Page 90 of Crown of Hearts
Cai’s hands slid up my back and began to undo my nightdress.
I was filled with both apprehension and eagerness at the possibility of what was to come. My skin felt flush as heat that had nothing to do with the temperature in the room settled over me.
The King of Norrandale took his time removing my nightdress, as if he wanted to savour the moment. The heavy material dropped to the floor, and I was left in only my white shift, much like the one I’d worn on the night we first met.
His hands slid over the curves of my body, exploring me in a way he hadn’t before. I pulled at his shirt, and he helped me lift it up over his head. I allowed my hands to graze over the musclesof his torso, admiring the strength of him. He wrapped his arms around me and turned us so that he could lower me onto the bed.
I grasped his upper arms as the mattress sank beneath our weight. Cai’s hand slowly slid up my leg until it reached under my shift, and I shivered. His mouth placed soft kisses on my jawline and down my neck, all the way to my collarbone.
I clutched at him with greedy hands, wrapping my legs around him, and Cai breathed out my name with a trace of desperation.
He rested his forehead against me.
“I long for you in ways I haven’t longed for anyone. In ways I will never long for anyone else again.” His voice broke through the darkness of the room as the embers of the fire began to dull.
I trailed my hands up to his face. “You have me.”
My heart beat wildly and I wondered if he could hear it.
His hands were at my hips, my shift bunched up between his fingers. His eyes stared deeply into mine as if he hoped to read my mind.
“Don’t say it if you don’t mean it. I want all of you, Elara, most of all your heart.”
“I mean it.” I pulled his mouth back to mine. Cai deepened the kiss, stating all his intentions as his mouth moved over mine.
He gently moved between my legs, and I trembled beneath him.
Whatever composure I might have possessed was long gone. Cai’s movements were careful, yet urgent, igniting a fire I wasn’t sure could ever be put out.
My hands were everywhere, his hair, his neck, and digging into his back, needing something to hold on to.
Cai’s teeth grazed my neck before he continued to press long, ravishing kisses to my bare skin. No longer was there a wall or any sort of distance between us. I could not tell where Iended and he began as the two of us merged together, our souls intertwined. Nothing would ever be the same again.
The last of the flames in the hearth sizzled through my veins, coursing through my entire body. And for him, I would burn.
Cai’s hands clung to me as if I were something precious and fragile. I arched against him, holding on to him as if I were holding on to dear life itself.
“I think you’ll be the death of me,” he murmured against my lips, in a low, deep voice, and it was my undoing.
* * *
“We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow. A serious meeting will need to be held regarding our state of affairs with Argon,” Cai said, much later, sitting up in bed.
“What do I care about Argon?” I said into the pillow, with my eyes closed. “It’s not as if we’re married or anything.”
Cai pinched my side, and I jerked while suppressing a laugh.
“It appears I’ll just have to marry you whether I want to or not. You’re so in love with me, who knows what you might do to yourself if I refuse.”
I kicked his leg in response and received an “ow” in return.
“Some fiancé you are.” I turned around and sat up against the headboard, pulling one of the pillows to my chest.
“I’m sorry, is there someone else you’d rather marry?” he joked, but it was enough to make me hesitate.
“Do you remember the Darwicks? When we stayed at their estate?”
“I remember drinking too much wine and not kissing you when I should have.”
