She cut him off with a glower. “Do you want to hear what I have to say?”
Eyes sparkling, he murmured, “Yes, sorry. Please, go on.”
George relaxed her brows and cleared her throat. “In spite ofallthose things, I’ve discovered thatyou, sir, have captured my heart.”
“Is that so?” he rumbled, dipping his head to meet her mouth.
“Ah!” George freed one of her hands and pressed a finger to his soft lips. “I’m not done yet.”
He nipped her fingertip.
“You know my story. You know I don’t trust easily, or often, especially not with men.” She shivered, and his fingers tightened around hers. “But you’redifferent.You’ve always been a different sort of man, even when you were my captive. You’re strong but humble. You’re confident but not entitled. You’re brave in the face of insanity. You’re one of the most supportive people I’ve ever met in my life.
“I take pride in surrounding myself withgoodpeople. People who can balance my impulses, who can confirm or deny if I’m on the right track, who can make sure I don’t become my father. I... it took me longer than you to realize it...” She stood on her tiptoes so they were eye to eye or as close as she could get.
His smile was brighter than a summer’s day, and she knew he knew what was coming.
George’s swelling emotions threatened to push her into him, but he held her steady as her words crashed into a breathy foam. “I love you.”
He took her face in his palms. “I love you too, George. Very much.”
“Very much.” She beamed as another heady wave of heat and pure happiness overtook her.
When he wrapped her in his arms, one hand dropped to grasp at her bottom while the other worked its way into the curls at the nape of her neck.
Tugging her head back, he angled his mouth over hers. It was a slow, deliberate kiss, overflowing with shared emotions, with the feeling of “finally,” and the fear of letting go. At some point her left hand and his right found one another, playing ina reflection of their tongues, until finally they settled, and their fingers interlocked.
“Isahn,” George whispered into his mouth when she broke away.
“Hmm?” He nipped at her bottom lip.
“I want you.”
“Mmm.” His eyes darkened. “My fingers or my tongue?”
“Neither,” she rasped. Her fingertips forged a path from where they lay over his heart to explore his firm arousal.
“Are you sure?” His voice was strained.
“I have never been more certain of anything in my life. Everything is so... dynamic right now,uncertain. But not this. Not what we have. I’m positive.”
A low, almost animalistic rumble erupted from his chest as he grabbed her around the thighs and hoisted her into his arms.
TheyfellontoGeorge’sbed, a tangle of linen and limbs. Isahn came out on top and promptly buried his face between her breasts.
Shelovedhim.
He hummed happily, her bosom soft and squishy against his face as a delightful shiver ran up his spine. The apprehension of leaving her loomed in the background, but he refused to give credence to those fears, to that dread.
George laughed, husky and sultry as she shoved her hands into Isahn’s hair and forced him to come up for air.
“Ineedyou,” she admitted, her words carrying a deep, almost painful double meaning. “I want you naked. Now.”
“Yes, Princess.” He peppered one last smattering of kisses over the exposed tops of her breasts, then rose up on his knees. Withone of her soft legs pinned between his thighs, Isahn tugged at his tunic, ripping it over his head and turning his attention to his trousers.
George murmured her appreciation, fondling herself for him.
Love,he thought with a grin as he unfastened the cord on his linen pants. Before he could remove them, George’s hands were there, hot and needy, peeling them down herself.
