“I missed you so much, my darling.” He stroked my hair gently.
I snuggled closer to him. His touch sent a thrill down my spine. “I missed you, too.”
We remained there, holding each other for a while. All the questions I meant to ask him were trapped in my mouth.
“May I kiss you?” he asked, caressing my hair. “I wished to kiss you that night in the garden before your mother started screaming.”
Rennie’s face flashed through my mind. “I don’t know.”
He laughed. “What answer is that?” He caressed my cheek again, and my body slackened. “One kiss.”
He whispered my name softly before pressing his mouth against mine and slipping his tongue between my teeth. Emotions spilt heat within me, like the energy that charged the air before a storm. He moved his mouth over mine gently, and although I wasn’t an expert in kissing, he mastered the technique beautifully. His tongue touched mine right as I wanted. He balanced strength and passion like an artist. It was the perfect kiss—heavenly and passionate. Exactly as I’d imagined it to be.
Brushing my cheeks with his knuckles, he broke the kiss. The blue in his eyes had disappeared, swallowed by a glossy black that was spilling even into the white.
Blimey. I blinked and rubbed my temple.
“Are you all right?” he asked, caressing my shoulder.
“It’s nothing.” I gazed up. His eyes were blue again. Odd. Maybe the darn green potion was to blame.
“You have a peculiar taste. What is it?” Maybe it was my imagination, but there was a note of anger in his voice.
I put a hand on my mouth. Dash it. Why hadn’t I brushed my teeth before leaving the ship? “I took something for my seasickness. It was killing me. Maybe that’s it.”
His eyes glinted, and a sudden harshness tensed his features. “It doesn’t matter.” He stroked my cheek again, but with a certain stiffness.
“Sandro, what happened? Why don’t my parents want me to be with you? And what does Edward have to do with anything?” I wanted to ask more questions, but I stopped myself. “You left me without a word. Then my parents sent me to Southampton to board a darn ship. I don’t understand what’s happening. Nobody tells me anything.”
“Because we want to protect you.” A flush coloured his smooth skin. “Monia, my kingdom is being threatened by anarchists. They tried to kill me more than once, even in England. Those assassins know no limits. I had to leave. I don’t want anything to happen to you because of me. Your parents were terrified you might be hurt because of me.” Each time he touched me, my spine wilted, my mind fogged, and my determination to seek answers faded. It was like a spell. “I agreed it was too dangerous to stay with you. I wanted to see you one last time, but for safety reasons, I had to flee.”
“Will I see you again?” My body wasn’t obeying me. I wanted to know more about the danger he was facing, but his touch was distracting me.
“Of course. Very soon.” He brushed his lips over my ear, sending a shot of desire straight to my core. “But please stay on theSS Florentia. The ship is safe.” He kissed me again, but not with passion.
Was the green serum so disgusting for him? Speaking of which, the dizziness was back.
“I have to go.” He kissed the tip of my nose and shot a glance behind me. Whatever he saw caused him to stiffen. “See you soon, my angel. I’ll be thinking of you every moment until we meet again.” Goodness, he ran away. Fast.
I waved, but I was having trouble keeping my eyes open. I mumbled a farewell, my tongue growing numb. As he became an indistinguishable figure in the crowd of people walking along the pavement, another figure became very distinctive. Rennie was striding towards me in all his red-hot anger. Even from a distance, I could tell he was furious.
Nostrils flaring, he stopped in front of me. “What is the meaning of this?”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. My head spun, I wanted to sleep, and I wasn’t sure why I found his words so terribly funny. “You’re so furious.” I giggled. Somewhere, in a remote corner of my mind, I felt ashamed of myself.
“Do you find my anger funny? What is that?” He took a sniff and held my face and examined it, brow furrowing. Then his eyes flared wide with what looked like fear. “Bloody hell.” His rough hands patted me down in a rather rude manner.
I swatted them. “Hey. Stop that.” Despite my words, I giggled again.
He didn’t listen. “I knew it.” He fished out the vial from my pocket.
I was expecting him to become even angrier, but his face morphed into sheer panic. “How long ago did you take it?”
“A while.” I wanted to sleep, laugh, and cast up my accounts in whatever order happened to come first. “I’m so tired.”
His arms wrapped around me as he picked me up. “Don’t sleep now. Not yet. We must get back to the ship.”
“Why?”
