The Prince of Zammar

Smoldering - Chapter One

ONE

Sadie collapsed onto the heir of Zammar’s bed platform, breathless. Prince Jalen ‘Anaq Al-Jameyri’s chest was pressed to her back and the sound of their combined panting was all she heard. Her body still trembled from the aftershocks of one more explosive orgasm, and she had to consciously unclench her fingers from where they were gripping the bedding.

As she regained her senses, she realized Jalen—calling him prince in the recesses of her own mind was getting harder every day—was dancing butterfly kisses along her shoulders and neck as his labored breathing slowed back to its natural rhythm. Each tiny kiss sent shivers down her spine, reminding her of how he could make her feel. 

She marveled at how he could coax her to climax time and time again. It didn’t matter how sated she felt, he had ways to make her body sing with his touch and his mouth. She didn’t know why he even bothered to try, but she was thankful for that fact. She didn’t think she would have been able to keep up with his appetites otherwise.

If someone had asked her a month ago if she looked forward to becoming Prince Jalen’s favorite lover, she would have scoffed. She’d only agreed to be his distraction to save her life. She never expected to like his attentions. But she did. Craved them even. She even enjoyed them when he was rough and demanding.   

She never anticipated her quiet life spent tending to her sick or hurt neighbors would be upended so thoroughly. There had been the attack, the imprisonment, and the trial. Then, the verdict: death by decapitation, no chance to appeal. She had been seconds away from death when Jalen had intervened, buying her service as a diversion for year in exchange for her life when that time had elapsed. And now, here she was, living in his wing of the royal palace, pampered and protected.

In spite of the peculiarity of her new life, she found herself happier than she’d been since her parents’ death almost three years ago. It was quite strange, frankly, and not something she really wanted to dwell on. Jalen showed her all the care she could ever hope for from a man such as him. In exchange, she learned all she could about his tastes and desires. There were times when it seemed like what she’d learned wasn’t enough. Sometimes it felt like Prince Jalen held back.

He was insatiable.

After that first week living in the palace—a week Jalen had spent avoiding her for some reason—he had come to find her almost every day, sometimes several times a day. And he didn’t seem to care about their location: the gardens, the baths, his room, hers. There had even been that one time in the hallway leading to his chambers where he’d taken her against a wall. Sadie both blushed and smiled wistfully at the memory.

Nevertheless, a cloud hung over her otherwise contented existence. Sadie knew Jalen was ill.

She didn’t know what was wrong with him, but he always sent her away before he disappeared for the night, only to reappear the next day, exhausted and his muscles worked to the point of injury.

So she used her healing energy any time he let his guard down. It was never enough to heal him completely, but it did ease his pain. Sadie wanted to do more, but she didn’t know how to bring up the subject. He kept her at a distance. She was only a welcome distraction to him, after all. His little firebrand.

I can’t lose my heart, she reminded herself. But not caring was getting harder every day.

“Sleep while you can, little firebrand. I’m not through with you yet,” Jalen whispered in her ear, ending her musing. Her skin grew tingly at the promise contained in those few words.

Jalen shifted his weight off her back and his now soft cock slipped free of her body. She sighed, still not used to the sense of loss the action created. He held onto her hips and pulled her onto her side, then wrapped his arm around her waist to hold her close. Perhaps she should rest. He may not let her get another chance.