Michael had seen the scar before, but he’d never remembered how he’d received it.
“When you were two years old,” Mrs.Turner said, “you loved climbing up on tables, no matter how your nurse tried to stop you.One day, you fell backwards and cut yourself on one of your toys.You cried, and your mother held you while they stitched up the wound.”Mrs.Turner stretched her thumb and forefinger to show the size.“It’s naught more than this large.But only a few members of the palace staff knew about it.”
She grew solemn.“You’re going to get your throne back, Michael Thorpe.I promise you that.”
Michael spent the last few hours of the night pacing.Mrs.Turner’s confession made it impossible to deny his past any longer.Now he had to decide whether or not to seek the kingdom he’d lost.
He threw on a pair of trousers and a shirt, not bothering with a waistcoat.Tiptoeing outside his room, he moved down the corridor and toward the back stairway.The Graf’s lodge was not large, though it was luxurious.
He didn’t know what drew him to Hannah’s bedchamber.It wasn’t the desire to intrude but a deeper need.If he could sleep beside her, he sensed that he could calm the tangled state of his mind.
The Graf had given her a room on the opposite side of the house.Although they had kept up their ruse of marriage to the outside world, Heinrich von Reischor intended to uphold Hannah’s virtue as best he could.
Quietly, Michael opened the door to her room and moved inside.Though he doubted if she’d hidden a knife under her pillow the way he had, he whispered, “It’s Michael.Are you asleep?”
“I was,” Hannah replied, rolling over and blinking at him.“What is it?”
He closed the door behind him, thankful to find that she was alone.Without another word, he crossed the room and lay down beside her in the bed.
She wore a thin cotton nightgown, and her body was warm from sleep.A light fragrance of jasmine clung to her hair.Michael curled around her, holding her close.
She didn’t ask for explanations, but softly ran her fingers over his arm.A reassuring touch, one that helped to calm his troubled spirits.“Stay with me tonight,” she whispered.
He kissed her temple in answer.Though his body was already responding to her nearness, he forced the desire away.Right now, he just wanted to sleep beside her.
“You can tell me, you know,” she whispered.“Whatever is bothering you.”
“In the morning,” he promised.“Right now, I’ve the need to hold you.”
She rolled over on to her side, propping up her head on her hand.“Tell me.”
He explained Mrs.Turner’s confession, all the while finding an excuse to touch Hannah.He ran his fingers over her shoulder, down to the curve of her hip.“I hardly know what to do any more.The throne isn’t something I want.”
Her hand came up to his face, and she pressed her lips to his in a soft kiss.“If Queen Astri is your true mother, she’ll want to know what happened to you.”She pressed closer to him, stroking his spine.The gesture made him grow hard, and he fought to gain control over his body’s instincts.
“They’re strangers to me,” he admitted.“I know nothing of the way they live or how I should act.”
“I’ll help you.”Hannah ran her fingers through his hair.“I’ll come with you to the Schloss for a few days.”
He pulled her on top of him, holding her close.The edges of her nightgown slid up around her legs, and when he reached down to correct the hem, he realized she was naked beneath it.
His palms moved over her bare bottom, and his manhood swelled against the soft spot between her thighs.She tensed, and he felt the prickle of gooseflesh on her skin.
“Michael,” she breathed.It was neither a protest nor an invitation.He sensed that she desired him, too, but was trying to resist him.
He cupped her face, drawing her in for a kiss.His frustrations, his uncertain future, were making it impossible to think clearly.And right now, if she was willing, he wanted to forget.
She kissed him back, her mouth warm and wet.He rocked her hips against his, and she shuddered at the contact.His palms squeezed her soft bottom, while his shaft strained to break free.
“I want to be inside you,” he murmured against her mouth, sliding his hands beneath her nightgown to cup her bare breasts.The fierce need burned inside him, and if she allowed it, he wanted nothing more than to turn her over and fill her body with his own.
She stilled, and her hands captured his wrists, pulling them away.“Michael, no.I can’t.”Hannah extricated herself from his embrace, and he noticed that her fingers were bare, unlike a few hours ago.She must have removed the wedding ring he’d given her.
His desire was instantly replaced with wariness.“I didn’t come here to seduce you.I’m not going to force you into anything you don’t want.”
She sat up and drew her nightgown over her knees.In the fragile garment, she looked like an innocent maiden about to be sacrificed to a dragon.
“I was wrong.I thought I could be your mistress.”She gathered up the bed sheets like a shield.
