Page 56 of King of Rogues
Opening her eyes, Naomi looked deep into the silver warmth of the man she had loved forever. “Don’t hold back, I want it harder. Claim me. Take it all.”
Monsale lifted her stocking clad leg over his hip then thrust back into her wet heat. The angle and magnificent depth of penetration had Naomi seeing stars. He now rode her faster and harder, until on one final, exquisite thrust, he slammed deep into her sex and Naomi shattered on a scream.
“Monsale!”
She was still pulsing, riding the crest of her climax, when he stilled and let out a long shuddering groan of satisfaction. Monsale collapsed on top of her.
It took a minute or so for Naomi to finally find the strength to lift her legs and wrap them around him. She held her husband tight.
“That was better than I could have ever imagined, you were magnificent, my love,” she whispered.
He kissed the side of her neck. In the dark his words brought her to tears.
“I love you. I am yours, now and forever.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Monsale rolled over in the middle of the night, and immediately sensed something was wrong. He and Naomi had fallen asleep in one another’s arm, but instead of the warm, supple body of his wife being pressed against him, he found only empty sheets.
Naomi was gone.
Throwing back the covers, he leapt out of bed, stopping to grab his pistol from under the mattress. He glanced at it. Having a loaded weapon in the bedroom might be something he had to reconsider. Old habits would take time to change.
Quickly dressing, he stuffed his feet into his boots. Life had taught him to take a minute longer and make sure he was ready for anything before heading out into possible danger.
He crept silently along the hallway, grateful that the lanterns which hung along its length lit the way.
Where is she?
Monsale searched room after room, cursing the castle for the sheer number of them. After he had poked his head into every room on this level of the castle, he headed upstairs. More fruitless searching followed. He was on the verge of ringing the bell and rousing all the staff from their beds to help him hunt for his wife, when a light shining through the door of the room at the end of the hall caught his eye.
He hurried to it.
“Naomi?”
The pistol was in his hand, ready for any trouble.
“Yes?”
“Are you alone? And are you safe?”
His wife appeared from out of the library, a large book clutched to her chest.
“Yes, to both questions.”
Her gaze fell on the weapon in his hand. “What’s going on?”
Monsale ushered her back into the room, setting the gun down on the nearest table. He frowned at the book. “What are you doing in here? I reached for you in our bed, and you were gone. You had me worried.”
It was strange to hear those words coming from his own lips, but it was the truth. Since opening his heart to Naomi, he was finding himself having to come to terms with all manner of new emotions. Worrying over her was one of them.
He could also admit to a touch of concern over finding her gone from their bed. When they had made love, she had been pure poetry in his arms. He was sure her cry of completion was real. But a grain of doubt still sat in the back of his mind.
“I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to come looking in the library for old books. I was hoping to find information about the fealty oath,” she replied.
Monsale gently took the book from out of Naomi’s hands and set it on the table next to the pistol. Slipping his arms around her, he pulled his wife into his embrace. She lifted her head, offering her mouth for his easy kiss.
“Are you alright? I mean after tonight.”
