"I'm sure you're too tired to-I can manage the task myself."

He peeled off his breeches and fastened those dark eyes on her, proudly displaying the fact that he wasn't too tired to make love to his wife. He looked like some Roman statue with that perfectly sculpted, pale skin glowing in the candlelight. Muscles ridged his flat stomach, rounded in his shoulders and arms. The bit of soot across his cheeks and brow only made him appear more rugged.

He crossed the distance between them with but a step and to her embarra.s.sment she felt like swooning. Within moments he had joined her undergarments to those already on the floor and had his hot skin pressed against hers. Dominic held her for a moment, then began to pull pins from her hair until its heavy weight fell about her shoulders. He easily lifted her in his arms and stood her in the tub. The water barely reached her calves, but it was cold.

"Close your eyes and hold your breath," he warned, then dumped a bucket of heated water over her head.

Ca.s.s sputtered in surprise, but truth be told, it felt delicious. And when he began to soap her body, she could only close her eyes in sheer ecstasy. His big hands started with her hair, ma.s.saging her scalp until it tingled. Gentle fingers washed the grime from her face, lingering on her lips before slowly sliding down her neck. He paid extra attention to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, which she felt sure hadn't acquired a speck of soot, but she couldn't complain when her nipples tingled from the attention. His hands lowered to her stomach, crept around her back, as if he sought to explore every inch of her with this new slippery sensation. When he caressed her bottom she moaned, heard his soft chuckle in response, but she kept her eyes closed, delighted with this new experience.

Dominic washed her legs with long strokes, forced them apart with a gentle nudge. And then he finally slipped his big hand between her legs, the pleasure of it making her knees tremble.

"My magic has been drained near dry," he murmured. "There will be no fireworks tonight. Just me."

"That's all I need, Dominic."

He chuckled again, joined her in the tub, his hot skin warming the chill that had started to creep over her, his fingers still petting her. Her pleasure caught her by surprise, a sudden contraction that ripped through her body in wave after wave of glorious feeling.

Dominic rinsed her with another bucket of water, and she opened her eyes.

"Your turn," she said, the huskiness of her voice making it sound odd to her own ears.

He said nothing in reply, just watched her with those black glittering eyes.

Ca.s.sandra could not dump the water over his head though; she couldn't reach that high. But he took it from her and managed the task himself, his head thrown back as the liquid sluiced down his skin. She retrieved the soap from a china saucer atop a small enameled tray and worked a lather in her hands before smoothing it through his hair. The wet length of it reached the middle of his bottom and now looked more silver than blond, a beautiful unearthly color. With the remaining soap Ca.s.s followed the same path he'd taken with her, paying extra attention to his lips, the nipples on his broad chest, the feel of his muscular b.u.t.tocks beneath her palms. He had fine hair on his chest, down the length of his legs, with the rest of his skin nearly as smooth as hers.

She looked her fill of every magnificent part of him.

He hadn't said a word, indeed, had barely moved, so when she cradled his shaft in her hand his sudden groan startled her from her intense concentration. Dominic reached over and picked up the remaining bucket, dousing the both of them, and then she felt his hands beneath her back and legs. The room spun briefly, she felt the mattress of the bed beneath her, then his hard length inside of her before she had a chance to realize what happened.

Soon, she no longer cared.

Her husband pleasured her with long slow strokes, until the room spun again, and she didn't know which way was up. A slow warmth spread inside of her. When he arched his back and drove deeply with uncontrolled thrusts, that warmth flared to breathtaking satisfaction.

They lay still for a time, trembling with exhaustion.

Dominic finally rolled her to the middle of the bed, snuggled his face against her neck, and fell instantly asleep.

Her husband had been wrong. He'd said there wouldn't be fireworks tonight. But she'd seen the most marvelous display, all behind the lids of her eyes.

Lady Ca.s.sandra woke with a start, sensing something amiss. She disentangled herself from her husband's arms, threw on a robe of watered silk, and walked over to the window. The distant sounds of hammers met her ears; the sight of fresh wood beams stretching upward met her eyes. She needn't have worried about returning to the damaged area of London, for it appeared the worst was over if rebuilding had already started. Then she realized that the sun hung low in the sky.

"We slept all night and half the day through," she murmured. Ca.s.s went back to the side of the bed and studied her husband for a moment, making sure he still breathed. He must have drained himself beyond exhaustion, for she'd never seen him sleep so soundly or for so long.

She tiptoed to the door and closed it softly behind her. "Gwen?" she called.

The girl popped her head around the doorway of the dining room. "Oh, my lady. I didn't want to wake ye, but it's near dinnertime and ye missed breaking yer morning fast and the noon meal..."

Ca.s.s's stomach growled loudly enough to halt the girl's words.

"Fiddle," said May, following the other girl out of the dining room with a silver tray in her arms. "Ye can see she needed the rest and if ye stop blathering, she can eat."

Gwen gave the other girl a disgruntled look but nodded.

Lady Ca.s.sandra did appreciate May's quiet manner, but she valued Gwendolyn's penchant for gossip even more. Had Mor'ded discovered that she'd helped Breden's half-breed escape? "Dinner can wait just a moment, May. What's the news about the palace?"

Gwen's hazel eyes regained their usual sparkle. "La, nothing's happening in the palace... The Imperial Lord still hasn't come out of his room and half the court's following his example." She dug into the pocket of her ap.r.o.n and pulled out a crumpled pile of papers, handing one to Ca.s.s. "But in the city, the dodgers are scattered on the streets like snow."

Ca.s.s scanned the cheaply printed circular. A cartoon of a soldier, his pointed ears hugely exaggerated beneath his c.o.c.kade hat, knelt before a tiny woman who held a dripping heart in her hands. Beneath the drawing read the caption, A discovery that hath shocked the cit.

Her stomach growled again. Angrily this time. What would happen if Mor'ded saw this? Would he laugh it off or wonder if she had indeed captured Dominic's heart?

Gwen handed her another one, this time a drawing of a small woman with a torn dress and bedraggled hair, leading several children from a burning building, and this one read, The champion's new wife.

And another one, with the soldier's hands over a severed limb, with the next drawing showing it reattached and healed. Ca.s.s wondered if Dominic's magic could truly do such a thing.

Each successive circular proved to be more outlandish than the last.

"These are highly exaggerated," muttered Ca.s.s.

"Ah, but don't ye see?" piped Gwen. "It just shows how much the people love ye and the champion."

They'd had no choice but to help the people. But it had brought more danger to Ca.s.s than she could have imagined.

"Cook heard about what ye did in the city," said May, holding out the tray as her own offering. "She made all the champion's favorites but didn't know yers, and said she hopes she guessed rightly."

From the delicious aromas coming from the covered dishes, Ca.s.s didn't doubt Cook's decisions.

"There's lots of chocolate," whispered Gwen with reverence.

That did it. Ca.s.sandra could no longer ignore the demands of her stomach. She curled the papers in her hand and took the tray from May, who allowed her mistress to carry it without protest, used to keeping out of Dominic's notice.

"If you see any more of these circulars," whispered Ca.s.s as Gwen opened the door to her bedroom, "please burn them."

The servant gave her a puzzled look, but apparently she'd grown used to her mistress's odd demands for she quickly nodded and hushed May to silence when the other girl's mouth opened.

The door snicked shut behind Lady Ca.s.sandra, and she set the tray and circulars next to the bed.

Dominic sat up with a start, raking the hair away from his face.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

He wiped a hand over his stubbled jaw. "Good morning."

"Um, that would be evening."

One silver brow rose. "I must have drained myself more than I thought-"

"No, no, do not get up." Ca.s.s put the tray on the bed, crawled in beside it. If she hadn't been so hungry she wouldn't have been able to ignore all that smooth expanse of muscled skin. Thankfully, rumpled bedding covered his lower half. "The danger is over, judging by the rebuilding that's been going on, so I don't think we're needed in the city anymore. And Gwen reports that neither the court nor Mor'ded have left their rooms, so no one will note our absence."

"My duties..." he mumbled.

"Can be put off for a day." He still needed to rest, and besides, she wanted him near. Would he ignore his duties for her? "Cook said she made your favorites," she added, uncovering some of the dishes.

He sniffed, and both their stomachs growled together.

Ca.s.s laughed and stabbed a fork into beef covered in a thick gravy, held it up to his lips. He dutifully opened and chewed with blissful intensity, washed it down with a gla.s.s of wine from the tray.

"This is my favorite dish," he said.

She waved her hand at the shiny silver. "Apparently they all are."

Dominic picked up his own fork and eagerly uncovered one plate after another, sampling from each. "What's the occasion?"

Ca.s.s kept her face smooth. "I'll tell you after we eat."

And they both fed each other from different plates, s.n.a.t.c.hing their own mouthfuls in between, until Ca.s.s leaned back in pure satisfaction and waited for Dominic to finish.

Watching him eat shouldn't have given her so much pleasure, but it did. He moved with such grace that each sweep of his hand, every bunch of his muscular arms, delighted her. And Lady Ca.s.sandra felt content for the first time in her life. She wished it could last, that they could share many more quiet meals together.

He wiped his mouth with a napkin and slowly sipped his wine, his eyes studying her from head to toe. "Take off that robe."

"No." Ca.s.s gave him a smile to soften her reply. "You've grown entirely too used to giving commands, General Raikes."

"Please take off that robe."

She laughed, a long peal of notes that made his lips twitch. When a full smile curled his mouth, Ca.s.s had to stop herself from nearly tearing off the silk and instead gathered her robe more tightly about her shoulders. It should not be possible that he could be any more beautiful than he already was. But his smile changed his features and lit his eyes until he near glowed. She squashed down the b.u.t.terflies in her stomach and wished she could make him smile all the time.

"I can be quick," he drawled.

Her breath caught at the sultry look in his eyes. The devil couldn't be more tempting than this man. "There's... there's something I have to show you first."

Ca.s.s sat up and started putting the covers back on the dishes. She retrieved the circulars from the table and handed them to her husband. While he looked them over, she went to the door and called the servants to clear the tray and clean up their bath from the night before.

She noticed that the water had indeed turned into a black soup.

Gwen and May performed their tasks quickly, keeping their heads bent and their eyes down. Lady Ca.s.sandra sighed. She really must get Dominic used to the presence of servants; they couldn't always be sneaking about.

And wondered when she would quit thinking that they somehow had a future together. If Dominic hadn't already half convinced her, the devastation Mor'ded had released on the city fully did so. She no longer thought she might be able to accomplish an a.s.sa.s.sination, no matter if she took the elven lord by surprise. No matter how strong her faith might be. But even though she would not attempt to accomplish her task, they still had a short time together. The papers in Dominic's hands proved they could no longer keep their true relationship a secret.

And Mor'ded would be the one to a.s.sa.s.sinate her.

Dominic did not speak until the servants left the room, and even then he kept his voice so low that she had to join him in the bed again, her face close to his own.

"Where did you get these?"

"Gwen says they are all over the streets of London."

"My ears are not that big." He tossed the papers aside, caught up a locket of her hair, and twisted it around his finger.

The gentle tugging made her scalp tingle. "You are not worried that Mor'ded will see them?"

"I have thought this through, and I believe you are now safe from my father."

"What do you mean?"

"The rumors, my dear." He released her hair and ran a finger down the middle of her chest to her belly, parting the fold of her robe in the process. He traced circles around her navel, making Ca.s.s shiver. "The court believes you carry my child."

"But I'm not..." Her voice trailed off as she suddenly remembered that she hadn't brewed her herbs after they'd made love last night.

Dominic shrugged, muscles rippling from shoulder to chest. "No matter. You soon will be. I'll make sure of that."

His voice dripped with arrogance. Ca.s.sandra backed away from him to the far edge of the bed. "I still don't see what difference that will make."

"My father wants a new champion. Despite my resemblance to him, I have only the life span of an ordinary human." He rolled over onto his back, clasped his hands behind his head, silver blond hair spilling around him like some heavenly cloud. "Mor'ded will need a replacement. If he thinks you carry a child, he won't dare harm you."

Ca.s.s considered. "Not until I give birth, I suppose."

"And I will think of something else by then. Perhaps my powers will be strong enough-" He sat up in one fluid movement. "Come, let me help you get dressed."

"Why?"

"There's someone I think you should meet... while you're awake this time."

"What do you mean?"

And Dominic explained Ador's visit to the elven garden.

The smell of sulfur and musky beast grew stronger the higher they climbed. Ca.s.sandra hesitated at the top of the tower stairs. She'd seen the dragon only from a distance, and even then the sight had terrified her. "Are you sure he won't mind?"

"With Ador, I'm never sure about anything," replied Dominic. "But don't worry; he won't hurt you. Despite the rumors, he prefers the taste of livestock to people."

For obvious reasons, that didn't rea.s.sure her. But she followed her husband as he opened the door and strode out onto the tower roof. The flagstones beneath their feet had long gouges through them, which she a.s.sumed had been made from the dragon's claws. In some places the stones had cracked. Night had fallen but the fire that licked the walls of the palace made it appear to glow, and the stars seemed brighter here on this high perch, providing more than enough light for her to see the black form of the dragon.

Even curled into a ball, the beast's size overwhelmed her.

"He's asleep," she whispered. "Perhaps we shouldn't disturb him."

"He's always sleeping." Dominic held her hand and towed her closer. "Ador. I have brought my wife to meet you."

If her husband hadn't grasped her so tightly, she would have fled when the dragon opened his eyes. They appeared as large as the sun, and even brighter, with red glowing orbs split oddly enough into several sections, like a pinwheel. He blinked at her several times and then snorted.

Ca.s.sandra coughed.

"So we finally meet face-to-face," growled the dragon in a voice that reminded her of tumbling stones. "I can see how you managed to find the b.a.s.t.a.r.d's human heart."