“You,” I murmur.
She shifts, squaring her shoulders, trying to pull herself back together. “You think this changes anything? You’re still keeping me here against my will. How am I supposed to choose anything this way and it be re—?”
I take one step closer, and the air between us tightens enough that she falters.
“I think,” I say, voice low and steady, “that you’ve been trapped for so long you forgot what it feels like to justbe. I want to help you with that.”
Her breath stutters, and I know that she hates it.
“I didn’t touch you,” I continue. “I didn’t tell you what to do. I didn’t take anything from you.”
Her voice drops to a whisper. “You took my freedom.”
“No,” I correct gently. “You gave it up because, I suspect, you didn’t know what to do with it.”
She shakes her head, furious. “You don’t get to stand there and—”
I move again, closing the distance until the edge of the bed presses against my knees. I still don’t touch her. I let the restraint speak for me.
“In the dark,” I say quietly, “You can say the words you can’t say in the light. You can do the things you never knew you wanted.”
Her breath is still coming shallow and uneven. The tension between us coils tighter, sharper, vibrating like a live wire.
“You feel it,” I murmur. “And so do I.”
She lets out a shuddering breath, and I take my chance, lowering my face to where hers is outlined in the dark blue light of the room.
I don’t rush it. I wait until her breath slows and her resolve frays, until the space between our mouths feels louder than any sound in the room. Then I tilt my head and close the last inch slowly, giving her every chance to pull away.
She doesn’t.
Her lips part on a shaky inhale, and when our mouths finally meet, it’s nothing like I imagined and everything I wanted. Searching, urgent, like we’re both starving and furious about it. She makes a small sound against my mouth, something raw and unguarded, and it cracks something open in my chest I didn’t know was there.
I don’t deepen it. I don’t take more than she gives. I let the kiss burn and linger and end too soon, leaving her breathless and shaking, because I want her to feel it afterward, to know exactly what she’s stepped into.
“Let me help you,” I say, and I feel her nod more than see it.
The sheets rustle as she moves and I slide my hand beneath finding her thigh warm and smooth.
“Have you been touched before?” I ask, my voice gruff, my cock leaking precum beneath my clothes.
“No,” she says, her voice ravaged with defeat and rage all at once.
I close my eyes against the onslaught of pleasure that gives me. The privilege of being the first man to touch her is almost too much.
“Lie back,” I say, “I’ll be gentle.”
I lie beside her, never taking my hand from her as I stroke her thighs, her hips, her tummy. I watch her nipples harden, their peaks a dark outline begging for my mouth. It takes every ounce of restraint not to put my lips anywhere but hers.
When I finally move to her slit, she gasps a little, and I’m surprised to find her so wet already.
“Is this how you’ve been all night?” I ask, and she breathes a yes that’s almost imperceptible. “You should have said,” I say, sliding a finger into her channel and making a circular motion with it. Her hips tremble in response. “You don’t need to be strong, Victoria. Not right now. You need to let it go. Let me help you with this. You can go back to hating me in the morning.”
I apply pressure to her clit with my thumb as I slide another finger into her, and she moans, long and low as she presses herself onto my hand. “Take what you need, printsessa, and know I’ll always give it to you freely.” Her hips are rocking now.I dot kisses on her jaw, moving only as much as I need to get a better angle. I want to suck her nipples into my mouth so much, but I want her to discover each stage of pleasure in its own moment. Let her revel in it as I worship her body at a pace that doesn’t scare her.
“Keep going, Victoria, take everything you need.”
My hand is soaked with her. She is moving enough now that her gorgeous tits bounce lightly, her areolas a dark outline against alabaster skin painted blue in the light.
