Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 97127 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97127 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
“I understand,” she said with excitement. “We can wait until dark, or I will keep my eyes closed, or you can blindfold me and then we can love throughout the day.”
He laughed at her joyous enthusiasm. “And when do we rest?”
“We will not need to rest. Time does not exist; it is irrelevant, therefore it will not affect us.”
“If only that were true,” he said, running his finger over her lips and growing hard as he watched her eyes flutter closed and her mouth open to nip playfully at his fingers.
“I want my first time to be with you. I want to know your touch, taste your kiss and feel your body.” She moaned. “Oh, Michael, you have no idea how much I wish to touch you, feel your flesh, and kiss it. I need to know you are real, flesh and blood and not a mere shadow of a man. I want those memories to keep with me forever.”
“What of Decimus?”
“I do not care.”
“You will not go to his bed a virgin.”
“He did not ask for a virgin.”
“He expects one,” Michael said.
“That is his problem.”
“It could very well be yours. I do not wish to put you in harm’s way.”
“At this moment, Michael, I have free will. I can make a choice—”
“That will have consequences.”
“Leaving me to choose, fully aware of those consequences.”
“I should say nay,” Michael said.
“Why deny ourselves the love?”
“You will face the consequences of our actions, not I.”
“Which I am willing to do.” She pressed a finger to his lips to stop his protests. “The answer is simple, nay or yea, which shall it be?”
A second of silence followed and it felt like an eternity to Mary before she heard him whisper.
“I shall make love to you.”
Chapter 18
“Tonight after it grows dark—” “Now,” Mary insisted. “I want you to make love to me now.”
Michael had no chance to respond.
“I want every moment I can with you so that when our time together is done, I will have memories to keep safe in my heart.”
Michael reached out and grabbed her wrists. “Do you realize what you ask? How do I make love to you and then watch you surrender to a madman?”
“We cannot think of that now. Nothing else exists except you and me.”
She didn’t plead or beg him, she simply stated her desire with a soft and gentle urging that Michael found weaved its way inside him to stir his senses. He felt more alive than he had in a very long time, and it was a passion born of love.
He had thought love lost to him and here Mary was offering it to him freely, willingly, and unselfishly. He had denied himself much these many years, but how could he deny her?
She slipped her hands beneath the dark shroud to press her palms to his cheeks.
“You will not be able to look upon me; you must promise me that.”
She smiled. “But I will be able to touch you.” She stroked his face, a fine bristle of whispers tickling her fingers.
“All you want.”
He pulled her hands from beneath his mask and lifted her up into his arms. He carried her to the keep, stepping over the crumbled stone wall, and walked straight to the bed they had shared since their arrival.
He laid her down, stretching out beside her. He skimmed her lips with his leather-clad finger. “I cannot take the chance of you looking upon me. I wish it could be different, but . . .”
“Cover my eyes, I trust you.”
“You do not know me,” he said sadly.
“Just because I have not laid eyes upon you, does not mean I do not know you.” She placed her hand to his chest. “I know you well enough and I know that you would never hurt me.”
“How I wish this could be different.”
“But it is not, and I want this time with you.”
She reached for an old strip of silk cloth she had found and had torn to make ribbons for her hair. She handed it to him.
“When our time together is done, I will know you well, for I will have touched all of you and no longer will you be a mere shadow to me.”
He took the cloth and leaned down close to her face. His voice was a coarse whisper. “Someday I will love you in the light.”
Her heart fluttered with joy. Someday, somehow he would once again rescue her, and knowing that gave her hope and lifted her spirits.
“I look forward to it.”
He placed the blue silk over her eyes, tying it in a knot behind her head.
“I can see nothing,” she said and a chill rushed through her at the sudden thought of being in complete darkness, like the prison cell that had once held her captive.
“That was the question I was about to ask you, you read my mind,” he said and brushed his bare cheek next to hers when he felt her slight tremble. “Know that I intend to love you with all my heart”—he kissed along her cheek to her lips and nibbled lightly—“and soul.”