Chapter 23 #2
“I am going to show you,” he whispered against her lips. “Just how happy I am that you are mine, Alice.”
With a thundering heartbeat, she nodded ardently.
She trusted him with every fiber of her being; she could feel it thrumming through her.
The surety of his love in the face of the danger they had endured was impossible to deny.
Even with their past troubles, Alice was certain Marco would never harm her or do anything she didn't want. She trusted him implicitly.
“Yes,” she whispered.
In response, his breath jerked, and Alice noticed a shift in the pattern of his heartbeat against her breast. She squeezed him close once more, reassuring herself that he wasn't a fever dream.
She dug her nails into Marco's shoulder as he kissed her from the corner of her mouth to the sensitive skin beneath her ear, feeling the muscles flex under her touch.
He moved lower, kissing and nibbling along the column of her neck, breathing hot love words that made her want him even more.
“You are delectable,” he groaned in appreciation. “I want to kiss every inch of your skin.” The hot velvet of his mouth kissed the neckline of her nightgown, his hand untying the ribbon and his nose gently pushing the fabric back to make way for warm lips.
“Please, touch me,” Alice whispered when Marco hesitated. She looked up with lust-clouded eyes that also held a seriousness to them.
“If it becomes too much, you must tell me, and I will stop,” Marco ordered.
She nodded, and he eased her blankets down.
He slid his hand underneath and found the apex of her thighs.
When she parted her legs slightly, he found the gown's hem and dragged it up to her waist. His hand found her center again and skimmed the curls there.
“Are you well?” Marco whispered; his eyes urgent but his fingers patient.
Alice nodded again, more vigorously this time.
Marco moaned, setting his lips down to the curve of her breast, soft lips and light kisses teasing her.
His mouth found her nipple as his finger found her wet entrance, and she sighed his name.
Marco swirled his tongue around her nipple once before removing his mouth and blowing on the stiff peak, causing Alice to shiver.
He looked up and locked his eyes with hers as he gently pushed two fingers into her core.
She whimpered in response and pushed her hips up against his hand.
His touch was what she needed to banish the horror that Hackman had put her through.
Marco pressed his ear against her breast and listened to the rapid beating of her heart as he eased his fingers in and out of her.
“Your heart is so strong,” Marco hummed, making her skin break in goosebumps. “And it is all mine.”
“Marco,” she tried to lift his head to hers to quench her hunger with a kiss, her hand moving to tangle into his hair, but he caught her wrist in his hand. Alice gasped at the strength of his touch and his potent virility.
Marco mistook her reaction and frowned. "Did I hurt you... Did he do..." He couldn't even ask her if that monster had molested her. He wasn't sure he could handle it if her answer was yes.
“No, love,” she whispered, but Marco’s fingers stilled for a moment, and he pressed a kiss to her cheek.
“I heard what you said, what he was threatening. I saw him put his hands on you. I should have gotten there sooner to spare you," he croaked in shame.
Alice felt a surge of emotion and twisted her face to capture his lips. She tilted her hips up to keep his fingers inside her, and he moaned into her mouth.
“I do not want to think of him,” Alice said, her voice low with arousal. “There is only you and me. Only this moment. Nothing you could do would frighten me, Marco. I know that I am safe with you."
Marco pulled his mouth from hers to look at her for a moment, making sure she meant her words.
What he saw in her eyes convinced him, and he gripped her wrist tighter and eased it back onto the pillow.
The fingers of his other hand continued to delve into her body as scandalous thoughts consumed her.
She wondered what it would feel like to have him pinning both hands above her head as he took her with wild abandon.
The idea made her channel reflexively tighten around his fingers, and he groaned.
“Marco, I need you.” Her words halted when he stroked a particularly delicious spot inside her and her hips bucked in response.
"That is ill-advised," Marco said, making sure his fingers hit that same spot every time he thrust them back into her. "The doctor would have my head if he saw what I was doing to his patient right now."
“You are so…” She exhaled in a rush and instinctively rocked her hips. The flood of sensation was more intoxicating than the finest French brandy, pushing her closer to her peak.
“What am I? Am I delightful? Am I insufferable? Have you lost your words, my love?” he whispered darkly, circling his thumb on her intimate bundle of nerves as his fingers plunged into her.
“Marco!” she gasped, pulling on his silky hair.
“Yes,” she felt his smile as he kissed a path to her mouth. “Mine is the only name you shall ever say in that way. Now tell me, who do you belong to?"
Her breath caught somewhere in her throat at the possessiveness in his voice. “You. I belong to you,” Alice answered. “Please, Marco. I need you now."
He made no answer. He only increased the pressure of his thumb on her pearl and rocked his hips against her.
She keened in response as she began to climax.
He kept up his assault as she bucked against him, her body tensing as white-hot sensations surged through her body until she could take no more.
As her release ebbed, she felt like she was floating in a warm pool of water as the sun caressed her skin in soft feather touches.
No thoughts of Hackman violated her cocoon of bliss.
Marco had taken away all of Hackman's cruel words and unwelcome touches and erased them with his own touch, with his love.
"You are mine, Alice. You are my heart. You are my soul. You are everything. I love you,” Marco said. He withdrew his fingers from her and stretched out next to her. He kissed her softly as he retied her nightgown.
"I love you too, Marco."
After a few moments of holding each other in silence, Alice turned on her side and looked at him. He had a dreamy expression on his face that she could only assume matched hers. "Why didn't you make love to me?"
He smiled at her lazily and touched her cheek. "Because we are not yet man and wife," he replied as if it was obvious.
Although Alice did not understand why he needed to wait, she nodded and sighed. "I cannot believe I missed our wedding day."
“I was quite disappointed too,” he chuckled. “I suppose we shall have to get married next Sunday instead. If you are amenable?”
“Nothing shall keep me away, not even kidnapping noblemen,” Alice grinned back.
“It is too early to joke of such things, beloved,” Marco winced, bopping her reproachfully on her nose. Alice sighed heavily and felt her limbs relax. In her mind, she remembered Hackman's threats to get her with child.
“Marco, there is something else I must tell you,” she said quietly.
“What is it?” he asked immediately, and Alice knew she had nothing to fear in telling the truth.
"Hackman made me realize something," Alice said.
She closed her eyes and willed the thunderous beat in her heart to ease.
"That any child of my body will also come from yours – will also be a part of you.
I cannot say that my fears are gone, but," She paused, and Marco gently stroked her hair. She didn’t even need to open her eyes to know that he looked at her with kindness and love.
It gave her courage. “I cannot promise anything, but I might be changing my mind. "
"Only if it is what you want. You already know how I feel. I will wait for you forever and be content with whatever you decide, my love."
Alice sighed happily and nestled against him, feeling the safest she had ever felt in her life. She smiled and said, “Luckily, you only have to wait until next Sunday."