his mouth with hers, sending sparks of sensation through her. “I guess sometimes being a bad king pays off.”
He dipped his head forward to catch her lips, but she pulled her head back and looked into his eyes.
“No. No more saying that. Not even jokingly. You’re a good king, and one day you’ll be a great one.”
Then she kissed him, as if sealing the words between them in offering, and he groaned with relief into her mouth.
The kiss wasn’t sweet or slow; she kissed him hungrily, freely, with the energy of someone who just revealed so much that only a good fucking would bring things back to equilibrium.
Sanyu evidently felt the same way. He was usually so careful of his strength, but he banded her tight to him with one arm, freeing his other hand to slide between them, under her shift, where his hand rested in the crease between her thigh and hip, and his heavy thumb nestled between her folds to press her clit through the fabric of her underwear.
He began to circle that thumb, slowly.
“Sanyu,” she gasped, bringing her legs up around his waist to take some of the weight off of his one arm—and to trap his hand where it was because she never wanted the delicious pressure of his thumb to stop. She rolled her hips almost desperately, aching for more sensation.
“Does that feel good, my queen?” he growled into her mouth, deepening the pressure of his thumb.
“Yes. Yes.” She pressed her mouth to his, licking at his tongue and nibbling his lips as she rode his hand. When the pleasure began to build in her, she tugged up his robe, hiking it up his body until the head of his cock was nestled against her slick opening.
“I want you,” she said, looking into his eyes. “You’re mine, Sanyu.”
His eyes squeezed shut as she hinged at the knees and lowered herself onto his cock. The slow slide of him filling her was almost enough to send her over the edge. Her inner walls clamped around him as she nestled her head against his neck and pressed her mouth against the taught muscle there to muffle her cries.
“By the two gods,” he grit out. He gripped her by the ass and held her as he pistoned his hips, slowly at first, as if making sure she was ready for him, then fast, deep, desperate strokes that tossed Shanti in his arms. She steadied herself by wrapping her arms around his neck, and began to meet his upward thrust with downward hip rolls of her own.
“Shanti.” Her name was a groan so inarticulate and unsexy that it made her shudder and tighten around him—Sanyu was barely holding himself together and the thought of it paired with the pleasure he gave her made her cry out.
She tightened her grip with her knees and bounced up and down on his length—quick, slick strokes, relentless as her orgasm washed over her. She kissed him as he groaned loudly into her mouth, his fingers digging into her hips and his hips jerking as he found his release, too.
He staggered back into the wall of the tunnel and held her tightly against his body. Nothing but the sound of their heavy breathing filled the tunnel for the minutes afterward as they came down from their peaks—and as they both absorbed what had passed just before their explosive quickie.
I teamwork you.
“Well, that’s orgasms sorted,” Sanyu said. “Should we move on to economics, Wife?”
Shanti laughed into his neck and squeezed him tightly.
“You know me well,” she said.
“Not as well as I’m going to in the years to come, Shanti,” he said, his voice serious.
Then he turned and carried her back down the secret passageway toward her room, where they’d plan for the morning’s meeting—where they’d change Njaza’s future.
Chapter 18
Before taking his seat at the head of the advisory meeting, Sanyu moved the queen’s bench to the front of the room.
Shanti was directly in his line of sight and every time he felt the not-fear grip him, he glanced over at her. Her expression was the same as it had been at every previous advisory meeting, but he knew her better now. The barely suppressed smile showed her excitement that the plan they’d worked on for weeks and tweaked late into the night was about to be tested. The shimmer of competitive pride in her eyes marked her affection for him.
Sanyu would make her proud today. He’d be the kind of king she believed he