“I feared the same with you.” He closed the door with one foot and seated her onto the end of his bed covered in a thick sapphire-colored quilt. Kneeling at her feet, his fingers digging into her sides, he rested his forehead against her forehead, their noses touching.
“You killed Bruno, and I’m exceedingly grateful you did, not that a lady should say such a thing after I watched his beheading, but he was a wretched soul, dark to his very depths.”
“I wish I could raise him from the dead just so I can kill him again.” A lift of his gaze back to hers. “He didn’t suffer nearly enough for my liking. How did you come to meet Violet?”
“Violet saved me from Bruno. If it weren’t for her I would still be stuck in a crate in Bruno’s cabin, no doubt bound and gagged. Instead, Violet and I have spent the entire trip confined to her cabin, unable to seek help from an officer or even the captain. Bruno—”
“Don’t say his name again, not right now.” He pressed a finger to her lips. “I’m going to undress you. I need to ascertain for myself if you’re in good health. Being dumped in the sea can cause your skin to become numb to the cold and therefore injuries can go unnoticed.”
“I don’t hurt anywhere, not now I’m back with you.” She touched the spot on her forehead where he’d noted a gash, but no blood came away on her fingers. “This scrape will likely heal on its own.”
“I believe so too.”
“My body does feel numb from the cold though.” She wriggled forward and kissed his chin. She had no intention of holding back in showing her affection for him, not when tonight could have ended very differently. Losing him. Never knowing his touch. Those were things she never wanted to imagine again. “I need you, Anteros. I want to feel your mouth on mine, your hands roaming my body, your heat caressing my skin. I want to feel alive again, for you to take this awful numbness away. Will you make love to me?”
“You are painfully beautiful, and I am already decidedly drunk on the returned sight of you.” He pushed to his feet, his wet tunic plastered to his chest, the white cotton molding his muscled arms and rippling abs. Water dripped from his tight-fitting black breeches, his strong legs planted wide and his feet squelching in his boots. He searched her gaze. “Are you certain?”
“Exceedingly certain.”
“Il mio bellissimo angelo, I want to feel alive again too.” He tugged her to her feet, then suddenly lowered to a crouch.
“What are you doing?” She grasped his shoulders to keep her balance.
“Inspecting you for any further injuries first. Then I shall warm you with my body.” He snagged the hem of her wet shift and glanced up at her, passion blazing in his eyes. Slowly, he lifted the hem to her knees. An inspection began, of her bare toes and her calves, his hands gently gliding upward, the hem now bunching over his wrists as he rose. A sweep up and over her hips, his heat caressing every inch of her then he moved in behind her, whispered in her ear, “Arms up.”
Stretching her arms high, he drew her shift over her head, his body cocooning hers from behind. He dropped her shift and it fell with a wet plop to the floor, his hands now skimming her back and sides. “There are a few yellowish marks on your skin.”
“Bruises from the kidnapping. They’re easing.”
“I’m so sorry for all that’s happened to you.” Easing back in front of her, he cupped her breasts, flicked his thumbs over both stiff nipples, the pink flesh of her areola wrinkled tight from the cold. With his head dipped, he suctioned his mouth around first one nipple then the other. Moving back and forth, he suckled her nipples, the warm wetness of his tongue sending tingles flaring out from the tips.
“I’ve longed for this moment since we were parted.” She grasped his sword belt and unbuckled it. “One of us is overdressed, which would be you, Amati.”
“Allow me.” He divested himself of his weapons, saber and daggers, then he loosened the laces of his damp white tunic, pulled it over his head and dropped it at his feet. Boots toed off, he shoved his breeches down his muscled legs and off. His silky black hair dripped water on his shoulders, the drops trailing down his smooth sun-kissed skin, his chest muscles flexing and biceps bulging.
Her breath came harder and faster, the rigid length of his cock saluting her high from a nest of black curls. She wrapped her hand around his shaft, his body hot, his masculine scent fresh. “Watching you undress is invigorating.”
“I’m desperate for you.” He released a splurge of Italian, all gruff and huskily spoken, then he returned to English. “I have never wanted a woman the way I want you.”
“Your feelings are reciprocated.” She squeezed his cock, not too hard and not too soft, which he seemed to like since he captured her mouth and took her breath away with a passionate kiss. Suddenly, he was lifting her, dropping her onto his bed and she landed on his soft quilt with her legs splayed and one of his knees between her knees. He nudged her legs farther apart, caressed along her inner thighs.
“I’m not sure how gentle I can be.” He pushed one finger deep inside her channel, his sapphire eyes blazing like blue-fire, then he removed his finger and lowered his powerful body down on top of hers, their legs entwined and his cock stiff against her belly.
Her heart pounded to a frantic beat at having him so close, her inner channel hot and wet and needy for his finger again. She ached to have his mouth on hers once more. “Anteros, please, baciami?”
“I love it when you speak Italian to me.” He kissed her, his lips firm then going silky soft with the gentlest of caresses. This man was so big and strong and all hers. As he feasted at her mouth, she itched for more, desire swarming her senses.
“You must teach me some more sinful words that I can speak to you, only you.” She embraced the raw intimacy of the moment, one she never wished to halt. Pressing her breasts against his chest, she hooked her arms around his neck, wrapped her legs around his hips and accepted every one of his ravishing kisses and loving nips.
“Your desire for passion inflames my own.” Cupping one breast, he sucked and moaned around the hardening tip. “You have the sweetest nipples. I dream of laying my head between your breasts at night and devouring them for hours upon hours.”
“Kiss them both.” She scooped her breasts together.
Holding her gaze, he lapped at her breasts and shards of pleasure rippled through her with each hot stroke of his tongue. “Like so?” he asked mischievously.
“Yes, exactly like so.” Arching into his mouth, she floated away on a dreamy storm of sensations.
“I need to taste more of you.” He shuffled down, suddenly hooked her legs over his shoulders and settled himself directly between her thighs, her bottom lifting from the bed and her womanhood fully exposed to him. “Dolce amore mio, you have the prettiest pink flesh, so lush and just waiting for me to taste it.”
“You can’t mean to—”
“Yes, I do.” He plunged his finger deep inside her again, then he pumped as he captured her nub between his lips. Like a man starved, he sucked madly at her womanhood. She bucked, almost losing her mind, the pleasure of his mouth on her completely sublime. He groaned her name, added a second finger then circled both fingers deep inside her.
Heat built, hard and sharp. Clawing his shoulders, she whimpered and writhed against his wicked tongue. “Anteros, let me touch you too.” She wanted to give him the same intense pleasure he currently bestowed on her.
“I’m coming. I desperately need your touch too.” He released her legs, lifted up and grasped her hand. He curled her fingers around his hard shaft and helped her pump him with a tight hold. “That’s how I like it. Keep working me, while I return to touching you below and kissing your sweet mouth.”
His mouth descended on hers, his tongue dipping between her lips and his fingers plunging deep inside her channel below. He circled his thumb over her nub and she cried out as he took her swiftly over the edge.
Blissful spasm after spasm shook her body, then he shook too in her hand, his seed jet
ting from him in one hot pulse after another. With a guttural groan, he sank against her, his heady presence filling her with such sweet comfort. She held onto him, fingernails digging into his shoulders and her lips near his ear. “The cobra has struck. I feel gloriously weak.”
“You’re so beautiful, so responsive.” His voice was filled with emotion. “But I must be getting too heavy for you.”
“Don’t go anywhere.” She clutched him tighter, adoring his heaviness.
“One moment, Amore.” Sliding one hand underneath her bottom, he kept her pinned close as he rolled them over until she came up on top of him, his arms banded tight about her. “That is better, hmm?”
“Yes, this is exactly where I need to be.” Eyes closed, she cuddled into him, this man the only one her heart and soul ached for. Contentment warmed her through, the dark of the night taking her away into blissful sleep.
Chapter 17
The dawn sun shimmered into his cabin as Anteros stirred the next morning. Olivia lay curled on her side in front of him, her bare bottom snug in the curve of his groin and the humid air of the Mediterranean breezing through his partially open window. His woman was such a temptress. He’d loved her once more during the night when she’d awoken in alarm at her strange surroundings. When she’d seen his face in the moonlight, she’d quickly calmed and broken into a heart-melting smile before kissing him with ravishing abandon. They’d ended up in a sweaty tangled heap as he brought her to a raucous climax, two of his fingers buried deep in her channel where he wanted to bury his cock instead.
“Anteros?” Olivia rolled onto her back and stretched, her arms rising and her beautiful breasts bobbing free as the covers slid away to her waist. When she blinked her eyes open and gave him a sultry-eyed look, every ounce of blood in his body bolted straight to his cock and hardened it.
“You need your rest after I kept you up all night long. Go back to sleep.” He shoved his pillow over his crotch currently tenting the bedsheet. “Ignore that.”
“I had no issue with the way you kept me up.” Another stretch, her breasts swaying full and heavy and her locket emblazoned with his insignia gleaming between both creamy mounds. Planting a hand on his chest, she pinned him to the mattress, then she straddled his hips and sat on him. “We need to talk.”
“About...” He lifted his upper body, licked her rosy nipples.
“Your true identity.”
“I’m not talking about that.” He fell back against the mattress, her question the last he ever wanted to hear.
“There is a reason why Violet and I couldn’t gain our freedom on board The Venture. Bruno carried a letter from Ferdinand III of the Kingdom of Sicily, which stated Bruno’s position amongst the king’s staff, that he must be shown every courtesy on his return to Sicily or else they would suffer the wrath of the king. I first thought the letter a forgery, but Violet assured me it wasn’t. So many things began to make sense if it were the truth. If you were Ferdinand’s son. It would also explain why Ferdinand would have such cause as to have Bruno kidnap me and take me away from you. Ferdinand wouldn’t have wished to see his grand plans for his son foiled. I am Ferdinand’s bait, meant to draw you in so he got his wish, for you to marry the Archduchess Clementina. What I don’t understand though, is why either you or Adrestia would hide your true parentage from everyone, particularly me.”
“You are very astute.” He couldn’t continue to keep the truth of his birth from her, not now she’d all but guessed it anyway. Cradling her bare hips, he drew in a deep fortifying breath. “I’m Prince Anteros Carlo from the House of Bourbon. A Prince of Naples and Sicily. Adrestia is a Princess of Naples and Sicily. We have always hidden the truth about our births. To begin with, our parents did so to ensure we survived any attempts at assassination during our younger years. Our parents had lost other children, too many for them not to consider some form of foul play being involved. That is how Adrestia and I came to be born and raised on Paradiso.”
She stared at him, not blinking or moving, then she lowered her gaze to his chest, her eyes getting watery before she lifted her gaze back up again. “Your secret would have been safe with me. What do you intend on doing now?”
“I’m going to confront my father. It’s clear he instructed Bruno to carry out your abduction. Here I’d thought I was the one instigating a ruse, but all along I’ve been playing right into Father’s hands.”
“What will you do during this confrontation?”
“Father holds Sicily, but he lost Naples to our enemy and now wishes to reclaim his kingdom. That’s why he is so determined to see me wed Clementina. My marriage to the girl will ensure our ties to Austria remain strong. Father needs Austria on our side when it comes time for him to go into battle for the throne of Naples.”
“Can’t he get Austria on his side another way?” She leaned closer, her blond locks sweeping like a curtain around them. Morning sunshine streamed through his square-cut windows and caught the fine strands. Her hair shimmered like pure gold, so silky and soft.
“Possibly, but it takes time to forge new alliances, which means he’ll have longer to wait. There is also the fact that possibly isn’t in my father’s vocabulary.” Which meant he had a decision to make, one that involved the woman in his bed. He needed to ensure her safety, of which only one way seemed clearly obvious—giving into his father’s demands. He lifted her from him, swung out of bed and opened the lid of his trunk. “Father has long arms and I’ll never be able to keep you safe unless I submit to his wishes and marry the girl.”
“You can’t marry Clementina, not when you don’t love her.” She jumped out of bed, her body gloriously nude as she stepped in front of him.
“Love has very little to do with marriage, particularly in my family. Political alliances are what we forge.” Firming his resolve, he dressed, donning tan breeches and a loose-sleeved white tunic. “You were under my protection, yet still Bruno managed to kidnap you. I can’t take that risk again. Your continued safety means the world to me.”
“I wish to stay with you.” She poked him in the chest.
“I told you from the beginning I wasn’t looking for a wife.”
“But it appears you’re taking one. I want that wife to be me.”
“No.” A firm answer. He strapped his saber to his hip and daggers to his wrist and ankle, pulled on a pair of boots and stuffed his pistol down the front of his waistband. “What we’ve had is an affair. You had physical needs. I had physical needs. We’ve both eased them.”
“Physical needs, my foot. Don’t you try and erect a barrier between us, Anteros.” She swiped one of his tunics from the pile in his trunk and drew the soft white fabric over her head. It skimmed down her body, past her hips and fell in a swish to her knees. She foraged once more and pulled out his sapphire dressing robe, which she stuck her arms in and belted at her waist, the hem trailing behind her as she stomped to his side table. She nabbed his brush and dragged it through her hair, her golden gaze fierce on him. “You belong to me.”
“If I speak vows with Clementina, then you’ll no longer be in any danger. My problems will then be solved.”
“I can handle your father.”
“You don’t even know him.” He snapped his teeth together. “My parents have taken great pains to make politically advantageous marriages for all of their children. I am no different, even though I’m a lost prince and don’t wish to wed. I will speak to Father and inform him that I’ll marry the Emperor of Austria’s daughter.”
“You’re giving up on us?”
“I won’t allow your life to be placed on the line again. You’ve survived one kidnapping, but there could well be more if I don’t agree to Father’s wishes.”
“I would make a good wife.” She tossed the brush onto the bed, thumped across and slammed her hands on her hips. “I adapt well to changes, would gladly live wherever you sailed to.”
“Since your kidnapping, all I’ve done is lived in fear.” Growling low, he stepped
her backward until her back came up against the wooden paneled wall. “I cannot, nor will not continue living in such a way, and neither will you.”
“So you’d prefer to let me go?”
“My decision is made. My future isn’t with you.” Time to show her he meant what he said. He swallowed hard, the walls of his cabin closing in on him. “I, ah, as you’re aware, I haven’t had a woman in a very long time, and I wish to thank you for servicing me.”
“Servicing you?”
“Sì, servicing me.”
She slapped his face.
Chapter 18
Never more infuriated, Olivia stormed from Anteros’s quarters to the deck, the sails pulled tight with the wind and the ship skimming the waves. Serving him! Olivia wanted to slap Anteros again. Muttering under her breath, she bustled up the short flight of stairs to the helm where Giovani gripped the wheel. “Excuse me, but I would like to speak to Adrestia. Can you bring the ships together?”
“Adrestia has been asking to speak to you too. I’ll lower the sails so she can board The Cobra. You look angry. Is everything all right?”
“No. Adrestia now please.” Curt words, which made her feel bad. Giovani didn’t deserve her anger, only Anteros did.
“Of course.” He waved to Adrestia sailing alongside them. “Lower the sails,” he bellowed.
“Will do.” A wave back from Adrestia and a few minutes later both ships bobbed in the water as Giovani set a plank in place between the two vessels.
Dressed in ruby breeches and a loose tan tunic, her black locks flying free, Adrestia stepped across and jumped onto the foredeck beside her. A hug and a kiss to both her cheeks. “My sweet sorella. How are you this fine morning?”
“Upset. Angry. Distressed.” She gritted her teeth, the smooth fabric of Anteros’s sapphire silk dressing robe blowing about her legs like a lover’s caress. “Your brother is the most insufferable man I’ve ever met.”
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