I swallowed hard and looked away from him as he finished his job. I hated every word he was saying to me. I couldn’t want that between us. I couldn’t have it.
And I knew it would do nothing but hurt us both in the end.
Because regardless of what he said, I was nothing more than the Starblessed and he was the captain of the royal guard. No matter how you looked at it, our fates would never align.
He lifted my head before resting my neck against the back of the tub, and his gaze was questioning as he poured more soap into his hands. I dropped my hands timidly, and he ran his soapy hands over my shoulders and down my arms.
“How is your wrist?” He lifted it into his hands before gently rubbing soap over the new scar.
“It’s better.” I looked at the markings he left there just as his fingers pressed against them and made them thrum with life. “It’s so much better than it was before.”
“The starlight suits you.” He cupped some water and rinsed away the suds he had just created. “I have never met another Starblessed more befitting to wear these marks.”
“It feels weird to have new ones.” I lifted my hand and ran it over the markings on my wrist. “They feel different than the others.”
“How so?” He took my hand in his and quickly worked the soap up my other arm as he listened to me.
“The markings on my back and face, they feel like me. They are no different than my skin or my hair. They are just a part of me despite how people want to use them, but these new marks, they’re me but not. They also feel like you.”
His hands stalled on my arm for a long moment. “What do you mean, they feel like me?”
I bit down on my lip as I thought of how to explain it. “I have always been able to feel you along the markings on my face and back.” I raised my hand to touch my face, and Evren moved his hands to my neck and chest. “Whenever you touch me or use your magic, I can feel you along my markings more than anywhere else. But with these new marks, they feel aflame around you. It’s like they recognize you before I even get the chance.”
Evren stared into the water for a long moment with his hands motionless against my upper chest. “Does this happen with anyone else?”
“I can feel others. Others with magic.” I shook my head gently. “But it’s not the same.”
“And with my brother?”
“I can feel him, but it doesn’t compare. Everyone else feels dull compared to you.”
A tremor ran down Evren’s spine as he stared into the water. “You can’t say things like that to me, princess.”
“It’s the truth.”
“It doesn’t matter.” He shook his head just as his hand dipped below the water, and he cupped my bare breast in his hand. “Hearing you say that makes me want to cover you with my marks. I want the whole damn world to know that your skin is adorned by me and me alone.”
I gasped as he pinched my nipple between his fingers.
“I want no one to look at you and be confused about whose you are.”
“But I’m not yours, Evren.” I pushed my head back against the tub as he kneaded my breast in his hand while he watched through the water.
“The fuck you aren’t.” His hand pushed through the water before he cupped my sex in his palm. “Every part of you belongs to me. Everyone else be damned, princess.” His finger slid between my folds, and I whimpered as he barely grazed over my nub. “Even your body knows it. It calls to me like a fucking prayer.”
I lifted my hips in the water, chasing his hand, and he growled. He wrapped his hand around my thigh, the edge of pain turning me on more, and I wasn’t prepared when his grip tightened further and he hauled me from the tub.
Water dripped from every inch of me as he fell back on the floor against the foot of the bed and hauled me against him. I had no choice but to straddle his lap as he forced my chest to his, and I could feel just how desperately he wanted me beneath my thighs.
“Gods, princess. You drive me fucking crazy.” He shoved his hand into my dripping wet hair before he pulled my face down to meet his. He kissed me, hard and thoroughly, and I kissed him back with just as much need. We were lips and tongue and teeth, and it became impossible to tell where one of us began and the other ended.
I pushed my hips down against his as he kissed me, the wetness between my thighs having nothing to do with my bath, and Evren groaned.
He pulled my hair back in his hand, and I whimpered as my neck was fully exposed to him. He ran his nose along the length of my neck, breathing me in before his lips began tasting me. His other hand pressed against my bottom, and he encouraged the way I had started grinding my hips against him. His teeth bit down so hard I was worried he’d break skin.
“You have no idea, Adara.” He spoke against my neck as I sped up my movement. “I could feed from you right now and put us both out of this misery. I could bring you more pleasure than you could possibly imagine.”
“What?” My voice trembled as I tried to make sense of what he was saying.