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I shifted, suddenly uncomfortable. He seemed to understand.
“But now you're here. Safe in my arms.”
He lifted his lips from my neck and took my face in his hands, his thumbs tenderly stroking my cheeks as he leaned in, meeting my mouth in a kiss.
His lips were sweet. Like rich honeyed-wine. Like the tang of wild berries. Like nothing I'd ever tasted before.
His mouth was gentle but persistent, coaxing my lips apart as his tongue swept inside me, tasting, exploring.
I moaned against his lips. My body was on fire. I gripped his shoulders as we kissed and felt his hands move to my hips, encircling my waist and pulling me closer against him until there was no space between us left.
The heat of his body against mine was a tantalizing lure. The kiss promised endless possibilities that made me dizzy to envision. I wanted to fall to the forest floor and pull him down with me.
When his hands moved up my waist, cupping my breasts through the light linen tunic, I gasped and he froze.
“Too much?” he whispered. “I’m sorry.”
“No, not at all.” I shook my head swiftly and pressed my lips back against his. “Don’t stop. Any of it. Kiss me again.”
He caught my bottom lip between his sharp white teeth, nibbling playfully, then licking my lips lightly. His thumbs found my nipples, rubbing across them gently, and I arched my body upwards against him, sinking my fingers into the soft curling hair at the back of his nape.
His mouth was on mine, claiming me, possessing me.
And I? I was desperate to be claimed.
Oh, I had touched myself in my room in the castle, in the shelter of my tent at night. But this... The sensations were beyond anything I could have imagined. Kissing Vesper was an irresistible pleasure that I never wanted to end. He was all lean hardness pressing against my soft flesh. His touch was a painful enticement and I craved much more.
The sound of someone clearing his throat loudly came out of the darkness.
Immediately my lips broke from Vesper’s.
Draven!
“I think your...friend...came looking for you,” he whispered, his lips twisting up in a wry smile.
A flush of embarrassment filled my cheeks. I nodded. “I should go back.”
“Because he’s summoned you?” For a moment his eyes flashed with annoyance, then he nodded. “Very well. I’ll walk you back.”
“That won’t be necessary.” Draven’s voice carried over from where he stood in the dappled moonlight beneath a tree, his arms folded over his broad chest. “Let’s go, Pen.”
“I think the lady can decide for herself,” Vesper said, his voice deceptively soft.
Draven growled. A sound low in the back of his throat. I felt my skin prickle. “The lady is under my protection.”
“I’ll go with him, it’s all right. We’re all going back to the same place, anyhow,” I said quickly, putting a hand lightly on Vesper’s arm.
I towards Draven, my heart pounding in my chest.
Would he rebuke me like a child? Tell me I’d done something wrong?
But all he said was, “We hardly know him, Morgan.” His voice was low, just loud enough for me to hear.
Then he sighed and I caught him running a hand through his thick black hair. “Promise me you’ll be careful.”
I nodded, relieved that he was going to leave it there. An odd guilty feeling had taken hold of me from the moment he had found us.
We walked the rest of the way back to camp in silence.
