Chapter Fourteen #2
She smiled in return, snuggling up against his naked body. “I feel like I have been asleep for days,” she murmured. “What time is it?”
“Very late. There is perhaps only a few hours until dawn.”
She sighed, her cheek against his warm, smooth skin. “I have slept away the afternoon and evening,” she yawned. “This baby is exhausting me.”
He put an enormous hand against her belly, still tight and flat. “I still have a difficult time believing it.”
“Have you told your mother yet?”
“Nay,” he answered, his lips against her forehead. “I wanted us to tell her together.”
“If you are leaving before dawn that might be difficult.”
The hands caressing her suddenly stopped and Devereux felt him tense. Lifting her head, she smiled at him as she propped her head on a bent-up elbow.
“I am sorry,” she said softly. “I woke up earlier and heard you down the hall. I heard you say that you were leaving before dawn.”
He could see she wasn’t being malicious about it. In truth, he didn’t mind her eavesdropping; now he would not have to break the news to her. He reached up and gently tweaked her nose.
“Next time, do not linger in the hall,” his hazel eyes glimmered. “Simply come in and announce yourself. I do not mind having you listen in. If I do not want you there, I will tell you.”
She watched his mouth as he spoke, his lips smooth and full. “I just wanted to hear the sound of your voice,” she whispered. “I truly wasn’t listening to what was being said as much as I was simply listening to you speak.”
He reached up, tucking a stray bit of blonde hair behind her ear. “Sweet words, Lady de Winter. I do not believe you have ever spoken any to me. I believe I like it.”
She leaned forward, capturing his luscious lower lip between her own.
She kissed him sweetly, suckling gently on his lip before slowly releasing it.
Davyss didn’t say another word; he pulled her against him in a crushing embrace, slanting his lips hungrily over hers.
He kissed her with roaring passion, one hand drifting up her arm and coming to rest on a full breast. He could feel the hard nipple through the fabric and pulled the top of the garment off one shoulder until a nipple was exposed.
Then he left her delicious mouth and nursed hungrily.
Devereux gasped with pleasure as he suckled.
She couldn’t explain why she wanted the man so badly at the moment; never in her life had she known such overwhelming sexual desire.
All she knew was that the smell of him, the feel of him, fed her into a frenzy.
Soon, she was hiking up her dressing gown, shifting her pelvis so that Davyss’ big body wedged itself between her legs.
As he nursed furiously against her nipple, she could feel his powerful manroot pushing against her thigh.
Sitting up slightly, she reached down to grasp his throbbing organ, capturing his mouth in her own when he lifted his head.
Davyss groaned when her hands closed over his heated manhood, groaning again when she guided it into her slick folds.
Pushing her back onto the mattress, Davyss thrust firmly into her welcoming body.
Devereux was so highly aroused that she felt herself climaxing within the first few strokes.
Davyss felt her tight walls throbbing against him as he ripped her dressing gown off over her head, throwing it across the room as he fell back down upon her.
He didn’t want any barrier between his skin and hers.
Devereux grunted as his weight came down on her slender body, throwing her arms around his neck and holding him fast as he repeatedly thrust into her.
She was hot and wet, and he coiled his powerful buttocks as he pounded her with the proof of his desire.
Devereux climaxed twice more before Davyss finally released himself deep into her womb.
As his member twitched and throbbed in its final pleasurable throes, Devereux climaxed yet again as she felt him pulse deep within her.
It was wildly arousing to feel him release his seed.
Exhausted, emotional, she attached herself to his mouth and kissed him deeply as their last of their passion cooled.
Davyss was overwhelmed with her physical response to him; he’d never experienced anything like it.
The woman had an innate sense of what he needed physically, her body responding to his as if she had been doing it all her life.
He held her tightly, kissing her gently, dragging his lips over her cheeks and neck.
When the kissing faded, he simply lay there and held her tightly, his face in the side of her head.
“Davyss?” Devereux’s voice was soft.
He was half-asleep, wildly content. “Hmmm?”
“This battle you are anticipating. Will it be bad?”
He lay there a moment. Then his eyes opened as he pondered the deeper implications of her question.
“Battle is never a pleasant thing,” he muttered. “This confrontation has been a long time in coming.”
“With de Montfort?”
“Aye.”
“But what of Hugh?” she wanted to know. “Is he truly the enemy now?”
He sighed heavily. “How much of that did you hear?”
“I heard you say that he was with the enemy, but that is all. Is that true?”
“I would not lie.”
“I did not mean that. I simply meant… would he really do such a thing? Does he hate me so much that he would feel the need to punish you for it?”
He shifted so she was tucked against his shoulder.
His hazel eyes stared off into the darkness of the room.
“He does not hate you,” he murmured. “I believe Andrew was correct when he said that Hugh was jealous; jealous that I would listen to your wishes over his. As I had to grow up, so must Hugh, only he does not yet realize that.”
She fell silent a moment, contemplating his words and the deeper meanings.
She could do nothing about Hugh but she hoped, for her husband’s sake, that he would come around soon.
But as she thought on Hugh, she also thought on something else, something that had been lingering in her mind as she had listened to her husband talk to his men.
It was something she did not want to face but knew she must.
“What… what if you do not return from this battle?” she finally whispered. “Do you have any instructions for me?”
Davyss pulled back and looked her in the eye, seeing that the great gray orbs were filling with tears. He shushed her softly, cupping her face and kissing her cheek tenderly.
“I want you to do what makes you happy,” he stated.
“I want you to live where you are comfortable living and raise our son in the manner you feel best. I trust you. But remember he is a de Winter, the heir to a great family name. If I could make one request, it would be that you allow him to fulfill his destiny as a de Winter. That would make me proud.”
She couldn’t help it; she blinked and fat tears coursed down her cheeks. Throwing her arms around his neck, she pulled him down against her.
“I love you, Davyss,” she whispered against his ear. “Please know that I love you very much. I will always do my best to honor both you and the de Winter name.”
His arms tightened around her, holding her so tightly that she could barely breathe. “And I love you,” he murmured. “I will do my very best to return to you whole and sound.”
She sobbed softly in his ear and he pulled back, wiping at her cheeks and kissing her tears away.
He didn’t want their last few hours together to be spent weeping.
In truth, he was overwhelmed by her declaration of love, so much so that he could hardly think of anything else.
He could hardly believe the joy that the last few days had brought, the discovery and happiness.
If someone had told him on his wedding day those weeks ago that he would grow to love the beautiful spitfire of a woman he had married, he would have laughed at them.
But the proof of that love was in front of him, something so unexpected and strong that it overshadowed everything else.
When he should have been focused on an impending battle, he found he could only think of the woman in his arms.
“Now,” he said, kissing her nose as he wiped the last of her tears. “I must ask you something very serious.”
She sniffled, wiping at her nose. “What?”
He looked semi-serious. “I had assumed you would stay here at Hollyhock while I am away, but my mother says that I should ask you where you want to go. She says she doubts you will want to spend endless days with a frail old woman.”
Devereux appeared puzzled by the question, a smile playing on her lips. “I do not know. I have not thought on it. Why? Where would you have me wait for you?”
He lifted a big shoulder. “Wherever makes you happy. Do you want to return to The House of Hope?”
A light came to her eyes. “Would you let me?”
He could see, in those few words, how much it meant to her to return to her charity. His mother had been right again. “If that is your wish,” he said. “But I will send you back with a contingent of soldiers. My wife must be amply protected.”
She nodded eagerly. “Anything you say, Davyss. I would like to go home, only….”
She averted her gaze and he gently tapped her chin, forcing her to look up. “Only what?”
She pursed her lips as if she knew foolish words were about to spill from her mouth. “Only I was wondering… will you and I have our own home together, a place to raise our children, or will we always travel between Wintercroft and Hollyhock like a band of gypsies?”
He laughed. “If you wish for us to have our own home, then we shall. There are several of my holdings to choose from for just that purpose.”
“Holdings?”
“Aye,” he nodded. “In addition to Wintercroft, there is Castle Acre Castle….”
She shook her head vigorously, making a face. He nodded swiftly. “So you do not like Castle Acre Castle; I understand. There is also a small castle at Threxton and, of course, Norwich Castle.”