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  “If you forgot about the books, you probably forgot about this too,” Vanja said, coming up behind her and laying a hand on the bookshelf. She tapped the spine of one ancient book—Alice in Wonderland, K saw—and then tilted the book ever so slightly outward.

  To K’s amazement, a narrow section of the bookshelf slid out, revealing a dark, cobwebby space behind it.

  “The secret passage!” she exclaimed as yet another memory clicked into place.

  “That’s right.” Vanja smiled. “You used to play in it when you were little. You just loved popping out of the woodwork and scaring the life out of me.”

  K poked her head into the narrow space and pulled back, frowning. “I remember it being a lot bigger than that. It used to seem like such a vast black tunnel.”

  “Well, you’ve grown considerably since you last played in the secret passage, my love.” Vanja smiled a bit sadly. “It might be a bit of a tight squeeze now.”

  “I’ll manage,” K said grimly. “I have to.”

  “Do you remember the way to the West Wing?” her old nurse asked. “That’s where they put your giant—in the blue room, I think.”

  K closed her eyes for a moment, reaching for the information…and it was there, like a map in her head.

  “I remember,” she said, nodding.

  “Then go,” Vanja said. “But please, my dear princess, be quiet and be careful. I love your royal mother with everything that’s in me but I must say she has a temper on her. If she finds out you’ve defied her orders to keep away from that giant of yours, she’s going to be very, very upset.”

  “She won’t find out,” K promised. At least not until it’s too late. I don’t care who she is, if she thinks she can keep me here against my will she’s sadly mistaken.

  “Go then,” Vanja said, smiling. “Enjoy one last night with the one you really want.”

  “But you’re sure—absolutely sure he’ll be safe?” K asked anxiously.

  Her old nurse nodded. “I’ve seen girls and their cycles—so many of them, dearie. You’ll be in the second phase until morning, I’m certain. Don’t worry—you won’t go into the mating rage until your eyes turn gold.”

  “Thank you, Vanja,” K said, really meaning it. She had a sudden, foreign impulse to hug the old woman—a holdover, no doubt, from her half remembered childhood—but she couldn’t quiet bring herself to do it. Instead she squeezed Vanja’s hand before ducking into the narrow passage.

  “I’ll wait a few minutes before I close it behind you,” the older woman called. “Be careful, dearie.”

  “I will be. Thank you, Vanja.”

  K took a moment to orient herself in the dark, cramped space and then began moving in the direction of the West Wing. In the direction of Boone. Already her body was crying out for his touch—for the forbidden yet soothing feel of his big hands on her bare skin.

  Boone, she thought. I’m coming. I just hope you can help me when I find you.

  Because if he couldn’t, she didn’t want to think about what she might have to do.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Boone was pacing back and forth, his hands clasped behind his back, his brow furrowed in concentration when he heard the strange noise coming from behind the ornately carved stone fireplace.

  “What the hell?” he muttered, looking in that direction. The room they had put him in was huge—even for someone his size—and opulently appointed. There was a vast sleeping platform so wide it looked like a small yacht floating in the center of the deep blue carpeting and a bookcase full of real books which appeared to all be priceless antiques. There was a wet bar in one corner with every imaginable liquor and alcohol and a fresher with a marble tub big enough to swim in. In fact, the only thing Boone didn’t see was a way out.

  Must be imagining things, he thought and kept pacing.

  He was pacing because he was worried—he could never sit still when he had something on his mind. K, he thought, Where are you? How are you handling all this?

  It had to be a shock to her—finding out she was a long lost princess with a mother and a people she was supposed to rule at some point. There were bound to be a lot of messy, uncomfortable emotions involved and K was dealing with them all on her own.

  But how well was she dealing with them?

  Boone’s main fear was that she would be tempted to put back on the suit. It had seemed like a viable option before but the more he learned about Erian physiology, the more convinced he became that interrupting the Erian mating cycle could be not just dangerous but deadly.

  “Never should have given her back the suit,” he muttered to himself. “She’ll kill herself with the damn thing if she’s not careful. Damn it, K, where are you?”

  The scratching sound came again, this time from the other side of the fireplace. Boone stopped pacing. This time he was sure he wasn’t imagining it. What the hell was going on? Had the Erians put some kind of spy cam there? Something to keep an eye on him?

  He crouched low, examining the stone. The fireplace was carved with a very lifelike image of the Erian goddess of fertility on either side—at least Boone assumed that was what she was the goddess of. She was naked, her lush form surrounded by graceful vines overflowing with plump berries and blooming flowers. If she got any more fertile she might burst, like an overripe melon too filled with sweetness to contain its nectar any longer.

  “Boone!” came a muffled whisper.

  It surprised him so much he jerked upward and knocked the top of his head against the underside of the white marble mantelpiece.

  “Shit!” he muttered, rubbing the spot.

  “Boone!” the voice said again, sounding very familiar.

  Boone’s heart leapt. “K? Is that you?”

  “I’m stuck back here,” she whispered. “The release lever is broken but I think there’s one on your side.”

  “Where at?” Boone started studying the fireplace again with more interest.

  “The goddess on the left—her breasts. Push in the right nipple.”

  Boone did as directed and the goddess on the left side of the fireplace suddenly slid to one side. Looking down, he saw K’s face peering out of a tiny, dusty crawlspace barely big enough to admit a child.

  “Are you all right?” he asked anxiously. “Can you get through there?”

  “Barely…” She wriggled, trying to squeeze out of the narrow opening. It was a tight fit, especially around her full breasts. For a moment it looked like she might be stuck. Then the silky material of the red dress Illesca had given her tore with a low ripping sound and she was through. “Ugh…” she said, standing up and brushing herself off. “That was easier when I was little. And before I had these.” She nodded down at her breasts and seemed to realize for the first time that the rip in her dress exposed them. “Oh…” She moved to cover herself but Boone was already taking her in his arms.

  “K,” he murmured, pressing his face to the side of her neck to breathe in her sweet, feminine scent. “God, I was so worried. Had no idea how I was going to get to you—and here you came to me.”

  “I had to.” She pulled back and looked at him seriously. Her eyes were glowing—the triple golden rings brilliant in the dim light of the massive, gloomy room. “I need you Boone. Need you to…to help me like you did last night.”

  Boone felt his shaft go hard at once but he wanted to be careful and take things slowly.

  “Are you sure, K?” he asked quietly. “I know this morning you had some regrets.”

  “I’m in pain again, Boone.” She bit her lip pensively. “I don’t know why I can’t just ignore it, the way I ignored injuries on the battlefield. But this is so much different. It’s all I can think about.” She looked up at him nervously. “You’re all I can think about.”

  “Been thinking about you, too, darlin’.” He tilted her chin up and kissed her gently, taking his time, feeling the way.

  K seemed frozen at first but then she responded, opening her lips to him, welcoming him i
n. Boone groaned with desire and slipped his tongue inside her, probing gently, tasting her, letting her know how much he wanted her.

  Slender, strong arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him closer as K pressed against him, obviously desperate for contact. God, what must she be going through with this damn cycle? And how much more would she have to endure before it was over?

  But the thing that worried him the most—the question that wouldn’t leave him alone was this—would he be able to help her? Could he give her enough pleasure to negate the pain? Could he see her through this phase of her cycle, even though he wasn’t Erian?

  “Darlin’,” he said at last, pulling back. “I’m not sure…”

  “Touch me, Boone.” K tugged at his shirt. “But take off your clothes first. I need…need your skin against mine. Now.”

  Boone wasn’t about to argue with that. He slipped out of his clothes—all but his underbriefs—while K did the same, shedding the silky red dress and the panties that went with it and leaving them in a heap on the ground. Then she just stood there naked, biting her lip and looking at him.

  “K?” he asked softly, seeing the tension in the set of her slender shoulders and the uncertainty in her lovely gold-ringed eyes.

  “I want…I need…” She shook her head. “This is still difficult for me, Boone. You’re always the one who comes to me. I’m not sure…”

  “Not sure about being the one who touches first? Who reaches out?” Boone finished for her gently.

  K nodded. “It just seems so…I was trained from an early age to avoid contamination. To actually actively seek it out seems so strange, so wrong. I want to but—”

  “Look at me, K.” Boone lifted her chin. “There’s no shame in getting what you need,” he murmured. “And let me promise you here and now, that I will never have a problem with you touching me.”

  “So you don’t mind that I want…that I need…”

  “Come here.” Boone held out his arms for her. “Don’t be afraid or ashamed. Just come to me, baby. Come get what you need.”

  With a little cry, K flowed into his arms. Pressing her bare breasts to his chest she wrapped herself around him as though trying to get the maximum amount of contact between them.

  Boone felt his heart swell as he enfolded her in his arms and hugged her back. He knew she was so eager to touch him because her cycle was forcing her to need physical contact but part of him couldn’t help hoping that there was a deeper motive as well. That K actually wanted to touch him on some level, even though she would probably rather die than admit it.

  “Oh, K,” he murmured into her hair which was a soft, dark cloud around his face. “Oh, baby, I missed you. I was so worried.”

  “I’m worried too, Boone,” she admitted in a low voice. “I’m not sure what we’re going to do, how we’re going to get out of here. But I can’t think about that right now. All I can think about is this.”

  Tangling her fingers in his hair, she dragged him down for another kiss so sweet it made his heart pound and his cock ache.

  “K,” he muttered thickly.

  “Touch me,” she begged, pressing herself tighter against him. “Please, Boone, touch me now.”

  Boone couldn’t deny her any longer. With a low growl of lust and need, he swung her into his arms and carried her to the sleeping platform.

  * * * * *

  Boone’s touch was like magic. When he ran his big warm hands over her skin, K felt herself tingling all over. Her newly blossomed body responded like a flower opening to the sun.

  This, she thought deliriously as she arched like a cat under his stroking. This is what I need, what I’ve always needed. The suit just wouldn’t let me know it.

  The suit. It was tangled with the ripped red dress in a heap on the floor. But K didn’t want to think about it now. She just wanted to feel—to let Boone touch her. Though part of her still felt it was very, very wrong to crave his touch and the pleasure it brought, she couldn’t help herself. The need growing inside her was too strong to deny.

  “Touch me, Boone,” she pleaded, taking one of his large hands and pressing it between her legs. “Please, just like you did last night.”

  “My pleasure, darlin’,” he murmured and then he was spreading the swollen lips of her sex and stroking slowly over her throbbing clit, making K moan and writhe, driving her out of her mind with need and desire.

  K had always been quick to learn physical skills and this proved to be no exception. She was on the brink almost before she knew it and then she was coming, giving herself completely to the pleasure Boone’s skillful touch brought.

  But even as the sweet release rushed through her, K knew it wasn’t enough. The need inside her didn’t end abruptly as it had the other night. She was still hungry—she had to have more.

  “Boone…” she pressed against him restlessly. “Boone please, I need…I don’t know what I need.”

  “Tell me,” he murmured encouragingly. “Try to explain it.”

  “I feel…” K shifted her hips. “I feel empty inside. Like I need another release—a stronger one this time.”

  Boone looked thoughtful. “Well, I think we can manage that, we just need to up the intensity.”

  “But how?” K was feeling increasingly frustrated and needy. “How can you do that without…well, without penetrating me? Which I can’t let you do.”

  “Because I’m not Erian or because you’re still afraid of contamination?” Boone asked quietly.

  “It’s true I don’t want to be so deeply contaminated,” K admitted. “Although if I could stand it from anyone, it would be you, Boone. But no, there’s…another reason. One I can’t talk about right now.”

  “Fair enough.” He nodded. “I don’t think it’s a good idea either. Not until I have a little time to work on the problem.”

  “Good.” K felt a rush of relief—at least Boone would be safe from her when she went into her mating rage.

  “But I don’t think we have to make love to help you have a more intense release, either,” Boone said. “I think we can manage that if you just let me kiss you.”

  “I don’t understand.” K was confused and frustrated. “You’ve been kissing me the entire time you were touching me. It feels wonderful, Boone—it shouldn’t but it does. But I just don’t see how—”

  “I’m not talking about kissing your mouth, darlin’.”

  This brought K up short. “But how…where…?”

  “Remember I told you a kiss didn’t have to be on the lips?” His blue-green eyes were half-lidded as he spoke and his voice had dropped down into that deeper register that sent shivers up K’s spine for some reason.

  “I remember,” she whispered, wishing her voice didn’t sound so breathless. He’d told her that right before placing a soft, chaste kiss on her palm. But surely he couldn’t mean he wanted to kiss her there—between her legs where he was still cupping the mound of her sex.

  “Will you let me?” He stroked her gently, one finger tracing the lips of her sex. “Will you let me taste you, K? I want to make you come with my mouth.”

  All the air seemed to leave her lungs and her heart was suddenly pounding. “Can you…can you do that?”

  “Mmm-hmm.” He gave her a lazy smile that seemed to do things to her deep inside. “If you’ll relax and let me.”

  K bit her lip for a moment, considering it. It was yet another level of intimacy her conditioning and training told her she shouldn’t want. The very idea of Boone spreading her thighs and putting his mouth—his tongue—between her legs, should have made her shiver with disgust. Instead, she felt a warm pulsing in her sex and a rush of desire washed over her.

  “Will it help? I mean, will your mouth be more intense than your hands?”

  “You be the judge.” The large hand that was cupping her mound slid up to stroke one of her breasts instead. K moaned breathlessly when he pinched the tight little nub of her nipple—Purity but it felt good!

  But the very next m
oment, Boone replaced his hand with his mouth.

  K gasped and wove her fingers through his hair when he sucked her nipple deeply into his hot, wet mouth and laved it with his tongue. Sharp little sparks of pleasure coursed through her, running straight from her breast to the spot between her thighs.

  “Boone!” she moaned as he sucked her hard, taking the sensitive tip of her breast as deeply into his mouth as he could. Boone!”

  Just when she felt she couldn’t bear it anymore, he released her throbbing nipple and went for the other one. K gave a little cry and arched her back, offering her bare breasts more fully, acknowledging his mastery of her body. She had no idea how it was that Boone seemed to know exactly what she needed but he certainly did.

  “Well?” he said at last, after releasing her nipple. “What do you say, darlin’? Will you let me taste you?”

  “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, Boone, I want you to.”

  “Good. Because I want to so damn bad, baby. Want to lick your sweet little pussy until you come for me.”

  “Boone,” she whispered, meeting his eyes which were focused intently on her face. “I…like that. Like it when you tell me what you want to do to me.”

  He gave her another lazy grin. “You like dirty talk, huh? Who would have thought it?”

  “I wouldn’t have,” K admitted. “But…I do. I don’t know why.”

  “Because that’s part of it.” He kissed her nipple again, gently this time, and then looked up at her. “Expressing what you want—hearing what the other person wants. It’s a give and take, K, like everything else.”

  “But I’ve never learned how to give or take,” she whispered.

  “Don’t worry, baby,” he murmured. “Didn’t I promise to teach you? Now just relax and let me make you come.”

  Boone pressed his lips between her breasts and then continued down her body, planting hot, sucking kisses at random places on her quivering belly until K felt like she might scream. The need was growing in her again but she had a feeling that even if it hadn’t been, she wouldn’t have wanted Boone to stop. His mouth on her simply felt too good.