Page 34 of Her Vow to Be His Desert Queen

It was as if something had been unleashed inside him, because his mouth was on hers again and he was kissing her deeply, with all the intensity that was part of him. And Sidonie felt herself go up in flames.

There was nothing in the entire world except the heat of his mouth and his skin beneath her fingers, the wild, intoxicating taste of him and his hands pulling at her dress, easing it up, getting it out of the way. Then he tugged at her underwear, the flimsy lace of her knickers tearing and coming away so she was naked from the waist down.

He freed himself from his loose trousers and underwear, and then he was right there, between her thighs, pushing inside her. She gasped, feeling herself stretch around him. It burned, but she was so ready for him that the burning sensation stopped almost as soon as it had begun. There was no pain as he pushed deeper, only an intense feeling of fullness that had her shifting and squirming beneath him, trying to find some space for herself, because it felt as if he took up every part of her.

Then he slid one hand behind her right knee, lifting her leg up and over his hip, opening her up so he could ease deeper, making her gasp aloud, shuddering as the sense of fullness became more intense.

‘Sidonie,’ he murmured, his deep voice rough and full of heat. ‘My Sidonie...’ He looked down at her, his gaze black and velvety and all-encompassing. ‘You are mine,ya hayati.’ The fierce, possessive note in the words thrilled her down to the bone. ‘You know it. You feel it.’

He began to move inside her, flexing his hips in a deep thrust in before a slow, delicious slide out, turning the sensation from an uncomfortable fullness to an insistent, aching pleasure that tore a moan from her throat.

She couldn’t look away, pinned to the couch as much by the look in his eyes as by the thrust of his hips, and soon she was moving with him, watching the same pleasure she felt burning in her light the darkness of his eyes.

She did feel it. Because this was what he’d always given her, the release of the passion inside her, all the deep feelings living with her aunt had stifled.

Yet it hadn’t been her aunt stifling her these past five years. It had been herself. She’d protected her heart, saved it from pain, and yet as he moved inside her, the pleasure intensifying, she knew she’d lost something.

Something he was giving back to her, right here in this moment.

His name escaped like a prayer as ecstasy began to overtake her, and her nails dug into his shoulders because it was too much and yet not enough.

He’d always been giving her things. Birthday presents and parties. The rare treasure of his smile. The gift of his anger at those who hurt her, and the most important thing of all: acceptance.

He’d accepted the wild part of her, the passionate part. The part she’d locked away for years after her aunt had crushed it and he’d given her the key to unlock it again. And he’d gloried in it as much as she had.

‘Don’t stop.’ The words fell helplessly from her, and she let them. Just as she let him see what he was doing to her. ‘Please, Khal. Please don’t stop.’

He didn’t say anything, but his gaze flared and he moved faster, harder. He slid one hand behind her head, holding her still, and then he bent and covered her mouth once again in a kiss so hot it felt like a brand against her skin.

Her heart swelled inside her, pushing painfully against her ribs.

He still gloried in that part of her. She’d pushed back at him, but he hadn’t taken her ‘no’ for an answer. He hadn’t let her push him away. And now she was here with him above her, inside her, all around her, wanting her, demanding her passion...

She couldn’t hold herself back any longer.

She surrendered, losing herself to the pleasure he was giving her, the pleasure they were creating together, building like a bonfire, adding more tinder until it was a roaring conflagration, blazing into the night.

Then just before the orgasm hit her, catapulting her into the stratosphere, she knew with a bone-deep certainty that, whatever she’d told herself about leaving in two weeks, it was lie.

She’d come back with him because she wanted him. Because she’d wantedthis.She’d always wanted it. And she’d never stopped wanting, not deep down in the depths of her heart.

Because she’d loved him then and she loved him now. She’d never stopped loving him.

The knowledge was intrinsic and cell-deep, then it was lost in the storm as the pleasure overwhelmed her. And all she was aware of was the hard thrust of Khalil’s hips and then his deep voice growling her name as it took him, too.

For a time afterwards there was stillness and silence, broken only by the sound of their breathing, rough and ragged. He didn’t move, his body a heavy weight that she was in no hurry to escape. In fact, she never wanted to escape it.

And you don’t have to. Not if you marry him.

The thought made tears start in her eyes and her throat close. She couldn’t tell herself now she didn’t want this with her whole heart.

She still loved him. Of course she’d marry him. He’d said something about kings not being permitted love, but what did that matter? If she was his wife, he’d never be able to walk away from her again.

He shifted, easing his weight from her, lifting his head, and looking down at her. His gaze, normally as unreadable as a shard of obsidian, was full of emotional currents and she stared back, trying to read him.

‘What is it?’ she asked, lifting a hand to his face, hungry for the feel of his skin.

‘I did not intend to take you like an animal on the couch,’ he said after a moment. ‘It was not supposed to happen like that.’

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