Balmung tucked a gentle finger under her chin and tilted her face as he lowered his lips to hers. Sweet heat seeped through her as she returned his kiss with an urgency that left her breathless. His lips were firm yet soft, demanding as well as accepting. Her skin broke out in goose bumps when his big hands skirted over her back, then moved to her waist, caressing, stroking, easing their way over her ribs with tenderness and passion. They stopped just short of her breasts, a brief hesitation, as if waiting for a sign from her that they could continue their exploration. She briefly thought of her children sleeping just on the other side of the door, yet her body yearned. Yearned for something which she had taken for granted for so long, yet had ended so suddenly, so unexpectedly, so completely, when Noah had died.

She didn't realize that she was crying until he pulled his lips from hers and moved them to her damp cheeks. With a gusty sigh, he dropped two light kisses onto each of her closed lids, then tucked her under his chin and hugged her tight.

"I want you, Iris," he said, his voice thick with need. "And it is clear that you want me, also. But when we share a bed, it will be only you and I in that bed."

She gasped, jerking her eyes open to stare at him.

He gave her a soft smile. "It's okay, Iris," he soothed. "I can only imagine how difficult it is for you to have once loved so completely, knowing that you were loved so completely in return, and then suddenly find that your body can hum for another man. That you can have feelings for another man."

He trailed a finger down her cheek, following the path of a fresh tear. "I respect what you and Noah had. I will not ask you to try and have the same bound with me as you did with him. But I do want a part of your heart, and your body, Iris, a part which only belongs to me."

He sighed, pressing his forehead to hers.

"When you're ready, I will be waiting for you."

He pulled open her chamber door and, with a hand that shook, gently guided her inside, closing the door quietly behind him.