Free DarykRogue by Denise A. Agnew

erect
from a thatch of dark hair that grew between his thighs. Her mouth opened, her
breath caught. Her body reacted beyond her control as an ache grew between her
thighs. He nipples peaked, grew taut, her breasts feeling larger and rounder.
    Taris Elian hadn’t looked anything like this.
    And his cock certainly hadn’t either.
    She should look away—all the teaching of Magon said she
shouldn’t even see this part of him once she married him. Of course, Taris
wasn’t concerned about that. He’d showed her his cock the moment they were in
the marriage bed. Rayder didn’t need to know that. “A man and woman never see
each other’s…”
    “Nakedness?” His voice dropped, going deeper and harder. He
approached again, his stride sure, his power evident.
    She couldn’t tear her attention away as stood close in front
of her. Every inch of sculpted, finely honed man created conflicting emotions.
“Yes.”
    “Does it scare you?”
    “Yes.”
    “There’s nothing to fear. I can show you.”
    “No. Our marriage is a sham. We can’t…consummate it.”
    He speared his fingers into her hair and drew her slowly
against him. “We can if we wish to.” His mouth hovered over hers, his breath
fresh and warm on her lips. “You might not like it, my beauty, but there’s
something between us. It’s hot and it’s real. There’s no shame in it.”
    Thunder roared outside and she flinched.
    “You can deny it all you want,” he said, “but I feel that
you want me.”
    Fire blossomed low in her stomach. She sucked in an
uncertain, shocked breath.
    “We can partake of pleasures of the flesh then dissolve the
marriage when convenient,” he said.
    That stung, even when it shouldn’t have. “You would toss
aside a wife so easily?”
    “Yes. The marriage is binding on Dragonia, but we can get it
dissolved once we’re on dry land. It’s of no consequence since we don’t love
one another and we’re not mates.”
    Love? Did this man truly believe in love? The idea started
an ache way deep inside both in her mind and body. She didn’t know why, but the
thought of Rayder in love with a woman sent strange sensations bolting around
inside her. She didn’t understand love between a man and woman, yet she still
didn’t like the idea of him bonded with another woman in an undeniable way.
    Feeling bold and angry, she pushed at his chest to get away.
Hard, warm muscles moved under her touch, her fingers tickled by the hair that
sprinkled over his chest. Heat blossomed in her belly.
    He tugged her closer and slipped his hands down her arms to
her waist. “Why are you provoking me? Do you like making me insane with your
questions and insinuations?”
    “I don’t know. I’ve never wanted to provoke a man the way I
do you. Maybe because I’ve never met a slave trader before.”
    “You don’t know a damn thing about me, Xandra. Don’t presume
to know my motivations.”
    “There’s nothing I need to understand about a slave trader.”
    He jeered. “There’s nothing I need to know about you other
than your body. From the moment I pulled you out of the water, you’ve haunted
my every waking thought. Your hair is so beautiful.” He tangled his fingers in
the strands. “Your body is soft in all the right places.” His fingers caressed
her hip then returned to her cup the back of her neck. “Your breasts burn into
my chest whenever I hold you. I can’t wait to see you in that bridal dress. And
you don’t know how much I want to suck your nipples and sink my cock deep
between your legs, fucking you until you’re screaming in ecstasy.”
    Her mouth dropped open in shock, but she couldn’t retort,
couldn’t think of one thing as she drowned in powerful sensation.
    “You think I’m nothing more than a dirty bastard.” He
whispered close to her ear, his hot breath teasing her until she shivered. His
tongue wisped over the side of her neck and shot fire through her body. “If
there’s nothing I can do to prove you