CHAPTER 24
Postage Paid
The next morning, she woke up only to find him already up, propped up on his elbow, looking at her. He was looking at her, perplexed and then again satisfied and less tense than the night before.
“Good morning,” Prim said softly.
He didn’t speak. He simply traced the line of her jaw with a single finger, going down till it reached what Prim was there. She replayed again the moment he sucked possessively last night so he could admire his creation the next morning. The love bite on her skin, that should now be a popping purple.
“That looks good on you,” Leo said, his voice hoarse.
He leaned and smoothed the spot with a soft kiss. Prim closed her eyes in satisfaction, his touch warming her more than thesun filtering in through the window. She was going to let him mark her body everywhere if that made him feel this peaceful.
She looked up into his blue eyes that shone like sapphires that morning and cupped his face with her hands. He turned slowly and kissed her palm. He then leaned in and placed a soft peck on her lips. Prim had never felt happier.
At the breakfast table, they didn't talk at first. The exchanged glances were filled with meaning. Leo’s possessiveness was sated, and Prim felt full to the brim with her newfound emotions.
“You seem extra excited this morning,” Leo said.
“It is to match the exceptional quality of the marmalade,” Prim replied, her eyes dancing as she took a deliberate bite.
“And here I was crediting the last night’s ambience,” Leo teased.
“No,” Prim blushed, “it is definitely the marmalade.”
“I see.” Leo smiled over his cup of coffee. “Perhaps I should increase the cook’s wages if we are to maintain this level of excitement.”
“I am afraid he will receive that as encouragement to provide more preserves of this caliber.”
“I do not see the problem.”
“We wouldn’t want to exhaust him.”
Leo set his cup down and looked at her in the elegant breakfast room, all draped in velvet and wrapped in intricate wallpaper with a look at lack all pretense of courtesy.
“Oh, I assure you, Prim,” he said, his voice low and husky, “he can handle us quite fine.”
Prim smiled and raised her eyebrow at her teasing husband. He smirked back at her, and she was happy to see his soul more settled than it was the night before.
“We should add more wood to the fireplace,” Leo said. “You have tightly tied your shawl around you. It must be chilly.”
Prim had indeed used the shawl to cover a very distinct love bite on her neck that was so eye-popping it wouldn't be missed even by blind people.
“There is a draft in the room,” she played along.
“Or perhaps you are coming down with something,” he continued. “A localized inflammation, perhaps?”
“Leo…” She warned.
He leaned in very seriously. His look devoured her the same way he did last night, and like those moments, her body caught fire with just one look.
“Wear our shawl, a coat if you like,” Leo roared. “But you will feel it, and I will know it is there.”
Leo was ready to pounce on her and create love bites that no shawl would ever hide, when I glanced at the door. The staff was instructed to knock before entering if the doors were closed to spare them from indecent sights. But right now, the door to the breakfast room was wide open. And to prove Prim’s prudence, a maid walked in with the latest edition of sheets on a silver tray.
“Thank you,” Prim said and took the sheets. “I am sure there would be something interesting to be said about our first public appearance. Care to make some guesses?”
Leo’s look darkened, perhaps what ailed him last night to make him so… possessed coming back.
