Leaping Deer opened the door flap to the teepee, and a warm smile stretched across her face. She stood aside and gestured for me to enter.
A Native man crouched near Roman’s prone body, dabbing herbs on his many wounds. He didn’t look up, focused on his task.
Like me, Roman’s hair appeared damp. And he’d been dressed in buckskin leggings. His torso was bare, but what looked like a buckskin shirt lay beside him.
His face brightened like a sunrise when he saw me. He patted the bison hide next to him.
His healer finished applying the herbs to Roman’s skin, sat back, and said, “You will heal. You are a strong warrior.”
He stood, reached for a large deerskin pouch on the floor, and nodded at Roman. Without glancing at me, he exited the teepee.
I rushed to Roman’s side and sat beside him.
He pushed up to sit and faced me, his eyes shining warmly.
I studied his handsome face in the dim light from the small hole in the ceiling, tracing his features with my fingertips. “I’m so thankful we’re far away from Rome and the emperor.”
I let my fingers trail down his thick neck and brush his collarbone.
“As am I, my beloved.” He pushed my hair away from my face. “You look beautiful.”
“So do you.” I drank him in with my eyes, unable to get enough of him.
He glanced at his body. “Even my wounds have wounds.”
His torso was smeared with herbs.
“But you look clean and cared for, as am I.” I ran my fingers across his skin, mindful of his many bruises, scrapes, and gashes.
“I was told to let these dry before putting my shirt on. But I can still kiss you.” He brought his hand behind my neck and dropped his forehead to mine. “Olivia, my beautiful flame. I thought I would never see you again. Forgive me for not believing you when you told me Marcellious was my brother. I stubbornly clung to the idea that Marcus was my brother. I should have listened.”
“I forgive you. I’m just thankful that the time traveling worked, and I brought you here with Marcellious.” I breathed in Roman’s clean scent of creek water, deerskin, herbs, and his uniquely masculine scent. He smelled delicious. Swirls of pleasured heat rocked through my body. “Can I sit in your lap?”
“Oh, yes, my beautiful flame,” he whispered.
He crossed his legs, and I straddled him, pressing my core into his growing erection. I leaned back slightly, not wanting to disturb the thick, gooey salve drying on his wounds.
He grasped my face between his hands and studied me intently. “Had I lost you again, Olivia, I would have searched the heavens for you.”
“As I would for you, my love.” I pressed my palms over his large hands, savoring the heat emanating from him.
“I never want to be apart from you again,” he breathed.
“Nor do I.”
My heart ached with need. I loved this man so much that it shattered me. Touching his muscles, I felt the strength of his warrior self. This man killed and conquered, who did what he must for his honor. Yet his words and caresses soothed me, melted me, coaxing me into a private world where the only people who existed were him and me. Everything—this village, our time in Rome, my life in Seattle, all the hardships we’d experienced in the last couple of days—melted away inside this shelter. We were suspended in a cocoon of love.
“It’s so bewildering to be in one place and time and then in another. I barely had a chance to comprehend what you were saying, and then I dissolved through time. Awakening in this land was pure torture without you by my side.” Roman stroked my cheeks with his calloused thumbs.
“I know,” I said, squeezing his hands. “It was for me, as well. I didn’t know where you were or how to find you. Emily gave me hope—she told me love would find a way, and I clung to that belief. And now, here you are.”What had been Roman’s role here? How had he ended up here?
I let go of those thoughts, caught up in pleasure.
“Here I am.” He brought his lips to mine while continuing to caress my cheeks. His lips were soft and pliant as he kissed me, as if I might splinter from too much passion. Or maybe he was savoring the connection, easing into the desire that burned so hot between us.
I rocked into his hips, wanting nothing more than for him to slide inside me. My core ached with the need to join with him, to draw him into my soul with the insatiable hunger pouring through me. But we could be interrupted at any moment, called to join the others in celebrating Roman’s and Marcellious’ return.
Roman’s movements matched mine as he deepened the kiss, thrusting his tongue inside my mouth while urging the hardness beneath his leggings against my swollen core. His slippery tongue slid in and out, in and out, with maddening intensity.
