“Very.”
“And filled with lots of priceless treasures?”
“A great deal.”
“And bedrooms?”
“A great many.”
I shifted atop my ‘bed.’ “Are they filled with straw?”
“Wool.”
“No feathers?”
“Only by request.”
A sigh escaped my lips. “That sounds nice.”
I licked my lips and found them dry, so I sat up and set my sandwich to the side. The pail was my objective. I took it up and looked at the crystal-clear, cool water that shook inside. There was a slightly sweet scent to the liquid, which only made me thirstier. I tipped the water jug up and against my lower lip, and that’s when things went awry. My inexperience with such a wide-mouthed container meant I attempted to drown myself. The water cascaded down upon me like the biblical flood, and I was soaked in a matter of seconds.
I dropped the container on its bottom on the loft floor and sputtered out an ocean’s worth of water. My companion had all the concern of a man about to have a hernia from suppressing laughter. Cassian crawled over to me and drew out a handkerchief, which he handed to me.
“Thanks…” I mumbled as I wiped my face and hair.
Cassian drew out another handkerchief and nodded at my clothes. “May I?”
I lifted an eyebrow at the cloth. “How many of those do you have?”
“Many,” he replied as he began to dab my damp clothes. “A king must have one for every occasion, especially cleaning a fair damsel.”
He was doing more for me than cleaning me. His little attentions were definitely getting the attention of my feminine parts. I had a hard time keeping my breathing even, especially as his hand traveled lower down my chest. He did away with the cloth and wrapped his long, slender finger around my hip. My heart pounded in my chest as he leaned over and brushed his lips across mine.
His soft voice enveloped me in a cloud of desire. “You are very fetching in starlight.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep, shuddering breath. “Should you really be doing this?”
“Shouldn’t I?” he teased before he pressed our lips together.
The heat between my legs became a furnace of lust. I was out of breath and panting hard by the time we separated. My mind shouted at me to stop this nonsense. He was a king! I was nothing!
But who was I to argue with a king’s demand?
Cassian pressed his body down on mine, pinning me to the blanket. He deepened our kiss, and his wandering hand resumed its journey. His fingers danced along my hip and up to my buttoned shirt. The buttons were plucked open one by one, revealing my chest to the cool, open air. I wasn’t cold, though. Not with his warm body pressed against me.
My foggy mind barely noticed as he drew off his shirt and our pants. Our naked bodies pressed against each other, fiddling us into a feverish ache that increased with each brush of his fingers, every touch of his lips. He broke our kiss and trailed hot ones down my throat. His guttural growls left me throbbing and moaning.
My moans filled the loft, and the hay crunched beneath us as he pushed my legs apart to lie down between them. He captured my lips in another kiss as his throbbing manhood penetrated me. Cassian wasn’t my first lover, but he definitely wasn’t the worst. His hands glided over my quivering flesh, heightening my lust even as he pulled out and pushed back in.
I broke our kiss and leaned my head back. A soft sigh escaped me. My body was awash in sensual pleasures that tingled every nerve, teased every muscle, and promised a hell of an ending.
Then he paused. Cassian reached down and drew the locket into his palm. “What’s this?”
Some of the mood died with my shock. “Just, um, just a souvenir.” I snatched it from him and pulled the locket around to my back. The chain still refused to slide up my neck. “I never take it off.”
“Not even now?”
“Nope, but is that really going to stop you?”
