“I endured a thorough lecture on the perils of being too possessive even during my bath,” Leon muttered in an exhausted tone as he returned from the riverbank. Veronica, cocooned in her blanket, rolled playfully on the ground with muffled giggles.
“Enjoying yourself after selling me out to strangers?” he asked.
“Mmhmm. You looked weary, so I’ve already prepared our bedrolls for the night.”
As she patted the blanket Charlotte had loaned them, Leon sank down heavily beside her. The familiar way he brushed his damp locks back with a hint of irritation made her heart swell. By morning, that unruly mane would resemble that of a man who’d spent the night racing through the forest. Veronica observed this private side of him that only she knew, then naturally extended her arms in silent invitation. Leon settled beside her, positioning her closer to the protective warmth of the fire.
“I’m not chilled in the slightest,” she protested.
“It gets cold at dawn.”
The protective circle of his arms drew her close. The travelers had arranged their sleeping spots in a ring around the campfire, and the moment he embraced her tightly, Veronica sensed the restraint in his body. It was impossible to miss. After a moment’s contemplation, she mischievously slipped her hand beneath his tunic, feeling his solid waist and taut abdominal muscles tense beneath her touch.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Leon asked stiffly.
“My hands are cold.”
Leon’s breath caught with each delicate touch.
“Veronica,” he growled, her name a warning on his lips.
She couldn’t help but savor this moment. After constantly falling victim to his teasing, turning the tables proved deliciously satisfying.
“You seem particularly spirited today,” he observed. “Is it because we met new people?”
When she let out a quiet laugh, he seized her wrists, wrapped her arms firmly around her own waist, and tangled their legs together, effectively immobilizing her. Veronica’s laughter died in her throat.
“I can’t breathe,” she protested.
“Today I’m conducting an experiment on how long a person can hold their breath,” he replied.
“How terrifying you are.”
After struggling briefly, Veronica feigned surrender. Despite his words, concern flickered through his face as his arms loosened almost immediately. When she tilted her head, she caught sight of his Adam’s apple bobbing as he suppressed something primal. That glimpse of restraint fueled her desire.
Veronica embraced his back, pressing herself against him before trailing her fingertips down the straight line of his spine, along the hollow between his shoulder blades. Leon’s hips jerked reflexively as a muffled curse escaped his lips. Their gazes locked as his eyes—dark as midnight oceans—flew open. His stare burned with such intensity that she flinched despite being the instigator. After devouring her with his eyes, his lips curved into a predatory smile.
“I spotted a school of yellow croakers by the river earlier. Care to see them before retiring for the night?”
It sounded like an innocent invitation, but she wasn’t fooled. Despite his casual tone, his eyes had darkened to obsidian in the shadows. There was no possibility of seeing fish on such a moonless night.
“Why? I thought you were exhausted,” she said, feigning innocence.
“No, the more I think about it, I simply have to show you. I doubt I’ll be able to sleep otherwise.”
“Wh-What exactly are you so eager to show me?”
“Fish.”
“Are there truly so many?”
“As countless as the stars scattered across the night sky.”
“You’re lying,” she accused.
“Why not go see for yourself?” he challenged with a cool, knowing smile.
Leon rose first, and Veronica followed, competitive spirit flaring. As they passed their companions, not one stirred. Either they were genuinely asleep or mercifully pretending ignorance.
After venturing briefly onto a forest path, and the campfire’s glow vanished from view, he caught her arm. The moment she looked up, his shadow engulfed her lips like darkness swallowing a flame. Excitement cascaded down her spine in electric waves, making her shiver. Veronica instinctively tilted her head to welcome him. As he enclosed her smaller frame, changing angles to claim her more deeply, their tongues danced in her hungry mouth, and her trembling hands clutched the back of his head.
“Just a little more…” he breathed against her lips.
She was breathless, dizzy with desire.
“Kiss me again,” he commanded softly.
“Where… are these yellow croakers you mentioned?” she gasped between ragged breaths.
He quirked the corner of his mouth and tilted his head knowingly. “You knew perfectly well there weren’t any.”
His piercing eyes hungrily devoured her face, which was surely flushed by now. His intensity felt like delicious retribution for her earlier teasing. He showered her nose and flushed cheeks with fervent kisses before pressing her against a sturdy oak, perhaps finding it cumbersome to bend down to her height.
“You’re a complete liar,” she whispered.
“Not entirely. I was genuinely curious about testing how long you could hold your breath,” he murmured against her skin.
Before she could decipher his meaning, he captured her lower lip between his teeth before invading her mouth once more. As his tongue explored the sensitive roof of her mouth, Veronica trembled with pleasure, instinctively wrapping her arms around his neck. She was suspended between the unyielding tree trunk and his powerful body, and the taste of him was intoxicating. It transported her back to their first encounter, when every touch had been a revelation.
More. Give me more. When she sucked hard on his tongue, Leon released a primal growl that reverberated through her core. Her body responded with practiced eagerness. The private weeks they’d spent together before meeting others had forged this carnal language between them.
He pressed himself against her, beginning a slow, torturous rhythm with his hips. With each deliberate movement, her legs, wrapped tightly around him, quivered with waves of pleasure seeping through her veins. I’m going to lose my mind, she thought feverishly. No, I’ve already lost it. Despite the layers of fabric between them, every sensation was exquisitely, painfully clear.
Supporting her weight with one strong arm beneath her curves, he slipped his other hand beneath her top. His fingers, roughened with calluses from years of swordplay, drew helpless moans from her like a master musician coaxing notes from a cherished instrument. She whimpered. She groaned. Yet the sweet torture continued relentlessly, even as she cried out repeatedly.
Regardless of their mutual urgency and burning desire, his foreplay remained meticulously thorough. He wouldn’t cease until Veronica, thoroughly undone, had no choice but to beg—until she was completely relaxed, ensuring no discomfort would follow. Instead of immediately seeking release, his continued attentions heated her nerves to a fever pitch, making her ache for him to claim her completely.
“Leon, please…” she pleaded, “I can’t bear it any longer.”
When Veronica, finally surrendering to desperation, rubbed her forehead against his shoulder, he slid his hand from her thigh to the heat between her legs. Her undergarments, dampened with desire, fell away with a moist whisper, allowing the cool night air to caress her exposed skin. His firm fingertips brushed against her most sensitive flesh. Veronica instinctively flinched at the electric contact, her feet arching in response.
Shallow, ragged breaths filled the forest clearing. His skilled, slick caresses and the solid chest against which she had completely surrendered herself overwhelmed her senses. The pleasure was frighteningly intense, bordering on divine. Even the sweet, aching sensations were electrifying beyond description. Involuntary tears of ecstasy gathered at the corners of her eyes.
With each expert touch, her moans grew louder. The rhythm quickened, becoming urgent. Veronica gasped for breath before crying out sharply, clinging to him as if he were her anchor in a tempest of sensation. Though her eyes were closed, she could visualize everything. His long, elegant fingers that she adored, and the evidence of her desire coating them.
Overwhelmed by sensations beyond her control, she clutched his collar so fiercely it nearly tore as she panted against him. As molten heat surged through her body to her very fingertips, her vision exploded in starbursts, and strength fled her limbs. In that precise moment of surrender, he entered her in one powerful motion. Her previously arched feet curled inward as Veronica’s eyes flew open in shock and pleasure. The sensation of being completely filled rose up her spine like lightning, electrifying and gloriously merciless.
“Ah…” she gasped.
As she threw her head back, a helpless sound escaping her lips, Leon whispered something tender against her throat. Unfortunately, the words were lost to the roaring in her ears. Her back arched like a bow drawn taut. He gazed at her trembling form with eyes as dark as midnight, burning with possession. More intoxicating than their position—her suspended in his arms—was the heat of his barely restrained passion, and his labored breathing as he fought for control. Tonight, Leon drove her toward ecstasy with unusual intensity, as if claiming her anew. Everything felt deeper, more profound than ever before.
“Stay by my side, Veronica,” he commanded hoarsely. “Don’t leave me. Ever.”
She couldn’t form words to answer him—not to his repeated invocations of her name, nor to his fervent whispers of devotion. Her vision flashed with blinding light, her back scraping against rough bark without registering pain. With her legs draped over his powerful forearms, she surrendered to wild, uninhibited pleasure.
Is it sinful for mortals to experience such divine ecstasy? Will I forever lose myself in this rapture, addicted to his touch?
In that transcendent moment, the moonlight revealed his features, completely transformed by passion. Veronica felt a strange, powerful surge of satisfaction spreading through her veins like sweet poison. This was a face that belonged only to her, that no one else would ever witness. Each time pleasure pierced her core, Leon’s expression contorted, suppressed groans escaping his tightly controlled lips. Again and again, they crested together, reaching shared peaks of ecstasy. It wasn’t clear whether her dizziness stemmed from the wine they’d shared at dinner or the heady musk of their passion. The midsummer night wrapped around them like a lover’s embrace, hot and intimate.