Tempest of Passion (23 page)

“
William.” His
name tumbled out of her mouth in a strangled whisper.

“
Every night, the wolf cried,
begging Eliasan to help him. Finally, the moon took pity on him and
descended onto earth once more. The wolf explained his plight. He
had a heart, but only during the day for his love could not run
with him through the trees, she could not hide in the fields, or
hunt. His animal was desperate in his loneliness. A wolf was not
meant to be alone. The moon thought long and hard about how to
solve the problem, until, finally she came to a solution. The next
day, Teikei did as Eliasan requested. He took his wife to the top
of his favorite hill. There, he seduced her. As the couple lay,
their bodies entwined, Eliasan shone brightly, bathing them in her
white glow. As she did, Teikei bit into his Ayalasan’s
shoulder.”

“
She—?”

“
Ayalasan became wolf with
Teikei. They were no longer alone. They were one and the same, and
every night they sang their thanks to the moon.”

“
William.”
Tentatively, Emily brushed her fingertips against his. His fingers
were cold. “You’re not alone.” She
slid her hand into his larger one. She
closed her eyes as William’s hand curled over hers firmly. Warmth
traveled across her body mingling with silent rapture. He wasn’t
pulling away. No, he was squeezing her hand tightly. Tears burned
behind her lashes. Her flesh blazed as William rubbed his thumb
over the back of her hand.

“
I missed
you,” she sa
id, her voice catching with emotion. William’s grip
tightened. She felt him move and turn his body toward her. Emily
opened her eyes. William’s gaze was pinned on hers. Sad, guarded.
She hid her shock at his haggard appearance. He looked exhausted.
Paler than usual, dark shadows danced under his eyes and lines of
exhaustion marred his features. Her soul wilted and her heart wept.
Was she the cause of his sadness? Like Teikei howling to the moon
because of his desperate solitude, she had brought William to his
knees. A silent tear rolled down her cheek.

“
You’re not alone,” she choked
out. Her fingertips trembled as she ran them over his jaw. He was
warm and familiar. She cupped his cheeks. William closed his eyes
and leaned into her touch. “Not anymore, never again.”

The tears she’d been holding
back slid down her cheeks. Her heart slammed against her chest, not
with fear as she’d suspected but with bliss. She’d spoken the
truth. Unless he sent her away, she would never leave him again.
She would stay and sing to the moon with him forever.

“
Are you
sure?”
His
eyes bore into hers.

She saw hope
in their amber sparks, but also the fear
and pain she’d made him go
through.

“
Yes.”

She cried
out, startled when William pulled her into a tight embrace. His
scent filled her nostrils. Wild, musky, and unforgettable. Home.
The scent of happiness. She wrapped her arms around him and leaned
her head against his chest. His hea
rt beat as frantically as
hers.

For long minutes, neither of them moved
or spoke. They held each other as they should have done months ago,
as she’d make sure they always did. Slowly, William pulled
back.

“
Don’t cry anymore, my
love.”

He brushed
away her t
ears with the pad of his thumb and smiled. New light shone
in his eyes. She smiled. The yellow in his eyes stood out against
the light of the moon. They were beautiful.

“
Come
.”

William took her hand and led her to
their bedroom. Her body warmed with pleasure. He wanted her.
However, when they arrived he did not go to the bed as she’d hoped.
Instead, he moved a tapestry aside revealing a secret door. She
raised her eyebrows and almost cried again when William’s laughter
filled the room. It was just as she remembered.

“
Come.”

Leading her
by the hand, they walked through a dark tunnel out into the fields.
Emily took in a deep breath, the crisp ni
ght air invigorating her. Her bare
feet curled over the soft, wet grass. William
grinned.

“
Come.”

They walked in silence across
the moonlit fields. Neither of them spoke. Perhaps, because they
were afraid words would ruin the moment, or simply because words
were not necessary. They reached the forest and continued walking.
A small scattering of trees soon became thick woodlands. Moonlight
danced through the leaves, inviting the night creatures to come out
and play. An owl hooted its greetings, fireflies sprung from branch
to branch. The forest was alive at night. Emily took in a deep
breath. She smiled, realizing that William’s scent, which she loved
so much, was the same as the nature surrounding them. Wild, musky,
alive.

They began to
climb
. At
the top, the trees cleared. Emily gasped. They stood above a cliff,
staring down into woodlands that reached as far as the eye could
see. Moonlight bathed it all in a warm white
glow.

“
This is why I bought this
property,” William said.
“It’s amazing.”

Emily
shivered slightly
as a soft breeze traveled through her. Awe coursed through
her as if a fairy had stopped to dust them with magic. Slowly,
William turned her so that she was facing him. Speechless, Emily
looked at him. How could she have been such a
fool?

He pulled her closer. Emily
closed her eyes, sighing happily as he touched his lips to hers.
Her heart thumped with excitement. Her body responded as it always
did near him. He drew her closer. Emily threw her arms around his
neck. Pinpricks of desire traveled across her. She’d ached inside
and out, missing something. Him. It had always been him. One touch
of his and she was alive again.

Liquid rushed
to her core. Her nipples hardened.
William gently touched his lips to hers
again and she whimpered. More, she wanted so much more. She slid
her hands across his chest before circling his neck and bringing
him closer. Emily brushed her tongue across his lips and William
groaned. She coaxed his mouth open, tangling her tongue with his in
a dance that was older than the earth on which they stood. William
drew her closer, his erection hard against her belly. His kisses
turned passionate, all tenderness vanishing and becoming
fervent.

“
William.” She
repeated his name over and over again. She filled her lungs with
it, savored it in her mouth.
“William.” she cradled his face and ran a hand
across his chest at the same time.

“
Say it,”
William urged. He pressed his cheek to hers, the
heat of his body
like a gentle caress. “Let me hear what your kisses have always
told me,” he whispered, urgency undeniable in his
voice.

“
I love you,”
Emily admitted.
She loved him. Whatever ache had remained in her chest
vanished completely. Her heart filled with emotion she could hardly
put into words. For her there was no other and there never would
be. William had forced her mind into marriage, but her heart had
gone willingly. She pulled back and gazed into his yellow-flecked
eyes and repeated the only words she knew: “I love
you.”

“
And I love you, Emily,” William
said, leaning in to smile against her lips. He nipped at her bottom
lip, drawing a gasp from her. His tongue invaded her mouth,
tangling with her tongue like the wind caressed the trees, making
their leaves scramble and mingle into one. She was lost, lost to
the kiss that bade her to surrender when it didn’t need to. She was
ready to surrender to William, ready to be fully his.

“
Make me
yours
,
William.” She dragged her hands through his hair, bringing him down
to her mouth again and kissing him until they had to part to
breathe.

“
Are you sure? There’s no
going back.”

“
Make me free,” she urged. “Make
me so that I can sing to the moon and praise her. Make me so that
you are never alone at night.”

William crushed her against him
so she could feel the hard testimony of his arousal. Emily
moaned.

“
I’ve missed
you.” S
he
peppered kisses on his face. Oh, to be able to touch him again.
“I’ve missed you so much.”

William groaned. The palms of his large
hands ran down her back in an intimate caress that invited much
more.

“
And I you, my love. I kept
waiting for you to come back, hoping that my senses had not
deceived me. Hoping and wishing that after London you still loved
me and you could forgive me.”

He closed his
eyes,
but
she’d already seen the flash of pain. Emily hugged him. She rested
her head on his chest and placed her hand over his
heart.

“
I never stopped loving you,
William.” She sighed. “I was angry and scared and confused, but
even as I asked you to let me go, I loved you. I was too frightened
and worried to see it. I was terrified that I’d given you my heart
and you didn’t reciprocate, that it had all been an illusion,
that…”

William
caressed her back and kissed the top of her
head.

“
I didn’t want to get hurt and I
thought that loving you would hurt.” Emily chuckled. “Being without
you all this time hurt.” She tilted her head to look at him fully
in the face. “I’ve not only missed you, I’ve ached for you. I spent
my days trying to forget. Trying to forget what happened in London,
trying to forget you, but all I could think about was you. There
was this pain inside of me, this emptiness. I couldn’t get rid of
it.” She sighed. “Then I thought about you, I thought about us
being together again and the ache eased, and I knew, I knew I had
to come back. I had to be with you, because with you the storm in
my heart would rest.”

William captured her lips in a
desperate kiss. His hands strayed to the stays of her dress,
hurriedly undoing them. The piece of clothing was cast aside. Emily
undid the buttons of his vest, helping him shrug it off. Her dress
slipped from her shoulders to the floor just as his shirt went over
his head.

With
little
hesitation she reached for him, pressing her palm on his
chest. So hard, so soft. She closed her eyes and ran her hand over
the muscled flesh, tracing every ridge and scar. She kissed the
sore spots, sucked the hard points of his nipples. William groaned.
He pulled out the pins of her hair, causing it to tumble to her
shoulders. Emily licked her way downwards, tasting the saltiness of
his flesh. She rested on her knees. Eagerly, she fumbled with his
breeches until she finally pulled out his manhood. She glanced at
his face. William stared at her, his lips set in a thin
line.

“
You shouldn’t bite your
lips,” she admonished.

His mouth parted, surprised, and
she took advantage of the moment to kiss the head of his
cock.

“
So good.”

William growled. She cried out
with laughter as he pushed her back onto the forest floor. Her
mirth quickly evaporated as he parted her legs and started kissing
his way upwards. Emily squirmed beneath his attention.

“
Stay still,
Emily.”

“
You can’t
make me
.”
She clapped her hand over her mouth, surprised at her outburst.
William chuckled. His eyes gleamed as he took her hands and held
them over her head. Emily arched beneath him.

“
We’ll see about
that.”

William
moved further up her body. The persistent throbbing between
her legs increased its pace. She spread her legs wider as William
pushed a finger into her. His digit slid in and out creating a
delicious friction that did little to alleviate the growing need
inside. Another finger joined the first and Emily cried out in
pleasure.

“
More!”

William chuckled. He glanced at
her. His scar was drawn taut and Emily reached to touch him,
running her finger across the puckered flesh. William closed his
eyes, letting out a strangled groan. He leaned in to kiss her,
softly. Gently, he peppered kisses across her neck, down her chest
and over her bare stomach. Emily undulated beneath him, searching
for the elusive organ that pressed between her legs, teasing her
and bringing no immediate satisfaction.

“
William,
” she groaned.

William licked her puckered
nipple in response to her protest. Her body bowed. Laughing, he
licked the nipple in a circle before drawing the nub into his
mouth, suckling softly. Emily thrust her breasts at him, silently
pleading him to take more. He responded, sucking deeply while
massaging her other breast in firm circles. Emily moaned. She
curled her legs around his ankles. William took hold of her other
nipple. Emily cursed. Her body thrashed as it desperately sought
more.

“
William.”