“I want to hear you cry with pleasure,” he said as he bent over her and his fingers found the sensitive spot begging for his touch.
“Oh, Leo,” she moaned as he claimed her body. Her legs were trembling, yet her soul soared.
“You’re mine, Ivana,” he said as he drove deeper, as his fingers strummed a rhythm unique only to them. “Don’t ever forget it. Don’t ever deny me your love.”
Ivana pushed hard against him in a bid to hurry, the audible slapping proof of the desperate need to find her release. The intense flames of passion spread to her heart. Each hot, wet plunge of his throbbing manhood roused a soft sigh.
“Don’t leave me.” The honest words fell unwittingly from her lips as her world exploded around him. Every part of her held him close. The muscles in her core gripped him tight; the muscle that was her heart swelled with undeniable love.
His groan of satisfaction was a sweet melody to her ears. “Lord, help me. You were right,” he panted as his hands clutched her hips whilst he was still buried deep. “Everything about this feels right. We were meant to be together.”
A tear trickled down her cheek, and she was thankful he could not see it. It was a tear to express her happiness at having had one more chance to love him. It was a tear to express her fear of the deadly power she knew their love would evoke.
“Forgive me,” he said as he withdrew from her body.
Ivana suppressed a whimper. “What is there to forgive?” she said, straightening her dress as she turned and flopped down into the seat.
“For being too desperate to wait.” He did not bother to cover himself, and she fought the urge to taste him in the intimate way he liked. “For not expressing the depth of my feelings.”
“It is how things are with us,” she said, thankful he had not conveyed anything other than lust as it was those powerful ripples of emotion that drifted through the night air, drawn to devious hearts and minds.
He smiled. “You’re not curious to know how I feel?”
“I do not need to hear the words, Leo. I see it in your eyes. I feel it in your touch. Indeed, you have opened yourself to me already. It is just that you do not remember.”
“Perhaps I’m glad I have no recollection of it,” he said with a shrug before tucking the most tempting part of his anatomy back into his breeches. “I am enjoying this road to enlightenment immensely.”
You will not feel the same when we reach our final destination.
“Indeed, I think we should spend the rest of the evening in your chamber,” he continued. “I think I would like to take things a little slower, savour every single moment.”
Ivana knew what would happen if they indulged themselves completely.
“We can’t, Leo. We will drink from each other. It will be utter madness to risk everything, to hope that lust, love or whatever this is between us will be enough to banish the demons from our door.”
“I am known for being reckless, Ivana. Up until now, my life has held little meaning. I have never had a purpose. Let me stay here with you. Let me help you with the children. And each night I shall bury myself deep inside the only place I belong.”
He was offering her the world, the only thing she had ever wanted.
And by God, she was tempted.
She looked into his eyes, looked through the mirror to the soul she had already spent an eternity loving.
“How adept are you with your sword?” she asked, as she considered surrendering to the light.
He raised a confident brow. “My tutor believed me to be exceptional. I have yet to meet a man equally matched.”
“And how far are you willing to go to protect what we have?”
Leo narrowed his gaze, fell silent while he contemplated her question. “Nothing will stop me from having you, Ivana. Nothing will stop me from discovering all we could be to one another.”
“Very well.” She sighed. She could not fight her feelings for him anymore. “When we return to the castle we will discuss alternative plans for the children. You must write to Elliot and tell him about Christoph, make sure your affairs are in order. I shall speak to Herr Bruhn. And may I suggest you keep your sword close, preferably next to my bed.”
Chapter 9
“Look at them,” Alexander whispered through gritted teeth. They stood at the tavern bar observing their wives sitting at the crude wooden table. “Anyone would think they were taking tea with the vicar not drinking in a tavern frequented by a cold-hearted devil with fangs.”
Elliot ordered a bottle of Franconian wine which he had sampled once before and then turned his attention to Grace and Evelyn, who were busy chatting and laughing as though they had not a single care in the world.