now, and never experiencing it again? Did she even want to?
Her own weakness disgusted her. She was a pathetic vessel waiting to be filled with one new experience after another, all of them geared toward her pleasure. What did that make her?
Tarrel moaned again. He must’ve jerked because water rippled over her cheeks. Neela held her breath just as one of her attendants lifted her high enough to avoid getting her face wet.
Once she’d been resettled, those hands got back to work. Fingers rolled over her nipples in easy circles. Her apex tingled. The other attendant swept her fingers over Neela’s pussy lips. Neela felt distinctly on edge. A rogue finger dipped into the seam, catching and springing her clit. She cried out. Soft kisses dropped on her distended nub as thumbs held her open for the erotic attention. A tiny lick, another kiss, a soft sigh against her heated wet pussy and suddenly she was being helped to her feet.
Dazed and disappointed, she wobbled on her feet wondering what fresh kind of torture she was being forced to endure. Tarrel appeared baffled as she.
“Come with me,” Aleena spoke through the haze.
“I’d love to but I feel like the point of this is to give me one helluva case of blue balls,” Tarrel complained.
Aleena smiled. “But you are ready, are you not?”
For relief? Yes, she was. More than ready. Her body trembled with need. If someone would just fuck her ruthlessly, she’d be a very happy woman right now.
Neela practically stumbled from the pool in her urgency to get on with it. Aleena held up a gauzy garment made of transparent purple cloth that draped from shoulder to cunt. The deep vee allowed for nipples and the outsides of her breasts to be covered. Otherwise, she was bare. Aleena meticulously dried her hair and turned her to face Tarrel.
His black garment started low across his hips, tented over his full erection and dropped just below his balls. She could see through his wrap as easily as he could see through hers. And he looked. But then so did she.
She fixated on his heavy cock. Her pussy wept to have him inside her, but she wouldn’t. Not yet.
Tarrel and Neela were led into the royal chambers.
Thrax hadn’t changed. Other than the cloak and sandals that he’d discarded, he still wore the hip-drape of tanned leather, and the amulet of his office. His gaze raked over her.
“This suits you far better than your Elaran military uniform,” he murmured appreciatively.
He closed the distance. Thrax cupped her breast. Neela moaned, leaning into his touch as her eyes closed. This is what she wanted. How much longer did she need to wait until he took her to his bed?
“Now, please, my King,” she whispered brokenly.
Chapter Four
Her words washed over the king, leaving behind goose bumps in their wake. He’d wanted to hear those words since the first time he’d seen her three years back. He’d never imagined she’d say them. He’d never imagined that his half-tossed comment that he’d only trade ore with the Elarans for her body would be taken seriously. Or delivered upon.
He was a man of his word though. He’d follow through. Even if she changed her mind, despite what he’d said earlier. First, he needed to know her true desires about what would happen here. He didn’t want an obedient puppet in his bed. He wanted Neela. Strong, belligerent, self-contained Neela whose dark eyes and darker hair had plagued his dreams and his fantasies.
“Neela,” he began quietly. “I’ll trade with your government. They can make an offer for my ore. You’re free to go.”
She looked at him with confused eyes.
“I want you.” He moved closer, speaking into her upturned face. “I want you like no other woman I’ve known. But I want
“You have me,” she answered.
He forsook her breast to stroke a tender thumb across her full bottom lip. “I only want you if you also want me. Think about what I’m saying, Neela. Think carefully. Do you want me because the woman in you desires me, or do you want me only to fulfill a struck bargain?”
Breath parted her lips as she studied his eyes. Slowly, she smiled. “I want you because I’m a woman who’s attracted to a man.”
He knew it was the truth simply by virtue of the drug she’d taken. It wasn’t enough of a confirmation. “And the Elaran agreement? Would you be standing her before me, naked and willing, if it didn’t exist?”
“I wouldn’t because I’d never have come alone without it. It brought me to this circumstance and this moment. I wouldn’t have been granted access to you otherwise.”
“You know what I’m asking,” he redirected her.
“I know,” she agreed. “If I were standing before you in a uniform and as myself, I’d still desire you. I wouldn’t give into the temptation because it’s not my way. But I’d want to. I’d want to very much.”
“Thank you,” he said, dropping a kiss on her forehead. He stroked her neck with the backs of his fingers. “I want to lie with you. Alone. If you allow it, I’d enjoy sharing you with Tarrel later. Is that acceptable to you?”
Neela licked her lips. “I want you to share me with him.”
Thrax smiled. “Then I will. I won’t share myself with him, but I’ll enjoy watching him fuck you while you beg for more.”
Neela’s breath caught.
He reached beneath her garment, cupping her pussy and slid a finger deep inside her. Neela bit back a moan as she rocked her hips to meet his hand.
“Wet,” he said, pleased. “I have a gift for you.”
Thrax turned to leave. Neela’s hand curled around his upper arm. Her brow drew together uncertainly. “My king, you said the ore is agreed to regardless of what happens between us.”
“I did. Call me Thrax instead of king. In my bedchamber, we are equals.” She still seemed uncertain. “Are you afraid?”
“No, but sex isn’t the same. I feel-stripped.”
He smiled and took her hand, leading her to a table off to the side. It had an injection pump on it. “This pump spray has the antidote to the inhibitor you took. I’d like to give it to you, if you’ll let me.”
Her gaze shot to his. “You’d allow that?”
“Why wouldn’t I? Neela Pharr attracted me to her. I want to know what you’re feeling. I want to share them with you, but not if being intimate makes you uncomfortable. I’m no threat to you. If you need your emotions curbed, then I’ll give you the option to do so.”
She stared at him in disbelief. He’d give up the right to know her mind? It was a gift she hadn’t expected. It meant she had her full control back if she took it. It meant no more tears unless she released the iron grip she kept on herself.
She glanced back at Tarrel who had remained standing in silence for the duration of their arrival in the king’s chamber. He seemed as taken aback as she was. He lifted an eyebrow, an expression she often saw from him when he was waiting for her next move.
“No,” she said after a moment. She lifted her gaze boldly to his. “I want to feel everything without restriction. I need to know what this is before I discard the opportunity.”
“So this is a personal awakening for you,” he said rather than asked.
“It’s a battle with myself I’ve never had to wage. Sexuality, lust, focus and reserve are on different sides of the spectrum. I’ve never understood the human, or the Prillian way to feel everything to the point of distraction.”
“Feeling isn’t a war or a price,” Tarrel said behind her. “It’s an extension of the actual experience that fills out the details into something memorable. Like us, on the skiff.”
Thrax laughed. “Tarrel, if you’re trying to make me jealous, you’ll fail. I’m fully aware that a grown woman will have many partners in her life cycle. You and I are only two.”
“I want to be the last,” Tarrel told them.
