Instead, she relaxed, her body leaning into his. The sheets she’d been clutching fell away between them as her hands came up to rest upon his chest. She seemed to curl into his embrace, feeling small and fragile in his arms.
"My lord," she breathed against his lips when he finally took a moment to catch his breath, leaning his forehead against hers. He opened his eyes just enough to see hers were still closed, her cheeks shadowed thickly by her lashes and the shadows cast by the single candle upon her bedside table. "What are you doing here?"
Unable to speak for fear the spell between them might be broken, Asher lowered his hands from her cheeks to the small of her back and pulled her ever closer, allowing her to feel what was concealed in the front of his pants.
The gasp that erupted from her lips almost immediately told him she’d most definitely felt it, and he couldn't help but smile against her lips.
"Your majesty, I…" her voice was small, hesitant, and Asher suddenly became unsure of himself. Pulling back just enough to look down at her, he stroked a strand of hair from her face.
"Let me show you how sorry I am?" Although it wasn't exactly a question, he phrased it as one, gazing down into her sparkling blue eyes. He held his breath as he awaited her response, almost entirely sure she would reject him as he’d once rejected her.
The second her head began to nod, Asher determined to go through with his plan. He would have her, she would have her apology and they both could get on with their lives as if nothing had ever happened.
Gripping her hips, he pulled her up into his arms, a growl of delight escaping his lips when she wrapped her legs firmly around his waist. Her night gown had ridden up, leaving her bare from the waist down, and even through the material of his pants, he could feel the warm moisture between her thighs.
I will have her, he vowed to himself, knowing it could be only the once. He simply had to get her out of his system so he could turn his attention back to running his kingdom. His subjects deserved his full attention, and he couldn't afford to let one woman get in the way of that.
Rayne spread her wings beneath her just in time as the king dropped her down onto the bed where she’d been sleeping peacefully only a few minutes before. Consumed with desire, Asher worked hungrily at the tie of his robe and allowed it to pool on the ground around him even as he stripped himself of his pants. He didn't miss the round-eyed look that swept across Rayne's face when she saw his manhood for the first time. It was a look he’d seen on multiple faces previously, and yet there was something about seeing it on her face that was all the more satisfying.
Hungry to have her, he gripped the backs of her knees and pulled her to the edge of the bed. Before she could make any kind of protest, he dropped down into a crouch and, with his hands still hooked behind her legs, he buried his face between them. The sweet scent of her moisture was intoxicating, and when he began to lick between her thighs, he realized it wasn't just the scent of her that was sweet. Her nectar burst over his tongue, and when she gasped with surprise and pleasure, his own stomach twisted with an overwhelming desire to bury himself deep inside her.
Not yet, he urged himself, I want this to last. He would not allow his own impatience to steal this moment from him.
When Rayne's legs began to relax against his hands, he finally released her enough to remove one hand from behind her knee. Still lapping at her sweet juices, he slipped his middle finger gently between the moist folds of her sex and instantly felt her muscles begin to tighten around him.
There was no doubt about it. Rayne was a virgin. He’d been able to sense it from the very first moment they met. Pure, sweet innocence had practically wafted off her in waves. Now he knew it for sure, and his cock throbbed to take that title from her.
I have to have her, the voice of his desire screamed in the back of his mind once more, and he had to urge himself to remain where he was, slipping a second finger gently inside her. Rayne gasped for a moment, as if concerned by the tight fit.
"Relax," he urged her gently before he began to lick in circular motions, pausing only to add, "Let me take care of you."
When he was sure he heard a sigh of relief and felt her body relax around his fingers, he slowly dipped a third deep inside her.
It was then that she threw back her head, and one glance told Asher all he needed to know. The sight of her spread upon the bed, knees up in the air and hands clotted in the sheets, told him she was deliciously close to mind blowing pleasure. He continued to work, stroking from the inside while licking from the outside, up and down, around and around.
When he felt her body tightening further around his fingers, he didn’t stop, though the going became tough. Her muscles were powerful, almost stopping his progress entirely, and his stomach churned with the thought of what she might do to his manhood.
He didn't stop, even when she screamed his name to the heavens and he was sure the servants outside, and possibly even her mother in the room opposite the antechamber, would hear. He didn't stop even when she begged him to, not until he’d drained her of all energy and she lay utterly sated and spent.
When he rose from his crouch, her eyes fluttered dreamily to look at him, and he couldn't help but smile down at her.
"Are you ready?" he asked in a hoarse, desire-filled voice. Rayne gulped, and for just one fearful moment Asher thought she might choose to reject him now that she’d received her pleasure. He wasn't entirely sure what he would do if she did, but he was sure it wouldn't be pleasant. He was far too wound up to turn back now. Her sweet juices were still dripping off his fingers when she finally began to nod.
His manhood fully erect, Asher once more gripped her by the backs of the knees and pulled her to the very edge of the bed, from where she’d moved with all of her wriggling.
He leaned down only to kiss her momentarily before gently slipping deep inside her. The sharp intake of breath and the way her eyes widened and began to water, caused him to pause even though every fiber of his being was urging him to thrust. She was so warm, wet and inviting, Asher suddenly feared he might never wish to exit.
"Your Majesty?" Her small voice startled him, and for a second, he was worried once more. Would she ask him to stop?
He gazed down at her with gritted teeth and whispered back hoarsely, "Yes?"
"Please...kiss me again."
Just like that, Asher dropped down on top of her once more, holding himself up on his elbows to kiss her even as he began to thrust, feeling her body beginning to accommodate him.
Their bodies could have been entwined for hours or merely minutes, but time seemed not to matter. Asher became lost in her, their world nothing more than sweat and pleasure-induced screaming, flesh upon flesh and lips upon lips. They found their rhythm easily, joining together so naturally, it felt as if it were their first and one hundredth time all wrapped into one.
When he felt as though his climax was coming, Asher slowed down, ensuring to drain every last bit of pleasure from his partner before he finally pulled out just in time to spray his seed all over her stomach. Dropping down onto the bed beside her, they both lay, dazed, for several minutes.