I flushed at that, remembering seeing him and instantly being hot for him. I hadn't spent any time reconsidering our interaction that first morning, and so I hadn't put together the pieces that Dain would have for sure scented the desire alongside the anger. He must have been able to in the rose garden, too, I realized, when he'd told me his bites were very pleasurable. "You know," I said in a squeak, "I did not consider until now that you would have smelled that."

With a laugh, Dain released me, getting to his feet and offering me his hand.

Though I made a face at him, I took it, and let him haul me up. "Not gonna take advantage of that desire?" I asked, pouting at him.

"We have orchids to count, Leah," he said in his most stern voice, putting on the serious expression I recognized from many open courts. "And then we have hot springs to soak in. Would you want to disrupt our schedule?"

I stuck my tongue out at him, and in a flash he had his mouth on mine, kissing me like he might devour me. I melted into the contact, wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing him back. Dain's tongue slid against mine with demand, and I had no reservations about giving him everything he wanted.

He growled into my mouth, then broke the kiss, breathing hard. "Fuck," Dain snarled, and hauled me up against him, carrying me out of the copse of orchids and into the neighboring woods. "Thoughts on bending over against a tree for me?" he asked, almost conversationally, despite the hard press of his desire between my legs.

"Can't think of anything better," I said, to an answering growl.

Dain set me roughly down and jerked my pants down off my hips, fucking glamoring off the buttons and dropping to his knees. He hauled me to his open mouth and started licking my pussy, rough and full of a hunger that could not be sated, his tongue dragging along me with force. I grabbed his horns, gasping, the onslaught of sensation taking me from interested to needy in seconds. I started whining on the edge of every panting breath as Dain devoured me, heat mixing with sharp pleasure in my core, everything throbbing and filling with tense need.

He flicked his golden eyes up at me as he dragged his tongue along me, framing my clit with the forks of it before drawing back. "Tell me you want me," he said, those molten gold eyes holding mine.

"I want you," I said, gasping for breath.

"How badly?"

"Badly enough that if you don't get up off your knees and fuck me this instant I will ride you on the forest floor," I answered, my voice as wanting as his.