The kiss ignited desires Prince Eli had kept buried beneath his cold exterior, and he’d rather they stayed buried.

Before he could pull back, Auburn’s body softened against him, and her lips parted as she offered him more. Her arms wrapped around him, drawing him closer.

Her response intensified his need, and Eli deepened the kiss as her innocence and enthusiasm mixed into an unexpected and heady concoction. The prince almost capitulated, almost gave in to what his body wanted and what she would give him.

Eli forced himself to step back. “I have a lot of work to do tonight.”

“Work?” Auburn’s eyes fluttered open. “But-”

“I need to transcribe everything I heard. See if I can piece together what the sultan needs and where he’ll compromise.”

“He needs a trade agreement,” Auburn said. “The rains have diminished, but he must still feed his people.”

Eli thought back to all the evening’s conversations. “He mentioned trade several times, though never what.”

“It’s the reason they started diplomatic negotiations with Tamryn. The sultan couldn’t strike an agreement with Arren or K’tel, leaving Oskelez as Qumaref’s only trading partner of any significance.”

“Oskelez is stuck in the middle of a swamp.”

“The kingdoms exchange goods through teleportation spells. Qumaref has no mages that can cast the spell, so the trade favors Oskelez. And Oskelez has enough trouble feeding its own population.”

Eli’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know this?”

“The powerful talk in front of slaves as if we’re not there. I listen.”

“I have to be careful with you.”

Her eyes widened. “I would never-”

“Not as long as you consider yourself mine. Perhaps I could use you as an adviser.”

“I’m a slave.”

“An intelligent one that listens, understands, and uses it to get what she wants. Like being chosen to dance.”

Auburn swallowed and stared down at her hands.

Eli regarded her for several long moments. “You don’t want to be my adviser?”

“Would Tamryn allow such a thing?”

“I’m the prince, and I take who I choose as an adviser.”

A smile curved her lips. “I never thought myself worthy of such an exalted position.”

“I notice you said worthy instead of capable. You’re a distraction and a temptation, but you understand the politics of Qumaref as no Tamarian does. Perhaps even better than Rolland. That’s useful.”

“So you’ll keep me?”

The hope in her voice made his stomach churn and his demons howl. “I’m not ‘keeping’ you, but you will join my retinue.”

She linked her fingers together. “Does that mean you’ll take me back to Tamryn with you?”

“If I don’t?”

“You’d have to sell me before you left, or they’d consider me a cast-aside slave.”

The hitch in her voice said more than her words did, but it was political suicide to bring a slave back with him, particularly a beautiful one. Taking the crown without the Dragon God’s blessing would be difficult even without further complications, and Auburn was definitely a complication.

But Eli couldn’t “cast her aside”, and by Dracor’s Fang, he would never sell her. She was a person with a soul belonging to the gods, but it was more than that. What more, Eli didn’t want to ponder.

Damn the sultan and his impetuous gift. Damn this unknown feeling.

“You’re part of my retinue now. You’ll come back with me,” Eli said.

The smile that brightened her face made his chest tighten. By the gods, she was beautiful. He wanted to protect her, to keep her safe, both strange and alien feelings. He didn’t like them.

“I’ll do everything I can to help you,” Auburn said.

“You can start by getting some sleep while I finish my work.” She glanced up at him, and Eli thumbed over her full lips. “You’re a beautiful distraction, and I need to get this done before I can rest.”

Auburn bowed her head and left him, tucking herself between his sheets.

Eli sighed and buttoned his coat as the chill desert air emphasized the loss of her warmth. He turned a chair to face away from her so he could concentrate on something other than her sleeping alone in his bed.

Closing his eyes, the evening played through his mind, and he took notes on everything he’d seen and heard. The prince then read through those notes and searched for patterns or anything unusual.

Unusual.

His hands balled into fists. Nothing about the evening had gone as planned, especially not the sultan giving him a slave as a gift.

What in the seven hells was he thinking keeping her with him, much less making her part of his retinue? He and his shadowguard had vetted every other member of his team, and they’d all passed the rigorous security checks before the prince had even considered them for this mission. The handful of attachés Eli hadn’t worked with previously had come recommended from people Eli trusted.

Except for Auburn.

He should send her away, to the seven hells with the repercussions she suffered. She’d chosen to dance for him. She’d deal with the consequences.

That would be the easiest and most logical path.

But Eli couldn’t bring himself to do it. He wanted to lie and say it was because she was a slave and had no choice in her circumstances. That while she’d chosen to dance for him, she couldn’t have known the sultan would gift her to a foreigner. A foreigner that had been in Qumaref for less than a day.

The prince had no compunction about lying to other people, but he never lied to himself. That was foolish.

Frustration burrowed into him. Eli didn’t understand why he hadn’t sent her away, or why he hadn’t forced her to share a room with the rest of his staff.

That bothered him more than anything else.

Staring down at the notes in his hands, the prince growled. Enough foolish thoughts of slave girls. He had a mission to complete.

* * *

When Prince Eli finally tucked away his papers and stretched, the sun was pinking the sky. The room had turned chill during the night, and he understood the thick rugs and warm throws despite the afternoon heat.

The prince drew the curtains over the windows. He needed to sleep before the negotiations started, and the rising sun would make that impossible.

Dragging himself to his bed, Eli found Auburn curled up with the blankets wrapped around her.

Her rich copper-red hair cascaded across the pillows, and before he could stop himself, Eli reached out and stroked it. He cursed as he snatched his hand back.

This had already been a difficult, if not impossible, assignment.

The Dragon Church opposed slavery and demanded its abolition before it would countenance relations with Qumaref. Slavery or not, the merchants’ guilds were eager to open trade. The nobility was ambivalent, though many of the elite households had developed a taste for the rich spices and fragrances that they could only purchase from Qumaref.

This mission had to be a test from his father, but Eli didn’t know what the king wanted. Had King Garrett sent Eli to Qumaref to appease the merchants, knowing nothing could come of it?

No, that wasn’t like his father. The king expected something, and it would take all of Prince Eli’s considerable negotiating skills to reach an agreement. After two months on the ocean to get to the desert kingdom, Eli would be damned if he went home with nothing.

Auburn made the situation more difficult, especially for him. A part of him wondered if his father had conspired with the sultan, but King Garrett would never countenance slavery.

Eli gazed down at her. Temptation wrapped in silk, and he was not used to resisting temptation.

He was also not sleeping on the floor.

Kicking off his boots, the prince left his shirt and trousers on as he slid into bed. While he was careful not to touch her, she scooted closer to him, her eyes never opening as her chest rose and fell in the steady rhythm of sleep. Eli growled several expletives, but he didn’t want to move and was too tired to do anything but sleep.

He draped an arm over her, and she nuzzled closer, the heat of her chasing away the desert cold. She felt good in his arms, soft and right. Exhaustion didn’t allow him to question it, and he laid his cheek against her copper hair as sleep took him.