Free Leopold: Part Five by Ember Casey, Renna Peak Page A

here, and she’s mine.
    She’s moving quickly toward her peak—both of us are. The emotions of the day are all coming to a head now, leaving us clinging desperately to each other as we try to ease the tension in our bodies. I grip the arm of the settee, my nails digging into the polished wood as I try to bring her over the edge. Her breath is coming shorter now, her small cries becoming higher as her fingers press into my skin.
    “I love you,” I rasp, because I want her to hear it again. Because I need her to know how I feel as I bury myself inside her. She’s mine. She’ll always be mine.
    Her eyes come open, looking up at me in the last threads of light coming through the window. “I—”
    Her voice is cut off by a sudden groan of the settee beneath us, then the sharp craaack of splitting wood. The small sofa suddenly pitches to one side, sending us both tumbling forward as one of the legs gives way beneath us.

Elle
    T he next few moments bleed together, and I’m not sure exactly what happens or in what order. Leo says he loves me. I almost say it back. The couch-thing we’re on crumbles beneath us, sending us both flying.
    And a woman screams.
    I look up, trying to see who it is in the doorway, but Leo is still half on top of me, and I can’t see around him. He shifts and reaches down for his pants, awkwardly trying to pull them up while he covers me—maybe he’s trying to shield me—with his body. I have no idea where my pants have gone—I lift my head to try to look, but there’s barely any light in the room.
    Leo finally rolls off me, standing up to buckle his belt and I finally see my pants lying on the floor. I shift slightly to grab them, pulling them on before I stand and fasten them.
    We haven’t said a word to each other in the minute that’s elapsed. We’re both embarrassed by our raging desire, I think. At least I am—I don’t know what the hell happens to me when I’m around him. Why I can’t seem to control myself for even a second. And I think we’re both waiting for what we know is going to happen next.
    The doorway is empty now, but the door itself is definitely open. I’m not sure who saw us or how much they saw, but someone was definitely there only a moment ago.
    If it was Sophia, it’s probably okay. I mean, it would be embarrassing, but I doubt she’d go running off to tell King Edmund that she’d just caught her older brother fucking his courtesan or whatever. But if it was anyone else…
    I should have left . I should have run while I had the chance. My stomach has hardened into a knot and my face feels impossibly hot. And Leo won’t make eye contact—not that he could in the darkened room, but he also hasn’t said anything. It’s like we’re both waiting for the firing squad to start shooting and there’s really nothing either of us can say to make it better.
    “Leo, I’m…” No, there really isn’t anything I can say to make this situation any less difficult. “I mean, we’re both really tired and—”
    But I don’t even get to finish my thought before another figure darkens the doorway of the parlor. I recognize the pudgy outline of the man standing there immediately. I can’t see his face, but I see his arms cross over his chest before he speaks. “You’ll both follow me to His Royal Majesty’s chambers at once.”
    Leo grumbles something under his breath—I think it might be in French—but I can’t make out what he says.
    My words tumble from my mouth. “If the car is still here, I think it would be best if I go—”
    Leo spins to me so quickly I can’t finish the sentence. He grabs me by my shoulders, lowering his head so there’s no question that he’s speaking to me. “You will do no such thing. You agreed to stay another day, and I intend to hold you to that promise, Elle.”
    My mouth falls open but I can’t make any sound come from it. There’s something so raw about him. So wounded. I hadn’t seen it before—maybe I hadn’t