Ariel reached out and touched his shoulder. The muscles beneath her fingertips were taut with strain. “Please tell me what haunts you?”
His jaw twitched. “Just an old memory.”
“Will you not share it?”
Valteri stared at her and the pain on his face reached deep inside her and touched her heart, making it pound. “I was told that my father, after seeing me for the first time, was so stricken with grief over my deformity that he cursed my mother and abandoned us.” His low tone was bitter and harsh, laden with the full weight of his anger and hatred for his father. “They said that he never came back or spoke to my mother again. Because of me.”
Tears filled her eyes and she bit her lip to keep from crying out at the injustice. How could anyone believe such a thing?
“You know that’s not true, right? Shadow told me that your father knew nothing of your birth.”
Valteri looked away. “Everyone told me that my father never returned because he went on a pilgrimage to atone for the sin of fathering me, and was ambushed and slaughtered by the Saracens outside of Jerusalem. Themonks claimed that the Saracens carried out God’s punishment. And while the brothers blamed me for my father’s death, I always blamed his pride for refusing a less than perfect son.”
Her heart ached for him.
So much pain. So much unnecessary sadness. “They lied to you in order to hurt you.”
He shook his head. “How can I believe that I have a choice when my own father, a god, is being held in captivity? How can I have a choice when even he doesn’t?”
He had a point, but still…
“Jaden gave up his freedom to protect others. He made his choice.” Ariel traced the line of his jaw, his whiskers prickling her fingertip, sending coils of pleasure through her. He sat so close she could feel his heat, even stronger than that of the fire. “I wish I could make you believe,” she whispered, noting the chills that rose on his neck.
When he looked at her, her breath faltered at the tenderness in his eyes. “When I’m near you, I can almost believe in anything.”
Before she could move, he leaned forward and captured her lips.
Ariel growled with pleasure. She ran her hands over his back, pulling him closer to her.
Though she knew she should push him away for both their sakes, she couldn’t bring herself to do so.
Not right now, when she needed this comfort.
Valteri nipped at her lips, drawing them between his teeth and gently scraping them. She shuddered, her body exploding with a demanding need.
He laid her back against the floor and she went willingly, delighting in the feel of his weight pinning her down. Ariel closed her eyes, savoring the raw, earthly vitality of his touch, his body.
Never had she imagined anything feeling so wonderful. Not even the freedom of flight could compare to the warm, heady sensation of his kisses.
He left her mouth, and buried his lips in her neck. Ariel arched against him, her body sizzling in response to his touch. She wanted him. Heaven help her for she couldn’t find it within her to push him away.
She might not truly belong in his world, but she was his wife. And a wife belonged to her husband.
Nay, she’d never hurt him.
Never betray him.
Tonight she’d try not to think of what might happen on the morrow. Of what they might do to them.
To the world.
For now, she needed his touch as much as he needed hers.
Valteri inhaled her rich rose scent, his head reeling as if he were still intoxicated. He knew he should leave her. If he had any decency within him, he’d rise from her body and sleep outside with the horses.
But no matter how much his mind argued, his heart wouldn’t listen. His limbs refused to obey.
He promised himself that if she gave any indication of fear or gainsay, he’d release her. But she continued to hold him close, her tender hands running the length of his spine, sending wave after wave of pleasure coursing through his veins.
