Assassin's Heart by Monica Burns Read Free Book Online Page A

suppressed a sudden growl of desire as she bent over to pat her legs dry with the linen towel. The view from this angle was more than enticing—it was erotic. He remained where he was. He had no desire to rush tonight. If he did do so, she’d know he would be gone at dawn.

    “Really, husband. Must I beg you to lie with me?”

    Cassiopeia turned to face him, her sultry expression of amusement making his erection even harder. He folded his arms across the breastplate of his military uniform and shook his head as he smiled at her teasing.

    “Never, mea amor . I simply wanted to watch you and take pleasure in the knowledge that you’re mine and no other man’s.”
    The linen cloth she held slipped out of her hand and pooled at her feet. With the grace of one of the gazelle’s he’d seen in Africa, she walked toward him. The moment she reached him, she pressed her hand into his forearm. The touch sent a pulse of gut-wrenching emotion racing through him straight to his heart. How he loved this woman. A somber look flitted across her features. He tried not to listen, but her thoughts rushed at him with the speed of a charging lion. The first of her thoughts reached him. She knew he was leaving. Her mind screamed a protest, but she remained calm and composed on the outside. The hardest thing for him was the images he saw in her head. Her imagining him being injured or killed on the battlefield.

    “When?”

    Her voice was tranquil almost, but he heard the note of fear in the single-word question. He sighed. Even if she had never learned about his special skills, she would have been able to read him almost as well as he could read the minds of others.

    “Tomorrow,” he murmured as he touched her cheek. The moment she blanched, he shook his head. “It’s only for a few weeks. Maxentius wants me to visit one of the provinces to ensure the governor is doing his job.”

    “The emperor relies on you too heavily. He forgets that you and I have been married less than a year.”

    “Most soldiers are ready to leave their brides much sooner than I have been willing to part with you.” He chuckled as he gave her a quick kiss. “Besides, we both know that my return will be even more pleasurable than tonight will be.”

    He envisioned his hands grasping her waist then sliding upward so his thumbs brushed over the tips of her breast. The soft purr rolling out of her throat made him smile as her gaze met his. Pleasure made her lovely lips part in sensual invitation as his mental touch slid down to her cunny, and his invisible caress stroked through the velvety-soft folds between her legs.

    As her eyes fluttered closed, she whimpered from his invisible caress. Eager to love her, he quickly removed his uniform. The red cloak attached to his breastplate fell to the floor where it deadened the sound of the chest armor. His fingers quickly undid the leather laces of the brass-studded leather skirt he wore, and it followed the breastplate to the floor. The leather was a stark contrast to the brightly colored cloak. Her eyes flew open as his concentration slipped. In silence, she knelt to help him finish undressing. Warm hands caressed the back of his calves as she removed the sandal boots that covered his feet and calves. The last of his uniform, a red tunic, flew off his head, leaving him bare to her.

    With a gentle touch, she caressed him with a reverence one might expect from a priestess of Vesta. She looked up at him, and the depth of love in her expression sucked the wind from him. A second later, she had him in her mouth. Pleasure and need melded into one stark emotion that engulfed him like fire. With exquisite skill, her tongue and mouth loved him until each caress pulled him closer to an edge only she could take him to. His sac drew up tight underneath him and he uttered a sharp cry …

    LYSANDER Condellaire shot upright in bed. The vivid reality of the dream still haunting his senses, he jerked his head first in one