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what she had signed up for.
    He grabbed her wrist and he brought her right palm to his lips.
    A shiver ran up her arm, across her breast and below her navel.
    She cleared her throat. “Uh, seduce me?”
    “Indeed. I would like to call on you during my free time and yours. I would accompany you to the events my mother plans and stand at your side. Perhaps we could even dance.”
    His eyes still held shadows in them, and he trailed his lips down her inner wrist. The shivering became more intense as he went.
    “I don’t know how to dance. I had to turn away all requests…was it only last night?” Her voice was throaty and breathless.
    “I can teach you. It is a simple matter when there is trust. Shall I show you?”
    She swallowed. He had spoken with his mouth against her skin. She could feel the words and they echoed in her body.
    “I think you are pretty good at the seduction thing.”
    She felt him smile against her skin and shadows spun around them to ensure privacy.
    He caught her in his arms and pulled her body flush with his. To her surprise, he began to murmur instructions in low tones for how easy it was to dance on Irudan.
    Her mind was spinning with the feel of him. He was solidly built and smelled of soap and midnight when everything was cool and dark.
    “You are giving away your identity and your courtship, Skorin, if I may call you that?”
    “I do not care. You are here, we are married, you have met local society and it is acceptable that they now know who and what I am, and who you are by default.”
    He moved with her in elaborate patterns that left her dizzy and clinging to him. She held tight, and when he stopped, she was breathless, disoriented and clutching his chest. He kissed her, holding the back of her head where the braid began.
    She parted her lips and invited him inside, moaning when the hot slide of his tongue entered her. His other hand pressed her hips into the obvious erection below his waist and she rocked against him.
    He lifted her and held her tight until there was only fabric between them as he rocked her harder and faster.
    The friction and heat built to an insurmountable wave, and then, she felt a cool entry to her body that thickened suddenly and she groaned in his arms, clinging to him while her body shook.
    She moaned as he helped her lower her leg and his kisses became soothing instead of savage.
    His hand still supported her and she was glad. She needed it.
    Rowen pressed her forehead to his chest with her cheeks scarlet. “Dance instruction?”
    “I am a multi-tasker when it comes to dealing with a woman I want. That woman now and forever is you. You are the one I need to convince.”
    “This isn’t what I signed up for when I came to Irudan. I just wanted to spend time in the gardens.”
    “I want you to do that as well. There will be nothing changed except my attentions during your free time and at the events you are required to attend. Even as a full husband, I respect your occupation, and in fact, I still have one of my own that will require odd hours and late nights. Neither of us can give up what we are for the other and the courtship will simply get us moving in the odd rhythm together.”
    The idea of moving in rhythm with his was tempting. That brought a thought to bear. “Did you uncover that portrait?”
    His cheeks darkened. “I did. Rhoda of Yacaro does excellent work. She is one of your kind with a talent for seeing a person’s perfect match or destiny. She puts a higher priority on working with your species to get you settled in the Imperium. It is a dangerous place for a woman alone. I believe that she is seeking out likely matches for you.”
    “So, your back really has all that stuff on it?”
    “It does indeed. That is a Nakkua family mark. I got it when I was seventeen.” His hands were now cradling her with care.
    She shivered in his grip and slowly eased away. “That was interesting and all, but when and where I do have to give a deposition