Chapter 7

I stareinto James's dark eyes, a lump growing inside my throat that I've been holding in since he pulled me into his lap and started to feed me. This man is really a gentle giant. I'm not sure how I feared him for even a second. He treats me like spun glass.

I want to believe everything he's saying, but I think there's something he's keeping from me. I have a feeling he doesn"t want to let me go. I know I must hold some appeal. My grandma always told me that I was beautiful, and the way my uncle and his friends always stared at me made me even more aware of it. I didn"t like when they did it. But with James, it feels like something different. For the first time I don"t want to hide my body. I want to explore this.

I can tell he's holding himself back. I want his mouth back on mine. I've never felt so much as when he kissed me, brushed his mouth against my neck in the softest caress right before he gave a small nip that shot right between my thighs, dampening them. I tilt a little, letting the robe fall even more, parting my thighs and knowing that is where I need the relief the most.

I hear him suck in a deep breath. His dark eyes grow even darker as his attention fixes down my body to between my legs, where the robe has parted to reveal my thighs. My cheeks warm, but I fight my shyness and don't close them. I want his touch more.

"Princess." His voice is deeper now. Warning rings in his tone, but I'm not scared. No, I'm excited and filled with something I can't find a name for. I love when he calls me that. It feels right. I'm his princess. Though he said I'd be more than that. I wanted to question it but was scared of what he might say. That maybe I'd misunderstood him.

He places his hand on my leg, slowly running it up my thigh. I have to fight grabbing it and moving it faster. The rough texture of it leads me to moan. "Fuck. I should stop," he says, but I don't think he's talking to me.

"Please don't," I plead, the words tumbling out of my mouth with no shame. I think I would die if he did. I wiggle a little, trying to get his hand closer between my thighs. Need like nothing else weighs heavy on my body.

"I could never deny you," he tells me as he grips my thighs, pulling them even further apart. My robe falls off my shoulder, completely baring almost all of me to him. His breathing grows even heavier. Seeing how much I affect him makes my shyness slip away completely.

"Your thighs are coated." His fingers brush against my inner thighs. "I need to taste you." I think he is going to bring his fingers to his mouth, but in one swift movement he's standing with me in his arms and carrying me over to the bed. He gently places me down and comes over the top of me, his big body blanketing mine. "Tell me you want your king to feast on you."

"Please." I try to push my hips up but can't move with his weight on top of me, reminding me once again how overpowering this man is, how easily he could take from me if he wanted. But he's not doing that. He's asking, and I'm almost begging him to do it.

His mouth takes mine in a deep, hungry kiss. I moan, trying to pull at his clothes. I'm completely naked, my robe discarded, while he is still fully dressed. "Not yet," he tells me as he pulls his mouth from mine. "If I undress, this will go too far."

"Yes. I want that," I push, wanting everything. I'm greedy for it.

"I will give you everything, but in time." He trails kisses down my neck, licking and sucking between small bites. "I will do right by you. I was granted such a gift as you, and I will treasure you as I should." His sweet words bring tears to my eyes. I still can't believe this is real. I've toiled all these years, and now it's as if I've been dropped into the middle of a fairy tale.

He sucks one of my nipples into his mouth, and I moan out his name. I don't know how much more I can take. I need release so bad. My body is achy and heavy. James moves farther down my body, kissing my stomach before parting my thighs wide to make room for his broad shoulders.

He looks up at me, his dark eyes locking with mine. He reminds me of a predator that just caught his prey and is about to take what he has claimed as his. He drops his head and he licks me slowly. My head falls back as the sweetest pleasure I've ever felt flows through my body. His fingers dig into my hips as he takes another long, slow lick, before his hands tighten even more and all his control snaps.

Then it feels like his mouth is everywhere, devouring me as he sucks my clit into his mouth and growls against my center. My back bows off the bed as everything inside of me shatters and I scream out his name over and over again.

He keeps going until I have to beg him to stop. My body is unable to take any more. I lie in the center of the bed feeling like I'm floating on a cloud. I don't want to move. He crawls up my body, leaving kisses in his wake. Each one makes me squirm a little as my body is still sensitive from what he just did to it.

He pulls me on top of him, wrapping his arms around me in a tight hold. "Thank you," he says against the top of my head before kissing me there.

I laugh. "Shouldn"t I be the one saying thank you?" I let myself sink into him, still wishing he didn"t have clothes on. I want to be skin to skin with him and to feel his warmth against me. I can't remember the last time someone held me close. It was probably when I was a young girl.

"No, that was the sweetest thing I've ever tasted." I tuck my head under his chin, suddenly feeling a tad shy. His hands explore my back, gently massaging me. My eyes slowly fall closed, and I try and fight it, but sleep is taking hold of me.

"I'm scared if I fall asleep I'll wake up back in my uncle's home," I admit.

"I can promise you that will never happen. You'll wake in my bed like you did once already," he tells me gently.

"This is your room?" I smile, liking the fact he put me in his room. It only confirms that my feelings for this man aren"t one-sided and that the things he's saying to me are true.

"Our room," he corrects as I slowly drift off to sleep.