Over the next several weeks, Premal avoided Eli, but the prince had played court games too long to think he’d won. Eli tightened his security and waited.

Despite the lingering threat, the prince attended diplomatic meetings in the morning and again after the heat of the day. In the afternoons and evenings, he returned to his rooms and Auburn.

It felt like coming home.

Strange, considering he was in a desert far from Tamryn. Stranger still to find himself so happy, happier than he ever remembered being.

Perhaps it was the simplicity. Auburn enjoyed their time together as much as he did, and he had only to contend with Sultan Pandhuka. The sultan wanted the same things Eli did, though they had yet to agree on how to get them.

Still, there was no Dragon Church. No politicking for the throne. No engagement to a woman that barely tolerated him. This was an oasis before he returned to the storm of royal succession.

The prince shoved the uncomfortable thoughts aside and started to dress when Auburn caught his eye.

What’s on your mind?” Eli asked.

“I have something for you, something to make the meetings more bearable.”

The prince raised a brow as she walked over to his wardrobe and withdrew a coat, tunic, and trousers similar in style to what he’d brought with him.

He trailed a hand over them, and a smile curved his lips. “Silk.”

“A special weave so it’ll look like your Tamarian clothes, but these should be more comfortable in the heat.” She turned over the hems for him to inspect the workmanship. “They took longer than I’d planned, but they were much more difficult for the craftsman than my new dresses.”

Dresses that marked her as his.

His conqueror roared as he stared at the tunic then up at Auburn. She was his, now and always. Eli leashed the thoughts as he stared into her cornflower blue eyes.

She’d thought of him, learned about him, and cared enough about his comfort to see these made for him.

Oasis, indeed.

She bit her lower lip and stared at her feet. “You don’t like it?”

Eli touched her arm so she’d look at him. “It’s perfect.”

Color tinged her cheeks, and a smile curved her lips.

The prince changed into her gift. She’d gotten the sizing perfect, and he was already cooler. “Not sure I’ll want to wear anything but these while I’m in Qumaref.”

“I’ll arrange for more.”

Eli nodded his approval as he slid his arms around her. Thumbing over her upturned lips, he swallowed back his desire.

The Twins be damned, Auburn still considered herself a slave. He would not take advantage of her.

The Twins.

His breath hitched.

Eli had never given much thought to the goddesses of love. They hadn’t figured in his life, and he preferred it that way. Or he had once.

Staring down at Auburn, pain stabbed through him and left an exquisite ache. Eli kissed her on the forehead and forced himself to leave her and see to his duties. The Twins hadn’t been a part of his life, and he couldn’t afford that to change.

Not if he wanted the throne.

* * *

Sadness slowed the pounding of Auburn’s heart as Prince Eli left for more meetings. She almost laughed at herself. It had to be the first time a slave girl was sad to see her master go.

Strange, perhaps, but she enjoyed Eli’s company. He was intelligent, interesting, and he treated her well. Better than anyone had ever treated her.

Eli wasn’t a good man, not like the Knights of Valor in the stories she’d read, but he wasn’t evil, either. He was driven, excelled at getting what he wanted, and principled. She listened to the other servants talk about him, and the Prince of Tamryn terrified most of them.

Auburn suspected that’s exactly what he wanted.

Yet, Eli could be kind, and he held to his principles. He was her master, and while he didn’t agree with slavery, that didn’t change her status in Qumaref. A status he’d never used even though his body responded to her.

She wished he would.

The thought surprised her, but for the first time in her life, she wanted a man’s attention. She wanted Eli to hold her, wanted him to share her bed, and wanted him to teach her all that could be between them.

Biting her lip, she remembered the feel of his strong chest. The heat of him. The clean masculine scent of him. Warmth pooled in her belly and radiated out through her limbs. Closing her eyes, she embraced the memories and the desire they built.

A shiver teased along her spine as she imagined him showing her all that could be between a man and a woman. She’d been trained how to please her master, but it had been academic.

Before Prince Eli, she’d never known a man’s touch. Never known the bone-deep pleasure of a kiss. Had never known the heady warmth of waking up beside someone wrapped in their strong arms.

With Eli, she wanted to know all that and more.

Auburn glanced at herself in the mirror. Other than the flowing dress, she appeared the same as she had a few weeks ago. But she held her head higher now, walked more erect. She was part of the Tamarian delegation, part of Prince Eli’s entourage. The hard and determined prince didn’t listen to just anyone, but he listened to her.

He’d promised her freedom. She hadn’t meant to give him her heart in return.

She wanted her feelings for him to fade to distant admiration. Something easier. Something less intense. Something he could reciprocate.

Her heart squeezed, and the heat of desire froze into a lead ball.

Respect, thankfulness for taking her to Tamryn, perhaps even fear were the correct things to feel for Prince Eli. Anything else on her part was foolishness, and she alone would suffer the price of that foolishness.

Besides, she should be glad he wanted nothing more of her.

If Tamryn was anything like Qumaref, it would be much easier to find a husband if she still had her virginity.

She thought again of the boy in her visions and clutched a pillow to her chest as tears slipped down her cheeks.