"Isn't this place beautiful?" The hoarseness of her voice was a blatant reminder of what just happened there.
It disturbed him not because she would see him at such a weak moment—he trusted her—but it did disturb him that she had this amazing skill.
"Where did you learn to do this?" His big body trembled, almost liquefied by what she did.
"You taught me. Whatever I know today is what I learned from you, my love."
He relaxed slightly, pushing the ugly feeling of jealousy away. She was his. This is his woman here. A feeling of pride sizzled through him.
"Thank you so much for making this place beautiful, Dany." His arm tightened around her.
"You're welcome." Her smile widened on her sensitive cheeks. "Well, you can remember that day you called me to your bedroom for a torture session where Chad had to teach me how to pleasure men with my mouth."
"I hated that he was teaching you, even though I ordered it. He had to prepare you for pleasuring the kings in court to avoid more deadly punishments. But even as he was only following my orders—even as I hated you so much then—I still hated that he was teaching you," he growled.
She felt the familiar kick against her ribs, and her hand caressed her belly lovingly. "You gave me my first orgasm on that day."
"I remember. I remember having the insane urge to possess you after that session. I had to make you come for me."
"I can't believe it has been a year. Sometimes it feels like ages ago; sometimes, it feels like yesterday. We'll have to get up soon. As much as I like this position, my knees are starting to hurt, and our child is starting to protest this position," she revealed, chuckling softly.
He released her instantly and helped her get to her feet. They kept talking as he arranged his clothing again.
They didn't go back to the kingdom right away. Instead, they picked some large fallen leaves from the ground and made hay underneath the palm tree. Lying on it, they held each other while talking and telling tales.
In the sky, a small star twinkled with light, mischievously squinting like sly pearls that adore the dark blue night sky. Underneath this star and a silvery white moon, the two lovers lay comfortably in a leave-made bed, shutting the world out and lost in each other.
It was a beautiful sight in a beautiful place like the River Sole.
Hours passed before they came back to the queen's bedroom again. Having exhausted the night, they lay on the bed and went to sleep in each other's arms.
He held her from behind, his head on her shoulder and his hands caressing their child even long after she slept first before he joined her.
But they didn't sleep the rest of the night away because, in the wee hours of the morning, he woke her and began making slow sweet love to her. He moved inside her from behind, and they moaned together. It was enchanting, so splendiferous that tears began falling from her eyes. Her teary cries could be heard from her moans that turned from sweet and pleasant to shaky and heartbreaking.
“Dany...dearling, stop,” he said to her. His hand that held her creamy thigh up as he moved slowly inside her tightened.
“Please, don't leave me. Don't leave me again!” she cried.
He pulled her close and covered her mouth with his. The kiss was passionate—so hot it burned them. He tasted her tears, her pain.
“Danika...” It was a tortured groan.
“P-please, I c-can't. I c-can't. I can't t-take this anymore. It h-hurts. Don't m-marry Kamara. Don't leave me a-again,” she sobbed, her heart in chaos. She had no pride left.
The sound so heart-wrenching, it broke his resolve completely. “Look at me, look at me, dearly.”
She opened her wet eyes, looking at him with eyes that hid nothing, filled with pain and love.
“I'm not going to be married to Kamara for long. It will be brief, I promise. Her father holds her lover captive, and she wishes to save his life. She pled with me to save him, knowing that if I marry her, her father will hand her lover over to me for punishment. Then we will come up with a good plan that will end the marriage and stop any impending war with King Valendy.” He had no idea how he would come up with such plan, but he was determined to try his best.
Hope flared in her eyes. “You p-promise?”
“I promise. I will be back for you, Danika,” he vowed. “I will come back for you. I don't know how long it'll take, but I want you to wait for me. Don't let them marry you off, dearly. Your marriage will be irreversible after the wedding because there will be a shift in power—from you to your king. Use every method you can to evade them.”
“I don't know how—”
“You can do it, dearly.” He buried his face in her neck and moved sharply inside her. “I don't want you to belong to another man. I will kill him, whoever he will be. Wait for me, Dani.”
Was it possible that a king and a queen from different kingdoms could be together? What would become of the kingdoms? They will cross that bridge when they get to it. For now, she burrowed closer to him, moaning softly as he tugged on her nipple. “Okay, I will wait. I p-promise.”
His eyes lowered to her swollen form. “I want to be here when you birth our child. I don't want to be far away when he comes into this world.”
Tears slipped from her eyes. “Then you have to come for us as soon as possible.”
“I will.” He kissed her again. His hard mouth parted against hers, his lips easing down on hers with a slow, sensuous pressure. Then he began to move, pulling his hips back and thrusting in, faster, longer, the pleasure beginning to build, annihilating.
She was shaking, her head turning to the side of the pillow. “Lucien…” Her voice sounded strained. “I don’t know… I don’t know if I can...fall over.” She was too emotional, her heart too heavy.
“You can.” The words were guttural, torn from him. “You will.”
Her eyes had closed, her lashes resting on her deeply flushed cheeks, her mouth open. “I can’t…” It was a mere whisper. “I can’t.…”
He pulled out from her and urged her to her knees so she knelt, her cheek resting on the bed. He came up behind her and entered her again. She’d come with him every step of the way since and she’d be with him now. He reached down with his hand, putting it on her stomach and then sliding it down between her thighs, finding her puckered nub and stroking, a slow back-and-forth that drew a hoarse scream from her. And he kept moving, kept pushing in deep, lost in the heat of her inner silk around him, in the pleasure that was ripping him apart. Kept touching her until she bucked and arched beneath him, screaming her climax into the pillow.
Only then did he let himself go, driving himself into her steadily but faster before he fell over the edge with a hoarse grunt.
Minutes later, they were back to their usual position with him still inside her and holding her close.
Before she fell asleep, she whispered, “Please, be here when I wake up in the morning, Lucien. I love you.”
After she slept, he still watched her. Because he knew that he wouldn't be there when she woke in the morning. It was for the best.
“I love you too.” He kissed her cheek.
Tonight, she showed her the beauty of River Sole. Tonight, he made a promise he would do everything within his power to keep.
.