Free Her Secret Prince by Madeline Ash

thrusts. Burned for him to call her name as he shuddered inside her. Her dress was bunched at her waist; her neckline wrencheddown, bra along with it, as Jed exposed her breast. A moment’s pause as he admired, then a glorious pressure as his lips closed over her nipple.
    “Do you want this?” His voice was strained, muffled, as the motion of their hips grew. A sensual roll of hers and a hard shove of his.
    “Yes,” she whispered, eyes closing as her head thudded back against the door. Yes. All she wanted was to feel. Everytingling burst, every hard lash of pleasure. With one hand in his hair, she pushed the other under his shirt, finding the skin of his stomach and searching for the erection beneath his waistband. She found it. Instinctively his hips pulled back, and at her grasp, he surrendered her nipple to turn his face into her hand.
    Heat jumped hard between her thighs as his grip on her leg shifted, glidingdown to her inner thigh. Her fist moved over his length as his hand cupped her, a firm clutch that had her breath catching and her body aching to open, right here, and let the thrills engulf her. She’d never stopped wanting him, even the shadows, the dark corners he’d always pushed back to make room for her. She’d be seeking access to those corners in time, but for now, she’d take this burstinglight.
    She’d been waiting all her life for Jed.
    At that thought, hurt seized her throat. Jed was all she wanted. And here she was, rushing in, like always. God, would she never learn?
    “I’ve forgotten something,” she gasped suddenly. A moment to disentangle, and she was stumbling free of him. “I’ll be back.” She ignored Jed’s heavy breathing, his startled silence, as she crossed the room swiftlyand closed the bedroom door behind her.
    Shaking, she sat on the edge of the bed and commanded herself to think past the desire spiraling in her veins.
    Moving too fast was her downfall. Aside from holding out for Jed at sixteen, she’d always rushed into sex. Now that she knew her all-in approach gave the impression of insignificance, she had to be careful.
    It didn’t matter that lovers and partnerswere one and the same to Jed. Perhaps he’d never rushed with women. She might be his first brush with urgency, and therefore the first woman he assumed only wanted a fling.
    It didn’t mean nothing could happen. Just not yet.
    Too many lovers had passed on her. She had to hold back. It was a respectable plan that could save her the heartbreak of being loved and left by her perfect man. Yes, anadulthood of failing to be important to her lovers had thickened her skin. She’d bounced back time and time again. But this was different.
    It’d ruin her to mean nothing to Jed.
    *
    Jed had finished kicking himself by the time Dee emerged. Didn’t take a genius to figure out he’d moved too fast. That was what he got for losing himself inthe only woman who’d ever made him feel alive. She triggered the beat of his heart, the swell of his lungs. Her touch awakened a primal ache, the powerful force to make her his own. Judging by the way she’d commanded his touch, the same force had overtaken her.
    But the body could move much faster than the heart.
    She stopped outside her bedroom door, running her hands over her thighs. Dress backin place and hair combed.
    “Sorry, Dee,” he said quietly. He stood by the kitchen bench, giving her space to reach her luggage without him looming large and expectant beside her.
    “Oh, no.” She smiled brightly, not looking at him. “But do you mind if we stop there?”
    “You don’t have to ask.”
    “I’d hate to miss our flight, that’s all.”
    Jed nodded, though he knew they’d have time. With a mutualdesire that reckless, they’d always have time.
    Her gaze flicked to his as she crossed the room. Then it dropped to his form, a slow drag down his chest, stomach, before halting at his groin, calling back the bulge he’d only just fought down. Jed shifted, inflamed