Still enthralled in the rapture of his touch, I wasn’t prepared when he gathered himself up and thrust into me.
The feel of him, so hot and throbbing, pushed my orgasm to another level.
Marcus soon followed, moaning my name as he came, a rush into an ocean of pleasure. “Take it. Yes, all of it.” He pumped until he was dry, loving my body into exhaustion.
When I could catch my breath, I looked up into his unguarded expression, and something within me clicked into place.
“Marcus.” I didn’t know what else to say, how to explain to him all I felt for a man I had only really just met.
“I know.” He kissed me. Then he pulled out and tugged me into his arms, his voice husky with exhaustion. “We’ll talk later, Tessa. Everything can keep. For now.”
I nodded, feeling tired as well. Stroking his hair and pulling him closer, I gave way to the exhaustion pulling my under. And let the arms of my princely lover keep me safe.
Chapter 19
Marcus
I lay back and crossed my arms behind my head, glad for the shady rilk trees protecting me from the sun. I waved my fingers, and a cooling mist soothed my heated frame, my body still recuperating from Tessa.
“She’s special, that one,” King Faustus said from my left.
Startled, I glanced over to see my father clad in a towel and nothing else, lying on a cushion of Tanselm’s thick grass as he gazed at the Quaren river beside me.
“Do you have to be here, now?” I asked, too sated to behave properly.
In life I’d rarely talked to my father with anything but polite respect, but Tessa had completely scrambled my brain. Besides, it was my dream, wasn’t it? Time to regain control of my subconscious.
“Now hold on a minute,” my father said as a naked Tessa shimmered to life beside me. “Let’s have a little talk before your aff—friend returns.”
I shrugged, and the image of Tessa faded. Why not? I could use the rest. The sexy woman had exhausted me. I could still feel my toes tingling. My toes.
I smiled and closed my eyes. “Go ahead, Father. Say what you have to say. Nothing can ruin this moment.”
Father chuckled. “She’s good for you, Marcus. It’s about time you learned how to relax.”
A ruffle of air soothed us.
I opened my eyes when I heard a splash and saw my father playing in the river. I stared in surprise. “I don’t recall you ever acting so carefree before.”
Father grinned, looking so youthful it took me a moment to recall he had indeed passed into the Light. “You were always so wrapped up in the rules you missed a lot of the fun parts about being a prince.”
A huge wave crashed over me, leaving me drenched and curiously lighthearted as I watched my father splashing around.
“Your mother…” Father paused, a twinkle in his eyes. “That woman could get me to do anything she pleased. Had me wrapped around her little finger.”
I nodded, happy memories chasing the sadness of his death.
“She always made me see the other side of things. Brought me back when anger overcame good sense. Pushed me to act when I felt indecisive.”
I blinked. “Indecisive? Angry? You were perfect, the epitome of the Storm Lords at our very best.”
And the standard by which I lived my life.
“No, son. You see through the eyes of a child.” Father shook his head, and a spray of water refreshed nearby dragonflies. “You spent much of your boyhood with me. Too much, I think. Even Aerolus lost himself in the woods rather than sit inside a stuffy court hall during penitence day. But not you.”
“I had to watch and learn,” I defended myself. Because I took the role of prince more seriously than my brothers.
“You always were so intense. Now Cadmus, that boy has a sense of humor.”
