Slaves of Love (3 page)

Shena wanted to grant him more than a kiss. She’d never felt this way with a man before. Safe. Protected. She wanted to burrow into his arms and stay there forever.

At her hesitation, he smiled encouragingly. “Surely you can grant me one kiss?”

One kiss.
Yes, at least that. She drew her tongue around her lips to moisten them, then parted them slightly as she raised her hands to hold his face. His cheeks scratched slightly with the new growth of his beard, but she didn’t mind. The very masculinity of it stimulated her, made her feel more feminine. His eyes, the color of sun-gilt bronze, darkened as he watched her. She pushed herself onto her tiptoes to reach him, and he waited for her. When her lips touched his, she felt as if she would faint, the feeling was so painfully exciting. As though he sensed her weakness, his hands slid up her back and he pulled her closer to his body. She moved her lips on his, and he followed her lead, though she sensed he carefully controlled his movements.

She felt the tip of his tongue slip across the seam of her mouth, then nudge with a delicate pressure. She opened, granting him access. His tongue slid inside her mouth, then caressed the inside of her lips. The delicate yet powerful sensation caught her breath. He pulled her tighter to him. Her breasts, crushed against the hardness of his well-muscled chest, swelled, the nipples tightening to hard buds. She longed to feel bare skin against hers.

As though reading her mind, he skimmed his hand over her, then slipped it inside the cloak to cup her breast, and a choked sound of pleasure escaped her. His other hand pushed her cloak aside and cupped her bottom. He pulled her pelvis close to his body, and she felt the bulge of his arousal. She tensed, and he immediately loosened his hold, but his hand remained on her breast, warm, exciting, her nipple thrusting into his palm. As he parted from their kiss to gaze down at her, his hand shifted slightly on her breast, sending arrows of pleasure shimmering through her body. She knew she should pull away, should be frightened of him touching her, but his warm bronze eyes, filled with compassion and kindness, soothed her frazzled spirit.

“I won’t do anything you don’t want me to.”

She couldn’t utter a word under the primal need raging through her, so she just nodded, then slipped her arms around his neck and pulled him into another kiss. His hands danced the length of her body as he eased her onto the soft grass beneath their feet. He untied the cloak and slowly peeled it back, holding her gaze the whole time. He smiled as he looked at her naked body, his gaze like liquid fire across the length of her.

“My God, you’re beautiful.”

She smiled back at him. No one had ever told her that.

He kissed her lips, dipping his tongue inside her mouth, then moved to the crook of her neck. Slowly, he kissed down her chest and over the swell of her breast. She melted as his mouth captured her rigid nipple. Her eyelids fell closed as his hand found her other nipple and nurtured it to heightened arousal. Both her breasts wanted more. She wanted more. Had she said it out loud? She didn’t know or care.

All that existed for her was the rise and fall of her breathing, the rigid need of her breasts, the overwhelming desire for something more. She just didn’t know what. He stroked her breasts, and she undulated to press more firmly into his hands. The rhythm of her labored breathing, the odd, whimpering sounds she made, only skimmed the edges of her consciousness.

“It’s all right, sweetheart.”

His calming words sluiced through the heated fever overtaking her. His hands fell away from her breasts, but his lips claimed hers, capturing the tiny sound of disappointment. Their only contact now was his mouth on hers, but his tongue sweeping across hers, and the ardent pressure of his lips, demanded her full attention. Her heated body longed for more, and an instant later she felt his body return. Naked now. She opened her eyes to look at him. His arms, thick and corded with muscle, settled on either side of her, suspending him over her. Her nipples peaked as the light coating of coarse hair sprinkled across his tanned chest stimulated those sensitized nubs. She dragged her hands across his strong, broad shoulders, awed by the feel of his steel-hard muscles rippling under her fingertips.

Then, with a flash of frigid water through her veins, she froze at the feel of his hard shaft falling across her belly. Her eyes shot wide open. He eased his pelvis away from her and placed the tip of his cock against the moist opening of her vagina.

She sucked in a breath as panic tore through her, and she planted her hands firmly on his chest.

“No.” The word, choked out, was hardly audible.

He paused. “What is it,
neisha?
” The tip of his immense cock sat cradled in the soft folds of her, waiting for entry. One shift of his huge, muscular body and he’d be inside her.

Open,
a voice inside her screamed.
Pull him in. Feel the power of a man inside you.

He kissed her temple, still poised to fill her. Fear churned through her insides. Oh God, what if he didn’t stop?

“Tell me.”

The word her father had used so many times to describe this act, the word the soldiers around her always seemed to use with such relish, the word she had come to fear so completely, came unbidden to her mind.

“Don’t fuck me,” she choked out.

His thick brown eyebrows lowered, darkening his expression, and he eased away, then settled beside her. He stroked her hair behind her ear.

“I prefer to call it making love. Where did you hear a word like that?”

She closed her eyes and shook her head.

“I would never
fuck
you, my little wood nymph.” He kissed her gently, the tender brush of his lips warming her. “And I won’t
make love
to you unless you want me to.”

Shena remembered when her father had decided to punish the young housekeeper. He had tied her hands above her head and fastened the rope to a large hook on the ceiling, then given her to the soldiers. He’d made Shena watch, telling her that would be her punishment if she ever allowed a man to take her virginity. She remembered how, afterward, the girl had hung from the rope, her feet dangling loosely, blood streaming down her thighs.

“You’re trembling.” His voice brought her back to the moment. He gathered her in his arms and held her close. “You know, it doesn’t have to be like that.”

“I ... I can’t. My father told me ... if I ever let a man ...” She sobbed.

He stroked her hair. “It’s all right. I told you I wouldn’t do anything you didn’t want me to.” He folded her in his arms and rocked her.

She nodded. He stroked her fur, then slid his finger between her intimate folds, skimming the surface. The exquisite feel of it nearly overcame her. He stroked again, and her breath caught. He kissed her belly, then dipped his tongue into her navel. His kisses drifted lower until she felt his tongue slide through her curls, then lick the moist slit between her thighs. His tongue entered her, twirling and cajoling, licking and thrusting. His mouth shifted, covering the rigid nub of her clitoris.

She cried out in pleasure. He dabbed and flicked as his fingers slipped to her slit, stroking until the pressure building within her threatened to explode.

“Do you like this,
neisha?
” he paused to ask.

“Yes.”

His mouth claimed her again, and she cried out. Heat raged through every part of her, inundating her senses with burning pleasure, building to an impossible level, then bursting into ecstatic flames.

He followed her gaze and grinned. “You
have
left me in a state,
neisha.
” He nuzzled her neck. “But don’t worry about it. I’ll deal with it. Just give me a minute.” He lay back on the grass and wrapped his hand around his erection and pumped.

That wasn’t good enough for her.

Keern watched her inquisitive expression turn to one of determination. She rolled and pushed herself to her knees. Her breasts shifted enticingly as she reached for his wrist and stilled his movement.

“I want to do something for you now.”

She drew his hand to her mouth and planted a delicate kiss in his palm. Her gentle, moist lips brushed him where his penis had just been. His groin tightened at the thought of her lips brushing against his oh-so-ready cock, her mouth surrounding his rigid member and sucking it deep within. Of course, she wouldn’t do that, and he wouldn’t ask her to.

She reached out with a tentative finger and touched his huge erection, then stroked the length of him with her fingertip. Her delicate, inexperienced touch sent jolting, almost painful need through Keern. And the way she looked at it! Her wide, intent gaze filled with curiosity. He almost burst on the spot. Clenching his groin muscles, he held back, determined to experience the full pleasure of her exploration.

“What can I do?”

You can put it in your mouth.

Shena reveled in the feel of the skin, soft as kid leather, sliding over rock-hard muscle. It felt so powerful, and she was in control of it. She stroked, listening to his breath quicken. His eyes fell closed and she watched him, stretched out on the ground, totally naked, responding to her touch. This strong, powerful, incredibly handsome man seemed to be totally at the mercy of her touch.

She was giving him pleasure. It made her want to climb on top of him and drive his shaft deep inside her. To move up and down on him, like her hand did now, but using intimate muscles to squeeze and pleasure him.

His hand stilled hers.

“Sweetheart, it’s not a race. The longer it lasts, the longer we enjoy the pleasure.”

She smiled and drew her hand away, loving how he teased her. She’d never known a man to be playful or show a gentle nature. She touched him with the tip of her finger and dragged it the length of him, then over the head and back down, loving the way his breath caught as she touched the tip.

She had never seen a penis close up, had certainly never wanted to touch one, but with this man, she felt safe. She wanted to take this opportunity to satisfy her curiosity, to touch it, explore it.

And she wanted to give him pleasure.

She touched the tip again, spiraled down and traced the lower ridge around the head, then stroked underneath. From his broken breaths and the little spasms of his body, she could tell he enjoyed it immensely. She licked the tip of her finger and dragged it over his tip again. His eyes flipped open.

He paused, watching her reaction with hopeful anticipation. He had touched her with his mouth and it had brought her exquisite pleasure. She wanted to do that for him.

She leaned forward and kissed the tip of him, then moved down to the fur-covered sacks at the base, then back up. With the tip of her tongue, she dabbed at the small opening, tracing it with tiny circles. Encouraged by his soft moans, she licked him like a stick of candy, lapping at every part of his cock. The head, the shaft, the sacs. She loved the feel of his contours under her tongue and his reaction when she licked the ridge under the head. She teased him by tracing around and around, until his breathing was ragged.