“But I’m happy.”
“Happiness is a bit tearful at times,” he said.
“We’re supposed to be making love and... all that entails.”
“Who says we aren’t, Flick?”
“We’re not moving.”
“I’m enjoying the moment. Aren’t you? I don’t want to rush. I want to take my time loving you.”
Felicity drew in a breath as his words penetrated the thick thoughts muddying her head. He was right. She liked the way it felt to breathe against him with his weight on top of her, her heart pounding against his. She moved her hips and zings of pleasure shot through her middle.
“Oh,” she said. “I like that.” She moved again.
He lifted his hips, withdrawing and thrusting as she squirmed again, and the pleasure doubled.
He kissed her face, his tongue merging with hers as all thoughts of talking faded and their bodies moved together, drawing out moans from both of them, sounds of love and passion. A song of desire.
Felicity wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging to him as their bodies grew slick, moving faster. The surge of his hips, grinding against her with delicious friction. Felicity threw her head back and his tongue branded a path of kisses down her neck. The tension in her body coiled tighter. Her head was spinning, a horizon of stunning light building in her mind as pleasure sang through her center, her limbs, her blood. She couldn’t stop the noises she made, the way she cried his name as wave after wave of pleasure swept her into the heavens and she eclipsed the sun. She trembled with release, ecstasy pulsing through her body as he ground into her, losing himself in his own climax until the very last moment when he pulled away, and his seed spilled over her lower belly.
Felicity lay limp, catching her breath as he rolled to the side of her but pressed his forehead to hers, his eyes closed.
Felicity smiled at him even though he couldn’t see it. He wore an expression she’d never seen before. A completely unguarded, befuddled, and blissed blankness. Certainly not the controlled mask he usually wore. Or the commanding arrogance he employed when dealing with unscrupulous lords on the gaming floor.
Right now, he looked different but familiar. Like a Tristan she’d never seen before. A Tristan who was happy and at ease, for likely a very brief moment. A stillness settled over him, his face going slack as he settled beside her, his nose in her hair, his hand resting over her breast.
Felicity watched him unabashedly as he fell asleep right here in her arms. Squished against her in a narrow, lumpy bed.
She’d never been happier than she was right now. Under a scratchy blanket, the rain rattling against the windows.
He thought she needed comfort and security, but she knew sheonly needed him. She slipped out of the bed, the chill in the air nipping at her skin. She used the handkerchief from his jacket to wipe her stomach and then she returned to bed. She nudged closer to him and went to sleep.
Chapter Sixteen
Tristan woke witha start, the dream he’d been having so vivid he didn’t recognize his surroundings. Flick was pressed to his side, arm slung over his chest and still asleep. He looked down at her profile, his heart settling as he watched her breathe. In his dream, he’d been calling for her. She was on the other side of the north field, feeding the coos bunches of wild grass and waving at him with a big smile. But he couldn’t hear and no matter how far he walked, he never got any farther across the field.
He shifted, unable to tell the hour without his pocket watch. The rain had stopped at least, but the room was cold, the fire having sputtered to embers. Tristan reluctantly wiggled out of their snug cocoon and padded to the hearth to throw on a log to warm the room before she woke. But when he turned, she was sitting up and rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
She smiled and bit her lip as her gaze wandered over his naked form. Tristan sauntered back toward the bed, knowing he was a fine specimen of a man, and her hungry gaze made his cock thicken.
“Keep looking at me like that and you’ll never leave this room again.”
“Maybe I don’t want to.”
He chuckled, but then he looked around his drab lodgings. She deserved so much better than this. He sat on the bed, his back to her. He shouldn’t have taken her to a bed like this, shabby, uncomfortable. At least it was clean and free of vermin, but still. She put a hand on his back, and he turned to face her.
“You have to go back,” he said.
Her sleepy, playful smile faded. “Do I?”
“Yes. I can’t keep you here. We both know that.”
She pulled her hand away and pulled the blanket up to her breasts. It was so thin he could see through it and shame curdled his gut.
“What is there for me to go back to?”
“The rest of your clothing for one. A proper bed. Warmth. Hot meals. Fresh water you don’t have to pump and heat yourself.”
