Page 130 of The Crown’s Temptation

Every kiss became proof. Proof that he was alive. Proof that I was alive. Proof that this was real.

His lips moved over mine with careful pressure at first, then deeper, his tongue finding mine as though he could drink the weeks of grief straight from my mouth. I held his shoulders, feeling the faint shake in them, and answered in kind.

He drew back just enough to look at me, his eyes dark and raw.

"Asha Bear," he said, his voice rough. "I missed you," he whispered, as though the words were too small for what they carried.

Then he kissed me again, slower, one hand sliding down to rest over my heart.

His free hand reached for the ties at the back of my dress and paused. I laughed. “This one is different. The ties are in the front.” He did not comment, just loosened them without breaking the kiss, fingertips grazing my nipples as the fabric fell away. Before either of us noticed, the last of it was gone, and his hands were on my bare skin.

He didn't touch me again immediately.

He simply looked at me.

There was grief in his face that had not been there the last time I had seen him.

I looked away.

He tipped my chin back toward him.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"For what?"

"For not getting to you."

"Colsar—"

"It should have been me." He stopped. "It never should have been you."

"No."

He shook his head.

"I was supposed to protect you."

His voice cracked.

"Since you've been gone...it is as though a piece of myself has been cut away."

He searched my face as though he were still trying to convince himself I was real.

"It wasn't cut away," I whispered. "It's right here."

Something inside him broke.

A low sound escaped him, somewhere between relief and grief, and he gathered me against him with desperate strength. His mouth found mine with a need that had nothing to do with desire and everything to do with the unbearable certainty that I was finally here.

I kissed him back just as fiercely, my fingers sliding into his hair as every fear, every lonely night, every impossible mile between us dissolved into the kiss.

Only when our lungs demanded it did we finally pull apart. He rested his forehead against mine, his breathing uneven.

"Asha Bear..."

His palms skimmed up my sides, warm, cupping my breasts and stroking his thumbs across until they tightened. He broke the kiss only to press his mouth there, and his hands continued downward, sliding the fabric at my hips down my legs until I stepped out of it.

I reached for him, tugging his shirt over his head, fingers tracing the scar along his ribs and the line of muscle at his stomach before pushing at his waistband. He helped until we were both bare. His hands gripped my hips and pulled me closer while his mouth returned to mine. One hand slipped between my thighs, stroking through the wetness already there with slow fingers.