Canillia unclasped her hands and ran her fingers through his wet hair. Her body responded each time his wet shirt touched her skin.

Claude laid trembling Canillia down and kneeled on one knee before her. “Canillia, you have a habit of underestimating me,” he whispered quietly while undressing himself. The embarrassed Lia tried to hide her body with a blanket.

Claude, now fully naked, lifted blanket from her shoulders and pulled her to himself, sitting her on his lap. “I wasn’t angry with you,” he said, “I was worried about you.”

Worried.

“Then don’t show worry with anger. You’re so scary.”

“I’m scary?” He grabbed hold of her sharp chin and made her look at him. She tried her best to avoid his eyes but she couldn’t turn her head. Lia stared into his ocean blue eyes and nodded. He laughed. “If I act even scarier, are you going to stop running away?”

“I don’t run away.”

“You always do. To a dark alley under the name Canillian. And into my dreams,” he said as his deep voice cracked a little—making him even sexier.

Lia bit her lip while pressing her thumb on his mouth. If everything she had thought to be a dream were true, then last night’s kisses while gazing into each other’s eyes was real. Confessing that she missed him was real. It was a night without lies—without anything hidden.

This room—this gift from Rosina—was magical. The thought infused her with emotion and she embraced him hard, saying, “Then don’t be scary.”

Lia pressed her eyes on his strong shoulder. She didn’t want to cry but tears kept coming, but not because of the embarrassment of being naked or having her weakness revealed.

“Okay,” he said softly. His hand traveled from her waist to her neck. He bit her earlobe and then licked it. “But,” he said between licks, “one exception is if you make me crazy.”

“I’m innocent.”

“I know,” he whispered, stirring hot and ticklish sensations within her. She couldn’t see his face, but sensed that he was smiling. “Do you know how I handled the last three years?” he asked. She shook her head. His kisses and caresses distracted her from everything else except her arousal. It was hard to breathe. His hand slid down from her neck and caressed her curves.

“I recall your sly face when you whispered in my ear that you like me. You have ruined me, Canillia,” he said with his deep, sensual voice.

She tried to push him away, but her hands against his hard chest merely stimulated him even more. He playfully bit her shoulder and she stopped his lips from kissing her. Then he licked her palm and looked her in the eye saying, “So, I have no intention of forgiving you easily.”

She couldn’t breathe. Every time he touched her, she was aroused. He kissed her ear and cheek and stood up.

Canillia looked at his manhood and let out a gasp, but she couldn’t escape him as he kissed her while clasping the back of her head. Two of them collapsed into the bed. Their breathing, now panting. Their minds, now in an altered state. Claude spread her legs, gave her ankle a quick bite, and then gently kissed the inside of her hot thighs. Lia’s heart raced with excitement.

“I don’t know if you’ll experience pain or pleasure, but you’ll be my clematis,” he whispered.

He slipped his hand between her hot thighs as she, unaccustomed to the steamy, wet sensations of arousal, tried unsuccessfully to close her legs.

“Canillia.”

He placed himself between her legs and lowered his upper body. Their bodies entwined. He entered her and let out a satisfying sigh. She felt simultaneous pain and pleasure. To Claude, she was the only truth in a lawless world.

He pressed down on her struggling thighs and covered her lips with his. They tasted one another. In her, Claude’s anxiety and worry were replaced with a euphoria surpassed by any he had ever felt before. His manhood reached within her with more tenacity than he’d ever had on the battlefield.

Claude caressed her trembling eyes and encircled the sheet around her, keeping her from running away from him.

Tears streamed down her face and she bit his arm. His eyes flashed with the pain, fueling his aggression. He leaned on her upper body and curled up.

“Not yet.”