The deep rumble coming from his chest heated my blood. “I don’t.”

“I know.” His hand coasted up my side.

“I’m just surprised,” I said, sucking in a shallow breath as his hand drifted higher. The thin, silk nightgown was no barrier against the coolness of his touch. A wave of shivers followed in the wake of his movements. “I didn’t think undressing was what you had in mind.”

“Undressing you is always what I have in mind.” Cupping my breast, he grinned, and my breath caught.

My lips felt swollen as they parted. “I figured you were going to lecture me about being outside.”

He drew his thumb over the peak of my breast, the hollows of his cheeks becoming sharper as my nipple beaded. “I told you that you had no idea what I was going to say.”

“I sensed—” I gave a little jerk as his other hand folded around my right breast. “You were angry when you first returned.”

“Was I?” he asked, watching himself draw the same response as he had seconds earlier.

A heaviness settled in my chest. It wasn’t the all-too-familiar warning of anxiety but a thick, languid sensation that also bloomed between my thighs. “Yes.”

“Perhaps…” he murmured, lowering himself to his knees.

My heart thudded as my hands fell to the table on either side of my hips. The sight of Ash on his knees before me never failed to stun me into silence.

He stretched a little, his head now level with my chest. “I was wrong earlier.”

“About—?” I swallowed, and my entire body bowed as his mouth closed over my breast. The combination of the silk and his cool mouth was downright sinful. “About what?”

His head lifted, and he pressed a kiss to the swell of flesh above the lace. “About your senses developing faster than I expected.”

It took a moment for the meaning of what he said to pierce the fog of desire. “What?”

“There is no way you sensed anger from me.”

Before I could respond, his mouth moved to my right breast. He sucked deeply as his thumb and forefinger closed around the still-tingling nipple, drawing a sharp burst of dual pleasure from me. My hips twitched when he did something rather wicked with his fingers.

The shadows beneath his flesh thickened and spread. “Anger was the very last thing I was feeling.”

Gripping the table, my chin fell forward as I struggled to focus on what we were talking about. “I never said I sensed anger from you.”

He chuckled, nipping at my skin through the silk. “Yes, you did.”

“I misspoke, then.” I was breathing fast as Ash rose with fluid grace, his stare fixing on mine. The heat in his eyes scorched my skin. “You looked angry.”

Tsking under his breath, he shook his head and stepped into me. His chest brushed my already sensitized breasts. “That is not how I appeared when I looked at you.”

I had to crane my neck back to hold his stare. He towered over me. Anyone else crowding my space like this would’ve drawn out my temper, but he caused an entirely different reaction. My body throbbed with arousal as my gaze soaked in the brutal lines of his features. It was almost the same expression I’d seen in the courtyard. “You sure about that? You look the same now.”

“I was angry when I saw what had happened to our people. You are correct in that sense, but that’s not what I felt when I looked at you. Nor is it what I feel when I look at you now.” His fingers curled under the thin straps of my nightgown. His head dipped as he tugged the lacy straps down, baring my breasts to the featherlight touch of his chest. When he spoke, his lips brushed mine. “Want to wager a guess at what I’m feeling?”

I didn’t even attempt to do so as his fingers left the straps at my wrists and grazed the sides of my breasts. Nor did I try to put a stop to what he was doing. There were important things to be discussed: the sekya. Kolis. Those wounded and lost. But it was almost as if his touch, the sound of his voice, and his words had woven a sensual spell.

“When I saw you, I wasn’t thinking about you being out in the courtyard, fighting alongside our people,” he said against my mouth. “I asked you not to come to the Abyss, and while I would have preferred that you stayed out of trouble—”

I opened my mouth.

Ash took that exact moment to kiss me, silencing my protests regarding staying out of trouble. “I do not expect you to stand by and do nothing while those you care about are under attack.” His lips brushed mine. “The moment I learned that the sekya had attacked the palace, I knew my Queen would be out there, holding her own. That is what I expect from you.”

Good gods. That was possibly the hottest thing anyone had ever said to me.

“Always,” he added, dragging strands of my hair over my breasts. “What I didn’t expect was what I would see when I saw you.”

The way he said that caught my scattered attention. “What…what do you mean?”

“You were shining. Gold. Silver. You were ethereal.” His palms coasted across my waist. “It was as if the moon and the sun had finally come together. I saw you, only you, and you were the most beautiful being I’d ever seen.”

My eyes drifted shut. I leaned into the table as he urged the nightgown farther down.

“And all I could think about was how badly I wanted to be inside you,” he said, and I felt his lips curve upward at the breathy sound that left me. “How I needed to be inside you.”

I shuddered as desire twisted sharply deep inside my core.

His hands settled on my hips. “That was what I was thinking about in the courtyard. And as fucked up as this is, it was also what I was thinking about when I found you with the injured. You were luminous then, too. It’s also what I’m thinking about now.”

Without warning, he spun me around and slid one hand to my stomach. My eyes flew open as he pressed his hips against my rear. I could feel him, thick and hard. The sudden change of position had a startling effect, stirring that hidden part of me that loved it when Ash took control. It brought forth a rush of wet heat and a little seed of trepidation. The unwanted anxiety was like a noxious weed, threatening to take root, but the feel of him—of Ash and no one else—against my back kept me grounded. His hold on me was firm yet comforting as his thumb moved over my skin, just below my navel. The caress was soothing, and after a few moments, the fires that burned with a dark, welcoming heat beat back the apprehension.

When Ash dominated, I didn’t know why it aroused me to a fever pitch. Or maybe I did know why I liked it like this and wasn’t yet willing to face it. But I knew why I allowed him to take my hands and place them on the table. I knew why I didn’t put up a fight when he bent me forward, forcing me onto the tips of my toes. I understood how I didn’t panic when his large hand smoothed down the center of my back, pushing me onto the cool, glossy surface of the table.

I could give up control and let go.

Ash could take me.

And I could allow it.

Because he understood. I trusted him, and I knew I was always safe with him.

“Just do me a favor next time and take the dagger with you,” he said, working his forearm between the table and my cheek.

“I…I can do that.”

“Good.” Ash leaned into me. His lips were cool against my jaw. “Liessa?”

“Yes?” I breathed, staring at the open doors of the balcony beyond the pitcher and empty glasses on the table.

He lifted my gown, running his rough, calloused palm up my thigh as he used his knee to spread my legs. “I’m going to fuck my Queen.”

Oh, gods.

His hand delved between my thighs, and I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood at the contrast of his cool fingers and my damp heat. At the rumble of approval that radiated from him and vibrated against my back. I shivered as his fingers brushed the taut bundle of nerves. My hips jerked, and I felt the thick head of his cock against me.