“We don’t—what did you say?” She came up on her knees and turned to face him. There was a hesitant look on his face that sent her heart pounding.
“I said Nicostratus was dangerous.”
“No. The part about children.”
“Children? Did I say something about children?” Lysander lay back on the plaid blanket, his arms folded behind his head. A small smile tilted the corners of his beautiful mouth.
“Are you saying … you mean … you want children?”
“Yes,” he said softly. “I want to see you grow round with child, just like you did in Rome. You’re beautiful now, but when you’re pregnant, you’ll be exquisite.”
He reached out to run his fingertips down her throat to where the first button of her shirt was. The button popped off against the strain of his touch. A slow hum spread its way across her skin, heating her blood. When had he changed his mind? He’d been so emphatic about not having children she’d not broached the subject with him at all since then. Now, out of the blue, he’d changed his mind?
“I don’t understand. You said … But …” She didn’t know which question to ask first. Confused, she nuzzled her face in the palm of his hand as he cupped her cheek.
“I said I didn’t want kids.” He grimaced. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot since we came back from Italy. When I said I didn’t want kids, I hadn’t fully accepted that I was Maximus. It still makes me a little uncomfortable, but I keep thinking back to those last moments where Max … you and I were saying good-bye.”
“You knew.” She breathed in a sharp breath. “You knew about the baby.”
“Not until afterward. Not until … you were dead.” The memory of that moment sent a sickening lurch through his stomach. Terror is a powerful emotion that can block out pretty much everything except the danger you’re facing.
“There was nothing you could do, me
a amor
. It’s over now, and we’ve found each other again. And nothing Nicostratus or anyone else does will change that.”
She lowered her head and brushed her mouth over his in a light touch before deepening the kiss. The moment her lips touched his, a firestorm went off in his body. Eager to taste her, he parted her lips, and his tongue mated with hers in a kiss filled with love, but hot with passion.
His hands reached up to undo the braid she wore and freed her hair so it could tumble downward over him. As her mouth left his to wander down the side of his throat, he inhaled a quick breath when she slowly unbuttoned the denim shirt he was wearing.
The leisurely pace with which she explored his chest with her lips sent him up a wall.
Deus
, he wanted her. Her mouth captured his nipple and she gently nipped at it with her teeth. It made him suck in a sharp hiss of air.
Christus
, he loved when she did that. The moment her hand reached for the waistband of his jeans, he rolled her onto her back to hover over her.
“I think we should get the sleeping bag,” he rasped.
“Why? Aren’t you warm enough?” she said with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.
Beautiful brown eyes that would always make him forget to breathe. As she wrapped her arms around his neck, he sent her a wicked smile.
“Oh, I’m quite warm, c
arissima
.”
“Then why don’t we get down to the business of making a baby,” she murmured as she pulled his head downward.
“With pleasure, i
namorato
.”
He let her pull him into her warmth, his mouth seeking hers in a kiss designed to show her that she would have his heart now and always. A whisper of a thought drifted through his head. She was touching him in a way no one had ever done before. As her hands heated his skin, he merged his thoughts with hers, pulling her deep into the heart and soul of him. With each kiss, caress, and every intertwining thought, time stood still. And just as she pulled him over the edge, he realized that two thousand more years still wouldn’t be enough time for him to love her.
