Page 58 of Claimed By the Duke of Ice

“And then you came into my life. This…angel who took that pain and suffering away, and for the first time in over a decade, I was happy. But when you fell that day, I picked you and gathered you in my arms—my mother was all I saw. All I felt. You weren’t you. You were her. Already gone. Already taken from me. I tried to see you, to be in the present, but my mind…my mind put me back in that place, and I lost myself.”

Nathaniel pulled his hand away from Grace’s only so he could rip the glove off, and then he grabbed her hand again. He breathed in a sigh of relief, and his shoulders sagged.

“I was only going to stay away until I got myself better. Until I was sure my head was where it was supposed to be. But then my aunt intervened, and Grace, I am so sorry for whatever she said to you to make you think that I wanted to leave. But it wasn’t true; you must know that.”

He looked back at her, his eyes full of emotion, and he leaned in. Grace felt his other hand come around her back, and when she felt his palm press her toward him, she let him. He then placed the softest, most tender kiss on her lips and leaned his forehead against hers.

“I love you, Grace,” he confessed.

“And I love you,” Grace whispered, caressing her cheek against him before kissing his forehead. “Oh, Nathaniel. I’m so very, very sorry for the pain you’ve been through.”

“Then forgive me, please,” he begged, pulling back so he could look at her. “And come home with me.”

Grace pressed her lips together tightly as she contemplated this. Her heart ached for her husband, but she couldn’t so easily forget that he put a similar hurt into her heart not long ago.

“If I do come home with you,” she said at last, “you have to promise me something.”

“Anything,” Nathaniel replied quickly, moving even closer to her. “Tell me, and it is yours. You will never have to be near Tabitha again if that is what you wish.”

Despite the heaviness of the conversation, Grace laughed softly as she shook her head.

“I don’t care about that woman, Nathaniel.” she replied truthfully. “No, that’s not what I meant. I want you to promise me that you understand that I am indeed human.”

Nathaniel looked at her for a moment, confused.

“Of course, you are,” he replied.

Grace smiled softly at him once more. “I mean, as a human, I will get sick. I will have injuries. It is normal for a person to experience these things. And you must promise that whenever this happens, you cannot run away from me again. No matter how frightened you are. I know what you went through, and I am so sorry to hear it. But can you for a moment imagine what it was like for me? To wake up from something horrible, confused and in pain, and the one person I wanted to see—the one person that could make it less horrifying—wasn’t there.”

Grace watched as guilt consumed Nathaniel’s face, and he bowed his head in shame. To her surprise, though, he knelt down on the floor, her hand still in his, and met her eyes.

“I will never do that again, Grace,” he swore gravely. “From now until the end of our lives, you will never have to go through anything like that alone again. I swear it on my mother’s grave, Grace.”

Unable to keep herself away from him anymore and satisfied with his apology, Grace moved onto the floor with him. After sliding into his lap, they wrapped their arms tightly around one another and kissed. Nathaniel and Grace both moaned in pleasure at their reunion and, for the next few moments, became lost in one another’s embrace.

“Does this mean you forgive me?” Nathaniel asked after they both finally parted for air.

Grace laughed softly as she nuzzled her cheek into his chest and nodded.

“Yes, my love,” she replied. “I forgive you.”

Nathaniel’s grip on her tightened, and he feathered kisses into her hair.

“Thank heaven,” he whispered. “Then please, sweetheart, let me take you home. I want nothing more than to spend the next week in bed with you.”

“A week?” Grace laughed softly, placing light kisses on his lips.

Nathaniel chuckled as he nodded his head. “At the very least.”

* * *

They could not wait to make it to Nathaniel’s bed in Ninter. After they announced their departure to Grace’s family and said their farewells, Grace and Nathaniel’s carriage didn’t even make it down to the road before their mouths and hands were all over one another. Nathaniel’s mouth, greedy and possessive, claimed Grace’s as she slid the skirts of her gown up around her waist and straddled her husband’s lap.

After spending days thinking she would never see him again, Grace’s hunger for Nathaniel was consuming. With needy hands, she helped him close the blinds of the carriage, and then they proceeded to tear at one another’s clothes until they were but a heap on the carriage floor.

“You have no idea how I’ve missed you,” Nathaniel groaned as he slid his hard cock into Grace’s warm, wet sheath.

Grace gasped and whimpered as she felt his great size sink into her, and she began to grind her hips needily into his.

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