‘Princess?’ he groaned again against her lips.
Again she sensed that some new barrier was about to be crossed and he was seeking her permission. Maybe if he’d said her name then common sense might have prevailed, but his repetition of her title made her feel slightly disconnected and uncaring of the consequences. As if this were not happening to her but to someone else—someone she didn’t know very well. A wild stranger who was briefly inhabiting her body and demanding that this fierce sexual hunger be fed.
‘Yes,’ she said, in her own language, her next words muffled by the sweatshirt he was pulling over her head. ‘Yes, please.’
CHAPTER FIVE
HE WAS UNDRESSING. Or at least, he was freeing himself from his clothes. There was very little ceremony involved. Zabrina watched as Constantin Izvor impatiently removed his long leather boots and kicked them aside, before peeling off his dark trousers and sending them in the same direction, after first extracting a mysterious packet of foil.
His shirt followed, exposing the honed magnificence of his bare chest—but there wasn’t really time to appreciate it because the bodyguard was turning his attention to her once more. He splayed his palms over her hips, her slouchy pants were swiftly disposed of and it wasn’t until she felt the rush of cool air against her legs that it suddenly occurred to Zabrina that Constantin was completely naked, while she was still wearing her underwear.
His eyes narrowed as if he had suddenly tuned into her thoughts. ‘We don’t seem to be very equally matched,’ he murmured.
It was almost enough to destroy the mood, because Zabrina knew they would never be equally matched, because, no matter how vaulted his position, he was still a servant and she a royal. But by then she didn’t care, because he was deftly unclipping her bra and her reservations were dissolved by the delicious sensation of her breasts sliding free. She liked the way that made her feel, just as she liked the way h
is eyes had darkened in response.
His gaze roved to the only remaining barrier to her nakedness—a tiny triangle of pink lace panties, which matched the bra—and she saw his mouth harden with something she didn’t recognise. Something which looked faintly disapproving. Surely not—for hadn’t part of her pre-wedding sexual education reinforced the fact that men liked provocative lingerie and it was a wife’s duty to heed such desires?
Zabrina chewed on her lip. Perhaps he was perplexed by her extravagant underclothes, particularly when worn underneath such a deliberately unglamorous outer layer. She wondered what he’d say if he knew that the flimsy garment was completely unlike the sleek black briefs she normally favoured, which made horse-riding so much easier.
But now was not the time to start thinking about the trousseau which had been acquired by one of her mother’s stylists. Not when he was hooking the sides of her panties with his fingers while making a low, growling noise at the back of his throat. For one crazy moment she thought he was about to rip them off and wasn’t there an unknown and rather shocking side to her character which actually hoped he would? But she had been mistaken, because he was removing them conventionally enough, sliding them down over her knees—though with hands which were slightly unsteady.
His watchful eyes burned into her as he ran a questing finger over her thighs, lightly stroking the goose-pimpled flesh in inciting circles which made them tremble even more. And suddenly Zabrina found herself parting her legs for him, as if his pewter gaze was compelling her to do so—and he was...he was...
She gave a startled gasp as Constantin Izvor bent his head down between her thighs. His tongue began to dart over the exquisitely aroused flesh and he gently hushed her with a single, ‘Shh!’
It was an impossible order. How could she possibly stay silent when he was working such magic? When he was making her feel like this—as though she were rapidly soaring towards an unknown destination? Some place of unbelievable sweetness which was beckoning to her with honeyed fingers. It felt shockingly intimate. Decadent and delicious. It felt perfect.
Helplessly, Zabrina writhed beneath the featherlight accuracy of his tongue, scarcely able to believe that it could get any better. But it did. It was getting better all the time. It was so good that she felt as if she were going to faint with pleasure. She bit back a cry of disbelief mingled with joy, and just as her body started convulsing he pressed his lips against her pulsating core. Bunching up her fist, she dug her teeth hard into her fingers and bit on them as the flick of his tongue intensified the blistering sensations. One delicious spasm was followed by another and never had she felt quite so vulnerable—or so powerful—as she did in that moment. Time stretched and suspended and she found herself strangely reluctant to float back down to earth.
Her eyelids parting, she saw Constantin opening the foil packet he’d retrieved earlier and Zabrina suddenly understood what it contained. She’d never even seen a contraceptive before—why would she?—and she’d always imagined she might feel a mixture of terror and embarrassment when eventually she did. But the only thing she was experiencing right now was a warm anticipation as he moved to lie on top of her. His flesh was silky and hard. She could feel the muscled weight of his body and his satin tip nudging against the core he had just kissed so intimately. She could detect a faint perfume in the air, and as he lowered his head to kiss her she could taste the scent on his tongue and realised that the taste was her.
‘Constantin,’ she said, almost brokenly.
‘What?’
For a moment she felt him grow still against her, as if he was having second thoughts.
Was he?
Should she be having them?
Of course she should.
A lingering remnant of common sense reminded her of the insanity of what she was about to do—yet her body was so greedy for more of this incredible pleasure that it refused to contemplate any other alternative than what was about to happen.
‘What is it?’ he demanded again, his voice raw and ragged with need.
‘N-nothing.’ If she wasn’t careful she would start putting doubts in his mind, and the King’s servant would realise what a compromising position they were in. And if he decided to call a halt to it could she really bear it? No, she could not. Was that what made her instinctively thrust her pelvis forward, so that his tip entered by a fraction and he gave a soft roar as he thrust into her more deeply?
Zabrina sucked in a disbelieving breath as he filled her and she was amazed at how quickly her body adjusted to his possession—as if she had been waiting all her life for this man to be inside her. She let out a slow shudder as he began to move and, very quickly, could feel an escalation of that now-familiar bliss with each powerful thrust he made. But as his mouth fixed itself on hers and she felt the lace of his tongue again, she suddenly became aware that this was about more than the purely physical. It felt as if the two of them really had become one—in every sense. Did she feel that connection because he’d convinced her to confide in him? Or because he’d made her feel almost normal—less like a princess and more like a woman?
And that had never happened before.
‘Oh,’ she whimpered.
He raised his dark head, his eyes seeming unfocussed. ‘Oh, what?’