Chapter Seventeen

I sabella twisted her leg to a more comfortable position, but it didn't help.

"Here, let us get off the floor," Charles said.

He helped her to standing and she brushed out the dust and folds from her gown. She then sat and clasped her hands in her lap.

"Wine?" he asked, offering her a goblet.

"I thank you." She took it.

He removed his sword and set it against the wall. Next came his belt and dagger. He tugged at his tunic, opening the top few buttons. "I forget how hot it is in Spain."

"It is cooling now. Winter is nearly here."

"It is still warm compared to other parts of my empire, where there is snow already falling."

"I should like to see snow one day."

"Then you will…but…" His eyes sparkled and he delved into the pocket of his breeches.

"But what?" She managed a small smile.

"But until then, you shall have this to think of snow." He produced a golden brooch. It was as long as her index finger and shaped like a flower, but not one she recognized. The bloom was like a white church bell hanging down, the clappers protruding from the base.

"It is a snowdrop," Charles said. "A flower that blooms even when the earth is covered in white frost and snow."

"It flowers through snow?"

"Yes, it is small and delicate, but so very strong and hardy." He carefully unclipped it then slid his fingers into her neckline so he could pin it in place without risk of pricking her skin.

She hitched in a breath at his nearness, his masculine, outdoor scent besieging her. His touch had sparks of desire tickling over her breasts and spreading lower.

She stared at his face, at the stubble over his full top lip, and the expression of concentration.

"There," he said, admiring the brooch and pulling back. "It is now with its rightful owner, the empress."

"I thank you. I love it." She rested her fingertips on the gold.

"If I could have brought snow back, I would have." He chuckled and reached for his wine.

"But it would melt."

"Yes, very quickly."

"I remember," he said, looking at a portrait on the wall, "my father taking me onto the frozen lake in Coudenberg, when I was a small child. We attached blades to our shoes and skated around and around."

"Really?"

"Yes, it was something of which his mother, my grandmother, had been fond and she'd taught him." He smiled, as though going back in time. "Though apparently, Maximilian, my grandfather, he was not very good at it. Quite put out, in fact, that he couldn't do it the first time he tried."

"Habsburgs do like to be good at everything." She raised her eyebrows at him. "You will notice that with little Philip, if he doesn't master a song on the harpsichord or get the translation of Spanish to Portuguese right the first time, he gets very frustrated."

"It is not a bad trait. It means he will always be the best at everything he does." He leaned forward and took her hand. "I am aching to see my children, Isabella. When do they finish their lessons?"

"They will be finished by now. Dona will be giving them something to eat. I usually spend time with them after that."

"So I can go to them?"

"Yes." She nodded.

"Are you coming?"

"I am…" She closed her eyes and rested her head back on the chair again. "I feel as though my strength has been sucked from me."

"Are you unwell?" He gripped her hand.

"No, I am quite well. But it has been a draining afternoon."

"I understand. And I am sorry again for my part in that."

"No more apologies, remember." She nodded to the door. "Go and be with the children, enjoy them, and then come back to me. I will be waiting for you."

"Are you sure?"

"I am sure." She paused. "On one condition."

"Anything, my love." He stood.

"You bathe before you step over that threshold again." She wrinkled her nose. "You smell of horses and dusty tracks."

He laughed. "Your wish is my command."

"It is, and don't forget it."

"Never, my empress." He stooped and kissed the back of her hand. "And I promise I will atone for my mistakes. I will make you feel good where you have felt bad, give you pleasure when you have known sorrow. I will replace tears of grief with tears of ecstasy." He gazed at her intently, sultry suggestion filling his eyes.

She gasped in a breath. Suddenly reminded, like a cannonball blasting, of her husband's passionate promises and how good he was at keeping them.

"You don't believe me?" he asked.

She cleared her throat. "I believe you."

"Good." He stood. "Rest and eat, for you will need your strength now that I am home and to be in your bed at night, each night, all night, starting on this one."

The deep timbre of his voice had her impatient for nightfall.

He turned and strode from the room, snatching up his belt and dagger as he went. His sword he left balanced against the wall.

The moment he'd left, Isabella rang the bell for Luisa.

She appeared only moments later. "Yes, Your Majesty?"

"I wish to have a plate of bread and cheese, olives and stuffed apples too. And when you have done that warm some water. I am going to bathe."

"Yes, Your Majesty." She nodded and disappeared.

Isabella stood and stretched her hands over her head. A strange sense of lightness tingled from her fingertips down to her toes. And it was as though a band had been taken from around her chest and breathing was easier. She was lighter. Her lungs filled easier. The knot in her shoulder had gone.

Was that because Charles was once again in the palace?

She suspected it was.

And she was going to enjoy every moment of him being at her side because goodness only knew when some other invasion or crisis would take him away.

She opened the chest of drawers beside her bed and moved several items around. There was nothing in there she wanted to wear when she received Charles. She'd taken to dressing for warmth, not to please her husband's gaze.

The door opened and Luisa returned. She held in her hand a package wrapped in white velvet and held secure with purple ribbon.

"What is that?" Isabella asked.

"The emperor asks me to give this to you."

"What is it?" She took it.

"A gift." Luisa smiled. "More than that, I do not know."

"How exciting." She set the package on the bed and gently tugged at the ribbon. It undid and she set it aside. Carefully, she opened the velvet. Within it she found folded, white satin, which she held up. It was a soft, loose gown of sorts and delicate lace decorated the neckline and short-capped sleeves.

"Goodness." She held it to her and saw that it reached the floor. "What a creation."

"I'd wager it is French," Luisa said, stroking the material between her thumb and fingers. "And of the finest quality."

"I would agree, though I am surprised my husband would purchase anything from France." She laughed softly. "Though perhaps he could not resist."

"I do not blame him. For what better gift for his wife who is also a queen and an empress?"

"He also gave me this." She pointed at the brooch.

Luisa paused to admire it. "How wonderfully unusual."

"Yes, it is a snowdrop flower."

Luisa smiled and left the room carrying the empty wine jug.

The gown was so very soft and the purest white, like snow. A little swirl of pleasure gripped Isabella. This was proof that even when they'd been apart Charles had thought of her fondly. He'd brought her gifts, personal gifts that he knew she'd like. He'd put thought into them.

She smiled and began to unlace the front of her gown. She'd bathe in rose water, have Luisa brush her hair one hundred times, and then dress in white, ready for her husband's attentions.

*

Twilight stretched over the city. For a magical moment, the rooftops were ablaze and then shadows stole the illusion into the night. All that remained were curling smoke lines drifting from chimneys into the bruised, lavender sky.

Isabella wore the gown Charles had given her. It was unlike anything she'd put on before—too sheer to be seen by any man other than her husband. The outline of her breasts were clear to see and her nipples small, dark disks protruding at the material. It grazed her hips and if she smoothed from her abdomen downward, the bushy hair at the junction of her thighs was easy to feel.

A candle had gone out on the windowsill, so she dipped a wooden splint into the flames of the fire and re-lit it. Shadows danced around the rose-scented room, and a tray had been set out with fortified wine, grapes, and toasted hazelnuts and almonds.

She was ready for her husband and she hoped he would not be long. After all of this time, it seemed the last few hours had been the longest.

The door opened, a draft from the corridor sneaking in and cooling her ankles.

Charles filled the frame, broad shoulders and lean hips in silhouette for a moment before he ducked slightly and stepped into the room.

"Did you enjoy your time with the children?" she asked, walking to the wine.

"Yes. After I had reminded them who I was."

She laughed softly. "You should not be surprised."

"That is true. Their little memories are not as good as ours. But they are wonderful children, with polite grace and fast minds. You have done well with their education."

"I thank you for the compliment."

He stopped and ran his hand into his hair, causing it to stick up messily. An action she'd seen a hundred times but not for so very long. "You like your gown?" His attention dipped down her body, seeming to caress her with each linger on her breasts, her hips, and then her thighs. He lazily dragged it up again, as though completely unabashed at his scrutiny.

The urge to squirm, or reach for a cape, held her hostage for a moment, then she reminded herself this was Charles. He'd seen her naked a hundred times.

That was how this gown made her feel. Naked.

"It is French?" she asked, turning and pouring wine.

He plucked an almond from the plate, tossed it in the air, and caught it in his mouth. "The gown?" he asked, after he'd swallowed. "Yes. It is from Northern France."

"And you like it on me?"

"Very much so."

Suddenly, he was behind her, his breath hot on her neck.

She gasped, his nearness sending lust shooting into her veins.

"On you it is," he whispered by her ear, "a perfect vision my fantasies will feed upon forevermore."

"Your fantasies?"

"Yes, my most secret desires that have kept me from going loco during our time apart. Thinking of you, imagining you with me. They are my fantasies."

"You did that?" She set the wine down and stared straight ahead, at the roaring fire.

"Yes." He kissed her neck, very gently. "Every night I thought of you as I went to sleep. Prayed for you and more."

"And more? I don't understand."

He rested his hands on her waist. "Much more."

"Tell me?"

"You. In my mind's eye, I saw you naked, legs spread, begging for me, on your knees taking my cock into your mouth. You, bathing, touching yourself—all of those images came to me."

"Charles…you… I…"

"And when they did"—he slid his hands upward to cup her breasts—"my cock hardened. It hardened and would not give me any relief. I had no choice but to ease the burden of it myself."

"You did that?"

"I did, too many times to count." He grazed his thumbs over her nipples. "And had I been a mere mortal, I would have repented my sins in confession, but I am Holy Roman Emperor and I absolve myself of sin." He kissed her neck again, his silky, smooth chin soft on her flesh. "I missed you so much, it hurt."

"You should not be in pain, my love. And if that…if touching yourself helped, God would understand."

"And you?" Gently, he turned her so she was facing him.

"Do I understand?"

"No. Did you touch yourself?"

"Charles, you cannot ask me such a thing." She rested her hands on his tunic and looked up at him.

"I can and I have. Tell me your answer."

She swept her tongue over her lips. "Then the answer is no. I do not have the uncomfortable appendage that you have, so there was no need, even though I missed you desperately."

"Ah, I see." He swept his hands down her back and squeezed her buttocks over the slippery material. "Do you mean this appendage?" He pulled her closer.

"Oh!" A flood of excitement filled her belly and her cunny tightened. "Yes, that is what I am referring to." His cock was as hard as stone behind his breeches.

He smiled, a confident, seductive smile that had her knees weakening. "It is time we both ended our years of aching for each other, don't you agree?"

"Yes." She went onto her tiptoes and kissed him gently.

But he quickly took control of the kiss, slipping his tongue in to find hers and running one hand to the nape of her neck to hold her in place.

She moaned softly as need gripped her.

And then he was tugging her to the bed. They fell onto it in a tangle of limbs, hands everywhere, pulling and tearing at clothing until they were naked.

"Love of my life," he murmured. "I need you so."

"As I need you."

She arched her back and speared her fingers into his hair as he took her left nipple into his mouth. He sucked and stroked it with his tongue as he palmed the underside. The sensations seemed to connect with her cunny and she pressed her thighs together, aware of herself dampening.

He switched breasts, leaving a trail with his tongue over her sternum.

She murmured his name and closed her eyes. If she hadn't felt so awake, so on fire with lust and bursting with love, she'd have thought she was dreaming.

"I need to remind myself," he said. "Of your taste."

He dotted kisses down her abdomen as he moved lower on the bed.

She parted her legs, knowing what he intended and happy for it. Her husband was so good with his tongue and oh, how she'd missed it.

"Roses," he murmured, placing his hands on her inner thighs. "Roses and love and all things female."

She curled her toes as he swept his tongue over her delicate folds. A tremble set up in her belly and she fisted the sheets.

He didn't preamble. He set to work on her nub. It came to life beneath his slick, stroking tongue, waking quickly from its dormant state. "Oh, yes…Charles."

He found her entrance and slipped one long finger into her.

She clamped around him, thrilling at the sensation of him being inside after all this time.

Within minutes, she was rising and bucking for more, her hips seeming to take on a life of their own. Her naked flesh tingled with longing and she was panting and gasping.

"Oh…oh…yes…just there…please, Charles." She threw her head back on the pillow and waited for the release that was almost there.

But then he stopped what he was doing.

"Charles!" Her eyes flew open and she glared at him.

He was looming over her, his erection directed at her cunny and his chest and arm muscles as solid as a cliff wall. "I want to be inside you when you find pleasure. I need to feel you around my cock."

As he'd said the word cock , he'd pushed into her. Not fast, but not slow, either.

She groaned and dug her nails into his biceps. "Oh, yes…more…more…"

"I forgot how demanding you are, Empress." He gave her a strained smile.

"So remember," she said, reaching for his buttocks. "Remember and give it to me."

His eyes narrowed and his jaw tensed. He thrust to full depth.

She cried out in bliss as his body connected with her nub. "Yes. Like that." She canted up to meet him, grinding against him as he pulled out and shoved back in. "Yes, like that. Like that. Oh, don't stop."

"Not. Stopping." He was like a wild animal riding into her. Humping. Panting. Sweating.

She took it all. She needed it all. Very quickly, her pleasure was there, a huge ball of tension that needed to be set free. To overflow. To burst from her.

She held her breath and stared up at his face. Their eyes connected and she was sure she could see right into the very depths of who he was, his soul, his bare bones.

But then it could be contained no longer and ecstasy gripped her. It spread from her cunny to every corner of her body. She shook and clenched and wailed in bliss.

Charles found his release, several powerful thrusts that had the air shunting from her lungs.

Another delicious wave of pleasure washed over her, seeming to take over her entire body in a series of spasms.

"Oh, good Lord above." Charles dipped his head and kissed her.

She clung to him, thankful her husband was such a talented and skilled lover.

"I missed you so much," she murmured against his lips when he'd slowed then stilled.

"What exactly did you miss about me?" he asked with a devilish grin.

"I missed…" She paused and pushed a lock of hair from near his eye. "Every inch of you."