I never knew it could be like this.

Such sensations that warped through me and anchored me onto the mattress. Such pure pleasure coursing through me at the simplest touch.

I barely slept all night, so wrapped up in how it felt.

How it was to be with another man. With Ysac.

The night of the grand escape—Otho, Luned, and Jack—I'd been too on edge to sleep with him. After that kiss we'd exchanged, all the heat boiled up inside me and I was nauseous. No way would I spend my first night with him huddled over a chamber-pot struggling to keep my guts in.

That, and all the turmoil of the day sat with me much longer and with much more intensity than I'd have expected. Discovering Mother was still alive, after all this time, living in disguise here in Acewood? And watching her leave my life again seconds after reuniting with her?

It wasn't enough time. It pleased me to know she was alive, safe back in Springport; but it wasn't fair that I wouldn't likely see her again.

Traveling through the mirror took a lot of power and required too many sacrifices. And we didn't have the king of magic to make it work.

I'd made my choice; I was staying in Acewood.

The next day, after Gwenore—Queen Gwenore—announced her regency, then her upcoming coronation, the weight in my belly didn't dissipate. If anything, the word queen made me sicker, as I envisioned my mother in Springport having a similar speech.

I didn't think hers would go down as well as Gwenore's had. Queen Gwenore had subdued them all with an offer of a party. According to Ysac and Princess Tilda, celebrations were the best way to woo and entice any courtier of Acewood.

The words woo and entice didn't help my bellyache, either. They reminded me too much of Astrida, who was still on my case, still obsessed with me. I had to devise a solution to avoid her at all costs.

I wouldn't lie; I spent most of the rest of the day avoiding Ysac, too. Avoiding my feelings. Unsure where we stood after our torrid kiss, and what kind of grand gesture I'd showed by deciding to stay here instead of returning to my home realm.

But Ysac caught me in the evening, as I snuck off after dinner. He'd been busy training with soldiers—one of his new roles as appointed by the queen. I'd hoped to hurry to my quarters and lock the door so I could think of him, unbothered by anyone, but...he found me.

"Hey," he'd said, gripping me by the arm and tugging me into a tight embrace. His erection was up close and personal, and a twinge of desire grew in me. An erection I'd pictured one time too many in recent days, wondering what it'd feel like, taste like. "You've been avoiding me, haven't you?"

I gulped, nestled in his arms. I was so safe, so happy, but at the same time so incredibly nervous around him. Women? I could seduce them with a wink and a smile, and seconds later they'd be naked in my bed, legs spread for my satisfaction. But...Ysac? This dashing young man with the most magical purple eyes and luscious golden hair and skin so smooth it made me shiver?

I was under-prepared and overwhelmed.

"Ysac, I..." I gulped again, setting my hands on his muscular arms to push myself away. Wow, were his biceps bigger in the few days since he'd started additional training? Or had I never touched them this way and gotten so...turned on by their girth?

I chewed on my lower lip, remembering the other girth I'd perceived up against my thigh.

"You...what?" Ysac cocked his head, the ghost of a grin on his lips. A nearby sconce drowned him in a golden glow and for a second, my heart stopped.

His face was flushed, his shirt unbuttoned to reveal his shiny, hairless chest, rising up and down with heavy but steady breaths.

"This is..." I fiddled with my fingers, tongue-tied for the first time in a very long time. Not since my first tryst with a woman had I been so shy and awkward.

I adored this man. More than I'd ever adored anyone. And the way his body drew me in, how his juicy lips made me thirsty, how I hungered to discover him...it all frightened me.

"Ah," he said with a quick nod, his smile returning. Warmth flooded me as he gently took my hand in his and squeezed. "This is all new for you, of course. Being with a man."

I winced but nodded. "I want it. I want," I lowered my voice, "you, but...I have no idea what I'm doing."

Ysac tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, his fingertips grazing my cheek oh-so-lightly, but enough to cause goosebumps. "Then I'll guide you, darling. Let me take care of you."

And guide me, he did. Take care of me he absolutely did, as well.

In his bedroom, we were alone. Courtiers gone, guards gone, no one but us and the bed and the sheets and our heavy, nervous breaths.

The discovery was slow, sexy. Hot and fulfilling. He extinguished all the candles but one small one on his nightstand and watched me as I slowly disrobed. He didn't insist, didn't touch me; only leaned back on his elbows, delighting in every bit of flesh I exposed to him.

I saw his cock getting agitated as I arrived at my undergarments. Saw it twitching and growing with arousal. I could almost sense it against my leg again, and it made my heart race as I removed the last of my clothing to display my own erection.

"Well," Ysac said, eyebrows raising as his gaze focused on my cock. He tilted his head this way and that, intrigued. "Much more than I ever imagined."

"Is that...good?" I'd never questioned my size or girth before. No woman had ever complained. Some had even complimented me, saying I was one of the biggest they'd ever had.

Not that men in Springport were known for a large size, but I had nothing to be ashamed of.

But now, in front of Ysac...all my confidence melted. He was a new audience, a different audience, with different needs.

Needs I didn't know the first thing about. Who did what? Who entered who? For how long and how rough and how—

"Shhh," said Ysac, leaning forward to press a finger to my mouth. "It all happens naturally."

I shuddered as he grazed his other finger along my cock, so softly I scarcely sensed it. Enough to warrant a tiny moan from me.

"How...how did you..." I could hardly express myself as his caresses continued, firmer, tantalizing.

Yes, many women had taken hold of my member and stroked it, some even dared to put it in their mouths. But the deftness Ysac used now, the subtle yet clear confidence in his gesture, stilled every fiber of my being.

"You think this is my first time being with someone who's just recently understood their true sexuality?" He grabbed me by the ass and tugged me closer, bringing me to stand between his legs. And all the while still massaging my cock in such a skillful manner, I wasn't sure I'd last much longer. "I've...uh...had my fun, Teo."

Under other circumstances I'd be offended, but what Ysac and I had...I knew it wasn't like his fun days. I knew he'd be nothing like the serving girls I'd bedded in Springport.

This wasn't a bedding. It wasn't simple fucking.

It was love-making.

"Trust me," he said, sliding down from the mattress to kneel in front of me. He still held on to my cock, except now it was in his face, up close and very personal.

My face overheated and my legs shook. He hadn't done anything yet, and already I unraveled for him. I craved for him to pleasure me, for him to show me what it was like to be with a man.

I craved him.

And as he took me into his delicate, wet mouth, I came near explosion.

Remembering it now, as we lay side by side, what appeared like hours later, got my cock pulsating with need again.

What he'd done to me last night...it was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. So tender, so thoughtful, and so enticingly hot. The things he'd made me feel, taste, hear. The way he'd moaned in my ear when he came; the way he'd tugged on my hair, gripped my ass as he thrust; it was all so...enlightening. So amazing.

I struggled to come down from my cloud.

And there he was, beside me, sleeping soundly. I moved onto my side to better see him, admire his gorgeous face and perfect body in the early sunlight. We hadn't properly closed the curtains, so a thin film of light streamed in, basking his chiseled chest, showing off every indent of muscle, every firm patch of skin.

He was so beautiful. No wonder I fell for him—literally—upon meeting him. His eyes had hypnotized me, and I'd grown enamored with his voice, his mannerisms.

It still surprised me I hadn't jumped him in Hartland, the night of Tilda's party. When I'd seen his silhouette through the changing panel—the outline of his cock that I still sensed inside me. Pumping and hard and delicious.

I was still sore, of course; such a new type of bliss would take time to fully get accustomed to. But after a few rushes of pain came the utter bliss that his entering me provoked. I lost myself, completely, to him.

And I'd do it again, and again, and again.

I couldn't believe how lucky I was. I was here, with this man, in this magical world, with my mother's blessing. This—mages and quarreling queens and handsome jesters—was my new life.

"You're staring," Ysac said, voice cloaked with slumber, though a smile painted over his lips. His eyes were still closed, but he must have been awake for a while to catch me.

"Am not," I said, quickly laying on my back and pretending to gawk at the ceiling.

"Oh?" He pounced on top of me so fast, I'd have missed his playful smirk if I'd blinked. He was really awake to have such energy after the night we had. "It's like that now?"

Despite how muscular he was, he still felt so light atop me. His skin was so soft against mine, his body heat likely to keep me warm through the harshest of snows.

"You must be hallucinating," I said, knowing how sheepish I sounded, but not caring. I wasn't used to waking next to anyone; normally my conquests departed before dawn.

But Ysac wasn't a conquest, was he? No, he was much, much more.

"Well," he said, chewing on his lower lip as he snuck his hand under the covers, between our bodies, "hello, there." He snagged my cock and began caressing it. "Someone is as wide awake as you."

I gasped at the sudden contact, then relaxed at the now familiar sensation of his hands doing their most perfect work. "Hmm, it's difficult not to be fully awake next to someone like you."

So many horrible things were going on in this world, but at that moment, with Ysac on top of me, stroking my cock, spreading kisses over my neck, nothing was wrong.

I took a few moments to admire this man, to succumb to his utopian touches, to let him bring me to the brink of another climax. I'd let the world's troubles wait outside, for a minute or two.

However long it took for us to make love again.

"My, my, you're so easy to rile up," Ysac said, his caresses quickening. I sensed his own arousal thickening against my thigh, and the sensation only heightened my desire.

Nervous as I'd been the night before, I was now eager. The way he'd filled me up, the nerve endings he'd tingled; it was so thrilling and adrenaline-inducing that I wanted more. Needed more. And I couldn't wait to—

A loud pounding came from the door. Not the pounding I'd been hoping for.

Ysac groaned and rolled off me. "Yes?" He pulled the blankets up over us both. "Who is it?"

I grimaced. Whoever it was, they'd interrupted what was sure to be the best morning sex I'd ever had.

The doorknob jiggled. "Are you decent?" A feminine voice came from behind the door; a voice I recognized at once and that froze me over.

My erection was gone in an instant.

"Astrida?" Ysac sat up, the covers dropping to conceal only his bottom half.

The door opened, revealing none other than the ice princess herself, decked in an elaborate rose-gold number that, while it was thick with fabric, hardly covered her breasts and had the highest slit I'd ever seen in a gown. Her milky thigh was exposed, and purposely poked out to attract attention. Typical.

Her face drained of color at the sight of Ysac and I in bed.

I braced myself for the fit she'd throw, since she still believed that I'd fall head over heels for her.