Page 55 of Alien Prince's Fated Mate

“How do you want me to show you?” I nuzzled the sensitive spot behind her ear.

She pressed closer, hands sliding up my chest. “However you like.”

Wrong answer. My mate needed to learn to voice her desires. “Tell me what you desire, little one.”

A blush crept across her cheeks. “I...” She bit her lip.

“Yes?” I caught her chin between thumb and forefinger. “Say it.”

“Your mouth.” She spoke the words in a rush. “Like...like before.”

Shy mate, finding her voice at last. “Stand up.”

Water streamed down her body as she rose. I steadied her with hands at her hips, drinking in the sight of her. Scars marked her pale skin - remnants of the Temple’s cruelty that made my beast snarl. But she was here now. Safe. Mine.

I lifted her from the tub, settling her on the wide rim. The metal must have felt cold against her skin, but she didn’t complain as I spread her thighs.

“Beautiful.” I pressed kisses up her inner thigh, savoring her shiver. “Every inch of you.”

Her fingers twisted in my wet hair as I tasted her. Sweet and salt mixed on my tongue as I explored her folds, learning what made her breath catch and her thighs tremble.

When I found her clit, she bucked against my mouth. “Tharon!”

I growled my approval, the vibration making her cry out again. This was what I wanted - my mate wild and desperate for my touch.

Her peak built slowly this time, pleasure coiling tighter with each stroke of my tongue. When she finally shattered, my name a broken sob on her lips, I pulled her trembling body into my arms.

“I’ve got you.” I carried her to the bed, laying her on sheets warmed by braziers beneath the floor. “Rest now.”

But she caught my wrist as I moved to step away. “Stay.”

As if I could deny her anything. I stretched out beside her, pulling the furs over us both. She curled into my side, head pillowed on my shoulder.

“Thank you,” she murmured.

“For what?”

“For making me feel...” She paused. “Real. Like a person, not just a vessel for the Temple’s will.”

I tightened my arms around her. “You’ve always been real. They just couldn’t see it.”

She traced idle patterns on my chest. “Sometimes I wonder if I am. The Temple changed so much inside me. Added things. Took things away.”

“You’re you.” I guided her wandering hand, pressed it over my heart. “Everything else is just...decoration.”

A small smile curved her lips. “Decoration?”

“Mm.” I nuzzled her hair. “Like jewelry. It adorns, but doesn’t change what lies beneath.”

She went quiet, considering this. Outside our window, voices drifted up from the courtyard - merchants finishing their day’s business, stable hands calling to each other as they settled the animals for the night.

“Will your people accept me?” The question came soft, hesitant. “Once they know what I am?”

“They’ll accept you because you’re my mate.” I stroked her back. “The rest doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to me.” She pushed up on one elbow to look at me. “I won’t hide what was done to me. What’s still being done to others.”

The fierce light in her eyes made my chest ache. My warrior queen, ready to take on the world for justice.

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