TEN
Three Weeks Later
“A Rose and a fief,” Raniero said, settling against the pile of silken pillows in the lord’s bed. “I never thought to receive such a boon.”
“Well, you did save the kingdom,” Amaris pointed out, settling in next to him. “Naturally the king was grateful.”
He gave her a look. “We saved the kingdom.”
“So we did.” She leaned into his warm, muscled side, and he wrapped an arm around her.
King Ferran had decided Tzira Castle was too important to be entrusted to anyone except a man he was utterly sure of. Which meant Raniero, though the king sighed that he was loathe to lose his best investigator.
It was not a gift Raniero was inclined to turn down.
Ferran had showered gifts on Amaris, too, in recognition for her efforts to prevent the loss of the kingdom. There’d been gold and jewels and bolts of fine fabric, but more important, he’d given her the pick of his staff. She’d selected a calm, experienced nurse from among them to care for Marin. The woman and Amaris’s sister were now abed in the next chamber down the corridor, in an airy room full of the toys the king had presented to his “little heroine.”
Now, for the first time in weeks, Amaris and Raniero were finally alone, without either the king to entertain or Marin to reassure.
Raniero cleared his throat, looking suddenly uncomfortable. “It strikes me that the king may have made too many assumptions.”
Amaris looked up at him, lifting a brow. “Oh?”
“Yes.” He swallowed. “The fief might have been his to give, but not the Rose. And I would not have you if it’s but a matter of duty.”
Amaris stared at him, incredulous. “Duty?”
He nodded, his eyes serious as he looked down into her face. “I know your sense of honor is strong, but . . .”
She stretched upward until her mouth met his in a kiss that blazed with all the heat and passion she felt down to her soul. His lips parted under the fierce assault, and she slid her tongue inside his mouth.
Stroked, licked, tasted.
When she finally drew back, she saw with satisfaction that Raniero’s eyes looked a little dazed. “Did that feel like duty, my lord?”
He licked his lips. “No. It felt like . . .” He stopped and swallowed.
“Love.” Amaris did not let her eyes drop, though a part of her wanted to flinch at the nakedness of the word.
But she trusted him. She’d learned out there on the battlements that Raniero was not like those who’d betrayed her. He was a man who could be trusted unto death.
So she met his eyes and said it again. “I love you, Raniero.”
Light flared in his eyes, bright with relief and passion. “And I love you, Amaris.”
Then his mouth covered hers, and he hauled her into his arms. As Raniero kissed her with starved intensity, his hands began to explore, cupping first one breast, then the other, thumb playing back and forth over the nipple that hardened hungrily under his touch. She kissed him back, a slow mating of tongue and lip and careful nipping teeth, reveling in the taste of him, male and magic.
“You drove me mad in that cell,” he growled against her mouth, “touching me when I couldn’t touch you, f*cking me half blind while I was chained and helpless.”
“Mmm,” she purred, remembering those sweet, wild rides. “As I recall, you were well-revenged by that wicked mouth of yours. That sly tongue touched plenty. I thought I would lose my mind.”
“Serves you right.” Chuckling, Raniero danced his fingers down her torso, following the curve of her belly down to the soft nest between her legs. He rumbled a growl as he found her already growing slick and swollen. “You tasted so sweet.” White teeth flashed. “In fact, I find myself hungering for more.”
Amaris yelped a giggle as he tumbled her back on the bed and began to work his way down her torso, pausing for a nip here, a suckle there. Her breasts drew him into a passionate detour for a sweet eternity that was far too short, his tongue circling each nipple in turn, drawing wet runes that set her blood ablaze. She squirmed and sighed as he stiffened his tongue to flick and tease, then used his teeth with gentle ruthlessness until she quivered.
Finally he continued down her body, exploring the rise of her rib cage with kisses, pausing to swirl his tongue into her belly button. She laughed at the cool tickle, threading her hands into his long, dark hair.
But when he finally settled between her legs, she lost all urge to laugh. The width of his powerful shoulders nudged her thighs apart, and he wrapped his strong arms around her legs as he lay full length down the bed.
Amaris lifted her head to watch with breathless attention as he tilted his head, considering her sex. His dark eyes flicked up to meet her gaze, and he gave her a wicked white grin.
The first pass of his tongue between her swollen folds made her quiver in helpless need. He licked again, slow and lazy as a cat cleaning his paws, each creamy stroke sending jolts of pleasure sizzling up her spine. Gasps and whimpers escaped her lips as he tasted her as though she dripped honey, deliberate, maddening, spinning rapture over her like a spell. She could almost see the golden glow of his magic behind her eyelids.
And still his tongue worked, dancing over her *, sliding between her folds, thrusting deep into her core. As though that wicked enchantment wasn’t enough, he reached up around her thighs to squeeze and tease her nipples, winding the delight tighter and tighter.
The orgasm stormed out of nowhere, shaking her body, jerking the muscles of her thighs like lute strings. She screamed at the sheer sweet glory blazing through her mind.
When Amaris could see again, he was braced over her on one hand as he aimed his thick, hungry cock with the other. “Oh, yes!” She drew her legs wide in welcome.
Raniero entered in a slow, luscious slide, groaning in delight. “Red God’s Balls, you’re tight,” he panted.
And he felt so deliciously thick, a tunneling pleasure that seemed to reach halfway to her waist. His withdrawal was just as careful, a sweet, silken delight. Dazzled, she looked up at him as he braced his arms to either side of her shoulders, biting his lip as if he fought to control himself. His dark eyes seemed to glow with feral need as he thrust in and out.
A need for something more than sex. A need she felt just as powerfully.
Hypnotized by that need, she stared up into his eyes, admiring the flush riding his high cheekbones, the sensual curve of his mouth, the white tips of his fangs showing between his parted lips.
Raniero picked up the pace, nostrils flaring like a racing stallion’s. Each long thrust jolted her closer and closer to explosion. Gasping, she hooked her heels over his thighs and ground upward, meeting him with rolling hips.
The climax exploded in her core like a blast of magic, primal and savage. As she threw back her head to scream, he bent his arms, lowering himself over her, his black eyes wild and hungry. His lifted upper lip displayed the length of his teeth.
Knowing what he wanted, what he needed, she angled her head to offer him her throat. “Now, oh, now!”
The touch of his hot lips and the cool slice of his teeth kicked her climax even higher. Thrusting heavily, he began to drink. She fisted her hands in the silk of his hair, gasping with the feral intensity of her pleasure.
They lay together in the aftermath, panting, sweat sheening their skin in the moonlight that poured through the window. Amaris stroked his strong back slowly, feeling a sweet contentment she’d never known.
Until he raised his wrist to his mouth and sliced his fangs across the skin. Blood welled as he met her gaze, an odd vulnerability in his eyes. “Will you drink from me?”
Amaris blinked at him in dumbfounded surprise. She’d heard of this in the Garden, but she’d never expected a vampire to make such an offer.
For a vampire to share his blood with his Rose linked them in magic, heart to heart, soul to soul.
“Oh, yes,” Amaris breathed, joy blazing through her like sunlight.
He tasted like love, and she smiled against his skin, knowing neither of them would ever be alone again.