At Her Temple

As Long as I'm Your Last

Leela

I held my breath, waiting for his next move. He was on both knees in front of me, with his finger resting under my chin and his face mere inches away from mine.

Without thinking, I licked my lips. A low growl grew from his chest and escaped his lips. I felt a weakness in my legs at his sounds and his face being so close to mine.

"Be careful, Leela. I'm a king, but I'm still just a man. Now, answer me. Why do you think I asked you to show me Varun?" he asked, getting dangerously closer to my face.

I desperately wanted to run my fingers through his thick, dark hair and destroy the distance between us.

"I think... I think you mean for your union to be... with me," I whispered.

"You think correctly," he replied, a slow smile spreading across his face.

Everything inside me melted as his canines flashed at me. His smile was breathtaking.

"I have already asked your father for permission to pursue this union. Now I ask you."

I looked at him, confused. Ask me? It wasn't custom for a princess to have much say in her nuptials, let alone if those nuptials were for forming an alliance.

"You... you want to ask me what?" I asked, tentatively.

"Will you be my queen? Is it something you could want? Could you want me? Not just as your king, but as your husband?" he asked, almost earnestly.

Even with his earnestness, he exuded power and the ache between my legs grew. I needed air, I needed to be away from him. Being close to him only clouded my thoughts.

"I... I will need some time to think about it. I hope you can understand, I just..."

I trailed off, not knowing what more to say. I wanted him. I wanted him from the moment I had laid eyes on him. But to move from my home to a hot desert, to become a queen when I had been fine with remaining a princess all my life. It was too much to answer just yet.

"I understand," he said, sitting back on his feet.

"Is there anything I can do to make this decision easier for you? Do you have any more questions for me?"

I had many, but I thought I'd start slowly. Especially since he seemed hesitant to answer some of them.

"Well firstly, why me? Keira has been training to be a queen all her life. She understands the duties, she has mastered royal etiquette."

He smiled wryly at me, as though expecting the question.

"I was perfectly fine with marrying your sister," he said, rather flippantly.

I bristled slightly with jealousy and he noticed.

"I was perfectly fine with it, until you walked into the Great Hall. I saw you and I knew you had to be mine. Everything about you begged me to touch you, and when you spoke it was the sweetest sound I ever heard. I knew then and there that I'd want you by my side."

While his words were sweet, I was still rattled by how just perfectly fine he was with marrying my sister.

"So you were prepared to marry my sister. Within one day, you are prepared to marry me. Who is to say tomorrow it won't be someone else?"

"You are not the first woman I have wanted, you feisty Varunian," he laughed, "but never have I wanted another woman in this way."

"And what way is that?" I questioned, visibly irritated that he was finding this so amusing.

I gasped as in one swift motion, he was on his knees, lifting me up from my hips. Instinctively, I wrapped my legs around his waist and he sat back on the ground with me straddling him.

"In what way?" he repeated my question back to me as his hands trailed down my back, coming to rest on my hips.

"Yes," I replied, barely whispering.

"From the moment you walked into the hall, and I saw your hair, this red-gold hair I have never seen before, I have wanted to run my fingers through it."

I gasped as he wound my braid tightly around his fist and pulled back my head.

He trailed his nose up my neck and I shivered involuntarily.

"And when you spoke, I wanted to know what other sounds you could make if I touched you. May I?"

I nodded breathlessly and bit my lip as his hands slid down from my hips to cup my rear.

"And when you rolled your eyes at me, I wanted to f**k you slowly until you rolled them over and over again," he whispered into my ear, digging his fingers into my rear and pulling me closer to him.

I clamped my hand to my mouth but to no avail. As he pulled me to him, I felt him harden beneath me and a moan escaped from my lips. He smiled wickedly.

"I have never wanted another like this," he whispered against my mouth.

I moaned again and involuntarily moved my hips against him. He hissed, tightening his grip on my hair and pulling my face away from his so that he could look at me.

"Does this answer your question?" he asked.

I nodded, not trusting myself to open my mouth.

"Say it," he commanded.

"Yes," I moaned, rolling my hips against him again, this time deliberately.

His eyes closed and for a brief moment, I felt the power shift in my favour. I rolled my hips again, testing his reserve and his eyes flew open.

"Be careful, princess," his voice was deeper, dangerous.

His eyes were dark pools of lust and I wanted him to act on his instinct, but part of me was afraid. Once again, he read my mind and took a deep breath.

"I will do nothing until you ask me to," he said, standing up and taking me with him, my legs still around his waist.

I wanted to ask for everything, but the request caught in my throat. He lowered me to my feet and picked up his cloak.

I suddenly noticed that the light was no longer streaming through the trees. We'd definitely been gone for more than two hours.

"Come, Leela," he said, holding out his hand.

"The sooner I get you home, the sooner you can make a decision."

---

Eli

"So you chose the sister meant for me?" Lucien raged.

It had been four days since my proposal to Leela, and my brother had spent all four of them enraged at my decision. I had given Leela her space, meeting her only at mealtimes and under the supervision of both her parents, who watched our interactions like hawks. I wanted her decision to be her own. But I had known she was mine the moment I saw her. I spent any moment I could greedily learning all I could about her.

"Careful brother. Nobody was promised to anyone," I replied, trying to keep my temper under control.

"She will be one of many for you," he spat angrily. "Father married seven. SEVEN women. You can take your pick from any woman, from Varun to Zamee and you take the one meant for me?"

"Brother. She was made for me. I took the sign from the Goddess and I have asked her for her hand. If she accepts, she will be my queen and you will respect her as such."

"Respect her? I would be bedding her if it weren't for you following your c**k," Lucien yelled.

It was a step too far. Grabbing his throat, I slammed him against the wall.

"You will remember your place, brother. Brothers we may be, but one more word like that from you and I shall cut your tongue out of your mouth. Am I understood?"

"Ye... yes," he choked, his hands grasping at my fingers, trying to get them to release.

A loud knock interrupted us. I released him and he fell to the floor, spluttering and gasping for air.

"Enter," I bellowed, wondering who was disturbing us at this late hour.

A small woman with the straw coloured hair that I was slowly becoming accustomed to seeing, peeked through the slightly open door.

"Your highness, I beg your pardon."

"My pardon is granted Mae, come in," I said to Leela's handmaiden.

"My lady requests your presence," she said shyly, staring at the ground.

"Tell your lady I will meet her at the time and place of her choosing," I replied.

Lucien rose from the ground and stormed past Mae angrily. I saw her shrink away from him slightly.

"Excuse my brother, Mae. He is... underdeveloped. Now, when does your lady wish to see me?" I asked.

"Now, your highness. In her chambers." She whispered the last part.

I hid my surprise.

"I see. Let's not keep her waiting then."

---

I stood outside as Mae knocked on her door.

"Enter," Leela said.

I waited for Mae to enter ahead of me, but she pushed open the door and shook her head.

"My lady would like to speak with you. Alone."

I nodded as she walked away and quietly slipped through the door, closing it behind me.

Leela stood by the doors to her balcony, overlooking the moonlit castle grounds. She had her back to me and was wearing a thin, white cotton dress that did nothing to hide her curves. I had last seen her at supper in the Great Hall, where she'd sat by her father's side and not said a word to me. She'd also been wearing a lot more.

"Inviting a king to your bed chambers in the late hours of the night. What will people say?" I asked, stepping towards her.

She turned to face me, but she wasn't smiling as I'd hoped.

"Actually, that's part of why I've asked you to come," she said, carefully.

I frowned, not understanding.

"Before I accept your offer, you should know to whom you've offered the title of queen," she continued.

"I think I know well enough," I said.

"Please Eli, let me finish. Before you hear it from anyone else, I'd like you to hear it from me."

I braced myself, not knowing where this was going.

"Would it change your mind if I were to tell you that, if we were to be wed, you would not be the first man I have ever lain with." She looked sadly at the floor as she said this.

I inhaled sharply, rage coursing through my veins.

"Did he hurt you?"

"Oh gods, no Eli. No, he was a boy as I was a girl four years ago and though I knew I wasn't in love, I wanted to know what it meant to love. But in doing so, I am not the pure queen you desire."

She didn't look at me once and continued to stare at the floor.

I could have roared with relief at knowing she'd come to no harm, but the hour was late and I had no desire to tarnish the name of my future queen.

"Leela, you will not be my first. Does this sway your decision to be my queen? Am I a lesser man in your eyes?"

She looked at me, confused.

"No, it has no bearing."

I crossed the distance between us and took her into my arms. I felt her relax into me and she sighed as I traced her lower lip with my thumb. Burrowing my nose in her hair, I inhaled her scent. I could smell the jasmine of a late Zamee evening.

"I don't care if you have a first, or second, or third. As long as I'm your last. Now before the night is up, I beg you, answer me. Will you be my queen?"

She gazed up at me with the moon reflecting in her emerald eyes.

"I will."