“No. I have come to the realization that my life would mean very little if I did not have you.”
“You cannot mean that,” she said, breathless.
“I do. I have gold, lands, and power, but until you became my wife, I had no heart, only a darkness in its place. I find now that a heart is an infinitely more valuable asset.”
She grabbed a fistful of hair, pulling his mouth to hers, and kissed him hard and deep in an attempt to keep her alarm at bay. When he finally began to kiss her back, her body sagged against him, letting him gather her into a warm, solid embrace.
“Promise me one more thing,” she demanded.
“If it is mine to give, then you have my promise.”
“That you shall never let the thought of taking your own life become an action with consequence. I cannot bear the thought of you not being in this world with me.”
“I swear to you.” He found the dry bathing cloth that hung over the side of the tub and wiped at her tears with slow, careful strokes. Then, he dipped the cloth into the water and squeezed the liquid over her shoulders. She sagged, letting the tension of their argument melt away with the warm water.
Then the soap cake was in her hand, and she rubbed it over his broad chest slowly, creating a thick, white lather on his skin. She handed it to him when she was done and he followed suit, soaping her skin with a tantalizing grace that made her insides ache with want. Longing to touch him, she kneaded his soap-slicked skin, working at the taut muscles in his shoulders from her seat in his lap.
His head fell forward to her shoulder and, taking the cloth from him, she rinsed his skin clean. Her teeth caught his ear and nibbled lightly before pushing him back against the curve of the tub.
“You are clean, my lord William,” she whispered. “Though I am not sure how long it might last.”
She quickly rinsed the bubbles from her body and quit the tub, scampering out before he could grab her. He rose, water falling off his form, and his magnificence stole her breath away. He was so heartbreakingly beautiful. She stepped into his open arms as he came out of the bath. Effortlessly, he lifted her up and carried her back to their bed where he laid her damp body in the middle of the linens.
He began at her toes, placing light kisses on the tips of each digit. His hands stroked her legs, his touch so full of need she suspected it might suck the marrow from her very bones. This was an expression of his heart; an expression of the love he dared not tell her about. His tongue tickled her ankle, and her involuntary giggle sent a warm smile over his beautiful mouth.
Lifting her leg, his lips and tongue played with the delicate skin behind her knee.
“My bed is the only bed you shall ever have,” he whispered, crawling the length alongside her form. “My body is the only body you shall ever taste.”
“You, only you.”
He smiled slowly, reminding her for a moment of the lecherous scoundrel she had first met at the Assembly. Slowly rolling her nipples between his fingers, he teased her core with his tip then withdrew from her completely.
“William,” she cried. “Pray, do not. . .”
He took her hand and placed it on his length. He pulsed and throbbed beneath the tips of her fingers and she was driven to stroke him, feeling every inch of the soft, hot flesh. His body began to shake as her hand worked him with growing speed. He was near his release and opened her legs and leaned back into the bed.
When they finished, Elizabeth gathered him to her breast, kissed his forehead, and disappeared from the bed. She was back before he opened his eyes.
“Where did you go?”
“I ordered fresh bath water.”
“What if I do not care to wash the scent of you from my skin?”
“Then I suppose,” she said as she pushed him back, “that I shall have to fuck you so often that my scent simply never leaves.”
Later, when they were sated and bathed, Elizabeth joined her husband at the door of their chamber. She beamed when he gathered her up and swirled her around happily. Laying her hand to his cheek, she kissed his mouth, delighting in the fact that he was hers.
Her smile suddenly faded, and her eyes grew wide.
“What is wrong?” he asked, his forehead creased.
“We spent a lot of time together this morning.”
“So we did.”
“What if we made a baby?”
