He halted and fixed her with a hard look. “Do you truly believe that?”
She searched his face, the serious lines clashing with the aliveness of his eyes. The scar across his cheek pulsed with impatience.
“No,” she admitted. “But it’s easier for me to believe.” A man like him with a nothing like her? Even now, his unwavering focus blocked their surroundings from her sight.
“Seven days ago,” he said, “I left you here. In those seven days, I could think of little else but you.”
“Surely you could have any number of beautiful women, from whatever land you fancy.” And probably had bedded quite a few.
He watched her as carefully as he spoke. “And you are about to choose a husband from a stable of fine young men.”
“I already told you, I have no intention of marrying.”
The corners of his mouth curled up. “Ah yes, the sacrificial lamb rings a bell.”
Ugh, she should never have revealed such a thing to him. “Don’t mock me. Marriage would anchor me to a man I’d never love and a house that would serve as my prison.”
He rested his hands on her shoulders. “I’m not mocking you. I’m making sure you know what you want.”
She tried not to pout. “I do.”
“What do you want?”
She’d already told him. “My freedom. To fly.”
The way he pressed his lips together, rocked his head in a nod and stared off at the horizon, he considered her a lost cause.
“What do you want?” she countered. Waiting for his answer, her body tensed, taut as a drawn bow string.
“You.” He stared into her eyes like she were some long-lost princess.
As before, she saw herself through his eyes, and found herself lacking. “Why?”
His easy grin returned. “Because of that, for one—your innocence.”
She smirked. How lovely he didn’t use the true label—naivete.
“And because of this.” He held her gaze as he touched his lips to hers.
Her head spun, and he eased away.
“Oh, right. That.” She flared her eyes to clear her head, then blew out a whew. ‘That’ presented a much bigger danger of crashing. But oh, the thrilling ride….
She caught him watching her. Intently. Her heart tangled with her breath, and from the way he tightened his jaw, he’d seen that, too. He saw everything about her, and instead of snide comments, he complimented her. Instead of derision, she found acceptance or admiration. It astounded her.
He glanced around. “We should keep walking.”
“One of my favorite spots is not far from here. We could rest there.”
“Why is it your favorite place?” he asked.
With anyone else, questions like those would have caused her to clam up for fear of ridicule. Sacha made her at ease with herself, and she couldn’t wait to share with him. “It’s so peaceful, and beautiful. A small stream trickles past, and birdsong echoes all day.”
He made a sound of agreement. “Elements I sometimes miss while flying.”
She hadn’t considered there would be parts of the earth-bound world one would yearn for. They strolled over a knoll and the familiar calm returned.
She swept her arm in a grand gesture. “Here we are.”
He laid back on his elbows on the grassy bank. “Ahh. I agree, it’s perfect.” He glanced over as she sat on her knees. “You are a vision of serenity and loveliness.”
She quelled the blush blooming on her cheeks. “Being here rekindles my one happy memory, of my mother. We shared a picnic lunch on this grassy bank, if I recall correctly.” She picked at the grass stalks. “Sometimes I think I invented the memory.”
“Why’s that?”
“I’d only just turned four when Mama fell ill. She died less than a month later.”
“Abandoned so young.”
The tenderness in his voice touched her. “Papa was out of his mind with grief. He married Jacalyn less than a year later.” She sighed. “And the year after, I couldn’t wait to meet my twin sisters. Until I met them, of course. Both are horrid brats.” She tried to make it sound like a joke.
“You still love them, don’t you?”
Her smile went crooked. “I try.”
His groan made a lonely sound.
“What’s wrong?”
“Now I can’t kiss you here.”
Heat bloomed in her cheeks, too powerful to contain. Shyly, she asked, “Why not?”
“And defile your only memory of your mother?” All seriousness, he tsk’d and shook his head.
How sweet of him to say so, but a kiss from him would hardly defile anything. And she did want to be kissed by him. There must be another solution.
“Hm.” She jerked her head toward a nearby hill. “My second-favorite spot is there.”
He sat tall and peered in the direction she indicated. “At the top?”
She nodded mischievously.
“Show me.” He clasped her hand as he rose, pulling her upward.
With a small squeal, she found her footing and they raced hand-in-hand. Something as simple as climbing a hill had never been such fun before, but she laughed all the way to the top.
Out of breath, she said, “I’ve never shared this place with anyone either.”
He halted beside her. “Another special memory?”
“No, I used to come here to escape. When I was young and silly, I’d stand at the edge and pretend I was flying.”
He walked to the outcropping and peered over. “Not silly at all. The view is almost as good as from an airship.”
She sat cross-legged on the ground. “Especially to a girl who dreams of flight every night.”
He stretched out on his side, propped on an elbow. “You should have every one of your dreams come true.”
She closed her eyes against the quiver in her heart. “Don’t say such things.”
“It’s true. I’ve never met anyone as deserving as you.”
“Stop.” She pressed her hand to his chest. “Don’t try to flatter me, or impress me.”
His hand covered hers. “When have I?”
In truth, he hadn’t, except in her fantasies, where he swept her along in a waltz, he in his dress flight uniform and she in a satin gown that rustled like leaves in the wind when they danced. With the stars a twinkling canopy over their heads, the music carried them in each other’s arms. “Promise me you’ll only speak from the heart.”
He angled to better face her and stared hard into her eyes. “Since I met you, I have. I seem incapable of doing otherwise.”
Nervousness got the better of her, and a laugh burst out. “You must have had hundreds of girlfriends.”
“Many women have tried to seduce me.” His teasing turned to seriousness. “But only one captured my heart. Nadia.”
She could hardly catch her breath. “Your wife?” Her gaze went to the heavy gold ring on his right hand, and she realized she’d wasted too much time talking about herself when she should have learned more about him.
He pressed his lips together, as if the memory pained him. “We were engaged… for a short time. But we never married.”
“What happened? Never mind, it’s none of my—”
“Yes, it is. We’d been introduced at formal functions. My parents urged me to court her, so I did. But she grew bored while I was traveling, and fell in love with my half-brother. Reimond became her groom last year.”
“Oh, Sacha.” Her heart broke for him. “How awful.”
His long hair created a black halo as he lay back, hands behind his head, a tassled stalk between his teeth. “No, they’re very happy. She’s expecting their first child in a few months.”
“My best friend Cadence is expecting hers in November.” She hid her delight with a forced frown. “Nice for her, but I don’t want babies.”
Only his eyes moved to her. “Never?”
She shrugged uncertainly. “Not for a long time. If I ever have a child, I’ll bring
her with me when I fly.”
“Really.” He couched his surprise in charm.
“Really. She won’t be a bored brat who breaks the clockwork gadgets her sister makes just so her sister will have to fix them.”
Narrowing his eyes in sympathy, he sucked air between his teeth. “They didn’t.”
“In thinking to do me a disservice, they actually helped me.” She sat taller. “If they hadn’t broken so many, I wouldn’t be such a formidable mechanic, so I’m grateful to them. Or should be.” Her laugh faded when he looked at her with such desire. The heat in his eyes smoldered.
She gulped. “Maybe we should walk back.”
He shook his head slowly. “We can’t leave now. Not when the stars are coming out.”
She couldn’t break her gaze away. “A clear night. Promises to be a dazzling… display.” Her thoughts fragmented as he raised up and leaned closer.
He smoothed her hair. “Dazzling.”
Her pulse thundered in her ears. She scraped her finger across the stubble along his jaw, and wanted to feel that scratch on her skin.
He reached around her, and in one tug, pulled her down to the ground. He hovered over her, as if he couldn’t decide whether to kiss her or not.
“What’s wrong?” she whispered.
His chest swelled with a deep breath. “My heart is in grave danger.”
Did he not think he could trust her? “Mine, too.”
Lips curled hungrily, his lids shuttered but didn’t hide the fire in his eyes. “Sweet Finette. If you knew the things I’ve been thinking about you, you’d run away.”
She gulped. “Tell me.”
He narrowed his eyes and growled deep in his throat. “Then it might be dangerous for us both.” He ran his hand down her neck, then down her chest between the two open buttons of her shirt, and stopped.
Her breasts tingled as if ripe to be tasted. What would his mouth feel like on them? “I thought you liked to live dangerously.”
The wolfish gleam returned to his eye. He bent his head down, popped another button loose with his teeth, and licked the spot.
Her breath caught, and she arched her back. She laid a hand on his hair, but it seemed so awkward, she dropped it to her side.
He raised his head. “Are you all right?”
She nervously shook her head. “I have no experience. I’m afraid I’ll bore you because I have no idea what to do.”
At his hearty laugh, her cheeks burned with embarrassment.
He pushed his long hair back from his face. “You need no experience. Only feeling.”
“Oh, I have plenty of those.” Lord, she sounded like a fool.
He traced her collar bone. “What are you feeling now?”
She didn’t know if she could explain. “Curiosity. Desire.”
He arched a brow. “An explosive combination.”
Studying him, she pursed her lips. “Yet you’re unaffected.”
“Hardly.” He dropped a kiss on her mouth. “I feel like an airship caught in a hurricane.”
“Good.” She liked that description. When he looked at her in confusion, she explained, “At least we’re in the storm together.” She released the tight control of her hands, and stroked his face. His chest. The hard muscles of his stomach.
He trembled and mumbled something in Romanian.
“What are you saying? You promised to teach me.”
He settled atop her, a delicious anchor. “An old saying in my country. The one who awakens the dragon may be scorched by flames.”
She let her hands wander down his back, and lightly squeezed his rear. His erection pushed between her legs, a delightful reaction. But not enough. She wanted more.
“I have fire already burning in me.” She reached her lips for his. She wanted to know how to make his body burn like hers. With hers.
His mouth engulfed hers, tongue dancing with hers. He tasted her neck, and palmed her breast in a delicious squeeze. He rolled her nipples between his fingers, and a throaty moan tore from her. She scraped her fingers down his hips and reached lower, but he inched down to pinch her nipple between his teeth. A gasp, and her core tightened. She grasped his head and clung to him, silently begging for more. With his mouth moving along her ribs, she hardly registered when he unfastened her suspenders. His arm behind her, he began removing her clothes, first exposing her hip, which he traced with his tongue. He nuzzled her belly, pushed her legs apart and feathered his fingers up her thigh.
Pressure filled her core, and she stilled, not knowing what to expect next but wanting it now. He slipped one finger inside, and she crumpled against him with a soft moan. When he tasted her there, his mouth and tongue savoring in a sweet caress, she grasped his hair and cried out his name. “More.”
Drawing upward, he knelt over her. “Finette, I—”
She unfastened his pants, dragged them down and wrapped her fingers around his length. He threw his head back in a heavy breath, and his erection pulsed in her hand. She was beyond talking. She guided him between her legs.
He dropped his hips and in one smooth stroke, broke her apart.
Pain and pleasure mingled in an explosion, radiating through her. She clutched at him and whispered, “Don’t stop.”
He nodded against her head, raised his hips and pumped in a slow, hypnotic motion that sent her into a trance of need. The pain eased, leaving only tantalizing sensations that begged for satisfaction. She held tighter, feeling like she was falling and flying at the same time. He cried out as his body went rigid, then relaxed into her.
Her breath calmed, along with her pulse, and she cradled him, wishing they could stay like that forever.
He kissed her cheek. “Was your first time all you’d hoped?”
“And more.” She could see little of him in the darkness, but his voice would tell her. “I hope you’re not disappointed.”
“Disappointed?” He chuckled and nuzzled into her. “I am under your spell, mademoiselle. Like your lips, I think I shall never get enough of the rest of you.”
Happiness expanded within her, so full that if he hadn’t anchored her with his body, she might have floated away. “Is there a cure for this spell?”
“Only to do it again.” He kissed the hollow of her neck. “And again.” He nibbled her ear. “And again.”
On a moan, she sighed. “The perfect cure.” Was anything more luxurious than his lazy kisses, his slow touch? In that moment, she would not trade places with any princess. No riches could compare.
She explored the hard contours of his muscles, the hard bone of his hips beneath taut skin. When she braved to move lower, he tensed.
“Is it all right?”
“Much better than all right.” He rolled to his back and stretched out.
The angle seemed wrong when she lay beside him, so sat up and stroked his length. His musky scent intoxicated her. The pulses, the thickening of his erection beneath soft skin invited her to keep touching, so she straddled him, wedging herself against his shaft. His moan excited her, and he palmed her breasts, grazing his hand across her nipples. Like a lit fuse, she sizzled at her core. She wanted to feel him moving inside her again.
With a thick groan, he sat up and guided himself inside as he pulled her against him. This time she felt almost no pain, only intense pleasure. Her body knew what to do, and his hands at her hips nudged her faster until she thought her body would fly apart. But when she began the slow descent, he released inside her. They held each other for a long time, then lay back to watch the stars.
By sunrise, he said sadly, “I must go.”
A well of sadness opened up within her, and she forced herself not to cry. Not to beg him to take her with him. She only gathered her clothes. He did the same, but helped her with the buttons of her blouse, and she fastened his belt. Their lips met time and again, and the final kiss was sweet and long.
Hand in hand, they walked back to the hangar. His airship already hovered at the dock, waiting. He hugged her tight.
“I will try to come back soon.”
She forced a brave face. “Safe travels.”
He held her gaze, his expression unreadable, and then climbed the ladder into Breath of the Dragon.
For a long time, she stood there, more lost than she’d ever felt. She couldn’t bear to go home, not knowing Jacalyn would ensnare her in her web of acid. She hardly even thought of her father’s house as home these days. But she owed it to him to return, so climbed in the carriage.
Chapter Five
The house sat silent as a cat stalking a mouse. Finette knew the trap that inevitably lay in wait, so snuck in the back door on tiptoe. As she reached for an apple from the bowl on the table, a sharp voice arrested her.
“You have disgraced the family. I won’t even ask where you’ve been all night. From your disheveled condition, it’s obvious.”
Finette expelled a heavy breath. She had no argument for that, yet felt no shame. Sacha had made her no promises, yet she completely trusted him. “Jacalyn—”
“Silence.” Her stepmother pounded a fist on the table, then visibly composed herself. “The ball is in two weeks. Madame Helaine tells me you haven’t been to the dress shop.”
Perhaps she could salvage a shred of this situation. “I am going there this morning.”
Jacalyn stomped her foot. “Stop your lies.”
Finette schooled her features to remain blank, unfeeling. “I’m not lying. I intended to go there after breakfast.”
“You will go nowhere except to your room.”
“I’m twenty years old.” How absurd. “And you told me to select a gown.”
“I gave you one week to accomplish a simple task, plus the undeserved grace of several more weeks. You ignored me. So I took matters into my own hands.”
Non! Finette pressed a palm to her forehead. “You didn’t.”
“The gown is upstairs in your room. If you had come home last night, you would have seen it.” Her stepmother sniffed. “Either you choose a husband at the ball, or I will choose him for you.” Undiluted evil glittered in her eyes. “Now go.”
“This is ridiculous. Where is my Papa?” She brushed past Jacalyn.
Her stepmother grabbed her arm with a vice-like hold and claw-like nails, shoved her to the staircase and wrestled her up the steps. “Remy is at work where he belongs. And he agrees with me.” Puffing from the effort of climbing two flights, Jacalyn shoved her into her room.
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