“You should also rest,” he told her. It was a formality. He did not want her to rest.
Unless she needs restmore thanshe needs me, he amended in his head.
Meanwhile, he needed her more than he needed air.
She kept quiet. She stared at him. The boat tipped, rocking with the waves. Luke steadied himself with a hand above her head. She leaned against the closed door and looked up.
“Thank you for your kindness to Linus,” he said.
She lowered her eyelashes, a move that caused Luke to bite back a smile. She tortured him on purpose. He deserved this, of course, but he refused to make the wrong guess about whether she wanted him to touch her right now, or talk to her, or leave her to rest.
“M’étoile?”he whispered.
She licked her lips again.
He was becoming aroused by the sheer act of her leaning against the door. The lip licking did not help. His heart rate increased; his body hardened. He thought of his letters, long and conciliatory; and her letters, brief and curt. Idly, he twirled her ring on his finger. They’d not spoken—really spoken—since their wedding night.
He flattened his forearm against the wall above her head, bringing his face closer. Could he kiss her? He’d devoured her in the dark room inside the castle. Could he take her to her cabin and make love to her? They’d been married almost five months and only made love on their wedding night.
“Princess?” he whispered, dipping his head closer, nuzzling the curls at her nape. He could hear her breath. If she was exhausted, she wasn’t too exhausted to respond to his closeness. She wasn’t too exhausted to drive him mad.
Suddenly, inspiration struck. He dropped his lips against her ear and whispered, “What do you want?”
It was the correct question. She rolled from the wall and tipped against him. He caught her around the waist and crushed her to his chest.
“I want you,” she breathed against his neck. “You.”
Dani hadn’t planned a manipulation, but she had wanted him to ask her. Not in their lovemaking necessarily, but in most things—in all things—she would be asked.
“Marie believes you to be resting,” he said between kisses. He staggered down the small passageway with her in his arms.
“Marie does not believe this,” she murmured, reclaiming his mouth. “No one believes we are asleep.”
He came to the small door of her cabin and bumped it with his hip. They fell through the tiny opening, kissing and cleaving and fighting for balance on the rocking boat. When they were inside, Luke kicked the door shut with his boot. He released her long enough to snap the lock in place.
Dani dropped onto the small bunk, chest heaving, gazing at him. She’d missed him, and worried about him, and agonized about all the things left unsaid. There had been months of pining and praying—and now here he was. He was—
Well, he appeared to be stripping naked before her. She laughed and fell back on the bunk, watching as he tore off his coat, yanked his tunic over his head, pulled off his boots, and unfastened the fall of his trousers.
“We did it,” she said. “I came for you, and I found you, and we did it.”
“We’re about to do it,” he said, shucking his trousers. “And you’re about to come for me.”
Dani laughed a little and then fell quiet, studying his naked body. Idly, she unfastened her shoes. He was, she thought, the most exciting thing she’d ever seen.
“Dress off,” he said. One pant leg looped around his ankle and he kicked it away. Now he was completely, gloriously naked. His body was lean and muscled, his skin tanned from years at sea. His erection jutted out, and she marveled at the mechanics of it, the arousing sight of how much he wanted her. She ignored his command and reached out to touch him.
“You must be joking, Princess,” he said, leaning just out of her reach. “You’ll finish me here where I stand, and then where would we be? I want to savor this.”
“How very aroused you can become, so quickly,” she said.
Luke let out a little groan. “Quick, am I?” He grabbed her beneath the arms and stood her up. She went, stumbling over her discarded shoes. He spun her, kissed her neck, and ground his erection into her bottom through her skirts. Dani was woozy with desire and she indulged a swoon, tipping forward. He caught her up. With nimble fingers, he attacked the fasteners of her bodice. He shifted her this way and that, jerking her bodice open hook by hook. The boat rocked, adding to the motion. Dani giggled and reached across the bunk to catch the wall.
“I need onlythinkof you, and I’m aroused, Highness,” he whispered. “It’s improper, how often I think of you, how much I have wanted you.”
“How can it be improper to want your wife?” she asked.
“Excellent point,” he said. Her dress gaped open and he pulled it down her body. The waist caught at her hips and he gave it a yank, sliding it to the floor with awhoosh.
