Page 146 of Somber Prince

“Mhm,” he hummed, kissing my neck while kneading my breast gently. His other hand hiked up my skirt. Finding me naked under it, he leaned back. “Dawn.” He swallowed hard. “What happened to you in the queen’s sarai? How did they treat you there?”

A dark undercurrent rolled through his voice. As if he’d launch into vengeance if I said a word against the Keepers or the queen herself.

“It’s all good, darling.” I adjusted my hips on his lap to give him better access to all of me. “I wasn’t mistreated. No need to worry. I—” I inhaled sharply as he flicked my nipple, desire sparkling through my body. “Oh God, Rha… I’ve missed you.”

“They didn’t hurt you?”

“Only when they took you away from me.” Placing a knee on each side of his thighs, I rocked against his hand.

I opened the closure of my necklace and let it drop to the seat next to us. With his arm around my waist, he brought me closer and dragged his tongue over my nipple. His fangs scraped against my skin, sending sparks of excitement down to my core.

Desire pooled low in my belly. Pressure was building up. I whimpered, rocking my hips against his abs.

“I know where you want me,” Rha murmured, slipping a finger inside me.

I’d missed him so much. I craved his touch. But then I remembered he had no way of enjoying it with me now. I was using him solely for my pleasure.

The sobering thought came like a bucket of cold water over my sizzling desire. I jerked away from him.

“Rha… I’m sorry.”

He wouldn’t let go of me, however, drawing me to him again. His eyes hooded by eyelids, his mouth slacked, he ran his tongue over his lips like he’d been enjoying a fine dessert before I took it from him.

“Please let me, my treasure.” He flicked his tongue over my other nipple. “I want you to come on my hand.”

He found his way between my thighs again, finding my hot, swollen clit with his fingers. A shiver of pleasure rushed through me. I wanted it badly. But doubts still weighed on my mind, sabotaging my joy.

“You can’t feel this,” I said as he gently lifted my breast, sucking and nibbling on the tip.

“Of course I can.” He moaned against my skin, rubbing hard between my legs, as if his own orgasm depended on it.

“How?”

“I remember.”

He pressed my hand to his abs, then slid it down to his groin. I sucked in a breath in shock. His feelers had come to life, pushing against the fabric of his skirt. I shoved the fabric aside, finding the magnificent, glowing cluster of the slick, undulating tendrils in all their glory.

“How can it be?”

He looked slightly dazed, grinning at me. “It doesn’t feel like a mating fever, sweetheart. There is no pain or desperate urgency. I can feel your need with all its delightful facets. And it’s so good, Dawn. It shimmers with pleasure.”

“You remember it all, do you?” I ran my fingers between his thighs. “You have a heck of a memory, my prince.”

His delicate feelers caressed my fingers, winding and unwinding themselves around my hand. Their golden glow shone brightly between us. He moaned softly, with a shudder running through him.

I longed to know what he was feeling, and then I remembered that I probably could. I reached for Rha through my mind, my heart, and my soul. Tendrils of magic appeared from my leilathas. They grew as he stared at them in wonder.

“They say we share a bond.” I smiled. “That’s your magic, darling, but it looks like I can borrow it. May I?” I tilted my head, asking for his permission, the way he’d asked for mine before.

“This is incredible.” He stroked a tendril with his fingers.

Warm tingles rushed me, popping along my skin like champagne bubbles.

“I want to feel you.” He brought the end of the tendril to the black gaping wound on his arm.

This wasn’t like connecting to another tendril or to a harness. Rha had raw wounds, still fresh and possibly painful.

“What if it hurts?” I hesitated.

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