Page 66 of Thief of Roses
For all that he had forgotten, he remembered the day a guard shot his childhood dog in front of him because he had questioned a request from the king.The things and people he cared about came to harm when he disobeyed.
“I said that I was given the fortress,” he sighed.“The complete truth is, it was given to me so that I could live here, not as a home but as a prison, long before I met any Rivan sorceresses.My wife was just an excuse.”
“Oh, Baró.”Rivani stroked his cheek and then furrowed her brows.“Did you not say that you led your brother’s armies?”
“No.I was raised with the intention to lead them.I participated in campaigns, but I did not command.My mother came from the South and so everyone assumed I favored her in looks as I aged.But when I showed undeniable signs of Rivan parentage, I was sent here as a prisoner of state.”
“Were you a great warrior?”
His mouth twisted wryly.“I looked marvelous adorned in fine raiment atop a horse, but no, I was groomed for strategy,” until that strategic mind threatened Luca.“I told you, I was a military engineer, useful only if you needed something fixed or erected.”
Rivani stroked his chest and traced the pathways of his scars.
“Ah, so my Varnasian prince and Rivan god was sent to the provinces because of the political implications of his existence.”
“And the threat I posed to my dynastic line.”
“Your life has been exalted and damned all because of your potential.That’s almost cruel.”Rivani stared at his chest, her mind far beyond it.“Arturo de Vacca is lauded as a hero cut down before his time in the Rivan campfire stories, but in the rest of history, you’re probably only known as ‘the younger brother of King Luca.’”
“There’s likely not even a portrait of me in the capital or hidden away in a cellar or attic.I’m an embarrassment eagerly erased from the record.”
“I always knew you were Someone.”She shook herself from her thoughts.“And you are.The Fir’Darl.And soon to be my powerful, beautiful lover.No matter what your past, what we have now is precious.”She slid her hands up his body and settled herself atop him, nuzzling her face against his neck.
“So,” she continued, teasing, “if you were a military engineer, would it be fair to say that you are capable of impressive erections?”
“That was dreadful.”
Rivani laughed and kissed him.Then bit his collarbone.
“You have told me that you are mine, Baró.I hope you know, I am yours too.”
His breath caught in his throat.He shuddered when she moved her body down towards his thighs to better appreciate him and she stroked the fur of his abdomen down to the nest of curls.She kissed his navel and his lower back arched beneath her.When she positioned herself to take him in, their mutual whimpers and moans only served to enhance the urgency of their circumstances.
“I want to make you happy.”Rivani made eye contact with him as she set their pace.
“You make me happy.”He reached up and wove the tips of his claws through her hair, cradling her cheek in the process.
When she smiled at him and put her hand over his, his body engaged elsewhere, he forgot who and what he was.He forgot to see fur and claws.He forgot to be ashamed.Nothing in the world existed except her.Except them.Except their shared desire.And for one brief glorious moment, with their bodies joined and her eyes full of affection, he felt himself as she declared him: beautiful.
