Mutual Desire

by Donna Grant

  “Dear God,” he said with a groan.

  Arian didn’t understand how her words could affect him so, but she found that once she began to tell him such secrets, she couldn’t stop.

  “One of my sisters told me how she took her husband in her mouth. She said he liked it very much. I think I would like to try that.”

  He cursed under his breath before he gripped her shoulders and pulled her against him. “You keep saying things like that, Princess, and there won’t be anything left of me to explore.”

  Arian chuckled and touched his cheek. “You look at me like no one else has before. You actually see me, not the crown or my family.”

  “I’ve always seen you, Princess.” His hand came up to push a strand of her hair behind her ear.

  It was such an intimate gesture that for a moment she couldn’t breathe. Her stomach flipped as his hazel eyes held hers, never wavering.

  “Who are you really?”

  His lips lifted in a slight grin. “I’m just a man who has spent the last four years dreaming of having you in my arms.”

  It wasn’t pretty flattery that spilled from his lips but the truth. It showed in his eyes and in his actions. Nothing could have moved her out of his arms at that moment.

  Her eyes drifted down to his lips. They had felt so wonderful on her skin that she wondered how they would feel on her mouth. She wanted to be kissed as only a lover could, but she wasn’t brave enough to kiss him.

  A kiss was erotic and personal. A man and woman could have sex and never kiss, because that kiss would take them to another level they might not want.

  Arian licked her lips and regretfully looked away from his mouth as she wondered why he didn’t kiss her. His cock nestled against her stomach, hard and hot, waiting to see what she would do.

  Her sex clenched in anticipation, and her nipples, already sensitive from Jensen’s attention, sizzled when she moved against his chest. A smile pulled at her lips when she heard him suck in a breath.

  She leaned forward and began to kiss his neck, her hands caressing up and down his sides, learning the hard feel of him. When she could stand it no more, she began to kiss down his chest. She stopped at his nipples and flicked her tongue across the hardened nubs.

  He groaned and dug his fingers into her arms, but he didn’t hold her as she continued to lick and kiss down his chest. Her hair fell on either side of her face as she neared his rod. It jumped when her hair brushed across it, sending shivers of delight racing over her skin.

  “Princess,” he said with a moan.

  Her mouth was breaths away from his eager cock. She wrapped a hand around his length and heard him hiss. She was amazed at how smooth he was, almost like the silk nightdress she had. And hot. Lord, he was so hot he nearly scorched her hand.

  She moved her hand up and down his length, just as her sister had described. Jensen moaned, his hips rising to meet her. Her sex throbbed, hungry to feel that piece of him inside her. She brought the head of his cock against her lips and softly blew on him.

  “My God.” Jensen’s hands fisted in the covers as a fine sheen of sweat broke over his skin.

  Arian smiled before she ran her tongue over the tip of him, licking a drop of liquid that had formed in his small slit. He tasted salty, musky, and incredible. Without another thought, she parted her lips and wrapped them around him, slowly sucking his cock deep into her mouth as her sister had instructed.

  He groaned, his body taut. But she wasn’t ready to relent. She had discovered she liked touching him, tasting him. Arian angled her head and took him farther into her mouth, relaxing her throat. As she moved her mouth up and down his cock, her hands followed, bringing him as much pleasure as she could.

  Nestled on her knees between his legs with her hair covering her face, Arian could only imagine how she looked. Desire began to hum through her as her body pulsed and her sex grew damp.

  Her hand moved to his sacs and gently cupped his balls before rolling them in her hand. His moans grew louder, his body rigid, as if at any moment he would break.

  She tasted more of his liquid, and she wondered if he was about to spill. She doubled her efforts, sucking him harder while her hand moved quicker.

  “No.” He lifted her and rolled her beneath him. “I want to feel you,” he whispered.

  Arian wrapped her arms around his neck and opened her legs so that he rested against her sex. “I’m yours. Take me.”

  It was all the encouragement he needed. He lifted his hips and guided his cock over her sex. Arian arched her back when he touched her pearl, sensations swimming through her. Her nipples ached for his mouth; her sex cried for his touch.

  It was too much. Her body shook with need. “Jensen.”

  And then he pushed inside her.

  Her breath lodged in her throat as his rod stretched and filled her. He eased out of her then pressed deeper. Again and again he pulled out only to thrust harder, deeper.

  She knew the moment he met her maidenhead. Her sisters had warned her it would hurt, so Arian prepared herself for the pain. But as Jensen lifted his hips and plunged inside of her, she felt only a mild discomfort.

  Her gaze lifted to meet his as he leaned over her. “Did I hurt you?” he asked.

  “No.” She wrapped her legs around his waist and shifted her hips.

  He groaned and began to pump his hips harder, faster, their moans mingling. Arian loved the feel of him inside her. She couldn’t believe how exquisite it was, and she never wanted it to end. The same wonderful sensation began to coil within her once again. With every thrust, it wound tighter and tighter.

  She gasped when another climax tore through her, blinding her with its intensity. She held on to Jensen as he took her higher and higher.

  Suddenly, Jensen pulled out of her, his cock landing on her stomach as his body jerked. Arian hugged him against her chest as his seed spilled onto her skin.

  For long moments they lay together. She traced her finger over his back, content to lay as she was with his weight atop her. He kissed her neck and raised his head to smile down at her. Then, Jensen rose and walked in all his glorious nudity to a bowl where he dipped a rag in water and wrung it out.

  Arian feasted her eyes on his beautiful body as he moved back to the bed. He gave her a wink and wiped away the blood on her thighs before he cleaned his seed from her stomach.

  He tossed the cloth into the bowl and turned back to her. “I know I should apologize, but I cannot seem to find the words.”

  “I don’t want your apology.” Arian sat up and grabbed his hand to pull him onto the bed. “I knew my trip to the Amazon would change my life, but I hadn’t expected to find a man that would touch me so deeply.”

  “Your family will be furious at what you’ve done, not to mention your future husband.”

  She laughed and shrugged. “I don’t care. I know I should, but I really don’t. For so many years while sitting in the immaculate palace, I’ve longed for an adventure. It’s why I chose the Amazon for my trip.”

  “An adventure, aye?”

  “Yes. Don’t think about apologizing, Jensen, when I should be thanking you.”

  “Princess.”

  She covered his lips with her finger. “You’ve given me something very special. No words can express how I feel about what you’ve given me.”

  5

  Jensen blinked. He had known Arian enjoyed his touch, but he hadn’t expected for her to feel as deeply as he. In all the years since his first time with a woman, not a single one of them had matched his passion or need.

  Until Arian.

  What made it even worse was that he knew he couldn’t have her. He should never have touched her, but he hadn’t been strong enough to turn away. When it came to Arian, Jensen wanted to give her all that he had.

  Even now, all he wanted to do was lay her down and make love to her all over again. Her body was gorgeous, her taste delicious. He ran his tongue over her lips and tasted her. To be near her was to be scalded
, but he would gladly burn to a cinder for one more touch.

  “Were my men killed?” she asked.

  Jensen blinked and focused on her face. “They are safe.”

  “My bodyguard, Vlad. There was blood.”

  “The warriors left all alive, Princess. Your man will be fine.”

  “What happens now?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never had a woman given to me as a prize before.”

  She grinned and cocked her head to the side. “This is a first for me as well.”

  He chuckled at her teasing tone, but there was no doubt that he would have to release her soon. “I can take you to your men.”

  To his surprise, she leaned back on the bed, her breasts rolling to the side. “And if I’m not ready to return?”

  “What do you want then?” He was proud of himself for sounding so calm when his heart raced at her words. He had dreaded the time she would leave, but it looked as though he would have a reprieve before he had to face it.

  “You.”

  The word hung in the air between them.

  Jensen looked away and raked a hand through his hair. As much as he would love to spend the day making love to her, the fact was, she was affianced to another. “When your betrothed finds out what you’ve done—”

  “I don’t care,” she interrupted him. “For the first time in my life I’m doing something that I want to do without thinking of the consequences.”

  “But you must.” He couldn’t believe he was the voice of reason. Arian was here with him, wanting to stay, and he was trying to talk her out of it? Surely it was time for him to be admitted into Bedlam. “You have a responsibility as princess of Tulso.”

  She waved away his words and sat up. “I also have a responsibility to myself. Please, Jensen, let me have a few days with you. Let me forget about my duties and the future that awaits me. Let me be me.”

  He raised his head and looked at her. How could he deny her? If he was able, he would reach up to the sky and pluck the stars for her. “All right. If that is your wish.”

  She smiled and reached for his hand. “It’s my greatest wish. Let’s make the most of these precious moments we have.”

  Arian giggled as she listened to the story of Jensen’s journey to Egypt. They faced each other from opposite ends of his bed, their legs tangled together.

  “What was your favorite place?” she asked.

  “Other than the Amazon, my favorite place has to be England or Greece.”

  “Greece?” she asked. “You’ve been there as well?”

  He nodded. “Blinding white buildings against a bright blue sky, and the most beautiful turquoise waters you could imagine. I would love to return there one day.”

  “Hmm. Your description sounds lovely. I must make sure I see it for myself.”

  “If you go to Greece, you might as well venture into Italy. You would enjoy Rome.”

  “I’ll put it on my list of things to see.”

  “Trust me,” he said, “you’ll enjoy Rome. There is so much history to experience.”

  She nodded, insanely curious about him. “Tell me of the treasure you found here.”

  “There isn’t much to tell, really. Like all treasure, the stories of it have been passed through the ages, embellished each time. I heard the story of the treasure while I was in Budapest.”

  “Budapest?”

  He chuckled. “Do you want to hear about Budapest or the treasure?”

  “The treasure for now, but I definitely want to hear of Budapest as well.”

  “Another country I think you would enjoy. As I said, I heard of the treasure while in Budapest where the story said it was a vault full of gold buried deep in the Amazon River.”

  She leaned forward. “Was it?”

  “Wait. Hear the story.”

  Arian blew out a breath and made herself lie back on the pillows. Jensen had such interesting tales. She could almost believe she had been with him as he spoke. “I’m waiting.”

  “Impatient are we?”

  “I blame it on my upbringing.”

  He threw back his head and laughed. “Now, where was I? Oh, yes, the stories. I learned early on in my travels that as farfetched as some legends may be, they began with a grain of truth somewhere. If you’re patient enough, you can discover the origin of the stories.”

  “Is that what you did?”

  “Yes. It took me longer than I anticipated, but it was well worth it. I’ve always wanted to come to the Amazon, and when I learned the stories circulating Europe began with the arrival of an explorer from the Amazon, I tracked him down.”

  “I’m surprised he hadn’t found the treasure?”

  Jensen scratched his chin. “Not for lack of trying. After I got him drunk, he told me the story he was told while in the Amazon. As soon as he finished, I knew it was something I wanted to look for myself.”

  “You actually got him intoxicated?”

  “I do what I have to do.”

  “What happened next?”

  “I started toward the Amazon. During my travels here, I stopped to do some research. The explorer had the wrong tribe. The treasure was stolen from the Yanomami.”

  “What kind of treasure?”

  He grinned, a rakish smile that heated her blood. “It was a gold statue.”

  “Solid gold?”

  “Of course,” he replied. “It was a representation of one of their gods, the leader of their gods to be exact, much like Zeus was to the Greek gods.”

  She sat up and wrapped her arms around her legs. “How did you find it?”

  “It had been a rival tribe that had stolen it. However, they feared keeping it, so they tossed it. Years later, a traveler was at the village when the leader grew sick. He recorded what he heard and saw, and one of the stories was that of the stolen god of the Yanomami.”

  “Amazing.”

  He shrugged. “The traveler’s story went into great detail, but no one believed him. He told everyone he saw, which is how the tale of the treasure began to circulate the Amazon after so many years.”

  “But no one found it?”

  “No. Despite the man telling everyone of the treasure, he had never told them how to find it.”

  Her brow furrowed. “Why not?”

  “He wanted it for himself.”

  “Ah,” she said and smiled. “He told everyone in the hopes that someone could give him information he didn’t have. Did it work?”

  “It did. He kept a journal with him and wrote down his finds as he trekked his way through the Amazon looking for the treasure.”

  “What happened to him?”

  Jensen inhaled deeply. “He was so intent on the treasure that he forgot the first rule of the Amazon: Don’t take her for granted. A jaguar attacked and killed him. The men with him found his journal and brought it back with them.”

  “And you found it?”

  One side of his mouth lifted in a grin. “I did. I used the clues he had found with what I knew of the Amazon.”

  She scooted closer to him, eager to hear more of his tale. “How long did it take you? Did you have men with you? Did you know exactly where you were going?”

  Jensen chuckled. “It took me nearly six months to find it, and, yes, I had men with me. No, I had no idea where I was going, or I would have found it much sooner.”

  “How did you discover it?”

  “The jungle holds many secrets. Trees and plants and vines can cover an abandoned and forgotten city in record time. The man had said the statue was ‘cast aside,’ but what really happened was that the tribe had taken it to a lost city and plunged it deep within a hole in the ground that was used for sacrifices.”

  Arian shuddered at the thought. “You didn’t go down it, did you?”

  “I did. I didn’t have any other choice. Even then, it took me nearly a week to find it. When I came out holding it in my hand, warriors from the Yanomami tribe were standing with my men.”

  “Did th
ey demand it back?”

  “Surprisingly, no. They had wanted to see if it could be found.”

  “So what made you return it to them?”

  “It seemed the right thing to do. It had been stolen from them, and they hadn’t demanded it back. They could have killed me and claimed it as their own, but they didn’t. They simply turned around and left when they saw it in my arms.”

  She sighed, hating it when he paused in his story. “What happened then?”

  “I cleaned the statue and found my way here where I presented it to their leader.”

  She pressed her lips together. To be a man and to travel as he did. How wonderful life could be. “What a grand adventure.”

  “Not for the faint of heart, I’ll admit that,” he said with a smile.

  “What did the tribe do when you returned their treasure?”

  He reached for her hand to thread his fingers with hers. “They gave me an honorary position as an elder. I found I enjoyed this forest, and since I wasn’t yet ready to leave the Amazon, I made my home here.”

  Jensen glanced over at the small chest on a table near his bed. Inside housed the amazing emerald the Yanomami had insisted he take when he returned the statue of their god. The stone was as big as his fist and worth a fortune and would easily keep him and his children and his children’s children in luxury.

  “What is it?” Arian asked.

  “Just thinking how life never turns out as I expect it to.”

  “What did you expect your life would be like?”

  He watched as she moved onto her stomach, holding her chin with her hands. “I don’t know, really. I left just looking to see the world. You don’t realize how big it is until you begin to explore it.”

  “What did you learn from your travels?”

  “That languages may separate people, but we’re all fairly alike in many ways. I saw land so beautiful it hurt my eyes to stare at it, yet I couldn’t look away. I saw people with nothing more than the clothes on their back, but they were smiling as if their life couldn’t be better. They accepted their life and dealt with what was given them.”

  “Yet, still you continued to travel.”