Courted Sanctuary

Chapter 30

  Though it was still uncomfortably warm for Luitgard, the day was uniformly overcast. There would be no rain but there would also be relief from the sun. She found the discomfort less of an issue now. Justin was with her again and his presence had improved her mood considerably.

  Justin reached over and pulled Luitgard's horse to a stop.

  "When I stormed out of the inn," he said, "I wandered the streets. I somehow found myself inside the church. Perhaps in the back of my mind, I still thought it might provide me sanctuary from my life. While I was there, I looked around at all the images that I would have once considered holy. They gave me no comfort. Nothing about them felt right to me anymore. I could not find it within myself to care about God or what he might want or need from me. I stayed there the whole night trying to figure out why that was but my mind kept coming back to you. Through all of it, I realized one thing. There is something I should have done a long time ago."

  In one fluid movement, he reached over, grabbed her around the waist, and pulled her onto his horse. He looked in her eyes for only a moment before leaning down to press his lips against hers. Her sense of responsibility could not be found and she did not care to go looking for it as she sunk into him and returned his attentions with the undulation of her own lips. When they mutually parted, they were both breathing heavily.

  "When our business in Rome is finished," he said low, "I would make you my wife."

  "I thought you were celibate," she whispered with a small smile.

  He growled playfully. "When will you learn that I am no longer a man of the Church?" His smile faded. "Would you?" he asked.

  "If tolerating me is no punishment for you, then I gladly say yes."

  He smiled broadly before kissing her again with even more enthusiasm than he had before. When he pulled away, she could still feel the power of it sparking throughout her body, which she had not realized she had been pressing and rubbing against him.

  Her cheeks quickly felt hot and he seemed to notice the state of her.

  "The road is not the place to make a marriage," he whispered. "We will have plenty of time after Rome."

  She was reluctant to move. He smiled again as he rested his forehead against hers.

  He said, "I am truly blessed if my affections have touched you so deeply that you have forgotten your Dragonfather."

  The unwelcome reminder squelched her desire like a bucket of water. The pleasant sparks turned to acidic cold in her arms as she tried to straighten and get herself back onto her horse. Justin helped lift her back into place.

  "Let us not waste any more time," he said as they set off again.