Chapter 23 #2
“You looked so beautiful that it was burned into my memory, so I could describe it in detail to Yvette. She got our personal shoppers to scour the internet for it.” He gestured to the shoebox. “Your shoes I retrieved from the inflatable, but they were soaking wet, so Yvette acquired a new pair.”
He had gone to so much trouble for her. And he thought she had looked beautiful. Could he be here to… No, it isn’t possible . She quashed the flicker of hope.
“I was going to send them to you,” he continued. “I owed you that for your help. But I decided to deliver them in person.”
She looked up at him, her chest clogged with emotion. “I love this dress, but I would never have bought myself another one. Thank you!”
“You looked like a goddess that night,” he said. “A magnificent warrior goddess who could control the elements. Sky, sea, and earth.”
Her breath whooshed out of her lungs, sucked out by the force of his words. He thought she was a goddess? He wouldn’t say that if he didn’t…
Then he pulled a small green velvet bag out of his shorts pocket. “This is an actual gift, something to remember our night of adventure by.”
As she took the present, he locked gazes with her, the blue depths of his eyes holding a plea that she couldn’t interpret. What did he want from her?
She unknotted the cord, tipping the bag’s contents onto her palm.
A coil of gold chain gleamed in the sun.
Attached to it was a pendant with an irregular gold frame and prongs holding a deep blue-green fragment.
“Oh my God, it’s a dragon eggshell,” she said, brushing it with her fingertip to feel the tiny indentations of its natural texture.
“It’s stunning. Extraordinary. I don’t know how to thank you. ”
This was beyond a gift. This was rare and special. It had to mean more than mere gratitude, didn’t it? She looked up at his face, trying to read the emotions in the angle of his jaw and the slant of his lips, but all she saw was uncertainty, a quality she didn’t associate with Raul.
“It’s one of the fragments you bought from Bertucci, the beginning of the trail that led to al-Buya.” He lifted it out of her hand. “May I put it on you?”
“Please.” The brush of his fingers against the nape of her neck sent a jolt of desire through her.
He sat back to look at the necklace. “It seemed right for you to have something from a dragon after you saved her life.”
The pendant was warm with his body heat after being in his pocket. She ran her finger along the chain to touch the eggshell again. Something inside her broke open.
“Why are you here?” she blurted.
“I…” He looked down at the boxes and scraped his fingers through his glorious hair before he shoved the gifts away and slid closer to her on the cushion. He turned to her, his blue eyes blazing. “I’m here for you, mi amor .”
Her heart did a somersault, which made her dizzy. “What?” she barely managed to gasp.
He held out his hands, palms up. “May I?” he asked.
When she nodded, he took her hands in his. A shiver of delight ran through her.
“ Ay, it feels so good to touch you again,” he said.
Hope was beginning to unfurl tentative petals in her chest. He wouldn’t say such things if he was here for a quick fling, would he?
“Would you please get to the point?” she said, squeezing his hands. “You’re torturing me.”
His face softened. “My Erica. Always direct.” He took a breath, and she realized he was nervous. The Prince of Caleva is worried about talking to me!
“Erica.” He looked away and swallowed before he brought his gaze back to hers. “You gave me some good advice about being more honest with my father.”
His father? What does that have to do with me? Her brain was spinning, so she tightened her grip on his hands to anchor herself.
He gave his head a shake and began again.
“I said goodbye to you because I wanted more from our relationship. Much more. And I knew I had no right to that when I couldn’t offer you any possibility of something long term.
You deserved to have a full commitment that I wasn’t able to give.
Or so I thought.” He shifted on the cushion.
“When I told my father what an extraordinary woman you are, he asked me why I let you go.”
He stared down at their joined hands. “I was stunned. We talked, and he told me that I can marry whomever I wish, no matter whether she is an aristocrat or not.”
Shock ran through Erica like an electric bolt as the implications sank in. “Wait, your father doesn’t expect you to marry someone noble? You can choose a commoner?”
She couldn’t wrap her mind around the strange concept. The rulers of Caleva had always taken partners from the noble class, either native or from another country. Until King Luis married Eve, of course. Maybe that had opened the king’s mind to the possibility.
Raul nodded. “I am free to follow my heart.”
The little blossom of hope in her chest unfurled more petals.
“Of course, I’m getting ahead of myself.
Such a thing is for the future.” He looked up, uncertainty clouding his eyes.
“But it means that I can tell you how I feel without guilt. I love you, mi corazón . I would like to make our relationship public, to tell the world how much I respect, admire, and adore you, because now I’m free to do so.
But would you want that too?” His question ended on a tentative note.
Joy, love, and astonishment swirled through her like bubbles of champagne, dissolving the dark blanket of misery she’d been living under.
“Yes! Yes! Oh God, yes! I love you too! I never thought I would get to tell you that.” She half rose so she could slant her lips against his, their warmth and firmness so wonderfully familiar, yet so strange in this crazy dream.
Their kisses had felt stolen before. Now she could claim his mouth without a pang of self-reproach.
He released her hands to grip her shoulders and pull her gently onto his lap, kissing her over and over again and murmuring, “Mi querida. Mi amor. Mi corazón.”
She twined her fingers into his hair, holding him close as she returned the kisses, her body roiling with wild emotions and hot arousal.
He pulled away far enough to rest his forehead against hers. “I don’t know what I would have done if you had told me no. You never said… You never told me what you felt. Or maybe I didn’t let you because I was afraid to hear it.”
“That’s why I didn’t tell you.” She leaned back to see the radiant relief on his face. “I understood that you had a duty to your position, and I had no place in it. You carry enough guilt. I didn’t want to add to it.”
“You are teaching me to be less caged by duty,” he said, stroking a finger down her cheek. His expression turned serious. “You make me a better man.”
Elation exploded in her chest, but she shook her head. “It would be impossible to make you better than you are. But maybe a little more relaxed.”
“God, that sounds wonderful,” he said, pressing a kiss where her neck met her shoulder and sending a delicious shiver through her body.
She could feel his erection under her thighs, and she wanted nothing more than to have him inside her. She scanned the shore, seeing no structures and no people.
“This is a very private island,” she said, tugging at the hem of her cover-up.
He stopped her by seizing her wrists. “You’re injured.”
“They’re just scratches.” She rocked her hips against his cock. “And I’m desperate.”
He gave a choked groan. “ Mi amor, I don’t want to cause you pain.”
Too late for that, but he was making up for it fast. “You will cause me nothing but pleasure. Just don’t put your hand on my right side.”
“You must promise to tell me if I hurt you,” he said as he released her wrists but took the fabric himself. “Hold up your arms.”
He peeled her dress up so slowly, she nearly yanked it out of his hands.
After he lifted it off, his gaze went to the white bandage on her rib cage, now covering only the two deepest lacerations.
He feathered his fingertip over the faint bruising around the edges.
“Such terrible marks on your beautiful skin.” Guilt underpinned his words.
“I consider them a badge of honor,” she said. “Even better than your tattoo because they came from the real thing.”
That made him smile as he shook his head. “My tattoo was quite sore for about a week.”
“Stop coddling me.” She felt around the back of her neck for the cord that held up the two triangles of her pink bikini top. Holding up one end, she said, “Pull on this right now.”
He hesitated only a moment before twisting the gold cord around his finger. “How can I deny the request of such a brave woman?” He tugged gently.
She could feel the bow securing her top begin to come undone, and she had a hard time breathing as he continued to pull. Suddenly, the bow released, and the fabric and cord slithered down her chest to leave her breasts exposed.
“Tan hermosas!” he breathed before reaching around to yank out the lower bow so the top fell off completely.
“Now you.” She grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it up and off when he lifted his arms, quashing a wince when the bandage adhesive tugged at her skin. The dragon cavorted up his rib cage as she ran her palms over his bare chest, making him throw back his head and groan.
And then his hands were cupping her breasts, his thumbs pressing against her nipples so sensation seared down like ropes of lightning to turn liquid between her thighs.
She arched into his touch as she slid her hands lower to stroke his cock through his shorts.
“ Ay, mi amor! I love this bikini.” He yanked open the two ties that held on the bikini bottom at the same time so she was naked.
She unbuttoned his shorts and jerked down the zipper, reaching in to free his cock. “Condom?” she asked, knowing he would have one.
He whipped one out of his back pocket, tore open the packet with his teeth, and handed it to her. “I want you to put it on me.”