Page 81 of The Last Warrior

And admire her he did. His gaze touched her everywhere. “You are a beautiful sight for any one man.” Reaching out for her hand, he held it within both of his own, kissing every one of her fingers. Briefly, he shut his eyes, rubbing her fingers against his cheek. Then he added aloud, “Canto’kignaka.”

She smiled. “What did you say?”

He hesitated, and his response was not the one she expected, for she had anticipated he would do no more than translate. However, he sighed. “My words mean that I have placed you in my heart. Perhaps it is too soon for me to tell you this, but I fear…I love you.”

Her smile faded, even as her gaze clung to his. “You love me?”

He nodded. “Though I am uncertain now is the right time to tell you, mayhap it is best, I think, for you to know.”

She was still caught up in the wonder of his confession, and she said again, “You love me?”

“Hau. In truth, I may have loved you from the first moment I ever saw you. I cannot be certain of it, but it is possible. What I do know with surety is that I love you now…and no matter what happens to me or to us, once I give my love, it is forever.”

“I… I…” she stammered, knowing she should say something back to him. But what? So unexpected was his declaration, she was momentarily stunned. “What do you mean by no matter what happens? You don’t expect anything bad to happen to you, do you?”

“A man never knows, and I am on a quest with an enemy I little understand and little know.”

“Yes, your quest with…the one you call the Thunderer.”

“Hau, hau.”

“Well, I have this to say about what you have told me. You had better not let anything happen to you. I have only just found you.”

He grinned at her. “Does this mean you like me a little?”

“I suspect it may be true, since here I am, naked before you.”

“So you are.” He smiled at her devilishly. “It is good for you to remind me of this.”

She laughed slightly. Coming up into a seated position, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. Simply hugged him.

“I am not certain what I feel,” she told him honestly. “I desire your lovemaking very much, but I still hesitate to trust you. However, I can tell you this: I have admired you from afar, I wish for your touch, I melt when you look at me and I get excited at the mere mention of your name.”

His grin became more pronounced. “It is so?”

“Indeed.”

“I am glad to hear it,” he whispered against her ear, and he nudged her back onto their mat. He began to kiss her behind her ear, then over to her neck, to her cheek, to her lips, back down to her neck, to her chest, to each breast. She fidgeted beneath his ministrations, and, closing her eyes, she offered herself to him as though she were a banquet.

He seemed only too willing to relish her, and his fingers slid reverently over her breasts as his kisses ranged ever lower…down to her stomach, her navel. On her own, her legs parted in invitation, and he accepted. With the fingers of one hand he aroused her, and with every touch her nerve endings erupted, as though set afire.

She squirmed beneath him, seeking the pleasure she knew he could give her. So when he at last found her most secret place, there between her legs, she sighed in relief.

He was taking her on an erotic journey, his tongue and his lips providing her with the means. Fiery and wet, his kisses made love to her.

“Spread your legs farther,” he whispered.

She did so at once.

An exquisite pleasure built up down there. Slowly at first, it raged within her, and then, with more and more impetus it spread outward throughout her entire system, until she was lost to his expertise. She twisted beneath him, if only to experience the feeling more fully. And then it happened, and she was tripping over the edge of an emotional and highly charged precipice. As pleasure burst free within her, another very intimate discovery exploded through her thoughts.

She loved this man. She loved him dearly. How this had happened, she wasn’t quite certain. Yet she could not deny it. Nor did she even wish to. She simply loved him.

Should she tell him? Should she confess her heart’s deepest secrets?

No, she decided. Not yet. For now, it was enough he was here with her. She would savor the moment, for she was uncertain if this might be all she would ever have of him.

“It seems to me,” said the beautiful woman of his dreams, her voice as soft as a whisper, “that thus far our lovemaking has been a very one-sided affair. And unless you have once again taken matters into your own hands…”