He braced his arms on the sides of the tub and hovered over her, taking her lips in an inverted position. He sucked her lower lip into his mouth, his tongue grazing along the soft inside of it, the reverse feel so erotic that her entire body shuddered in response. Heat danced across her nerve endings as she parted her lips and invited him in, their tongues teasing and dueling for control. The sultry kiss threatened to incinerate both of them.

“I want you in here,” she moaned into his mouth. “With me.”

Rhystan licked along her swollen lip. “You wish me to bathe with you?”

“Among other things.”

Sarani had no idea where her sudden boldness came from, but an answering groan ripped from his chest. He stood and pulled off his shirt, making her mouth water along with other needy parts of her. She would never tire of seeing him unclothed. He was magnificent—all sculpted, lean muscles and edible masculinity.

Shucking off the rest of his clothes, he stood there in all his ducal glory. His erect male part bobbed nearly at eye level, standing thick and firm, a drop of opaque liquid pearling at the end. Sarani didn’t stop to think. She pulled herself to the side and licked it off. The taste of him was heady and potent. Encouraged by his groan, she rose to her knees, gripping the edge of the bath, and took the rounded crown of him into her mouth.

“Sarani!”

She peered up at him through her spiky, wet lashes. “You like this?”

“Yes.” It was part gasp, part growl as she took him deeper. Emboldened at his reaction and how she’d felt when he’d licked her, she flicked her tongue on the underside of him, working her mouth up and down and adding more friction with one palm curled around his base.

She was just settling into a rhythm when he groaned and pulled himself from her mouth. Water sloshed over the sides as he plucked her from the bath, but Rhystan didn’t seem to care. He sat on the edge and hauled her toward him between his knees until she was flush against his large body, his arousal prodding her stomach. Water from her body dripped down his.

His gorgeous eyes were laced with desire, his thumb caressing the curve of her jaw. “Who are you?”

“A princess,” she whispered. “But you may call me Sarani. In private.”

Fraught with emotion, his gaze captured hers. She’d said it on purpose. It’d been the exact words she’d said to him when they’d met for the very first time. In a way, this was a glimpse into what could have been. And that was all she wanted to take with her when she left—one memory of what they might have been.

“I’m Rhystan,” he replied huskily.

She kissed him then, fitting her mouth to his. “I want you.”