To Love a Prince (Knights of Valor Book 1)

by Elizabeth Drake

  His lips were hot and hard against hers as his tongue parted her and thrust inside, claiming her.

  The change in him made Auburn shiver, and she held him as pleasure stole through her. The scent of him, clean, rich and wholly masculine, intoxicated her and overwhelmed her senses. For the moment, there was only him and his searing kiss. She yielded to him, her body softening as she offered him all he wanted.

  Eli groaned and shook his head as he pulled back from her.

  He retreated, not only from her, but from all that was between them. She wanted this, wanted him, and was determined to show him. Tangling her fingers in his hair, she pressed another kiss to his lips.

  “Auburn,” he whispered. He closed his eyes as he crushed his lips against hers, parting her as he again claimed her mouth.

  Auburn gloried in the taste of him, dark, dangerous, and wholly sensual. His hard body felt like coiled steel as he held her, both powerful and controlled.

  Heat burgeoned in her belly and slid through her limbs. Her years of training hadn’t prepared her for the onslaught of sensation. Hadn’t taught her how much she could feel. Letting go of reason, she gave in to her growing need and ceded control to Eli.

  He slid her top down, trapping her arms at her sides. His lips never left hers as his fingers glided down the smooth column of her throat and feathered over the silken flesh of her shoulders. Stroking down further still, he teased his fingertips over her swollen globes, and her rosy peaks furled.

  She savored his hard hands on her tender flesh, and heat bloomed under her skin as he explored her. He plundered her mouth as he stroked her bare flesh until sensation threatened to overwhelm her.

  Heat snaked through her and pooled in her belly as fire flickered along her nerves. She moaned as desire burned her, igniting a deeper need than she’d ever known.

  Tilting her head back, she offered him more.

  Eli responded, teasing hot kisses over her bare flesh and bringing soft moans to her lips. Sensation cascaded through her, heating her until molten desire burned at her core, and she clung to him through the maelstrom of feeling.

  Her daydreams paled beside the reality of his touch. She’d imagined him taking her since their first night together, but she’d never expected the scorching heat that flowed through her and sensitized her skin. Auburn arched her back, filling his hands with her, and she gloried in the fresh rush of desire as his thumbs found her pebbled peaks.

  Eli lifted his mouth from hers, and Auburn’s eyes fluttered open. Pain pinched his hard features, and she could see how much it cost him to pull away.

  “I shouldn’t. You’re still not free to choose.”

  “Eli,” she whispered, his name thick as honey.

  Before she could finish her thought, his lips were on hers again, hot, hard and demanding. He claimed her mouth, his tongue thrusting between her parted lips as he scooped her up carried her to the bed. Laying her down on the crisp sheets, he lowered himself beside her and molded her against him.

  She felt softer, more feminine against his hard chest and strong thighs.

  He cupped her breast, teasing it, hefting it in his palm. She gasped as his thumb and forefinger found the sensitive peak and fire skittered along her flesh.

  With her arms trapped at her side by her gown, she could do nothing but submit, offer Eli all he wanted as he overwhelmed her with a storm of sensation.

  His lips followed his hands, and he dipped his head and laved first one ruched peak and then the other.

  Molten desire pooled as the wet heat of his mouth closed over one nipple while he taunted the other with his thumb. He nudged her thighs apart and eased up her skirts until his trousers prickled the smooth flesh of her inner thighs.

  His tongue laved hot circles over her soft mounds as his hands teased up along the smooth column of her leg. Stroking her, he eased his hand higher and parted her until all he fully exposed her most intimate areas to him.

  A whisper of fear and vulnerability skittered through her. Swallowing back the apprehension, Auburn reminded herself that she was safe with Eli. Protected. Maybe even... She buried the thought and focused on the flood of desire as he feathered his fingers over her the softness at the juncture of her thighs.

  She shuddered under his touch and clutched the sheets as she tried to anchor herself against the swirling storm of desire and need. Heat burned through her, hot and molten, and her hips moved in time to his gentle touches. An ancient dance, one she’d been trained for her whole life but had no experience performing.

  Auburn closed her eyes as she tried to absorb the onslaught of feelings. She had never known she could feel so much, never believed it was possible to know such pleasure.

  He cupped her face and kissed her brow, her cheek, and then hovered over her lips.

  “Tell me to stop before we go too far.”

  His words whispered over her heated flesh. He was strong, powerful, and used to taking what he wanted. Yet, he’d stop if she asked him. Strange that he’d put her needs before his. She’d never met a man like him before, and she doubted she ever would again.

  She touched her lips to his.

  Surprise widened his eyes, then his control slipped as he crushed his lips against hers. He pulled her against him, molding her body against his own. His strong hands spread across her back, holding her as sensation sizzled through her. Rather than backing away, she threw herself forward, pressing closer and offering him more.

  Taking all she offered, he stroked down her back and traced the lines of her with his palms. He kissed her again, taking her mouth fully, then parting her lips and stroking his tongue in imitation of a far more intimate act.

  His hands caressed the apex of her thighs as his mouth and tongue teased her. Parting her soft folds, he dipped his fingers into her wetness.

  Need flared, hot and demanding, as she succumbed to the onslaught of sensation. His body, lean and hard against hers, was both protective and dangerous as his weight pressed her back into the soft mattress, and the evidence of his desire cradled against her belly.

  She dismissed the flicker of fear. She wanted him. All of him.

  Eli stroked a hand over her heated flesh, down her shoulders and over her firm breasts. He palmed them, gently kneading the tender flesh.

  Little gasps escaped her, and he smiled in satisfaction. Another surprise. Her foreign prince seemed as intent on her needs as he was his own.

  His strong hands on her breasts burned away all other thought as it ignited her and made her want more. She arched her back, filling his hands, and sighing as her sensitive nipples brushed his fingertips. Auburn balled the sheets in her fists as his thumbs and forefingers rolled her pebbled peaks between them, sending fire cascading through her to pool in her stomach.

  Eli reached between them and pulled her dress up over her head, then gazed down at her naked beneath him. She sucked in a breath at his naked hunger. He wanted her as much as she did him.

  When he’d removed her dress, he’d freed Auburn’s arms, and she unbuttoned his shirt. He helped her get off the rest of his clothes, then she explored him, her hands tracing the hard contours of his chest, his back, and his arms. She tried to remember her training, what she was supposed to do to please her master, but she forgot the lessons in the heat of desire.

  The dusting of hair on his chest teased against her nipples as she traced her hands over the smooth skin of his back and over his broad shoulders. She stroked down the sides of his ribcage, his thick muscle tightening as she delved lower.

  Capturing both of her hands in one of his, he held them above her head and kissed along her jaw line. His lips dipped lower, into the hollow of her collarbone and along the smooth flesh just beneath the tender spot.

  She quivered under his ministrations, a soft moan escaping her as she tried to absorb all he made her feel. She had no idea she could experience so much or that it could be so intense. Auburn wanted more, more of him, more of this.

  “Eli,” she whispered, h
er voice thick with emotion as she stared up at him.

  “I told you to tell me to stop.” He trailed kisses down her neck and over her shoulders. “You still can.”

  “But-”

  “You can always tell me to stop. I won’t force you to do anything. Not now. Not ever.”

  She never thought she’d be allowed to decide, and that made her yearn for him all the more. Of all the men she’d ever known, he was the only one she wanted. The only one her body responded to, the only one that made her ache. She hadn’t been ordered to give herself to him. Instead, she wanted Eli as he wanted her.

  “I don’t want to play fair, so I’ll help you decide.” The prince ran his tongue over her areola then swirled over its crinkled peak before sucking it into his mouth.

  She yelped as sensation shot through her, seared her thoughts and left her with nothing but the white heat of his lips on her. Overwhelmed by the intensity, her eyes closed as her head fell back against the pillow. Then he suckled.

  She gripped him, trying to find an anchor in the swirling sea of feeling.

  Eli held her close, easing back then guiding her forward again, never letting her get complete control of her faculties. He tasted first one furled nipple then the other, drawing out her pleasure.

  Need swirled through her, heated her limbs and pooled like molten gold in her belly, bright, pure, and hot. Something was building, something intense, and his hands, his lips, his tongue all made it burn brighter.

  He stroked her, teasing along her arms and down her sides. The heat intensified as he traced the curve of her hip and tickled the back of her knees. His greedy mouth continued to feast on her sensitive flesh as he slid his hands between her knees and traced lazy circles to the top of her thighs. Pausing, he let her adjust to his touch in her most intimate of places.

  Anticipation swirled in her stomach as he reached the tender junction and cupped her, the heel of his hand pressing against the small button at the apex. His tongue continued to tantalize her sensitive breasts, swirling over the peaks and rolling them between his lips as he eased a digit into her.

  She jolted as he entered her and tested her most innermost recesses. No one had had ever touched her there, and his hard hands on her made her quiver in a mixture of fear and desire.

  He paused, and as he slowed down, her fear subsided and desire took its place. Auburn gazed up at him, her hands still above her head. She saw his hesitation as he warred with himself, and she opened her thighs to give him better access to her as she touched her lips to his.

  He smiled.

  His touch was gentle and desire had made her slick as he eased a second finger into her. He rubbed the small pearl hidden beneath her womanly folds, and heat shot through her as her passage tightened around him.

  She clung to the headboard at this fresh onslaught of sensation.

  Eli stroked her innermost recesses and left her gasping and wanting more. He pressed deeper, and she stiffened as pain bolted through her. Eli stopped, then eased back, and with a flick of his tongue, focused her attention again on her heavy swollen breasts.

  Desire overwhelmed Auburn as he laved her pebbled peaks and stroked her most intimate parts. The heat in her belly bloomed and ignited her nerves. Pleasure seared her with each kiss, each touch. Pleasure so intense it stripped away thought, and yet, she wanted more. He was leading her somewhere, and she eagerly followed. Whatever he’d stared, she wanted him to finish. Needed him to finish.

  Eli smiled as his thumb flicked across her tiny button.

  Auburn’s eyes widened, and a moan escaped her as her hips writhed against his hand. It was as if he’d touched the center of her and lightening had exploded around him.

  His lips found hers, and he kissed her, heightening her arousal with each touch, each intimate caress, as he led her to the ultimate completion of their duet.

  Her body burned, and she arched beneath him, her hands still captured in his and pinned, exposing her completely and totally to him.

  He angled his head over hers, and she parted her lips and welcomed him. Eli plunged forward, taking her mouth and stroking her tongue with his in time to the rhythm of his hand between her thighs.

  The heat in her belly grew, rose, pushed towards something she had no words for, something that radiated through her whole body. Breathless moans escaped her as feeling propelled her forward, faster and faster until she plunged ahead. And exploded. The sudden all-encompassing rush of sensation eclipsed everything else, and for a moment, there was nothing but the intensity of desire fulfilled.

  Eli released her hands, holding her close to him as wave after wave of pleasure shook her. As it ebbed, she slumped back against the bed, eyes wide but her body spent. Pleasure still coursed through her veins, sweet and warm, but a mellower version, one that left her soft and satiated.

  She traced her hand along his sharp jaw line. He kissed her fingers then lay beside her and gathered her into his arms. She pillowed her head on his chest, and sleep took her.

  Chapter 22

  Eli watched Auburn sleep beside him as a halo of pleasure wreathed her. His chest tightened, and he closed his eyes as he kissed her temple. By the gods, he wanted to hear his name on her lips every night, wanted to shower her in pleasure, wanted to give her the world.

  He couldn’t be without her. Not now or ever.

  The intensity of his emotions shook him. He’d never wanted anything so much. Needed it.

  Damn the Twin Goddesses of love. They had snared him. Given him a weakness. He was a ruthless and practical man, but he could be neither with Auburn. Eli stroked her copper-colored hair and watched the strands trail through his fingers.

  He was trapped between the woman he loved and his duty to his mother and all of Tamryn.

  A movement in the shadows caught Eli’s attention, and he reached for the dagger in the boots he’d left beside the bed.

  “Jaelin wishes to see you, Your Highness,” Sligo said.

  Eli exhaled. “Five minutes.”

  Sligo nodded and disappeared back into the shadows.

  Sliding out of bed, Eli tucked the blankets around Auburn, brushed her hair from her brow, and kissed her softly. He then pulled on a fresh change of clothes and seated himself in an overstuffed chair.

  A moment later, Sligo appeared with Jaelin.

  She bowed. “Thank you for seeing me, Your Highness.”

  “I’ve been looking forward to your report. What have you learned?”

  “The sultan’s wives are relieved that he’s gotten rid of Auburn. While some were jealous of her, most feared her.”

  “Why would they fear her?”

  “They believe death follows her and blame her for the assassination attempt against you. Several women in the harem have died over the years, all in proximity to Auburn. The authorities never implicated Auburn in the deaths, but the other women have kept their distance from her.”

  Eli raised a brow. “She mentioned being forced to eat an azalea bloom.”

  “What she didn’t tell you, and may not know herself, is all the girls involved in that died of mysterious causes within weeks of the incident. None of the wives or slaves tried to harm her again.”

  “They beat her.”

  “Permissible in Qumaref, but they never went far enough to injure her. They knew better.”

  Eli’s fists balled at his side, but he forced his voice to remain neutral. “Were the girls’ deaths coincidences?”

  “I don’t believe so.”

  “Who killed them?”

  “My information on that is less reliable, Your Highness.”

  Eli nodded. “Tell me what you think.”

  “I believe Auburn was abducted from a Tamarian family as an infant,” Jaelin said. “Her captors made it look like they murdered her.”

  Eli steepled his fingers. “Why take a small child if not to ransom her back to her parents?”

  “What’s left of the trail makes me think there were some who wanted her dead and others
who wanted her alive. By making it look like they’d murdered her, the faction that wanted her alive bought time.”

  Eli sucked in a slow breath. “Who was behind her abduction?”

  “I believe it was a cult of Rashalee.”

  Eli stilled. “What would Rashalee want with a small child, and why would her followers bring her to Qumaref where it would be impossible to extract a ransom?”

  “Her captors never demanded a ransom, and I believe those who wanted her alive killed those who wanted her dead.”

  “Greed, lust, and revenge motivate Rashalee’s followers. What could they get for stealing a child and keeping her?”

  “There is only one member of the cult still alive who can answer that question.”

  “Premal?”

  Jaelin nodded. “Rashalee has rewarded his service with a great deal of wealth and power.”

  “Because of Auburn?”

  “Impossible to know, Your Highness,” Jaelin.

  “If Premal had Auburn, how did she get into the sultan’s harem?”

  “On that, the records are clear. The sultan used his position to take her, and there was nothing Premal or the cult could do.”

  Eli tapped his fingertips together. “While the sultan had Auburn, she was still within Premal’s reach. Her returning to Tamryn would change that.”

  “I believe that’s why he tried to assassinate you. It’s the only way for him to get Auburn.” Jaelin shook her head. “It’s a long game, Your Highness, without an obvious reward. Very unlike a cult of Rashalee.”

  “Uncommon among Her followers, but not impossible for the right payment.” Eli glanced over to where Auburn was sleeping. “They’ve proven they’ll kill me to get to her.”

  “You’ve made an enemy of their leader.”

  “Because I wouldn’t give her to him.”

  “If the past is any indication, he’ll only get more aggressive, Your Highness.”

  Eli’s jaw tightened. “He’s not getting her. When we return to Tamryn, she will be on the ship with me.”

  “Who will protect her in Tamryn?”

  Eli considered her question. If he married her, Auburn would be protected by the royal guards. Though that had done little to save his mother. “Any idea who she is?”