Authors: Stormie Kent
Battling Rapture (21 page)
He stared down at his hands and she ached for him.
“It wasn’t until Bronwyn began to change and grow into a
caring person that I realized I felt for your sister what I would feel for a
treasured female family member.” He frowned. “Unfortunately, she was also an
exotic so, in effect, my signals got crossed. My biological nature failed me
and created a situation that I regarded with extreme embarrassment and
dishonor.” His hands formed fists as the lines of his face pulled taut to the
point of bleakness. He unclenched his hands and his face softened. “And then I
met you. It was as though I’d awakened from a dream in one-dimensional black
and white and straight into four-dimensional full-color-spectrum reality.”
She wasn’t going to pretend like she could sit across from
him as he bared his soul. She would put money on the fact that no one else had
ever heard him say and admit any of these things before. She stood and crossed
to him. He watched her and it broke her heart a little to see the uncertainty
in his gaze, like he expected her to reject him.
She moved one of his arms and sat on his lap. He gathered
her tightly to his chest and she didn’t protest that his hold was a little too
tight. He kissed her cheek, then turned her face and kissed her lips.
“I love you, Niki. I love you beyond duty and the love I
would feel for a treasured female family member. I couldn’t see my life without
you in it. I love that you are strong and protective of those you care about. I
love that you can be sweet and giving. I love you. No one else will do in your
place.”
Tears filled her eyes and she didn’t try to stop them. The
man she loved, loved her back. She believed him. He’d been attempting to show
her how he felt for some time. If he could lay it all out there, she could as
well.
“I love you too. You’ve been special to me from the start.
It hurt me to think I was just a stand-in for my sister in your eyes when I
loved you so much.”
“Don’t be hurt. I keep saying you are perfect for me.” He
kissed her again.
She laughed.
“Next time you are worried about something, just tell me.
Maybe I can help and you won’t have to destroy anything,” he said.
“Maybe.”
“Will I have to tie you up to get you to tell me what is
wrong in the future?”
She perked up.
“Without the pleasuring part.”
Her face fell. “I thought we agreed never to do it that
way.”
“There was no agreement.”
“There should have been,” she muttered.
He pulled one of her curls. Then he kissed her with passion,
igniting a fire deep within her belly. His hand parted her robe and trailed
down to cup her mound before exploring her pussy. She winced and clutched at
his wrist.
“The mind is willing, but the body is too sore. I got the
point, by the way. I belong to you. You belong to me,” she said.
“Poor baby.” He kissed her neck and lifted her as he stood.
“We’re going to soak in the tub, but in another room. Someone made a mess in
our bathroom.”
“How long are we going to talk about this old stuff?”
He chuckled softly before carrying her from the room and
into the next. He stopped for a moment in the middle of the room and looked
around at the things she’d knocked over. The little sofa table might have been
overkill.
“Don’t ask.”
He sat her on the bed and went into the bathroom to start
the water in the tub. She walked into the room behind him and watched as he
opened the ornamental bottles of bath salts and sniffed each one. He sneezed
when he opened the purple bottle. He set it down and chose one with
sand-colored contents, then sprinkled it liberally into the water.
There was more than one spigot, so the bath filled quickly.
She took off her robe and entered the tub. There was room enough for four
people. She sighed as she sat and the water’s warmth soothed her sore places.
Rhine stripped and stepped into the tub. He sat and settled against the side.
She waded closer and he pulled her between his legs so she rested against his
torso.
His erection made it hard to find a comfortable position,
but she managed.
“Who’s going to turn the water off?”
“It will shut off before it overflows.”
That was handy. She hadn’t taken any leisurely baths in the
keep or their home, preferring the shower.
She lay against him contentedly. The soreness in her thighs,
and pussy subsided. Whatever he’d dumped into the water had a soothing effect
on both her muscles and her nerves. She began to feel a bit lazy, yet she
loathed leaving his embrace and their interlude. She was calm for the first
time in months.
“I had planned a much more romantic way to do this, but I
believe it may be better to ask you while you’re in a relatively good mood.”
She was in a good mood, so she would let the comment slide.
She turned sideways so she could look up at him.
“What is it?”
“Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
It shocked her for a moment. Yes, he said he loved her. Yes,
he’d been calling everything he owned theirs for weeks. Deep down, she thought
they would just continue on as they had been. She’d never seen herself as the
marrying kind. He was probably the only person who had.
He stared at her and she realized he was…nervous.
“Marriage is important to you.” It wasn’t a question. Family
and duty were extremely important to Rhine. She wanted to be with him always.
Surely a ceremony and a document weren’t too much to ask.
She smiled. “Let’s deal.”
His entire body visibly relaxed. “What do you want?”
“I want time. To be specific, I want forever with you.”
“I accept your terms.” He kissed her.
When he pulled away, she sighed against his mouth. “I want
you.”
“Are you still sore?”
She shook her head. “Nope. Whatever you put in the water did
the job.”
“
Uate
is a natural pain reliever.”
He lifted her until she straddled his lap. She reached
between them, and guided him into her sheath. He began to move. Where before
he’d attempted to claim her, now he moved slowly and gently, expressing his
love for her with his body. He kissed her tenderly and she melted more fully
into him, pulling him closer.
Who would have thought she would begin her journey searching
for her sister and end it in the arms of the only man in the universe perfect
for her?
About Stormie Kent
Stormie Kent is the author of romance with science-fiction,
paranormal and contemporary elements. The universe she has envisioned for her
erotic sci-fi romances are filled with warrior men and the women who fiercely
love them. Space pirates abound with dueling goals of stealing your credits and
your life or stealing villain’s credits and freeing the slaves of the United
Universe. Stormie has imagined a world where the hostile alien invasion of the
third planet from the Sun forces each surviving resident of a fractured Earth
to seize their destiny or perish.
Stormie welcomes comments from readers. You can find her
website and email addresses on her
author
bio page
at
www.ellorascave.com
.
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Also by
Stormie
Kent
Ellora’s Cave Publishing
Battling Rapture
ISBN 9781419943898
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Battling Rapture Copyright © 2013 Stormie Kent
Edited by Briana St. James
Photography and cover design by Syneca
Photography: Willo
Models: Phylicia and Ryan
Electronic book publication January 2013
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