“You don’t trust your doctor?” She whispered, the words lacking bite.
His lips twisted in an imitation of a smile. “Perhaps I don’t like the idea of another man having had his hands on your body.”
She blinked at the unexpected response – he was equally surprised. Jealousy was something he’d only felt once before, for Laurie. He felt it now though, fierce and dominant, burning in his abdomen, so he realised the truth of what he’d said. He wanted to erase the doctor from her body; he wanted to make her his all over again.
“I want to sleep with you,” he said gruffly, a question implied in the statement.
He felt the rapid rise and fall of her chest and knew Ella wanted the same thing he did, but she glared at him angrily, spark in her gaze, accusation obvious on her features.
“Are you going to admit that you want the same thing I do? Or will you lie to us both?”
Every fibre of his being was focussed on her intently. Within the space of hours, this woman had come to mean something vitally important to his Kingdom, but this was more than that. He wanted her. Just as he had in the desert. It was a selfish, all-consuming desire.
He used his knee to separate her legs. “Will you admit now that you have not been able to stop thinking about me?”
Her harsh, indrawn breath showed him how right he was. She dropped her gaze to the floor, but not before he witnessed the darkening of her pupils, the heating of her cheeks.
“This isn’t fair,” she said unevenly.
“What is not fair?”
He admired her strength when she lifted her face once more, her gaze locked to his. “I have no experience with men. I can’t control how I feel. I don’t know how to be less – less –,” she shook her head in frustration. “You make me feel –,”
He pressed a finger to her lips. “I do not want you to be less of anything. Your responses are the most sensual thing I can imagine. The way you cry my name is an aphrodisiac that men would go to war for. Do not fight your attraction to me, Ella. Not when it is far more fun to indulge it.”
Her eyes widened.
He lifted her easily, possessively, as though she were completely his, carrying her cradled against his chest, her shirt open to reveal two creamy, full breasts. He lay her down on the bed, his eyes roaming her with a building, desperate hunger.
He ran a finger around one of her nipples, circling it until her breath grew hoarse.
“You were a virgin until last night. I am the only man who’s ever pleasured your body. I am the only man who will ever pleasure you.” The words were like a vow, weaving around them, as real to either of them as marriage vows could be. “And I intend to pleasure you often, Ella.”
She drew in a harsh breath. “How often?”
It was an excellent question. He’d intended to let her sleep tonight, to allow her time to adjust to her new condition, to let her body rest. Instead, he’d found his way here as though she were some kind of magnetic entity.
“Whenever I can,” he said, liking both the sincerity and vagueness of that.
“You put me in this room. I presumed…until we’re married…you might want to wait?”
The thought hadn’t even occurred to him. “Is that what you want?” He stood very still, hating that the idea was one he knew he must respect, if such a tradition mattered to her. He cupped her breast though; she moaned, low and soft, then looked away from him, pink flushing her face to the roots of her hair.
His laugh was a soft sound. “I didn’t think so.”
“I want –,” but she paused, shyness in her eyes.
He froze, watching her, waiting, not sure what she’d been about to say yet understanding it was important. “Go on,” he ordered, gruffly.
She jerked her head, probing him with her eyes. “I want what you want,” she said softly.
He lifted a brow, inviting her to clarify.
“A baby,” she rushed, not looking at him. “I want to conceive a baby. I…like the idea. A lot.”
His chest exploded with some kind of raw, animalistic pride – and relief. Hearing her say those words was a balm he hadn’t known he’d needed.
Elon moved deftly, long fingers drawing the skirt down her body, discarding it at his feet before adding her shirt and underwear to the pile, wanting to simply stare at her naked body like this, in greater light than he’d been able to enjoy the night before.