Their two-week wedding ball was fast approaching. The milliner returned quickly, with two assistants to carry the packages. Maeve was delighted to have such a good customer, especially since she had already gossiped about her altercation with Therese. She had to wonder what she would be able to witness this time.

The answer came neither from Therese nor from Flavia, but from Lev. The latter, allowed to walk, was working on the duchy's business when he heard that his wife had a fitting.

Since Flavia had done a lot of work during her early recovery, he signaled Gaston to take a break. Obviously, his wife was working on this kind of thing at Vera. So she had quickly taken over the paperwork, making his job considerably easier. According to his butler, she understood quickly and was much more efficient than him in this matter. He was delighted. He himself hated all that paperwork, which often gave him headaches after taking a beating on the battlefield. Besides, he just didn't like it. He was good at managing his men, watching over his land, getting along with his people. But all the administration was sucking the air out of him. If he could benefit from Flavia's expertise, it would be for the best.

In any case, his wife was in the middle of a fitting, and he intended to make the most of it. The lounge for this purpose was on this floor. Discreet as a shadow, he silently entered the room. He could not help but smile.

Standing on a small platform, in heels, stockings and underwear, his Duchess was resplendent. With her back to him, she could not see him. He leaned against the wall, arms crossed. She was talking about a dress, which obviously was too low-cut for her taste. The milliner was the first to see him. He would have made him sign to keep quiet, if she had not emitted an admiring squeak.

And shit.

Flavia immediately turned to him... To blush in the prettiest way.

- Say, Mr. Duke, she said, her fists on her hips. Aren't you supposed to be in charge of the duchy's affairs?

-Mmh, I have better things to do, he said with a big smile.

The milliner, all excited about the couple who were the talk of the town, was watching them with stars in her eyes. Lev would have kicked her out, if his wife hadn't said:

- Oh, so the rag business is more important than the duchy business, in your opinion?

Mmh, that he liked this small tone that she took to scold him, while she was in stockings and underwear, her white skin offered to his glance.

-Ah, my Duchess... All the rags that you touch are more important than the duchy, he declared with approaching, the glance plunged in his. But, I thought that we had said no to formal speaking?

He stopped at a hair's breadth from her, his hands in his pockets, a mutinous smile on his lips. Half-naked, his wife devoured him with her eyes.

-Being polite is still very useful in public.

-Ah, I see, said Lev, glancing at the milliner, who was blushing at the apollo. Out.

Stunned, Maeve took a few seconds before understanding. Then she left with her assistants and Bea, who giggled while leaving the room. Flavia raised an eyebrow, her hands still on her hips. With her heels on the platform, she was taller than him.

- You know this is going to be told to the whole company?

Grabbing her by the waist, Lev pulled her to him. At this height, he was right at her chest.

-What's wrong with that? What is wrong with a husband and wife who desire each other?

His wife's dark eyes blazed, as her hands rested on his shoulders. She was deliciously scarlet.

-Lev... What if... They hear us...

He caught between his teeth the ribbon closing the front of her bra. The mischievous glance, he pulled on it, making fall the fine fabric masking his chest.

-You'll have to be quiet, then.

After several days of abstinence, their excitement exploded. They kissed madly, forgetting everything about the milliner, her assistants and Bea outside. Tying her legs around the waist of her husband, Flavia passed her arms to his neck, her whole body plastered against his. He could feel her urgency with the way her thighs tightened around him, of the camber of her kidneys while she placed her breasts against his chest.

The hands under her buttocks to support her, he led her until one of the sofas. Where she let herself fall down without worries. Leaving his frock coat and shirt, Lev believed to become mad by seeing her getting rid of her panties while looking at him.

It is by letting himself fall on his forearms to come to kiss it on the cushions that he understood his error. A shock of pain ran through his wounded side, almost making him get hard. Shit! It had been days! Out of question to flinch!

But Flavia understood immediately the problem. She got up in a leap... To push him ruthlessly on the sofa. He landed in the middle of frills and lace, sinking into a pile of dresses. That did not disturb him. Because she settled down astride him. Allowing him to rest his injured limbs.

Her attention made him hard even more. And when she released of authority his erection of his pants, he wanted to take it wildly. A priori, she was on the same wavelength. Its abdominal being spared, Lev rectified himself, enough to be able to kiss it. The hands on her buttocks, he followed her movement when she began to rub her sex along his. A heat went up in him, making him forget all that was not her. Moaning, Flavia did not hold any more. To hear him to ask him to take her missed to make him lose his control. Given their sexual chemistry, he could easily forget that she was a virgin until recently.

Grasping the base of his penis, his wife astride him, he guided his sex into her. A groan of pure satisfaction filled the room, as she tipped her head back, one hand on his chest. This vision made him mad.

The hands on her buttocks, he rushed to meet her. She moved in rhythm, with an urgency, a shared desire. Its thighs contracted on its hips, its nails clawed its chest. By feeling his body to tighten around him, by hearing it shout his name without the least restraint, he joined it with a raucous complaint.

Flavia collapsed on him, out of breath, in swimming, following his example.

Caressing her hair, he kissed her forehead, tenderly.

- Lev... we didn't make any noise?

He raised an eyebrow.

-Nobody heard us, he reassured her.

There was absolutely no way the milliner could have missed the din of their lovemaking. Personally, he didn't care. But he was aware that it was important to her. Nevertheless, what was even more important was the fact of embracing her after having made love. To feel her body snuggled up against his, fulfilled and satisfied, was something unique.

Besides, they fell asleep like that, on the sofa, wallowing in the dresses of the milliner, in which they rolled up without realizing it. It was Eleazar who woke them up.

Opening the door on the fly, the Magus remained for a moment stunned by the spectacle of a ducal couple entwined in petticoats. Then he burst into a thunderous laugh as he went out. Lev could have killed him. Getting dressed in a hurry, the couple realized that they had slept a good hour. And that Bea had had to keep the milliner and her assistants company all this time. Confused, Flavia apologized. Lev added that they were taking all the dresses, no need to touch them. His wife blushed as she glanced at the ones on the couch. Later, he knew she didn't want to spend so much on clothes. Why, he didn't know. They were not broke!

But in any case, they had no choice, these dresses had to be bought.

The milliner left with her pockets full and her tongue firmly in her mouth. By tomorrow, the whole kingdom would know that Lev was sleeping with his wife. Which was not to her displeasure. After all, that bunch of idiots was probably betting on it.

-El, what do you want? he asked, while watching his wife, who was going into the bedroom to rest.

-I wanted to see if my little convalescent was okay. But I think I was worrying for nothing.

Lev winced. He was tired, too. Nevertheless, he motioned for the mage to follow him. Longtime friends, they knew each other by heart. Oh, he had no doubt that he was worried about him. Nevertheless, he knew how to discern problems in Eleazar. The best way to get him to talk was to put him in his private hot springs pool and let him decant until he spoke.

Thin, with white hair and blue eyes, he was a Mage of unparalleled power. Nevertheless, this had consequences. Terrible consequences that made him want to fuck anyone.

-What did you do now? asked Lev, after a while in the hot water.

-Nothing.

-El. Stop lying.

The Magus looked at the ceiling. Lev thought of his wife, who was sleeping in the room next door. Fortunately, there was another entrance to the private bathroom.

-I'm lonely, Lev.

He considered his friend, before nodding.

-I know. No amount of one-night stands will fill the void in your heart.

-Absolutely, sighed El.

-On the other hand, if you were less stubborn, the problem would have been solved long ago.

-Thank you for the comfort.

-You're welcome. Friends, it's all about telling the truth.

The Mage glared at him. Lev smiled at him.

-She's just waiting for that. Tell her, and your loneliness will end.

-You know very well why I wouldn't say it, the magician snapped. It would be selfish of me to tell him how I felt.

-It's true that it's less selfish to let her see you bang anything that moves, in order to fill a gaping hole in your heart with big loins.

-Marriage makes you a poet?

-No, I mean it. I've always told you the same thing, and I'd tell you again. You should tell him. You should take the chance. While there's still time.

The Mage shook his head.

-No.

-So, you'll stay in your solitude, and become known as the biggest party animal in Gentem' s history.

Eleazar laughed, but a hollow laugh, full of vibrant despair. Lev could do nothing for him but listen. So he listened to him, as he had done all the other times, and as he would do the next. Having a listening ear was paramount. They all were to each other, at some point. El and her shattered life. Rainier and his failed marriage. Cara and her fatherless child. Vera and her broken heart. They all needed to talk, at one time or another.

*

Two days later, Lev was fully recovered. So, two days later, he found himself putting on his armor. Of course, rests never lasted very long. But he and Flavia had had time to enjoy those few days of calm and recovery. They had come closer, it was undeniable.

But she hadn't had the courage to tell him about the letters. She didn't dare.

Sensing his anxiety, Lev went beyond the portal to make sure everything was more or less under control, before returning, under the amused eye of his soldiers. Flavia shook his hand, assuring him that if he came back as bad as he had last time, things would get ugly.

Kissing her tenderly, he was forced to leave. Putting on his horned helmet, he found himself in the sulfur-saturated air of the wasteland. In front of him were swarming, crawling creatures, and a draconic type in the air. It was going to be a long day.

A shout sounded behind him.

No...

Turning around as one, he widened his eyes as he saw Flavia on all fours, looking back with furrowed brows. The next second the portal disappeared.

Leaving his wife on the battlefield.

-Holy shit!