He slowed his movements and made sure she enjoyed every single second of the earth-shattering orgasm. He waited until she gave a final shudder before he moved upward once again.
She’d thought that it was over — for her, at least. She wasn’t selfish, though, and she was more than willing to take care of him in any way that she could. At least when she got her breath back. But when he nibbled on one of her still-hardened nipples, her body woke up fiercely.
And he took her lips once again. He was no longer slow and gentle. He was fast and demanding and she was answering his call. She needed him again.
He lifted her leg around his hip, and his manhood pressed against her core. She jerked her hips. She was desperate for completion.
He continued to caress her mouth with his, and he stroked her hip and the smooth curve of her backside. It wasn’t what she wanted now. She wanted everything. And finally, finally, finally, he began to give her what she needed, inch by amazing inch, until he was deep inside her.
He looked into her eyes, the moment so beautiful she almost wept. She loved him so much and there was no better way for them to be close. He started moving slowly in and out of her tight womanhood, causing ripples of desire to course through her.
Giving her another drugging kiss, he gripped her hips masterfully and continued thrusting. And she met him stroke for stroke.
She splintered. And almost simultaneously, he threw his head back and gave a loud groan as he released deep into her core.
He collapsed on top of her and she almost couldn’t breathe from the weight of him. She didn’t care.
She fell asleep with a smile on her face.
Chapter Sixteen
Chris put his hand on the doorknob several times, only to stop and take a step back.
Telling Adara the truth was the only decent thing to do. But how could he do that without losing her?
Still, he and Adara hadn’t shared a single bad moment since they’d come to Rubare Collina — at least one that didn’t involve someone threatening or trying to kill one of them.
Why worry? Everything would be fine. She would understand his little deception. She had to. She loved him as much as he loved her.
The wedding was only thirty days away, but how could he go through with it when this lie of his was blighting every thought in his brain? He had to do the decent thing. The honorable thing.
So he opened the door to their suite. Adara was sitting in a high-backed chair and reading a book. When he walked in, her cheeks grew flushed and she smiled up at him.
“I was just thinking about you,” she said with a secret smile.
“What were you thinking?”
“Some things are better off left to mystery,” she said, closing her book and setting it aside, with the front cover hidden. “Did you and your brothers have a good day?”
“Yes, we managed to get a lot accomplished. With Emanuel’s information, we now have most of the remaining members of the Arcano in custody.” He bowed his head for a moment in shame. “Adara, I’m so sorry that I didn’t tell you about them. I really didn’t think they were a threat anymore.”
“I understand. Or I think I do. As long as you don’t keep secrets from me ever again, Chris . . .”
“That’s what I want to talk to you about.” He shifted on his feet, but then pulled her into his arms.
Why did he seem so uncertain now, so reluctant to speak? This just wasn’t like him at all.
“What is it, Chris? You can tell me anything.”
“I don’t want to spoil this time with you,” he said, leaning down and nuzzling her neck.
“You can’t spoil it, Chris. You know how much I love you,” she said so sweetly that his breath caught in his throat.
He moved to the couch and pulled her onto his lap. Then he brushed the hair from her face. “We can get through anything together, right, my darling Adara?”
“What is this all about? You’re really making me worry.”
“I haven’t been completely honest with you, Adara, but we’ve grown so much since we’ve come to Rubare Collina. Please remember that.”
“Chris, just spit it out.” She laughed nervously. “You’re probably making it worse in your own mind than it really is.”
“Okay . . . when I told you that we were engaged before we arrived here . . . I might have stretched the truth just a little bit.”
She sat back and stared at him. “What do you mean by ‘stretched the truth’?”
He hated the suspicion that instantly filled her eyes.
“We’d been seeing each other for three months — I told you that — but when it started, we both agreed to something casual. Just a short-term affair. Neither of us wanted anything serious.”
He could tell from the way her eyes seemed to go wildly in and out of focus that she was searching her mind, trying to break through the wall of blankness there. He was a mass of tension when she finally spoke.
“That sounds normal. I mean, relationships don’t blossom overnight, do they?”
“The day we left for this country, you told me you didn’t want to be with me anymore. You said that it was over.” These last six words came out in a rush.
She stiffened. “Why did I say that? Were things bad between us?”
“No, not at all. I honestly think it was all just a shock for you when you learned that my feelings had grown, had changed. You were protecting yourself somehow. But what you have to remember is the way you feel now, Adara. We love each other completely, and that’s something that’s very rare,” he told her, cupping her face with his hands.
“I . . . I’m trying to remember,” she said. She closed her eyes firmly and did her best to concentrate.
“Your memory will come back to you. The doctor said you’re fine now. When you’re ready, it will all come back.”
Adara didn’t pull away from him, but he couldn’t miss the strain in her features, her shudders of doubt and misgiving.
“But I want to remember,” she told him. “That I don’t can’t be from any lack of trying.”
“Just train your mind on the way you feel about me now. Don’t think about what happened before we got here.”
He’d done what he’d promised himself to do. He’d told her the truth. Most of it, anyway. He’d just left out one tiny detail — the actual kidnapping. Why get into that?
“I love you, Adara, and that’s all you need to think about.” He leaned forward and took her lips gently with his.
She closed her eyes, kissed him back, and murmured “Yes.”
Chris knew that everything would be perfect now. Again.
But then she froze, and cried out.
“What’s going on? What on earth is wrong, Adara?”
“It hurts,” she said, gripping her head convulsively.
“What hurts?”
He rose from the couch, still holding her.
“Let me go. Right now. Please.”
He put her back on the couch and sat beside her, running a hand reassuringly up and down her back. “Do I need to get the doctor?” he asked. “Yes, I’ll get the doctor.”
He dashed to the phone and called the chief royal physician. Sitting back down with her, he waited for what seemed like the longest minutes of his life.
The doctor soon rushed in and moved Adara to the bed, telling Chris that he must now leave the room.
The young prince paced by the door, and he wasn’t surprised when his two brothers appeared.
“What’s wrong?” Xander asked him.
“I don’t know,” Chris replied. “We were talking and then she was clutching at her head and in pain. I called the doctor right away.”
They all waited for the doctor to emerge. That took only about fifteen minutes, but it seemed like forever.
“Your Highness, I have wonderful news. Your conversation apparently jogged her memory. The rush of information was a bit too much for her, however, so I’ve given her a mild sedative. She should be back to hers
elf by the morning.”
Chris flinched when he heard the doctor’s words, but he thanked him and stood there with his brothers in silence while the man left.
