Alex couldn’t fight the wave of relief that coursed through her as Zatar lowered her slowly onto the bed. His kisses were like a balm she desperately needed. His warm hands crept inside her shirt, and every touch felt as reassuring as a hug. What was it with this man and his presence? He was practically a drug. One she was more than willing to take.

Some of her spunkiness returned now that Zatar had partially soothed her with his mind-numbing kisses. “You think you can just kiss the pain away, huh?”

He nodded through a kiss, mumbling “Mm-hmm.”

“Well.” She scoffed. “I’ll have you know, it’ll take a lot more than some kisses to make up for the horrible things your dad said.”

He pulled back, a knowing smirk on his face. “Oh really?”

“Definitely.” She returned the grin that blossomed on his face. Things were fun with Zatar, fun in a way that felt like they were two old friends finding each other again after a long absence. Everything felt new but somehow familiar.

“I’ll try my best.” His voice came out a sultry whisper before he kissed a path down her neck, over the valley of her breasts. He bunched up the fabric of her shirt, exposing her lacy bra, kissing the lines of her ribcage before nuzzling a breast.

“This is helping slightly,” she said, fidgeting as he eased on top of her, nudging her legs open with a knee.

“Good.” He pushed his hands under her bra, massaging each breast while watching her intensely. The eye contact alone made her pussy clench, and suddenly she was so desperate for another Zatar-induced orgasm she wanted to scream. She bucked her hips, which made him smile.

“Careful now.” His voice had a chiding tone. “I’ll get there. I promise.”

She laughed in spite of herself, covering her face with her hands. “Sorry. You just…have a lot to make up for. So it better be good.” She giggled into her palms as his hot breath bushed her belly. Moist kisses at her panty line. And then he was tugging her shorts off, tossing them aside, gobbling her up with a gaze so sexy she thought she’d burst.

As Zatar sat up to remove his robe and shimmy out of his pants, her mind went back to the horrible reaming in the library. Sure, the guy was xenophobic. But he had a point. She didn’t belong here. Not in the palace, where she stuck out like a sore thumb. Not in Zatar’s life, where she would be at best an accessory, something fun to pass the time. So was it really smart to hook up with the guy who could never be anything other than a hot romp in Kattahar?

Part of her was screaming “YES!” But the other, rational, sensitive side of her knew that if they had sex, it would change everything. Sex always changed everything for her. Zatar would be no different.

Don’t fall for him. You can’t fall for him.

Even thinking those words was a clue that maybe it was too late. But it also seemed impossible not to ride this train to the end of the line. Racist father be damned.

“What are you thinking about?”

She snapped to attention, finding Zatar’s gaze heavy on her. He was naked except for his boxer briefs, his face above hers as he propped himself up on all fours.

“Nothing.” She sounded guilty even to her own ears. Zatar cocked a brow.

“Tell me. You were very distant.” He pressed an encouraging kiss to her collarbone and she melted.

“I don’t know how to say it.” She hooked her hands behind his neck, loving the heat of him as he sealed his body to hers. He was warm and real and terribly handsome. Was it so wrong to enjoy this? She had so few moments of romance and sexiness in her life. Zatar was just an outlying blip on the radar, but one she should enjoy, dammit. She offered him a smile. “Just ignore it. I want you to ravish me.”

There. That, at least, was how she should be talking. How she should be enjoying this. Because who knew when in life she’d find someone like him? Or enjoy something like this in surroundings like these?

Zatar grinned and lowered his lips to hers. After desperate, gulping kisses, tongues tangled and frantic, Zatar pressed his forehead to hers.

“I want to be inside you.”

His words made her pussy clench again. She hooked a leg around his waist, grinding her hips against him. “Please. Get inside me.”

Zatar pushed off her, scrambling to retrieve something from inside his robe. He returned a moment later with a condom. He tore it open with his teeth and then pushed his briefs down. That glorious, caramel cock sprang free again. She sucked in a breath and held it, unable to rip her gaze from him as he rolled the condom down.

“I want you to come all around me,” he whispered, easing back on top of her. “I want to hear you scream my name as I make you come again…and again…” His smile was devilish as he dropped his head to her breast, taking a nipple in his mouth. She arched her back, knotting her hand in his hair. He rubbed the tip of his cock up and down the folds of her pussy.

“Yeah…okay.” She pinched her eyes shut as he nudged his cockhead at her entrance and then pulled away. Her pussy tightened in anticipation, her entire body rigid and desperate for him. “Sounds like a plan.”

He swiped his tongue along her jawline, something both feline and sexy, and then snagged her earlobe between his teeth. He took fistful of her hair, angling her head back to look at him.

And then he sank into her. Slowly, as she accommodated his thickness and girth, and then forcefully, drilling himself all the way in until there wasn’t anything left to fill. She gasped, loving how full he made her feel, how every cell inside her body seemed to sing with joy. He ground against her, his hazel eyes rimmed with fire as he studied her.

“That’s right.” He wet his bottom lip, never breaking his gaze. He pulled back slightly and then eased himself back inside. A shudder passed through him, causing a shiver to move up her spine. Sex had never felt like this before. Like he was a piece she’d been missing all along without ever realizing it.

Soft grunts escaped her as he drilled into her, slowly at first but then more forcefully as she opened up and needed more. More of him. More of the crackling passion between them. She locked her ankles behind his back, digging fingernails into his sides as the pace escalated to fervent and animalistic. Sweat beaded on Zatar’s brow, his abs flexing with the effort of fucking her. Her head lolled back, but he tightened his grip on her hair, snapping her gaze back to him.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said, his voice edged with rawness. “I could come right now.”

Her eyes drifted shut for a moment. “Me too.” The heat churning inside her was getting hard to ignore. She couldn’t keep it at bay for much longer. “Ohhhh, God. I’m close.”

Zatar grunted, picking up the pace, pounding into her so hard her breasts jiggled and little squeaks escaped her without meaning to. She hung on to his biceps, pinching her eyes closed. “Oh God. Oh God.”

“Nnngh. Say my name, Alex.” His jaw flexed as he took her in, his gaze sweeping appreciatively up and down the both of them. “Let me hear you say it when you come.”

Her mouth parted. Zatar’s rhythm, the way he filled her, the magnetic heart of him, it all combined and exploded and suddenly she was falling over the edge, falling so fast and hard that all she could do was squeal.

But that squeal turned into a moan, and she was moaning his name without even realizing it. Zatar didn’t let up, not even for a second. He pounded into her until she was a gooey mess and her pussy was throbbing with too much pleasure. Then he slowed and moaned low, cock pulsing inside her, his body jerking violently as he came.

When he stilled finally, his chest heaved and his entire torso glistened with sweat. He looked down at her with a knowing smile.

“Alex,” he whispered, a tiny dimple emerging at the corner of his grin. And looking up at him, she knew that it was over.

She’d fallen for him. It had happened without her even realizing it, and maybe she’d always been doomed.

Despair crept into the bliss. She’d fallen for him, even though she knew better. Knew what usually happened when women fell for the rich men, the royals, the playboys.

She’d have to hope and pray like hell that this, right here, could be enough.

Zatar awoke the next morning with the first rays of sunlight. He pressed the back of his hand to his mouth as he yawned, assessing the surroundings. Alex’s room. She slept peacefully beside him, the sheets tangled and messy around them. They’d had sex more times than he could remember. Did it count as one or two times if he’d gone from soft to hard while still inside her? He smiled lazily, scooting closer to her, forming his body against hers. Maybe that was a math problem they could work out together.

His body ached from all the sex. He wasn’t sure that had ever happened before, not even in his wild younger days. He nuzzled into the hollow of her back, eyes drifting shut as her scent enveloped him. This was something he could get used to. Waking up with her beside him seemed like a delicacy. Something to be savored, a true luxury in life.

He yawned again but ripped himself away from her. He needed to check on Sala. After their marathon sex session the night before, he hadn’t returned to the zoo as he’d meant to. Timak was always around and vigilant, but a visit was overdue. He dressed slowly, his body protesting the movement.

Zatar slipped quietly out of the room, his bare feet whispering over the smooth marble floors of the palace as he headed for the zoo. It was early—birds twittered in the still-cool morning, not yet driven to hiding by the scorching midday sun. He inhaled deep breaths of the fresh air. When he came upon Sala’s enclosure, Timak was just coming out.

“Good morning, Timak.” He clapped a hand on the zookeeper’s shoulder. “How is everything?”

“Very well. Sala appears to be slightly better. It seems the medicine is working.” Timak offered a warm smile. “And you, sir?”

Zatar laughed despite himself. There weren’t words to describe how well he was doing. “Better than ever. Did you hear that my father has left for Monaco again?”

Timak hesitated. “I did, sir.”

“It’s for the better. Although I don’t condone his rampant waste of money, this time it serves me well.” He paused, wondering if he should open up about Alex. It seemed silly to put words to what he was feeling. But at the same time, it was bursting out of him, begging to be spoken. “My father wants Alex gone because she’s a foreigner. But she and I have…connected. Extremely well.”

A tiny smile tugged at Timak’s lips. He nodded sagely. “Yes. I did notice that.”

“I’ll take as much time as I can get with her.”

“Women like her don’t come around very often, sir.”

Zatar nodded as he looked inside the enclosure, letting Timak’s words settle around him. “It’s true.” He ran his thumb up and down the bar, a question forming deep within. “Could you see me being with someone like her?”

Timak had been alongside Zatar for over ten years. He was practically a second father to him. And at times like this, a total replacement.

“I can. There’s something about her that fits with you.” Timak squeezed his shoulder. “You both love animals more than anything else. She wouldn’t be jealous, nor would you.”

Zatar laughed. “Yes. I suppose you’re right.” He fiddled with the gate lock. “Well, my father won’t always be king. And when he’s gone, I won’t have to follow his ridiculous rules. He’s challenged me to take control of the country while he’s gone, which I gladly accept. I just fear that when he returns he’ll undo everything.” He shook his head, feeling the conviction burble inside him. Pursuing what he felt with Alex was worth the backlash. It was the only bright spot to appear in his life since his mother’s death.

And following that light was more important than honoring his father’s hateful rules.