“Ah…wife, I will happily oblige.”
“I said nothing,” she gasped, her eyes sparkling with wicked allure.
He kissed her mouth, flicking his tongue over the spot she had bruised, then sucked at the flesh there. She moaned, and he kissed her deeper, licking along the seams of her mouth before gliding his tongue over hers.
“Tonight…I am going to make love to you, wife… Then I am going to fuck you.”
She gasped again, the soft sound traveling down his body to settle against the base of his cock. “Are they not the same?”
He tilted her head, thrusting his fingers through her hair, kissing the corner of her mouth down to the curve of her throat where he grazed his teeth over her pulse. “Nay. First, I am going to savour you…lick and taste you everywhere, delight you with such pleasure, you’ll writhe and beg me to end the sweet torture.”
“I would never beg,” she said huskily, arching her neck and giving him better access to her flesh.
“We’ll drink more wine…take a bath together…and then I’ll place you on your knees, arch your back, admire and nibble at your lush arse…and then I’ll tup you, wife…hard and deep. That is the fucking part, my sweet.”
“My imagination is sorely lacking.” She took a deep breath. “Show me.”
That hot, little purr did incredible things to his damn heart, for it pounded as if he had no control over his emotions. Daniel groaned and bit harder on her throat and then sucked. The jar dropped from her grasp, and with swift reflexes he caught it, leaned away from her, and drank. She watched him with eyes dark with arousal and indefinable emotions. When he tipped his head back to consume more of the wine, she dipped forward and flicked her tongue, gliding it from his exposed throat up to his mouth.
It was her turn to kiss the corner of his mouth, tasting the wine there. He handed her the jar, and she drank several more gulps until it was empty. His wife stood, almost stumbling to the center of the grove, lifting her hand and twirling.
It must have been some sort of magical alchemy, for at that moment the wind stirred, and her hair tumbled loose from the chignon, spilling over her shoulder to her mid back, the leaves stirring at her feet.
She was simply breathtakingly lovely.
And you are mine.
Possessiveness and something more profound hitched through his heart, and Daniel wondered if he had ever given her soft words and tender moments, or if he was even a man capable of it. He wondered what precious things had been lost in the mire of forgotten memories. It was as she stumbled in her second twirl that he realized his wife was well and truly tipsy.
Amusement washed through him. Daniel rose and went over, clasping her about the waist and pulling her close to his body. She tilted her head up, searching his face. “Make a wish under the stars and take me into your dreams, Daniel.”
He was bemusedly aware of the odd plucking at his heartstrings. Right at that moment, Daniel knew he was not a man given to sentiments, and whatever feelings his wife roused within him were wholly unfamiliar and unknown. “You are already there,” he said.
Briefly, she closed her eyes. “Do not hate me,” she whispered, her lashes fluttering open.
“I can never hate you, wife.”
“You only say that because you do not know the truth.” Her eyes shadowed, and she tenderly touched the underside of his jaw. “I wish you were real.”
There was an odd note in her voice.
“Woman—”
“The truth is I am not your wife,” she said in a rush, relief filling her golden gaze. “You wouldneverhave married someone like me, someone so below your station and regard in every manner.”
“You are tipsy, wife.”
“Nay,” she gasped. “Do we not tell the truth when we are in our cups?”
He smiled, loving the red rosiness of her cheeks and the wild glitter in her eyes. “We also tell our fears. I suspect my family might have been wealthier than yours. It does not mean I am unhappy with you. Far from it.”
She made a slashing motion with her hand, toppling and landing on his chest with a hiccup.
“You cannot know that!” she said, tears pooling in her eyes. “You poor, wretched soul…who cannot recall his past and his family. How tormented you must be!”
“Poor, wretched soul am I?” he asked drily.
Her head bobbed with her frantic nods, tumbling her hair about her face and shoulders in a cloud of waves.
