WinterofThorns Read Free Page B

she touched him, his flesh
tingled. She ran her hand down his arm then threaded her fingers with his.
“Always.”
    It was a promise that made his heart swell
with such intense joy he felt tears prickling his eyes. As the triso finally took him over completely, he dropped into sleep, content and happy for
the first time in ten years.
    * * * * *
    He walked slowly along the cobblestone
path, her arm linked with his. It was a day of bright colors. A beautiful day
with an azure sky lit by a mellow, orange sun. Green shrubs sported myriad
pastel-colored flowers and vines held graduating shades of red. Rose bushes of
every conceivable hue lined the walkway and lent the air a sweet fragrance that
tickled the nose. A good-sized sapphire-tinted pond rippled as numerous
varieties of koi swam beneath the surface and among giant lotus pads that was
dotted with deep purple, magenta, vibrant pink and creamy blue water lilies.
    “Did you know,” Jana began, “that water
lilies stands for perfect beauty?”
    “I did not,” he replied. He was winded and
his abdomen hurt as he stopped at the pond’s edge.
    “Every flower has a meaning.”
    “Which is your favorite flower, milady?” he
asked, bringing her hand to his lips and looking at her through his lowered
lashes as he kissed her soft fingers.
    “The honeysuckle,” she said, pointing
across the vast garden to where a stand of split-rail fences marched.
Melon-colored blooms clung to the gray, weathered wood.
    “And what meaning do the honeysuckle
flowers have?” he queried as he threaded his fingers through hers.
    She smiled. “The bond of love. Devoted love
and fidelity. It also makes a statement.”
    “Which is?”
    “Let me bind you. Be my captive.”
    Seyzon put his other hand up to cup her
cheek. “You have bound me, milady, and I will be your heart’s captive for as
long as I draw breath and even into the Thereafter.”
    “Such courtly words, milord,” she said.
    He tilted her head so he could do what he
had been dying to do since the moment he had opened his eyes on the battlefield
and seen her hovering above him.
    “That is because I am courting you,” he
whispered. He lowered his mouth to hers to claim her lips. He did not close his
eyes nor did she. Their gazes was fused like silk to wet skin.
    Her lips were as sweet and soft as he knew
they would be. He drank from their nectar for a long moment then gently pressed
his tongue to their fullness. She opened like a flower beneath his tender
insistence and he slipped inside the warm, honeyed depths. He heard her draw in
a quick breath as he swept his tongue across hers and was a bit surprised when
she answered suit. He released her hand and put his to her other cheek,
bringing her mouth harder to his. Increasing the thrust of his tongue, going
deeper past her lips, he pivoted his lips over hers until he was wringing from
her every ounce of restraint, every bit of resistance. She sagged in his grip
as her body melted into his.
    “I love you,” he said against her mouth. “I
am in love with you.”
    “And I with you.” Her arms went around his
waist, her lush breasts pressing tightly to his chest. “From the moment you
first entered my dreams.”
    He wound his arms around her and slipped
his thigh between hers. The quiver that ran through her slender body brought
with it an overpowering urge to protect her, keep her safe from all that would
harm or hurt her. That quiver—and the way she clung to him—told him, without
her actually saying the words, that she was surrendering to him, giving herself
to him.
    “I will cherish you for all time,” he
whispered then set her back from him.
    A look of concern settled on her beautiful
features for a moment but when he sank to one knee before her, she drew in a
ragged breath and the look turned hot as the embers of hell.
    “Jana Reynaud,” he said, looking up at her
as he held her left hand between both of his calloused palms. “Would you do me
the honor of