“Iolande says ’tis often thus when the mother is ill early on,” she explained.His gaze slid to her lips as she spoke, then rose slowly to meet her own gaze again.
“And have you been ill?”he prompted, his voice as soft as silken velvet.
Alienor could only nod mutely in response.
He leaned down and she had nowhere to go, trapped as she was between him and his horse.The realization that she had no desire to evade his kiss stunned her with its intensity.It seemed too long since she had tasted him, too long that she had hungered for his lips on hers—too long since he had reassured her with his touch.
Thunder rumbled in the distance but Alienor barely noticed it, so fixed was she upon her husband’s intent.Dagobert studied her as if he would memorize her every feature.She felt his fingers spread across her back as he lifted her toward him, and Alienor heard herself moan when his lips closed over hers.
His kiss was tender yet potent, one of his hands sliding up to cup the back of her head with infinite care, and Alienor sensed that he meant to reassure her.She realized that her flinch had offended him, that he meant her no harm, that the way he touched her now, almost reverently, was his means of telling her so.
Indeed, she felt treasured and that was most beguiling.It seemed only fitting that she meet him halfway.Alienor slipped her hands around his neck and opened her mouth to him, telling him as well as she was able that she understood.Their kiss turned fiery and warmed her to her toes, so enticing that she made an incoherent sound of protest when he lifted his head.
Dagobert stared down at her, the brightness in his eyes making her wonder what he saw that fascinated him so.Before she could ask, the fleeting expression was dismissed.He turned and she thought he would leave her, but instead, he cast aside his gloves.The warmth of his hands framed her face a moment later.Alienor smiled with satisfaction and his eyes shone as he bent to kiss her again.
This time, there was passion in his embrace, as if he had sipped of a cup and realized his thirst.Alienor’s veil and fillet tipped, then fell away beneath his amorous assault, but she barely noticed their departure, much less the whisper of her sheer wimple joining them.A barely audible sound revealed the unfastening of the clasp on herpelisson, the sliding of its weight from her shoulders the only other clue of its departure.
Alienor cared for naught but Dagobert’s kisses.He kissed her temples and eyelids, the tip of her nose, her earlobe, then traced the burning trail down her throat to the neckline of her kirtle.The thunder rumbled at closer proximity, the leaves of the trees outside the shelter of the cave whipping in the flurry of wind before the storm, but Alienor had found a haven.
This storm she welcomed with all her heart.
Her hair fell loose from its braid, the long tresses spilling over her shoulders, and Alienor felt Dagobert’s fingers slowly combing through their length.She glanced up to find his regard warm upon her, his eyes bright as he surveyed her.As she watched, he lifted one hand and kissed a tendril of her hair that had wound around his palm.
Alienor smiled at the gesture, warmth replacing the chill in her bones when he smiled in return.A mingling of Alaric’s easy humor and Dagobert’s passion burned in his eyes.He tipped her chin with one finger and she parted her lips in silent invitation, reveling in the surety of his touch when his lips closed firmly over hers again.This kiss was an even more ardent demand and Alienor responded with the fervor of her own passion, matching him touch for touch.
Strong fingers unlaced the neck of her kirtle, and she arched her back to grant access to those questing lips, loving the feel of his lips on her skin.He kissed the flickering pulse below her collarbone as if acknowledging it, his mouth caressing and teasing as he continued downward then flicked his tongue across one nipple.
Alienor cried out at the fire that raced through her from that aching point once his mouth closed over it.Dagobert’s hands locked around her waist, granting her no escape from his touch.He lifted her up as he suckled her breast, laving the nipple with his tongue, kissing and nibbling until she twisted against him in desperation.She ached for the release she had missed since he had abandoned her bed.He lifted his head and cast her a mischievous grin that made her heart leap.Then he ducked to take the other nipple in his mouth, his teasing arousing her impossibly more.
Just when she thought she could bear no more, he claimed her lips again, his hands rising to bracket her ribs.Alienor caught her breath when his thumbs brushed against her swollen nipples and she felt him smile as she arched against him, a slave to his caress.
The edges of Dagobert’s thumbs stroked her nipples and Alienor thought she would go mad from the pleasure.Lightning flashed and the cave was briefly illuminated, the answering crack of thunder loud and close.The rain fell with renewed vigor, pounding into the ground an arm’s length and half a world away.The horses stirred as they sensed the rage of the storm, but Alienor was safe within Dagobert’s embrace.
She gasped his name and held tightly his shoulders as he caressed her, stumbling when he bent suddenly before her.His hands slid beneath the hem of her kirtle and swept up her thighs, his eyes dancing with intent.Removing her kirtle and chemise in one upward sweep, he straightened once more and tossed the garments aside.
The chill of the air struck Alienor’s bare skin but she was oblivious to its bite, so amazed was she at the delight in Dagobert’s gaze as he looked upon her.Her nipples tightened still tighter at his attention and the cold, her color rising as he met her gaze with a smile.
“Let me look for a moment,” he murmured.“I have imagined the sight of you so many times, but have not done your beauty justice.”In that moment Alienor could not have refused him anything.He offered her his hand and she took it, his warm fingers closing over hers as he lifted her hand high, turning her in a tight circle once before him.Rain fell in sheets right outside the cave, sealing the two of them in a sanctuary where no other could intrude.
“You are beautiful, my Alienor,” Dagobert breathed and her heart sang at his pleasure.She stepped toward him happily and he closed his arm around her waist, his eyes dark as he bent to kiss her.Alienor shivered at the cold press of his mail and Dagobert lifted his head with a fleeting frown.He swung his fur-lined mantle from his shoulders.
“I forget your welfare too easily, my lady, and apologize for that.”
She could take no offense at his carelessness when he wrapped the cloak securely around her and smiled down at her, like a man smitten.The fur was still dry despite the inclement weather and Alienor nestled within it, knowing that ’twas the residual heat of her husband’s body that clung to the pelts and now touched her skin.
Dagobert slid his thumb across the fullness of her bottom lip as if he could not keep himself from touching her, then sighed again.He stepped quickly to retrieve a pair of dry blankets from his horse’s packs.He spread one on the dry ground against the cave wall and scooped Alienor up to deposit her upon it like an ancient queen reclining before her subjects, then draped the second over her.Alienor felt warmth spread through her and she smiled up at him, earning herself another sweetly thorough kiss that did not satisfy the ache within her for his touch.
“We shall go hungry this night should you regard me like that much longer, my lady,” Dagobert threatened in a teasing tone.
Alienor laughed, watching with pleasure as a mischievous grin curved his lips.It seemed they would begin again, and she welcomed the opportunity.
“I am famished,” she replied.
“As am I,” he responded then winked.“But not just for a hot meal.”They laughed easily together and Alienor felt new confidence in their happy future.
“I should assist you,” she said and began to rise, but Dagobert placed a heavy hand on her shoulder.
“You should stay warm,” he countered.“There is little enough to do this night.”
