"Don't die. You've already done that," she teased in a low tone. "You came back to live for me, live with me. As my husband, and my mate."

"How can I be your husband?" he asked barely audibly, his expression guarded but his soulful eyes so full of longing.

"Darling," she chided, "you think too much. Kiss me."

He did. As his lips pressed hers, she could feel his trembling restraint. It maddened her. Why was he still holding back even now? It would not do.

She gripped his shoulders and deepened the kiss, parting his lips with a hungry stroke of her tongue. He moaned as she invaded his delicious mouth. She cupped his face so he could not turn away from her in all his blasted chivalry.

"You're still holding back?" she whispered after a long moment, her heart pounding after that pa.s.sionate kiss.

Finally, he blurted out what was bothering him. "I just can't believe you'd still want me after what you saw me do up on that mountain."

She lifted her eyebrows. "Is that what's wrong?" Then she frowned, realizing that he felt exposed. "Surely you are not ashamed of it."

"Not ashamed." He shrugged, looking away. "But it is a bad business, and I wish you had not seen it. That's all."

"Gabriel, Leon prepared me for this, and so have all the losses I've known. These were evil men. They deserved what they got," she answered in a hard tone. "And for my part, I shall never be too cowardly to look and see and know what you and all those like you sacrifice for people like me and for the greater good."

He eyed her intently as he listened.

"What you make yourselves become may be dark and terrible, but it is beautiful at the same time, you know. Your selflessness, your courage. You are what the poets call sublime, my love. You see? I understand...you. And there is no part of you that I cannot love. I want all of you. Even your ferocity. Yes, I want that, too," she whispered. "Let me taste it. I know you'd never hurt me."

"Never," he echoed hoa.r.s.ely.

"I want to belong to you," she murmured as she held him. "No matter what may lie ahead. I need you, Gabriel." She paused for a long moment, staring into his eyes. "Make love to me." She saw him hesitate one last time, but she clutched at his black jacket, pulling him closer. "Don't push me away! Not even for honor's sake. I know you will say I'm a princess, but I am still a human being-I'm a woman, and you are the man I love. My royal blood does not make me some divinity, above the needs that others feel. By G.o.d, if you can't see past the crown, I will throw it away and go back to your farm with you, or India, or anywhere-"

"Don't talk like that."

"I don't care," she whispered in trembling defiance. "There is no point in anything if we are not together."

"Then we shall be." He drew her hands to him and placed one on his chest while he kissed the other in burning hunger. "Sophia, I want you so much."

"Do you?"

"Love you," he breathed against her fingertips.

"Yes. Take me to you, my wolf, my warrior. Lay me down."

He raised her off his lap without another word and rose, leading her back into the cave.

The moment she followed him into the dimly lit intimacy of their shelter, he pulled her to him and swept her into his arms. As his mouth swooped down on hers, both of them were already on fire. Sophia moaned under his ravishing kiss while he dragged her clothes off her slowly and laid her down on the mound of furs.

She tore his jacket off his shoulders, but first he had to remove an a.s.sortment of holsters, sheaths, and his ammunition belt. When he had fought his way free of his personal a.r.s.enal, he ripped off his jacket and threw it against the wall. Sophia helped him with his black shirt. He peeled it off over his head and when he gathered her to him again, she whimpered with desire at the feel of his hot, bare skin against hers. The taut, supple power of his hard muscled chest against the yielding softness of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s seemed to entrance them both.

Sophia was so aroused she almost felt that she might faint. She relaxed more deeply into their primal bed while Gabriel kissed his way down her neck and made a feast of her body, on his hands and knees above her.

Her chest heaved and her skin tingled as his lips traveled down her chest, her waist, her hips and thighs, skimming every curve. She cried out in pleasure, arching under him as he claimed her swollen nipple; his hot, wet mouth kissed and sucked it firmly before moving to its twin. Mere moments had pa.s.sed and he already had her writhing. She had not realized how much her body had hungered for him and savored the memory of his hands, or how well she had remembered the skills and sensations he had begun teaching her that night at the farmhouse. She was so ready for more.

She raked her fingers through his hair, letting him slide more deeply between her legs. His hand grazed expertly down her side. Somehow she was naked now except for the knife strapped to her thigh, but never breaking his kiss, his clever fingers unbuckled the strap and took her last defenses away. After setting her weapon aside, his hand returned to her thigh. Her heart slammed in her chest as his smooth touch ran up the inside of her leg. Gabriel all but sobbed with need as he found her core drenched with antic.i.p.ation.

Kissing her with fierce, impa.s.sioned depth, he reached down and quickly unfastened his black leather riding breeches. Sophia helped him, caressing his waist; her hand glided downward over his taut, quivering abdomen, glorying in every chiseled ridge and steely contour. He reached back for the nearest blanket, pulling it up over them, while Sophia groaned as her wandering hand came to the thick base of his c.o.c.k, sprung up huge and hard from amid the thatch of coa.r.s.e hair at his groin.

Her hand closed around his shaft. He shuddered violently as she stroked upward. The length of him seemed never-ending, inch by inch, and she wanted it in her.

He let her play for a moment longer, but then, with an air of thrilling command, he captured her hands and gripped them gently above her head on the luxurious furs. He kissed her neck as he entered her slowly.

Her body accepted him with a hero's welcome. He was burning and tense, as hard and as smooth as forged steel as he claimed her. She watched him helplessly, panting; the glance he gave her brimmed with so much pent-up need and emotion.

"Love you," he breathed again as he lowered his head and glided his lips atop hers with a sweet, nuzzling kiss.

Sophia was dying for him. She knew that she had been made for this moment, this man.

His silken lips still lingering against hers, he paused when his luscious incursion reached her maidenhead.

But if Gabriel feared she was going to stop him, he was badly mistaken. He waited only long enough to afford her a brief chance to change her mind.

Her fingers splayed down his broad back and clutching at his burning shoulders gave him her answer, a.s.suring him that she had no such intention. His chest heaved against hers; he lunged; she let out a small, fierce cry against his mouth, welcoming the pain of being joined to him at last.

He kissed her with slow, tender deliberation while she trembled beneath him, overwhelmed by the mix of pleasure, pain, and the heady knowledge that her mate had claimed her as his own. She had marked him with her virgin blood.

There was no turning back for them now.

He remained with her, still and gentle, holding her in the glorious safety of his arms. "I adore you," he breathed.

She could not say why his tender whisper brought tears to her eyes, as if her heart was breaking. Or maybe it was finally being healed from so many losses, so many years of isolation. She could only pet him and hold him, too choked by the lump of emotion in her throat to utter more than his beloved name. "Gabriel."

"I'll always belong to you, sweet. Does it hurt?"

"Doesn't matter. I love you."

He closed his eyes and kissed her brow, holding back his desire with a will until she was ready.

It didn't take long. She shrugged off the pain despite his enormous size. He had waited so long-they both had. She did not want to put either of them through another minute's torment. All she wanted was to give herself to him completely.

Again, she let her body tell him when she was prepared for more. He was toying with her hair, which she was sure must look thoroughly untamed after two days without a brush. She kissed his cheek and then nibbled his iron jaw, where a dark scruff had begun to form, rather like the one he had worn at the farmhouse.

"More, please," she growled in pleasure.

He flashed a roguish half smile at her quick recovery.

"My girl," he murmured in fond pride. He settled down onto his elbows, planting them on either side of her head as he went on stroking her hair. "You're a fighter, too, Sophia. That's why we belong together." His lazy smile turned sober. "I'm so lucky to have found you. Of all the farmhouses I could have leased."

"Darling, it was fate," she said, then drew him down to kiss her anew.

He began to love her with a slow, tender rocking. She draped her arms around his neck, her lips lingering against his jaw. His taut panting by her ear as he caressed her made her realize that he was still holding himself back.

That was the last thing she wanted.

She wrapped her legs around him, offering all she had to give to slake his starved needs. A groan whispered from his lips. He turned his head and captured her mouth in a wild kiss, rising up on his hands above her, his disciplined restraint eroding.

Yes. Sophia welcomed his deepening strokes, his quickening pace, arching with him in fearless union.

She gritted her teeth as the pleasure-pain intensified. Her eager acquiescence gave him full permission to let go completely. He did.

He took her by storm, on the verge of hurting her but never crossing that line. Sophia dragged her trembling fingers down his iron chest, nearly sobbing with his beauty as he ravished her.

Forces, instincts as deep and ancient as the earth surged through them as their bodies joined in this desperate, needy coupling that they both had craved for so long. She braved the full brunt of his warrior power, absorbing his aggression into her love, turning it to pleasure, to release, all the while knowing he would keep her safe no matter what.

All the terror and pain of the last two days was forgotten as they reveled in each other, affirming their survival, grasping life and l.u.s.t and their love for each other with both hands.

A thrilling notion trailed through her mind. She hoped he made her pregnant. Together they would restart her family line after it had been nearly obliterated.

The thought aroused her so deeply that it heightened her pleasure still more. Her senses rose to the climax he had taught her to understand that night at the farmhouse. She could feel her hunger building.

"Gabriel."

His ragged whisper by her ear guided her closer. "Come to me, angel. Surrender."

She gasped with bliss and looked into his eyes in innocent astonishment as pleasure crested through her; her lashes drifted downward, her body undulated slowly beneath him. The spectacular wave crashed over every inch of her body. He slammed her like the earthquakes she remembered from her childhood in Greece, the same brief, bewildering powerlessness as his pa.s.sion overcame him almost simultaneously. He climaxed with a lion's roar, arching above her in triumph as he flooded her with his seed.

Her breath heaving, Sophia gazed at him in awe.

The soul-deep delight etched upon his face in the next moment would remain imprinted on her mind forever. Oh, the pride that welled in her to know that she had won him, this marvelous beast.

The pleasure seemed to drip from him, every sound from his lips, every flinch of delight, the flicker of total release in his eyes, until he was emptied.

"Come here," she murmured, pulling him down atop her and holding him, while he struggled to retrieve his wits after the explosion of pleasure.

"Oh, G.o.d," he said breathlessly after the fact.

Sophia let out a dazzled, weary laugh. "I love you."

"Love you. I'm sorry if I was too rough," he panted. "It's been-a long time."

"I adored it. I adore you."

"You all right?"

"I'm in heaven. Get some rest, Colonel."

He let out a growly sort of sigh full of satisfaction and dragged one last caress down her hair to her shoulder. Then he closed his eyes and obeyed her order.

With his slackening arousal still nestled peacefully inside of her, she held him, slowly caressing his bare back, running her fingers through his black hair. His lips rested softly against her neck, the fierce panting gradually turning to slow, steady breaths.

At last, her warrior was in a state of deep and very long-needed relaxation. For her part, she was too happy to sleep.

"I love you," she whispered again. She couldn't stop saying it now that she was allowed to.

"Mm," he answered in a deep purr, just enough of a reply to let her know that he was still slightly awake, enough to spring to her defense again if need be, she thought with a tender smile.

His big body lay atop her as though he were made of lead, but she did not mind at all. They were together now as they should have been from the start, she thought, and finally, the world made sense again.

As she lifted her gaze, watching the shadows from their low fire play over the rock formations, she spied some of the ancient cave paintings that were said to exist all throughout the Dordogne.

n.o.body really knew who had made them or just how old they were, but as she peered up at the childlike drawing of a bull and other animals running across the top of the cave and disappearing into the shadows and the memory of time, their message echoed to her over the innumerable ages. They hailed back to a time long before anyone had dreamed up the divine right of kings or notions of empire. In that age so shortly after Eden, kings were not decided by bloodlines, she mused, but by who was the strongest, who was the bravest, who was the smartest, and the best leader.

People would have happily followed whoever had the greatest chances of keeping the whole group alive.

Dawning recognition stole over Sophia's face as she held Gabriel tenderly and pressed another soft kiss to his looming shoulder. Her mind reeled and her heart soared, for she understood better than he did in that moment why he had been spared, sent back from the brink of death. What his true destiny had been all along.

My king.

CHAPTER.

TWENTY.

P rincess Sophia of Kavros.

Her Royal Highness.

HRH.

Too beautiful for words, and Gabriel could not believe he had deflowered her. Still wonderstruck, he watched her sleep in tender silence as the new day dawned.

Making love to her had been the most sacred and glorious thing he had ever done-and possibly the most depraved.

After all of her losses, it was mad of him, perhaps even cruel to risk getting so much closer when he still had the outcast Janissary army to vanquish and might well not survive. Deep down, ever since he had nearly lost his life, he had sensed that a fate like this was probably waiting for him not far down the line.

If death claimed him in the coming battle, then Gabriel had to face the fact that he, who loved her best, would have ended up wounding Sophia worse than the enemy could ever hope to do. Bereaving her just when she most needed to be strong for her people.

Ah, but she would never have forgiven him if he had denied her last night. Nor could he. Even he wasn't that strong. He could no longer fight his feelings for her, the sheer overwhelming love. His heart welled even now as he gazed at her in sweet repose. Her silky midnight spiral curls fanned out around her while she slept trustfully beside him, her hand curled into a loose fist beneath her chin.

With a lump in his throat at how dear she was to him and how close he had come to losing her to those fiendish b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, he could not bring himself to believe that their blessed act of love last night had been wrong.

But whether it had been sin or pure redemption, it was what they both had wanted. Today, he was still reeling with such a strange blend of happiness and ferocity over the lingering threat to her. Watching her here with him, safe and sound, still dazed by the poetry of her body beneath his last night, Gabriel made up his mind to shelter her from any additional ugliness until they reached the coast.

There was no need to tell her yet about the full scope of the threat from the Order of the Scorpion. She had already been through enough for now and would need a few days to recover before he told her just how bad it was.

He only hoped that the Royal Marines stationed on Kavros would be ready for action by the time his scouts returned with the location of the Janissaries' hideaway.