Page 34 of A Dance of Shadows

“Whatever you have to do,” he says. His fingers skim down my arm to my gold wedding band. “We always knew… He is your husband. If you need to fully consummate that relationship to see through our plans, or simply to stay safe, we’d never fault you.”

He shoots a pointed glance at Raul, who makes a disgruntled sound. “I’m not going to blame our Shepherdess for working her wiles however she figures is necessary.” The prince of Lavira caresses the side of my face. “I just hope you can wile yourself out of that particular act for your own sake.”

A lump rises in my throat. I’d imagine the thought of Marclinus touching me the way they just did makes Raul want to batter his fists into a wall to the point of bleeding—as he has many times before—but I believe him that his first concern is my own well-being.

“No matter what I have to do with my body, my heart and soul are yours,” I say quietly.

“And that’s what really matters. You know you’ve got ours.”

Raul steals one last, lingering kiss before kneeling down to pull my drawers back into place. Bastien smooths out a few rumpled pieces of my hair, his touch and his gaze so tender a sharper ache comes back.

This is only a stolen moment. It’ll be too long before we can have another like it.

But isn’t it incredible that I have these men at all?

The ache deepens at the thought of the third man we’ve left outside. “I’d better get back to Lorenzo so he can rest his gift.”

Bastien nods. “We can stay down here a little longer ‘preparing’ so he can have a proper break. We’ll eat on the way back.”

I return to my chair on the deck and watch the tension fade from Lorenzo’s face as he settles more deeply into his. He lounges there with me for a few minutes longer before getting up to set the boat swinging around.

I barely taste the luncheon the men brought, my whole body is so filled with the afterglow of pleasure and the thrum of affection. But the niggling regret that my third lover has been left out stays with me all the way back to the dock.

The knowledge of the passion I got to experience with the other princes heats every glance Lorenzo aims my way. Every passing minute I have to hold myself back from reaching out to him, a matching need smolders hotter inside me.

Right before we depart the carriage outside the palace, I signal to Lorenzo.Follow me to my room out of sight?

His brow knits, but he nods.

I say my farewells to the prince and his “cousins” outside the imperial residence’s front doors. Lorenzo conjures an illusion of his form walking away with the others while trailing behind me and the guards into the palace.

At my chambers, I hesitate for a few moments with the door open as if thinking I’ve forgotten something. When Lorenzo hasslipped in past me with a brush of his sleeve across my arm, I shake my head in feigned bemusement and shut the door between me and my guards.

The moment the lock has clicked into place, I yank Lorenzo’s mouth to mine.

He kisses me back with an urgent ardor. We stumble through the bedroom, me practically dragging him to the bathroom where there’s less chance of any sound we make being overheard.

Between scorching kisses, I wrench at Lorenzo’s trousers. He exhales roughly and yanks at the ties of my dress. Stripping the gown and my drawers off together, he nudges me against the tiled wall. Then he’s plunging into me, the heat of his body a dizzying contrast to the cool marble at my back.

I tremble in his arms and arch toward him, wanting to take him as deep as he can possibly go. Wanting to confirm that I belong to him and he to me every bit as much as Raul and Bastien do.

Our mouths crash together again. His palm swivels over my breast through my chemise, sparking pleasure through my chest. Our bodies buck together at a frenzied pace. I’m soaring higher, higher?—

I moan and shake with the final burst of ecstasy. Lorenzo buries his face in the crook of my neck and carries me even higher with the last few pumps of his hips.

We stay there, locked together and pressed against the bathroom wall, the sweat that’s formed on my skin sticking me to the tiles as our breaths heave.

Lorenzo lifts his head to offer a much gentler kiss. Then he peers into my eyes, his dark gaze penetrating my soul.“You’ve had a hard time since you came here. I wish I could have made your first trip to Rione happy in more ways than this.”

I hug him closer. “I’m sure it’s even harder for you, being home but still so restrained.”

Something shifts in Lorenzo’s eyes. His jaw works.

He tips his head forward to nuzzle my cheek.“This place isn’t home anymore. Home is with Raul and Bastien—and you. Wherever you are, that’s home to me.”

I choke up, pressing our faces together. “Then we’ll carry it with us, no matter where else this journey takes us.”

Chapter Thirteen

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