used him for that now haunted his soul?

“I hate the queen.” I leaned forward and pressed my mouth to the largest scar.

“As do I.”

“And your brother.” I spoke the truth that both of us already knew.

Evren groaned, and his hands tightened against me. His eyes pleaded with me, but his mouth was held in a harsh line as he stared at me.

“I know that he’s your family and I’m meant to be betrothed to him, but I hate him.”

“I know.” He nodded, but he didn’t return my sentiment. “I fucking know.”

“But I don’t want to think about them.” I pushed my hands up his chest and wrapped them around the back of his neck. “I want you to make me forget that they exist.”

Evren kissed me again, this time more rushed than before, and he wrapped his arms around my back. I tightened my hands on his shoulders as he shifted, and I held on to him as he lifted us off the ground and stood.

He carried me easily to the bed and pressed my back against the mattress. He kissed my shoulder before slowly making his way down my torso, and I gasped as he pressed his mouth against my hard nipple.

“You’re mine, princess.” His mouth grazed over my ribs before he gently bit down against them, causing me to squirm. “Every single part of you belongs to me.”

I nodded my head even though we both knew it wasn’t true. This moment didn’t have any room for reality. This was about us, and everything we wished could be true.

His mouth pressed against my stomach before he dropped even lower and ran his tongue along my hipbone.

“Evren,” I called out his name as I squirmed against him.

He lifted his head, looking up at me before he blew a slow breath against my sex. “Yes, princess?”

“I need you.”

“Then tell me you’re mine.” Another slow, agonizing breath. “Tell me you’re mine, and I’ll give you anything you want.”

“I’m yours.” I ran my fingers through his hair and tried to pull him where I needed him most. “I will always be yours.”

Evren growled, low and frightening, before he lifted my legs in his hands and spread them impossibly far. My knees hit the bed on either side of me, fully exposing me to him, and he didn’t hesitate as he ran his tongue against me.

“Oh gods.” My hips shot off the bed, but Evren kept me in place with his hands on my knees.

He sucked my nub into his mouth as he stared up at me, and I had never seen anything more erotic in all my life. This man wasn’t mine. He wasn’t meant to be anything more than my guard, but seeing him feast from me was more than anything I could have ever wanted.

My marks buzzed against me, the same feeling that was building in my stomach flowing through them, and everything was so overwhelming.

Evren lifted his hand, sliding it up my body before it tightened around my throat gently. “Suck,” he commanded, releasing my neck to bring those fingers to my mouth. He slid two inside, and I did as he instructed. I ran my tongue along his fingers before I sucked them deep into my mouth, and Evren groaned against my sex.

He pulled his fingers from my mouth, and I watched as he brought them back down to my sex and slid them inside me. There was no hesitation, no gentleness left in him, and I pressed my head back against the bed as he slid them in and out of me over and over.

I didn’t think I could handle much more, everything he was doing made me feel flooded with pleasure. Then he curled his fingers inside of me as he bit down against my nub, and I screamed.

Loud enough that anyone in the pub below could hear me, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. The pleasure he drew from my body was too much.

“Fuck.” Evren bit down on my thigh before pressing a kiss to my star mark, and another wave of pleasure shot through me. “I need to be inside you, Adara.”

“Please.”

Evren stood and made quick work of his trousers. He slid them down his legs before kicking them off behind him. Then his hands were back on my legs, and he gripped behind my knees and jerked me closer to the edge of the bed.

I stared at his cock and how hard he was in his own hand, just as he bent my knee and pressed it against his chest. He rubbed his cock through the wetness that still coated my sex, and I squirmed every time the head of him hit my nub.

“Are you sure, princess?” He looked up at me, and I could tell he was barely holding on to the bit of control he had left as his throat worked.

I nodded my head as I pressed my hand to my mouth.

“That’s not good enough.” He pressed his cock harder against me. “I need your words. I need you to tell me you want this as badly as I want you. I won’t do it otherwise.”

“I want you, Evren.” I reached out for him, and he locked his fingers with mine. “You’re the only thing I want.”

Evren’s gaze darkened, and he lifted my hand and pressed a kiss to my knuckles before pressing another at the bottom of my stomach. He stood back to his full height and ran his cock through me one more time before he hesitated at my entrance.

He sat there for a second, but it felt like so much longer. I could see indecision running through his gaze, or maybe it was guilt, but his want for me won over. He slowly slid inside of me, and I panted as I tried to adjust to his size.

He stretched me inch by inch, and he was so damn gentle as he did so. “Are you okay?”

I nodded because there was no chance of me forming a single word. Pain sliced through me with every inch that he moved, but he replaced that pain with pleasure with every swipe of his fingers against my skin.

“I’m almost there.” He groaned as he pushed the smallest amount farther. “Gods, you’re so tight.”

He pressed his forehead to my neck when he was fully inside of me, and both of our rushed breaths mingled together. Pleasure and pain. It mixed together so perfectly, and even though I still felt so sore around him, I was desperate for him to move.

I rolled my hips against him, and I whimpered when I felt him so deep inside of me.

“Fuck, princess.” Evren’s breath rushed out as he kissed my neck. “You can’t fucking do that, or I’m not going to be able to be gentle with you.”

“I don’t want you to.” I pulled on the ends of his hair and forced him to look up at me. “Please don’t treat me like I’m fragile. I’m not the Starblessed. I’m yours.”

Evren growled before he slid out of me almost to the tip and slammed back inside. My eyes rolled back in my head as pleasure and pain surged through me.

Evren gripped my head, tilting me toward him, and he kissed me roughly as he slammed inside me again. “Is this okay?”

“Yes,” I moaned before biting down on his bottom lip.

Evren groaned, then pressed a kiss over the star mark on my cheek. They practically purred beneath his touch, and a chill ran through my body.

“I’ve never seen anything more beautiful.” He rose until he was standing at the edge of the bed, and he pulled me tighter against him. He held my knee in his hand as he stared down at where we connected. “More perfect.” He slammed into me as his fingers pressed against my nub, and I lifted my hands and kneaded my breasts as I watched him.

“You may be blessed by the stars, princess, but you were fucking made for me. Fate be damned.”

Evren pulled out of me completely and then used my knee in his hand to flip me over onto my belly. I pressed my hands against the bed as I tried to figure out what he was doing, but Evren’s hands gripped my hips and lifted me until I was on my knees.

My hands slid out from under me and my face pressed against the bed.

“Evren.” I knew he could hear the slight panic in my voice by the way his hands softly caressed my back.

“I’ve got you, princess.” His words were muffled as he swiped his tongue through my sex, and my knees threatened to buckle beneath me. “You taste like sin.”

His mouth moved away from me, and I searched for him over my shoulder just as he stood back to his full height and ran his fingers over my bottom. He was caressing and spreading, and I closed my eyes just as I felt his cock press inside me once more.

He slammed inside of me, and I moaned as my pleasure rose to meet him. His hand slid down my spine, touching every inch of my star mark, and something inside me stirred. It was stronger than I had ever felt before, and I bit down on my lip as I tried to focus on what he was doing.

“Gods, I can feel you.” His hips rolled and another surge of pleasure rose inside of me. “It’s like your body knows me.”

He was right. Since the moment I met him, it was as if my marks knew him better than I ever did.

“Evren, I’m so close.” I gripped the bedding in my hands as he slammed into me, and another cry passed through my lips.

“I know.” His thumb pressed roughly against my spine and my knees trembled beneath me. “Let go with me, princess. Let me feel you fall apart around my cock.”

I did as he commanded, and I screamed into the bedding as he slammed into me again and again. I could feel his seed filling me as I clamped down around him. Evren roared from behind, and his hands became as rough as his hips.

Every touch pushed me further. Every moan dragged the pleasure from my body.

My knees buckled beneath me, and Evren pressed his forehead to my back as he tried to catch his breath.

“Are you okay?” He kissed my spine, and another chill ran through me.

“I’m more than okay.” I nodded.

“Me too, princess.”

He dropped beside me on the bed and pulled up the bedding to cover me. He ran his fingers over my face as he searched my eyes, and I wanted to live in this moment forever. I didn’t want to think about what was to come after we left this room.

“Me too.”