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At the age of six, she had not been able to stop her parents fro her like an object rather than a person, but she enty-seven now—an adult fully capable of influencing her own destiny Her father needed to learn that people were not co to teach him that particular lesson, so be it

She got out of bed and walked quietly to the adjoining bathroo and not wanting to wake hiet her thoughts sorted and plan her next move

She was so focused on her inner reflection that she had stepped inside the bathrooht was on and she hadn’t been the one to flip the switch And the second, Sebastian stood there , preparing to step into the shower

Her brain short-circuited as her body reacted in a way it hadn’t to any stimulus since she was nineteen

For as intie, she had never seen himShe’d never seen any man without his clothes on and it was a revelation Bronzed skin stretched over sculpted muscle all over Dark silky whorls of hair covered his chest and torso, arrowing down to his e fascinated her and she reached out to touch it without thinking Her fingertip barely grazed the tip The skin was surprisingly sid, flushing with color

It was big Much larger than she had expected Men and wo for millennia, so she had to uine how that would be true The now hard shaft bobbed under her gaze, curving up toward his taut storoan and a sigh

It was the first sound either of them had made since she walked into the bathroo them did not break further

She was too entranced to even look up at his face She wanted to feel more of that satin-smooth flesh Was it as warm as it looked?

Without realizing she’d done it, she had moved closer so his body was mere inches from her own She could smell his male musk Was that what arousal s her bottoe to touch and brushed her fingertips over the heated flesh It was hot and both so very soft and incredibly hard…like pulsing stone under a velvet covering Her fingers curled of their own volition around hiertips to touch her thuht in her hand She still couldn’t i pleasure between her thighs told her she wanted to try

A pearly drop of wetness formed on the tip of his penis and her nostrils flared as she took in this new scent So incredible She took a deep breath, a tinyher throat as her body reacted

Sebastian pressed his forehead to hers “You need to stop this, princess” His voice carowl that went directly to her core

“Why?” she asked

“Because if you don’t, I’ to pick you up and carry you toyou out of it until I’ve touched and tasted every centimeter of your skin”

That sounded good to her

He made a pained sound and it was then that she becaid with tension His big hands were curled into tight fists at his sides A fine tre between the in him

“Please, princess We can’t do this” He sounded so desperate; she could not ignore his plea

She pressed her hand down his shaft just once before pulling it away A guttural groan came from deep in his chest She knew she had to step back from him and return to her own roo, to experience an aspect of her feht years ago

She tilted her head back so that their eyes aze flicked to his mouth Would his lips taste the saht? Would his kisses affect her the way they had when she was nineteen? She had to believe they would because everything about hiht about an intense response in her

“Kiss me,” she whispered in the air between their lips

Hawk’s lips were eager to do just that, but he knew that even theLina to his bed He couldn’t do that She was an igned to another o for not giving in to his urges continued to be valid She was still a princess He was still determined not to make a fool of himself over a woman She was still a nonrunner for a short-term affair There was still no possibility of a future between them

Plus one

It took hiently push her away Even that touch felt like it burned hi he was determined not to have “No, sweetheart We can’t” Then he said the one thing that for hi to another man”