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Dazed, he stood, trying to find his balance.
The crowd cheered.
I smiled.
But he swayed, and I saw the dizziness in his eyes. Had he fallen that hard?
“Tiernan?” I asked, “Are you alright?”
He barrelled into me as though he were a rogue wave. His shoulder connecting with my breastbone, expelling all the breath from my lungs. I fell back, gasping, and he landed atop me. Stradling me. Pinning my arms painfully hard against my sides.
I looked up to find a cheeky grin and lustful eyes staring into mine. My body ached everywhere, and I was still struggling for breath, but he didn’t yield.
“Give up?”
I swallowed something that tasted like blood in my mouth. My lip throbbed. I must’ve bitten it. I shook my head at him. “You bastard,” I said between panting breaths.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” he said, and stood, offering me a hand.
I took it, and he pulled me from the ground.
“You did well,” he said, “You’re more skilled than I thought you would be.”
“Show’s over!” I hollered at the gathering of nobles and servants watching us. They scattered like mice.
Tiernan’s eyes lingered on the glistening sweat coating the mounds of my breasts. He licked his lips.
“I’m sorry if I hurt you,” he said, and I looked down to see an ugly bruise spreading over my breastbone below my tunic.
Focusing on the healing Grace and drawing on its warm, soothing power, I healed the bruise in the matter of a minute, and all the other marks Tiernan had riddled my body with.
“There,” I said, opening my eyes, “It’s as though it never happened.”
He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He would do as I asked him because he knew going soft on me would teach me nothing, but I saw how it affected him.
Tiernan peeked down the front of my tunic, seemed pleased with what he found there, “Alright,” he said. “But I’d still like to make it up to you.”
I cocked my head at him, catching his true meaning.
“How do you intend to do that?”
“It would be easier if I showed you…” he trailed off, “Can I escort you back to your chambers?”
The instantthe door to my bedchamber shut behind us, Tiernan locked his lips onto mine, shoving me roughly against the wooden grain of the door. He had my tunic untied and over my head within seconds. His own threadbare shirt fell to the floor, too.
His tongue parted my lips, slipping into my mouth. Hot and insistent.
He pulled away, his gaze boring into my soul. “I can’t wait for the ceremony,” he said, his voice husky and deep. “I was going to try, but I can’t.”
I yanked him back, pressing my bare breasts against his chest. His hair came loose from the tie, and I reached up and yanked it free. Grabbed a fistful of it.
“Then don’t,” I said, and he growled, descending upon me like an animal.
My legs were around his waist, and he lifted me onto him. I could feel his hardened length pressing against me, begging to be freed from the confines of his trousers. He dropped me onto the bed and stood back to admire me as I lay there, shirtless, and panting.
“You are incredible,” he said, his eyes wild and hungry. Slowly, like a cat readying to pounce, he knelt before me, tugging my legs to the edge of the bed. He undid the fastenings of my trousers and peeled them from my sweat-dampened skin. The thin silk panties I wore beneath were already soaked with hot, silky moisture.
He pinched either side at my waist and pulled them off—maddeningly slow.
