I scoffed. “I do hope you told him not to bother.”
Cyrus shifted. “I didn’t.”
I frowned. “Whta? What did you say?”
“I told him to be honest with you and to apologize for his affair. I told him that you deserve an apology.”
“Good Lord, why? Why would you do that? You know your excessive need to be so loyal might actually be your worst quality,” I argued. It made him smile. “Tell your prince that I don’t hold him in contempt for anything.”
“Don’t you?” he asked.
“How could I?” I shook my head. “I’m lying in your arms and it’s all I’ve ever wanted my whole life.”
I kissed his cheek, then his neck, and then his chest. His fingers combed into the back of my hair.
“Do you mean it?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said. “Tell your prince that I will forgive him on the condition that I may spend every day of our marriage within the company of myriding companion.Tell him he need not apologize for leaving me in such capable hands.”
“Oh, is that what I should say?” He snickered. “I don’t think I should do that, Svana.” Cyrus lifted my face and ran his knuckle along my blouse and skirt. “I don’t think informing Sam about you and my hands will do either of us any good. He already thinks you’re seeing Daniel.”
“I think you should touch me,” I said.
He stopped. “I think you should go back to bed before I do.”
“No.”
“No?” he asked.
“No. I’m not ever leaving you again,” I said.
“I see.” He snuck over the fabric of my dress and then beneath it, to touch me where I had missed him most. He pressed against my core. “...You cannot be caught in here with me, Swan,” he said, despite. “I’m no longer so feverish that I need ‘round the clock care.”
“Then no one should interrupt us,” I replied. “We should be alone.”
He grinned. “You’re not even close to what I would consider quiet.”
I closed my eyes, spreading my legs a little further apart. “Cyrus,” I begged.
He arrived at my ear.“If you’re going to risk our lives, love, call me Willem, please. I’ve been dying to hear you say it.”
“Willem.”I bit my lip. “Willem, my Willem. I’ve missed you.”
Whatever came over me was not remotely polite, but a naturally driven instinct. I reached for his trousers, mimicking his own motions against him. I hadn’t realized what he would feel like, hard beneath my hand. I met his eyes, traveling up and down his length. I watched his expression alter, fascinated by the flash of his teeth and the lowly emitted growl.
Willem grabbed my wrist and he pinned it back into the bed, seeking and kissing the delicate skin near my collar bone. “You fucking tease,” he purred.
I giggled. “Do you not like that?” I asked. My comment cracked as he pressed harder to me, manipulating the very center with expert skill.
“Oh, I like it,” he said.
“Are…? Are you in pain?” I asked.
“Tremendous,” he murmured.
“I’m sorry, I–”
He worked faster; my core ignited, slowly building that pressure from the church. “I dreamt of you,” he said. “Of touching you. Of this. Every second I was asleep.”
