The Royals Collection. Rebecca Winters

But she had been ultra-protected all her life, and had set such strict rules for herself that she couldn’t help but be nervous. She’d heard people talking about things happening naturally, and had concluded that was their way of getting out of having to explain to a nervous virgin that there would be pain—or, at the very least, discomfort, together with huge embarrassment. But Tyr was distracting her with irresistible kisses, and each time he caressed her she wanted more. The fact that he was in no hurry reassured her, and when he caressed her back with long, leisurely strokes, she wanted the sensation to last for ever. Perhaps that would be enough for him.

      She had to stop this and trust him. She had always trusted Tyr, and while he had her suspended in an erotic net like this, she was in no mood to distract him.

      She’d had no idea she was so sensitive, or so receptive to pleasure. Or that Tyr could make her shiver with excitement and anticipation, just by rasping his sharp black stubble very lightly against her neck. And when his hands found her breasts—

      ‘Relax, Jazz,’ he whispered when she dragged in a shocked and shuddering breath.

      At first she was too surprised to register anything apart from the shock. They might be husband and wife, but Tyr had touched a most private part of her. What shocked her most was that it was a part that badly wanted to be touched. When he drew her nipple into his mouth and gently tugged, sensation streamed through her. The thought that no man but Tyr had ever looked upon her naked body aroused her even more. Tyr’s kisses were deepening with every passing moment, and he was touching her everywhere that wanted to be touched until, far from needing lessons from him, she called upon her own, inbuilt intuition to show her how to respond. Though she did lose courage a little bit when his hand moved firmly over her belly.

      ‘We’re husband and wife, remember?’ Tyr’s eyes blazed into hers. ‘Unless you’d like me to stop?’

      ‘I don’t want you to stop.’ Though once she’d made this statement, her eyes begged him to be gentle with her.

      Tyr answered this by kissing her again, his tongue plundering her mouth in a way that mimicked the act she was so afraid of.

      ‘You’re tensing up again,’ he said. ‘Why? You know I’d never hurt you, Jazz.’

      His eyes were warm and concerned now as they stared into hers, and she hated lying to him. The ache inside her was unsustainable, but her fear of Tyr plundering her body was greater still.

      ‘Jazz,’ Tyr soothed as he smiled against her mouth.

      He teased her with kisses, and then his hands began to stroke and soothe, and before she knew what was happening, the hunger for him had overtaken everything else. She held her breath when his hand travelled lower, his fingers grazing the place where she so badly needed him. The urgency to have her hunger answered was stronger than any fear she had ever known, and, arching her back in the hunt for more contact from his hand, she gave a soft moan of thanks when he found her.

      And lost control instantly. Her world exploded in a burst of light, the pleasure so extreme, she was lost in a sea of violent, buffeting waves, while she bucked frantically and shamelessly, working her body against Tyr’s strong hand to prolong the incredible feeling for as long as she could.

      She gasped as the storm subsided and, still recovering, could barely manage to gasp out a single word.

      ‘You’re very responsive, Princess,’ Tyr murmured against her mouth.

      ‘Are you surprised?’ She smiled into his eyes and saw an answering warmth. ‘So, I’m inexperienced,’ she challenged with a shrug. ‘I just hope you’re not laughing at me, Tyr Skavanga.’

      ‘I’m happy for you, Jazz,’ he whispered. ‘You’ve waited too long for that.’

      ‘It feels like for ever,’ she agreed. But waiting for Tyr to come home had been the longest wait of all.

      ‘More?’ he suggested.

      She was about to say no, and couldn’t believe it when the hunger stirred inside her again. ‘Much more,’ she confirmed, stretching out her body like a contented cat, against the immense, powerful length of Tyr Skavanga.

      ‘Why don’t you just lie back and let me do all the work?’ he suggested.

      ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’

      ‘Oh, I think you did,’ he countered with amusement.

      So why was he teasing her? She writhed and sighed with the pleasure of anticipation as a hint. Tyr took the hint. Enclosing her wrists in one giant fist, he brought her arms over her head, pinning her to the bed, and, feasting on her breasts, sucking, licking, working magic, he drew a cry of pleasure from her lips. What made it even more amazing to Jazz was the way one sensation could travel through every part of her until it gathered in pulsing desire between her legs.

      Maybe she could lose control with nothing more than this?

      But would that be enough for Tyr?

      The answer came when she lost control and he didn’t. Instead, he laughed softly as she struggled to replace the air in her lungs.

      ‘What are you laughing at, Tyr?’

      ‘You,’ he said as if that were obvious. ‘This is promising to be a long night.’

      ‘Are you pleased?’

      ‘Yes, of course I’m pleased.’ Shifting position, he stared down at her.

      She narrowed her eyes. ‘And why are you smiling at me, Tyr Skavanga?’

      ‘Because my wife amuses me.’

      Jazz faked a frown. ‘I think you’d better explain that remark.’

      ‘Let’s just say, you’re a natural in the bedroom, and you’ve been hiding this talent for how long?’

      ‘As I tried to explain, a princess of Kareshi doesn’t exactly have the opportunity to express that side of herself as freely or as often as she might like.’

      ‘Oh, so you would have expressed yourself before now, if it had been permitted?’

      ‘Stop fishing, Viking. I’m a good girl. Always have been.’

      ‘Then I’m glad you changed for me.’

      ‘I’m wicked now,’ she agreed happily. ‘So I hope when you talk about a long night, you mean a long night of pleasure for me?’

      Tyr’s brow furrowed, but his mouth was still curved in a smile. ‘I’m counting on it, Princess.’

      Jazz was still floating high on the rippling aftermath of pleasure, and that was exactly what she needed to hear. But had she really thought there was nothing left that Tyr could do to shock her?

      One more thing she was wrong about, Jazz realised as Tyr placed his big, work-calloused hands beneath her buttocks and lifted her. He positioned her to suit him with her legs spread wide across his powerful shoulders.

      She felt exposed. She felt vulnerable.

      She was exposed. She was vulnerable. And had to remind herself yet again that this was Tyr Skavanga and she trusted him. They were husband and wife, and nothing was forbidden to them.

      Tyr used pleasure like a spell to make her forget any embarrassment she might have suffered, and to the point where she actively encouraged him when he placed a cushion beneath her hips. Kneeling in front of her, he lifted her even more as he dipped his head and worked another spell, with his mouth and with his tongue, and with his fingers as she pressed urgently against his mouth.

      But shouldn’t she be doing something?

      ‘Shouldn’t I...?’

      ‘Reciprocate?’ Tyr supplied, flashing his wicked smile.

      Now she wished she hadn’t said anything, though she guessed a pause suited him, as it only made her more frustrated than ever.