Page 103 of Dark Awakening: New World

Or maybe she was right, and that was why he needed to pleasure her first.

The only problem was that he didn't know how, and he would need her to guide him.

69

JASMINE

Ell-rom put his hand over Jasmine's. "Please. I can't."

He looked so pained that she released him right away. "What's wrong? Did you change your mind? Do you need more time?"

He shook his head. "I need to pleasure you first. Maybe it's an instinct, one of those genetically programmed memories, but it just doesn't feel right for me to be on the receiving end."

It was a little chauvinistic of him, but if she told him that, he wouldn't understand what she meant. Heck, there was probably no equivalent word in Kra-ell. They were a matriarchal society, but that didn't mean the males were pushovers or weaklings. They were the defenders of the tribe, and they were dominant, but they took their orders from the mistress, who was the head of their large family unit.

Still, that wasn't the instinct driving Ell-rom. The male Kra-ell probably needed to compete for the affections of their mistresses, and the need to be good, generous lovers was most likely genetically ingrained in them. Heck, it was natural selection, the survival of the fittest, or, as happened in the Kra-ell society, the survival of the best lovers. The males who got to father the next generation had to excel at sex to get repeat invitations to the females' beds.

Their natural selection favored good lovers.

Jasmine had no proof of that, and the only thing she had been told about their sexual practices was that they were violent and that they fought for dominance, but perhaps Edgar had exaggerated.

Ell-rom was gentle. He would never get violent with her or hurt her in any way. Of that, she was positive.

Ell-rom needed to prove himself to her. Not only that, she had been the initiator in all their exploration so far, and it didn't sit well with him. He needed to take the lead.

"Okay, big guy." She leaned back. "I'm at your command."

"I need guidance," he admitted. "Would you teach me?"

Nodding, she handed him the washcloth. "You can start by soaping me."

"Turn around," he said quietly.

When she did, he put a hand on her shoulder, leaned in, and kissed it, then started running the washcloth over her back, her arms, and her stomach, and as he skimmed the sides of her breasts, she moaned.

Dropping the washcloth, he used his hands to lather her belly, her hips, and the tops of her bottom. And then his hands rested on her waist, and he lifted her and turned her around in a show of unexpected strength.

Jasmine gasped. "How did you do that? You are not supposed to be able to lift me yet."

"I got fueled by passion." He cupped her cheek, then smoothed his hand down the length of her neck and all the way to her collarbone, learning her contours with such reverence that it made her feel like a goddess.

From her collarbone, he smoothed his forefinger down and circled her nipple without touching her needy peak.

"Touch me here." She cupped her other breast and showed him how to tweak her nipple. "Kiss me right here." She arched her back.

He groaned and leaned down to press a sweet, soft kiss where she had shown him, and then moved to the other one and did the same thing.

Apparently, her prince was a literal guy, and she had to explain what she'd meant by a kiss.

"Lick it, close your lips over it and suck. Just be careful with your fangs. Don't nick me. If you do, you will have to lick some more to heal me."

Something passed over his eyes, and if Jasmine hadn't known better, she would have thought it was revulsion.

Had she given him too many instructions?

Too much detail?

She didn't want to kill the mood by being overly bossy or too literal.