Slowly, Dorian's large, warm hand began to trace a scorching, deliberate path upwards, moving agonizingly towards the delicate, bare curve of her chest.
With a gentle yet utterly unyielding force, he slowly turned her around to completely face him, though Isla's brilliant blue eyes remained cast firmly downward, heavily veiled by a thick, overwhelming curtain of pure, furious shyness.
Suddenly, the agonizingly slow pace violently shifted as Dorian's grip tightened; he pulled her fiercely and breathtakingly close against his solid, muscular frame in one swift, overwhelmingly powerful motion, completely erasing whatever tiny, breathable distance remained between their heated bodies.
Isla's mind frantically screamed at her to desperately push against his chest and free her trembling body from his possessive cage, yet simultaneously, her deeply traitorous heart yearned with an absolute, undeniable desperation to be entirely, eternally bound within the suffocating, beautiful depths of his fierce love.
He secured her firmly against him, one strong arm wrapping tightly around her slender waist in an unbreakable hold, while his other large, warm hand slid downward to rest heavily and possessively upon her bare thigh.
He did not say a single word, instead choosing to simply stare down at her flushed, deeply vulnerable features with an intense, burning gaze that felt hot enough to melt right through her skin.
Desperately crossing her arms over her chest to shield her exposed, trembling body from his ravenous stare, Isla stubbornly kept her gaze fixed on the tangled sheets beneath them.
"If I dare to look up at him right now, I am entirely lost," she thought frantically, her heart hammering wildly against her ribs like a trapped bird.
She knew with absolute, terrifying certainty that the very second she finally lifted her head and met those dark, all-consuming eyes of his, she would instantly, irrevocably lose whatever tiny, pathetic fraction of self-control she still possessed and completely surrender to the magnificent storm.
Gently, he reached out.
His warm fingers found her chin.
He tilted her face upward.
'Look directly into my eyes, Isla,' he commanded softly, his voice a low, intoxicating rumble that demanded her absolute surrender.
Isla squeezed her eyes tightly shut, completely refusing to meet his intense gaze, desperately fighting the overwhelming pull of his gravity.
Realizing her stubbornness, Dorian simply shifted his grip; with effortless, overwhelming strength, he grasped her slender waist, lifting her entirely off her feet and laying her back down gently against the plush mattress.
Isla instantly burned with a furious, crippling wave of shyness.
She was entirely bare, completely stripped of every single defense, and with the heavy silk bedsheet thrown far across the chamber, she had absolutely nothing left to hide behind.
She desperately wanted to protest, to somehow resist the intoxicating storm he was bringing, yet her voice completely failed her as she stubbornly kept her trembling arms crossed tightly over her chest to shield herself.
Without looking away for even a fraction of a second, Dorian slowly pulled his own shirt over his head, discarding the fabric into the shadows to reveal his broad, heavily sculpted chest.
Then, he began his slow, agonizingly beautiful worship.
He started at the very edge of the bed.
He pressed a soft, lingering kiss to the delicate tips of her toes.
He moved higher.
He trailed incredibly slow, burning kisses up the smooth curve of her calves, over her knees, and upward along the highly sensitive skin of her thighs, planting scorching marks until he finally reached the soft dip of her waist.
Isla kept her eyes forcefully shut, her breath hitching wildly in her throat, her chest heaving as she silently endured the beautiful, torturous heat of his lips against her skin.
Slowly, Dorian crawled up the mattress until his handsome, shadowed face was hovering just inches above hers.
Isla was still rigidly holding her arms defensively over her chest, trembling slightly under his proximity.
But the exact moment she felt his hot, ragged breath ghosting over her skin, she could no longer fight it; she hesitantly fluttered her eyes open.
She looked up, finally meeting his dark, all-consuming gaze head-on.
In that one profound, breathtaking second, it was as if she had forgotten absolutely everything else in the entire universe.
The suffocating royal guilt, the paralyzing shyness, and her desperate need to protect herself all instantly vanished, completely entirely burned to ash by the sheer, undeniable love blazing in his eyes.
Her rigid muscles melted into the mattress.
With a soft, trembling sigh of complete, absolute surrender, she slowly lowered her arms, letting her hands fall freely to her sides and leaving her entire body beautifully, willingly exposed and completely entrusted to him.
A breathtakingly soft, deeply reverent smile graced Dorian's lips at her silent submission.
Moving in closer, he leaned down and pressed a deeply tender, branding kiss right to the very center of her chest, directly over her wildly beating heart.