“I hope they died together,” she said softly.
Chapter Fifteen
France, 1307
“I am already damned,” Madelaine said.
Christien jerked, tensing at Madelaine’s words.“Madelaine, please do not—”
She pressed her fingers to his lips.It was all he could do not to flick out his tongue and taste her.The thought alone made his body harden with the overpowering need to make her his.Damn her husband and damn their wedding vows.
“I am not as naïve as most think.I know you are nothing but kind and honest and you can show me what it can be like.”
He shook his head and enfolded her fingers in his hand.What she proposed… Making love to her… ’Twould be every dream he’d ever had, every prayer he’d ever uttered.But it would also be wrong.
“Would it not be cruel to know and never have again?”he asked, trying to make her see reason.Trying to stay reasonable.
“Or crueler yet to have never known?”
He smiled but it pained him to do so.He was simply a man and what she asked was something his body and soul yearned for, yet his mind was not so adamant.How cruel to both of them to make love and be torn apart forever.Was it not best to simply enjoy what they had?
“If we are discovered, we are dead,” she said softly.“If we are discovered while…” She looked away, her face flushing.Yet when she looked back at him boldness replaced the embarrassment in her eyes as well as determination and a certain amount of acceptance.As if she believed her time here was limited no matter what she did.
“If we are discovered making love we are dead as well,” she finished.
Ah, but there were many ways to die and Christien was well aware of most of them.If caught, the count would make certain their deaths were not swift and painless and one thing Christien knew was he would never, ever give Flandres any reason to harm Madelaine because of something he had done.
And that, of course, raised the question of just what the hell he was doing in this bedchamber with her.
She smiled up at him with those soft amber eyes reflecting defeat and he knew why he was here.Because he was unable to leave.
He lost all sense, all reason.He pulled her close but this time his hold was gentle and she melted into him as he dipped his head and tenderly kissed her lips.Mon Dieu,she was everything he had ever wanted in a woman.What a shame they came from such divergent backgrounds.That what they had could never be.
She let out a soft mewl that resonated deep within his bones and set his body on fire with a need so fierce it scalded him.Her hands were caught between them and he backed up a fraction to uncurl her fingers and lay her palms above the uneven beat of his heart.
Her fingers wandered across his chest, burning a path in their wake and making him tremble.She explored his body.His was probably the first male body she had touched like this.Certainly she wouldn’t have touched her husband in such a way.
He’d been careful to keep his raging manhood from her, afraid to frighten her, but she arched her back, pressing her pelvis into it and he nearly came undone.
“My love,” he said between kisses, cupping her face in his hands as he nipped her lips, holding tight to his control.
She made a sound low in her throat.
“We must stop.”But he was unable to force his body to do what his mind demanded.He pressed closer, backing her against the wall.Suddenly she went still, terror in her wide eyes.He pulled back.“Madelaine, look at me.”
Her eyes focused but the terror remained.
“You are not in any danger while you are with me.Do you understand,ma chérie?”
She swallowed and he bit back a curse.Something happened to frighten her.She had been responsive until her back hit the wall.He stepped away.Quickly she slipped away from him to stand in the middle of the room.
“I apologize,” she whispered, looking at the floor.
“Never be sorry.”
“He…” She waved her hand to the wall and looked away.
Christien silently cursed.“Lucien or the count?”
