Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 98745 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98745 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Several tiny barks caught her attention. It seemed that Chief had not gone back to sleep after all. Before she could open the door, it opened, and her husband entered along with Chief, who ran over to her and barked at her as if scolding her for leaving the bedchamber.
“Silent, Chief!” Noble ordered and the pup stopped and plopped down beside Leora.
Her husband hadn’t bothered to slip on a stitch of clothing, he was stark naked. He said not a word as he approached her or when he scooped her up in his arms and carried her out of the room. Chief followed along to their bedchamber, where he immediately returned to his bed.
Noble didn’t even say a word when he yanked her nightdress off after setting her on her feet next to the bed. He said nothing until he lifted her and dropped her down on the bed and came down over her.
“This is where you belong, and this is where you will stay.”
“Do I belong here?” she found herself asking, not only him but herself.
“You are my wife,” Noble said as if it explained it.
“Aye, and is it the only reason I sleep beside you?”
He moved off her onto his back. “What is it you ask of me, wife?”
“It does not matter. My mind is chaotic tonight and the reason I sought solitude.” She went to turn on her side, thinking herself foolish for proposing a question that he wasn’t ready to answer.
Noble turned, his hand settling on the curve of her waist, preventing her from turning away from him. “It matters very much to me. You matter very much to me.”
With so many questions languishing, she wanted one, just one answered. Setting her apprehension aside, she asked, “Do you think there will come a time you will ever love me, Noble?”
“Nay.”
His quick, blunt response had her feeling as if her heart had shattered into a million pieces.
His hand moved off her waist to grip her jaw. “How can there come a time I will love you when I already love you? It was my fierce love for you that I feared you would see when you attempted to look deep inside me. I worried it would not be returned, worried you could not love me with the same intensity that I love you. But I realize it matters not, for I will love you with a fierceness for the rest of my days whether you love me or not.”
He kissed her, leaving no doubt how much he loved her.
She had to tear her lips off his, eager to tell him she felt the same, that she could love him with just as much intensity, but he captured her lips again, preventing her from speaking. His demanding kiss sent her passion soaring, though so had his words. That he loved her made all the difference.
He eased her onto her back with his body and she spread her legs, welcoming him, eager to join with him, eager to make love with her husband, eager to let him know she loved him. But no words were exchanged between them as he settled his manhood inside her. It was a need she felt, and she knew her husband did as well. A need for them to seal their love as they had done with their vows, only this meant so much more. This would truly join them as one and no one could ever break this seal.
Noble never wanted anything so much in his life as he did now, wanting to make love with his wife. Her love was all he needed. She was all he needed. It was but a small moment in time but would last a lifetime within him.
He joined his wife, soaring together in their passion, reaching the precipice together, and tumbling off it together in a shattering climax wrapped in love.
“I love you, Noble,” she whispered in his ear as he lay collapsed on top of her.
He raised his head. “You need not say it—”
She pressed her finger to his lips. “I say I love you because it is what I feel in my heart and in my soul. You have become an integral part of me, one I cannot, nor do I want to live without. I have a fierce burning love for you, husband, that will burn forever within me.”
He kissed her, then rolled off her taking her with him to rest against him, his arm strong around her. “We were meant for each other, wife. We are much alike, and fate found a way to bring us together.”
“And I am forever grateful that fate did.”
“As am I,” he agreed. “Now tell me what chaotic thoughts keep you from sleeping.”
She smiled as she cuddled against him. “They are all gone now.”
“I chased them, did I?”