When she touched it again, his eyes closed, his hands clenching against the grass. She stroked the head of him, sliding down his shaft while he grasped her hips.
He guided her to her knees, parting them until she straddled his waist while his thick shaft was poised at her entrance. With his fingers, he teased her, dipping against her wetness until she started to move her own hand upon him. He guided her, showing her how to stroke him in a rhythm while he entered and withdrew his fingers from her body. The erotic sensations started to clench within her, and when he raised up to take her breast in his mouth, the blunt head of his shaft hovered at her entrance.
She felt him slide inside an inch, and she held steady, watching him. Karl didn’t move, waiting for her response. Carefully, she withdrew, and then sank against him a little more. It was tight, but her body welcomed the feel of him. The thickness stretched her, but it was an arousal that touched her deep inside.
Karl brought his hands up to touch her hooded flesh while he held steady inside her. “Wait,” he breathed, keeping her poisedwith only the head of him inside her. He stroked her intimately, while his tongue laved the tight nipple. Serena felt her body growing languid, the arousal penetrating deeper. His rhythmic caresses started to take hold of her, and she began trembling as he rubbed her flesh. The motion pulled him deeper inside, and she gasped as the tightness seared through her, sheathing him fully.
“Don’t move,” he warned, rolling her to her back and easing back. “I want this to be better for you.”
He continued the rhythmic circular motion, and she pulled back, arching hard as the sensations deepened. “Karl,” she breathed, not understanding what he was doing. But he held back, tormenting her, until she instinctively moved against him, forcing him to penetrate her in shallow thrusts.
“Look at me,” he ordered, and she forced herself to open her eyes. He stared at her, and said, “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, Serena. Worth more than any kingdom on this earth.”
A dark, punishing heat kept driving her harder, and she couldn’t control her breathing from coming in quick gasps. He lifted her hips, suckling against her aroused nipples while his hand worked her below. She cried out, pushing back against him, but he kept up the rhythm until his caress exploded through her in a pulsing storm of release. The pleasure tore through her as he penetrated her fully, her body clenching his silken shaft.
As he entered and withdrew, she held him close, feeling him fill up her heart as well as her body. She’d fallen in love with Karl, and it made her more determined to keep him safe.
With their bodies joined, he pushed her past the brink once more, until she gasped with the pleasure of it. And she reveled in the broken wildness of him as he thrust against her and at lastsurrendered to his own desire. He lay on top of her, their bodies damp with perspiration.
He held her tightly, his mouth against her ear. “I’ll not let them take you away,” he swore. “No matter what happens.”
She didn’t let him see the tears forming inside her. For if anything happened to him, she couldn’t forgive herself.
When they arrived back at the manor house, Karl kept Serena’s hand in his. Within moments, dozens of soldiers emerged from the surrounding hills, riding toward the house.
He stopped walking, his hand tightening around hers. He saw the masked fear upon her face, and although she’d pinned her hair back beneath her bonnet, her face remained flushed from their lovemaking. It made him all the more determined to protect her.
Serena gripped his hand and took a breath. “I’m going to speak to my father, if he’s here.” Her face was unnaturally pale, her eyes troubled.
A bad feeling snaked into his gut. Karl didn’t know what she intended to do, but he was going to remain at her side, no matter what. “Don’t make a choice you’re going to regret.” He leaned in and kissed her softly, trying to remind her of what there was between them.
Although she kissed him back, he sensed surrender in her demeanor. “My choice has nothing to do with what I want. Only what I have to do.”
“Fight for the life you want,” he urged. “And I’ll fight with you.”
She sent him a sad smile. “I am fighting. But in my own way.”
From the misery in her eyes, he knew exactly what she was planning. “You can’t return with him. He’ll only hurt you.”
“Sometimes defeating your enemy means walking into the fire.” She touched his cheek, and he lowered his forehead to hers. “I’m going to publicly announce my abdication. If the entire kingdom knows my wishes, he’ll have no choice but to let me go.”
“Do you think I’ll let you put yourself in danger like that?” His hands moved down to caress the pulse at her throat. “He tried to strangle you.”
Serena took his hands in hers, looking steadily into his eyes. “I won’t let myself be afraid of him any more. If you care for me at all, you’ll trust me to slay my own dragons.” With one last kiss, she pleaded, “Stay away. And I’ll come to Lohenberg, as soon as I can.”
She stepped out of his arms and continued walking toward the house. Did she believe he would stand by and let her leave? That he would act like a coward and let her return to a king who had broken her ribs and nearly killed her?
Clearly, she didn’t know him at all.
Chapter Sixteen
The king was already inside the manor house, and Fürst Michael and his fiancée Lady Hannah were entertaining him in the parlour. A sick feeling rose up inside Serena at the sight of her father, but she quelled it. If she remained polite and obedient, it might not go too badly. Against the far wall, she spied Captain Feldmann. The look on the man’s face held dissatisfaction, as if he hadn’t wanted to perform this duty.
As soon as he caught sight of Serena, the king rose to his feet and opened his arms. “My daughter, I am glad to see you are safe and unharmed.”
She went into the embrace, playing the role he wanted before Fürst Michael of Lohenberg. But as his arms came around her, his fingers dug into her shoulders in a tight warning to say nothing.
Even so, she met the stare of Fürst Michael, whose face was grim. The prince’s gaze drifted toward the door, and Serena discreetly shook her head. So long as Karl remained absent, she might be able to leave without her father being the wiser.
