“Catch me and you win a prize.”

  I turn around and shift my weight. I'm standing in the stirrups, leaning over the horse's withers. I hear the thundering hoof beats behind me and urge my horse into a faster pace. I turn off the main trail, and we're weaving between trees. The hoof beats are closer now. There's a split in the trail ahead, and while I'm deciding which one to take, an arm reaches out and grabs me around the waist, pulling me from my horse. I'm nose to nose with him. “I have caught you, so what's my prize?”

  My fingers thread through his hair, and I pull his head down. Without thinking, I press my lips to his and run my tongue across them, seeking entry. He groans and opens his mouth. Gods above! He tastes just as amazing as I remember. This. Gods above! I want more of this. By the time he breaks the kiss, I'm twined around him like a strangler vine. “Gods above! You know how to test a man's restraint.”

  I am pleased by this, and my fingers dance lightly over his cheek and neck as I hum a bit to myself. He’s every bit as solid as he looks.

  “I don't want restraint. I want you.”

  He growls a bit in frustration. “I don't want the first time we're together to be you against a tree.”

  Shifting a bit, I look at him curiously. “That’s not what I had in mind either. I was planning for a deep bed of moss for us, with the sky and trees and stones to bear witness to this thing that’s between us. What would be your preference? Tell me what you had in mind.”

  I sense a rumble in his chest, and his arousal floods my senses. “A big bed with silk sheets somewhere with room service so I can keep you in that bed for at least a week.”

  I laugh. “Could we do both?”

  He throws his head back and laughs, really laughs. I love the sound of it. It’s rich, warm, and happy. “If you like, I think I might be able to arrange that.”

  I slide off his horse and run to where I know the little valley is. It's a magical little place, tucked between some hills; the moss there is deep, and evening brings fireflies. I hear his muttered curse as he turns the horse to chase after me. The horse crests the rise, but it won't come any closer. He leaps off the horse and comes charging down the hill.

  Looking around, he takes in the scene. “You little minx. This is why you wanted to come here.”

  He steps onto the valley floor, and the springy moss gives him a bit of a surprise. I'm on him in an instant. I try to kiss him again, but he pulls back. “I'm not sure we should be here like this.”

  Now I’m confused. “I don't understand. You offered for me. I thought you wanted me.”

  His gaze gets heated, and I feel my clothing getting damp in response. “I do want you. Gods, how I want you. Won’t your parents be upset?”

  I laugh. “My father wants you to mark me.”

  He frowns at this. “What do you want?”

  I whisper in his ear, and he looks at me, surprised. “You're a forward little thing, but I'm happy to oblige.”

  This time, when I try to kiss him, he doesn't pull back. If anything, he leans in. Somewhere in all the kissing, my boots are gone, and moss is delicious between my toes. The pants are next, and cool air reminds me that I’m utterly exposed to him. He dives on me like a starving man, and I’m begging for release in short order. He stops for a moment and fixes me with that heated gaze. “Say my name.”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  I’m stuttering as he goes back to work, trying to force it out. I get a rumble of male satisfaction that sends me over the edge, and I scream out his name. The rumble of male satisfaction is stronger this time before I flick my wrist, and his clothing goes away.

  He looks at me with wide eyes and then smirks for a moment before he sobers, “That’s convenient. Are you sure this is what you want?”

  I sense, and perhaps he does too, that there’s no going back from this. The only way now is through. I nod. “As long as you're sure I’m what you want.”

  Smirking, he pins my hands with one of his and uses his teeth to open my blouse. His other hand trails over me before his fingers find my core. In between buttons, he says the most lovely things. “Oh, you’re definitely what I want. I’ve never been more certain of anything. I’ll keep showing you that you’re what I want until you learn to trust it. For now, I’ll settle for marking you so thoroughly every male on the continent knows you’re mine and to step the fuck off. That includes your king.”

  Oh. My. Gods. I’m arching into his hand and screaming out his name again.

  I can’t tell if this male will be my ruination, my salvation, or maybe both. Right now, I don’t care. I don’t want to think. I want to feel. I am entirely at the center of his attention. I think my eyes might roll back in my head. He's so intense, I don't know how to respond. Instead, I cling to him. He desires so many things from my tattered soul, and I’m unsure if I know how to give them or if I even still have them to give. Something inside me unwinds a little more. My body arches into him, and I come undone, screaming his name. He roars his release and collapses beside me.

  He pulls me close, and I nestle into the warmth. “No one ever touches you, do they?”

  I shake my head. “They don’t. There was a man at court yesterday. He came to give his testimony in my defense. He’s been the first in a long time, but I wasn’t interested in what he was offering. The girl at the tavern who hugged me.”

  I sense some agitation from him. “What exactly did he offer you?”

  I guess I’ll see if he’s jealous. “He stopped me just outside the palace to talk. We discussed a few things, but the part you’re asking about was a bit more personal. He said that touch and sex seem to help those of us who are stuck. He offered to try to help.”

  There is a possessive growl, and he pulls me closer. “If you need that kind of help, I’m happy to provide it. You don’t need to accept that from strange males.”

  I laugh. “At the time he offered, and I turned him down, I hadn’t even crossed the bridge and locked eyes with you yet. I had the distinct impression that his offer was based on a mix of hero worship and pity. I’m the subject of enough gossip as it is.”

  We discussed wedding plans for a while. He doesn’t care what they are, as long as I’m the result.

  His fingers find their way back into my core, but they don’t remain long. He flips me onto my stomach, and his hands start kneading my back. He’s got strong hands, and his thumbs work their way up my spine. Anytime his hands get dry, he dips them back in and continues to cover me in our shared juices. I blush furiously because I won't be able to leave the house for at least a week. He leans down and whispers in my ear. “I'm going to mark every inch of you.”

  I think my eyes crossed, and I moaned. He chuckles as he continues to work his way up to the base of my skull.

  It feels wonderful. Knots I had forgotten I had unraveled under his touch. He is magnificently male and aroused as he pounces on me again. He nibbles at my ear. “Ready to go again? I’m not nearly done with you yet.”

  He’s not so cautious this time, as he seats himself. It’s that same fizzy floating feeling, except now it's inside me. I moan as he starts to move at this slow and deliberate pace that seems somehow familiar. “I feel like I should know you.”

  He tilts his mouth over mine and locks me into a scorching kiss that clears my thoughts. I come undone twice before he joins me. I’m so relaxed, I almost doze off when I feel his thumbs press into the arch of my foot. It feels so good that I must have made some noise, and I hear him chuckle. “I told you I'd mark every inch of you. We still have another leg and both arms to go.”

  If this is how he plans to mark me so completely, I feel like I should relax and enjoy it. His fingers work, massaging over my foot, up my calf, and then along my thigh.

  When he reaches the top of my thigh, he shifts position and seats himself again. The angle is different, but damn if Kenric didn’t have me screaming his name again. He repeats the process for my other leg and then each arm. When it's time for my belly, he flips me over onto my back and pushes my hand between us. “Touch yourself so I know how to do it properly.”

  I comply while he watches, stock still and totally absorbed in what I’m doing with the pad of my finger. “I love the noises you make. Later on, when thinking about you makes me hard as iron again, I’ll be thinking about this while I service myself.”

  Chapter 9 is indulgent, emotionally rich, and delightfully intense.

  It is the polar opposite of Oskar—

  who is emotionally bankrupt, financially incompetent, and intense only in odor.

  Now that you’ve survived the aftermath,

  shall we move boldly onward to Chapter 10?