She stared at him, wishing she could make him see himself as she did. “I’m always on your side.”
She twined her arms around Jonas and brought him close to her body. For once the contact wasn’t sexual, but purely human comfort. She’d nurtured and protected people before. Roberta. Roberta’s sons. But the profundity
of what she felt as she embraced Jonas surpassed previous experience.
I’m always on your side.
No one had ever spoken those words to Jonas. Gently she held him to her breast on the tumbled bed. Her scent surrounded him, rich with the musk of satisfied woman. By God, he’d never have these sheets washed. He wanted Sidonie’s fragrance surrounding him forever.
When Sidonie herself was gone.
He lashed his arms around her as if daring the world to rip her away. Devil take it, she was crying. His story had distressed her. He wished he hadn’t told her, no matter what relief he’d found in sharing the horror. “Bella, I’m sorry.”
“No, I’m sorry.” Tears thickened her voice.
He kissed the soft hair on her crown, which was all of her he could reach. She seemed determined to hide against him. When she kissed his chest, his cock predictably stirred. He didn’t do anything about it. Instead he curled around her, holding her safe. Just as she’d held him safe when he’d exposed his childhood humiliations. Usually he felt at odds with the world but right now, everything was perfect. He was warm, he was physically sated, and the woman he wanted more than any other lay in his arms.
Time unwound like a shining skein of gold and despite his intention not to lose a second of this night, he sank into sleep.
Sidonie slowly emerged from sleep to darkness and shimmering pleasure. The candles had burned out and the fire was a dull glow in the hearth. Jonas kissed his way over her belly then rose to join his body to hers. In this hazy space between slumber and waking, his commanding possession felt like a declaration of love.
Jonas moved incessant as the tide, thrusting deep and lingering at the peak of each stroke. The sensation was astonishing. Gentle but ruthless. He surrounded her with strength, passion, care. His breath sawed in and out of his parted lips. The scent of arousal and clean male sweat intoxicated her.
Still not fully awake, she sighed, low and sensual. Her bones felt like water and she flowed against Jonas as naturally as silk. He stopped moving, just filled her so completely that he touched her heart.
The connection was perfect, soul and body.
Slowly—everything about this astonishing union was slow, as if they stretched every second to eternity and beyond—she arched to press her breasts against his chest. She felt no need for speech. Nor apparently did he. There was just the smooth slide of bodies, the ragged susurration of breath.
She stroked his back, feeling the muscles flex. Her hands curved over firm buttocks, digging into the flesh, pushing him deeper inside. He groaned. His next thrust was more emphatic, although radiant tenderness lingered like sunset on the horizon.
She raised her knees, changing the angle. Coherent thought fled. He accelerated, drawing her climax closer. The bed creaked and she moaned. Need gripped like talons. She tightened her thighs around his hips, urging him to continue.
By the time his unearthly control frayed, she was sobbing. His thrusts weren’t as measured; the skin beneath her hands was slick with sweat. She tensed around him. He groaned like a man tested to the limit, shifted once more, and light exploded behind her eyes. Vaguely she felt Jonas go deep as he gave up his seed.
She opened dazzled eyes to gray light. The new day arrived. Jonas had made love to her for the last time, transporting her to a paradise beyond the realms of imagination. She blinked back tears even as pleasure inundated her.
The good-bye was spectacular. It was still good-bye.
Reluctantly, Jonas rolled off Sidonie to lie panting at her side. The separation cut like a knife, hinted at the separation soon to come. He was exhausted. He’d given her everything he had. He’d never felt so consumed. The night had been astonishing, unforgettable.
Now the night was over.
He glanced across at Sidonie’s face, clear in the advancing light. She was crying. How he loathed her tears. They made him feel like someone scraped out his guts with a rake. He struggled for comforting words, but what they’d just done robbed him of speech. Since they’d made love, she hadn’t looked at him. He stared into the mirror above. She sprawled beside him. Her tears conveyed misery beyond speech, more agonizing for their silence.
She took his hand, lacing her fingers between his with a sweetness that made his heart cramp. She drew his hand to her lips and kissed his knuckles with reverence and gratitude.
And love?
Hell, he didn’t know. But as he stared up at the mirror, he felt a sting behind his eyes at her gesture’s unconstrained poignancy. He swallowed again and tightened his grip so even if she wanted to leave, she couldn’t. It astonished him how difficult it was to find the one word he needed after these exquisite days. The one word he had no right to say.
He forced the forbidden syllable from his tight throat.
“Stay.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Jonas felt the sinuous softness drain from Sidonie’s body. She tried to tug her hand away but he held on. He meant to hold on to more than her hand, damn it.