The Royals Collection. Rebecca Winters

      But did she have the right sort of instinct?

      The pleasure was so intense, she turned her head away, feeling embarrassed at the overwhelming power of her response. She wanted to cry out, and moan and sigh. It was taking everything she’d got just to remain silent.

      ‘Let yourself go,’ Tyr advised, his tone husky and amused. ‘You’ll enjoy it so much more if you do. Why deny yourself pleasure, Jazz?’

      ‘I can’t take without giving something back, that’s why. And you can stop smiling,’ she warned, longing to touch Tyr, to explore him and test his responses. But Tyr was too skilled for that, and made sure she lost control again before she had chance to put her plan into action.

      ‘You’re just too good at this,’ she panted out.

      ‘Are you complaining?’ he murmured against her mouth.

      ‘I just want to know when it’s my turn.’

      ‘That was your turn.’

      ‘Oh, you’re impossible,’ she complained, finding she lacked even the strength to play-punch him.

      ‘Agreed.’ He dragged her close.

      ‘Is this meant to soothe me down?’ she demanded when Tyr finally lifted his head. ‘Because if it is, you’ve failed miserably.’

      ‘That’s great news,’ Tyr murmured.

      Every part of them was touching as he kissed her, but she couldn’t wait any longer and took the initiative, transferring her kisses from his mouth to his ear, and then his neck. And when she heard his sharp intake of breath, she moved over him and pressed him down onto the cushions. ‘You’re mine, Tyr Skavanga.’

      ‘Your sex slave?’ Tyr suggested. His smile broadened. ‘Excellent. Feel free to use me any way you like.’

      ‘I do like.’ And she would. Tyr was magnificent. His body was beautiful. Built on an epic scale to a flawless design. Flawless, except for the scars that she traced with her fingertips—

      ‘Don’t,’ Tyr warned softly as she examined the map of memories. ‘Don’t spoil the mood, Jazz.’

      That map might take a lifetime to unravel, she accepted. Tyr repaid her restraint with a slanting smile that made heat rush through her. Now she could think of only one thing, and that was Tyr. She wanted to bring him pleasure, and, kissing her way down his heroic frame, she only stopped when she reached the waistband of his shorts. Drawing a deep, steadying breath, she hooked her thumbs beneath the elastic at the waistband and drew them down.

      Daunted?

      To say she was daunted by the size of him would be massively understating the case. She was shocked rigid. Along with all the other expressions of amazement she could name. She had expected Tyr to be built to scale, but...

      It just wouldn’t be possible.

      She hadn’t reckoned with the demands of a body that had been denied for too long, or her own fierce desire to bring Tyr pleasure. Closing her eyes, she gathered her courage, and, wrapping her hands around him, she felt his warmth and power and virility. It took both her hands to encompass him, as well as several seconds to get over the shock of what she was doing. Steadying herself, she concentrated on fathoming out Tyr’s pleasure points and how best to please him. And when he groaned in grateful response, she dipped her head and kissed the smooth, velvety tip. But even that wasn’t enough for her, so, settling to the task, she took him in her mouth and laved him with her tongue. She worked him with her hands at the same time, while Tyr showed his appreciation with groans of pleasure. This was so much better than she had imagined, and it seemed she knew exactly what to do.

      ‘Stop.’

      She stopped immediately. ‘Did I do something wrong?’

      Tyr gripped her shoulders as he let go of a shuddering breath. ‘You did everything right, but you have to stop before I lose control completely.’

      I did that?

      Jazz sat back on her heels while Tyr stared up at her. His steel-grey eyes were half closed, and his lips had curved in a brooding smile as he reached up to embrace her. Leaning her head back, she closed her eyes as his hands moved slowly down her arms. This felt so good, so right. Could the fates be kind for once, and give them a second chance?

      When Tyr drew her down to him, she sank into his arms with renewed certainty, and, turning her face into his chest, she inhaled deeply, knowing this was the safest place on earth to be. Cupping her chin, Tyr brought her up to face him, and when he kissed her this time she was filled with a new confidence. But though they were close, they weren’t close enough. She wanted to be one with him.

      There was a moment when Tyr moved over her and she tensed and he pulled back, but he helped her to relax with his hands and with his kisses until she clung to him, gasping with pleasure and with frustration too. And then he allowed just the tip to catch inside her.

      ‘No,’ she exclaimed as he pulled away.

      ‘No?’ Tyr queried, teasing her as his eyes smiled into hers.

      ‘Don’t—’

      ‘Don’t make you wait?’

      ‘Correct,’ she gasped.

      Several short sharp breaths shot out of her. She clung to Tyr. She almost panicked and pulled away. Could she do this? Would it hurt?

      Tyr’s steady gaze didn’t leave her face and his teasing kisses excited her until sensation fused seamlessly with all the emotion inside her and she couldn’t think or reason any more. She only knew that she had got past that last barrier to find some new, higher level of awareness.

      This wasn’t a barrier; this was closeness; this was unity; this was love.

      ‘I love you,’ she exclaimed impulsively as Tyr moved deeper and with more purpose.

      He stretched her beyond anything she would have believed possible, but the pleasure was so intense she was lost to reason, so she didn’t know if he’d heard her, or if he replied, or if he even cared.

       CHAPTER SIXTEEN

      IF ONE NIGHT could be said to be long enough to learn how to give and receive pleasure, then last night had been that night, Jazz reflected as she rolled over in bed, sighing with contentment. At some point Tyr had carried her from the cushions to the rug, and sometime after that he had carried her from the rug to the bed, where he’d made love to her again. It was as if they could never get enough of each other. They had a lot of time to make up for, Tyr had reminded her.

      ‘We’ve only been married a few hours,’ she had argued.

      ‘But I’m talking about all those years when I was away when I could have been with you.’

      ‘But then we would have been two very different people.’

      Reaching out, she gasped with alarm. Where was Tyr? Panic-stricken, she shot up in bed and gazed around. It was still shadowy inside the pavilion with the first thin shafts of light slanting through the windows. Was last night a dream?

      ‘You’re awake, Princess.’

      ‘Tyr!’

      Crossing the pavilion in a few big strides, her Viking lover, dressed in jeans and not much more, dragged her into his embrace. ‘You’re shaking,’ he exclaimed softly, keeping her warm in his arms as he kissed the top of her head.

      ‘I thought you’d gone away again. I must have been half asleep. The bed was empty, and—’

      ‘You don’t get rid of me that easily.’

      ‘Who says I want to get rid of you?’ She rolled closer. ‘I have plans for you.’

      Laughing, Tyr kissed her.