“You’re right, I do.”
“You shouldn’t eavesdrop on me.”
“Sorry. Sometimes you broadcast your thoughts.”
“Sometimes?”
How embarrassing.
“On occasion.”
“You mean besides when I’m mind-speaking to you?”
“Yes.”
Goddess’s toes.
“Keep it to the mind-speaking. My thoughts are my own.”
“I know. But sometimes I just can’t help it.”
Sure you can’t.
“So, how’s Keara?”
Thoren shrugged and laid another ward. “How’s Lily?”
“Glad to be away from the town.”
“I can imagine.”
“Can you believe they have priests?”
Thoren cocked an eyebrow. “Priests?”
“Yes. No priestesses, just priests. No wonder the townsfolk were so backward. And they think anything out of the norm is evil. Good thing we’re taking the females away from here.”
“You’re right. The sooner we can return to Draconia the better.” Thoren walked ten paces, picked up another rock and cast a ward spell over it.
Enar glanced at Lily. His perfect woman. Given to him by the Goddess. He could never hurt Lily on purpose. Which was something he never understood about his father, or any other Watcher for that matter. How they could abuse their women was beyond him. His woman was a gift from the Goddess, how could he even think of hurting her?
Bedding her, definitely, but hurting her, never.
After what seemed like an eternity, Thoren finished laying wards. Enar breathed a sigh of relief as they walked to where Lily and Keara sat on the log.
Lily raised her eyes to his, her face paler than normal. She licked her lips, her little pink tongue popping out as if to meet his shaft, and swallowed. A streak of lust shot through his body, ending between his legs.
Oh yes, they would have some fun tonight.
“Come, Lily. You will sleep with me.” He held out his hand, waiting as Lily straightened her shoulders, placing her small palm in his.
Enar led her to his bedroll. He grabbed the invisibility blanket and motioned for Lily to lie down. Yanking the blanket over them, he lay beside her.
“This blanket is see-through!” she whispered, holding her hand to it. “And it doesn’t touch my legs even though it’s lying on them. What is this?”
“It’s an invisibility blanket. We can see out of it, but to anyone looking at us, we appear like a rock. Enough talking, woman. Tonight you have the privilege of knowing what it’s like to belong to a Watcher.”
Her muscles contracted, arms stiffening at his words, her eyes shutting hard enough to wrinkle their corners.
Nice words, Enar. Try not to scare her next time.
Slow, he’d have to move slow, lest he frighten her too badly. He needed to ease her into her new life. Not scare her away.
He kissed her nose, smiling as her lids flew open. “You enjoyed me earlier, you’ll enjoy it now. Just a little kiss here,” he pecked her cheek, “then here,” he pecked her other cheek, “and let’s not forget here.” Covering her lips with his, he kissed her, running his hand down her side until she relaxed against him.
Trailing kisses down her neck, he lightly nipped her silky skin, pleased when she moaned. Too much clothing lay between his skin and hers, but if he ripped off their clothes the way he wanted, she’d probably freeze in fright. A frightened woman was the last thing he wanted in his bed.
Why was he thinking like this? What was it about his claim that made him care how she felt?
The why of it didn’t matter. Only the woman lying beside him mattered.
Running his hand down her hip, he found the edge of her tunic and slipped his fingers underneath. Her breathing stopped the instant his hand touched the smooth skin of her belly, her body tensing. He gave a mental curse. How much slower could he go? Maybe he could distract her, overwhelm her with pleasure so she welcomed his hand on her hip. He had no choice but to kiss her, delving deep into her mouth, tangling his tongue with hers until she relaxed, her fingers curling into his shirt.
Enar let his fingers roam, walking the ladder of her prominent ribs until he reached her breast. What he would give to see the color of her nipples, to see what his fingers felt. He imagined the color of pale pink roses covering her pebbly nubs. Tomorrow he’d have a look. For now he was content with the texture of her skin beneath his fingers.
He drew small circles around the peak, lightly touching until he reached the tip. Lily moaned when he rolled her nipple between his thumb and finger, the sound vibrating across his lips. He broke the kiss, continuing to play with her nipple.
Patience was never one of his virtues. “Take your tunic off, before I rip it.”
****
Lily froze, all the pleasurable feelings zipping around her body coming to a complete halt at his words. Despite the dark, she saw lust ravaging his features, heard it in his voice. She had no doubt he would rip her tunic to get at her.
In truth, part of her wanted him to.
But the reality was, she didn’t have many clothes and losing one that way wasn’t worth it. A bit frightened, and yet tingling with excitement, she sat up, the blanket hovering around her as she removed her tunic. What was more bizarre, a hovering invisibility blanket or the fact Enar wanted her despite her coloring?
Enar stared at her breasts, palming one, the calluses in his hand scraping against her swollen nipples, shooting tendrils of fire through her veins.
“Exquisite.”
He pushed gently against her shoulder and she laid spread below him, staring at his face as the moonlit shadows danced across it. Enar scared and excited her at the same time. Her belly knotted, blood pulsed through her veins, pounded in her chest. She knew the basics of this act, but not the specifics. Would he crush her? Would he care if he hurt her?
He was being gentle. For the moment anyway.
Lily looked into his eyes, into the blue pools, now black in the moonlight. Never in her wildest imaginings did she think her innocence would be lost to a stranger. Or to anyone for that matter. She figured she’d die with all parts intact. The priests, and all other men she knew, had never been interested in her body for anything other than ridding it of its spirit.
What was he waiting for? Enar stared at her breasts, flicking a thumb across the nipples, his brows drawn together. She raised her head, glancing down. Had he found something wrong with her? Her gaze met his and she felt heat rise in her cheeks.
“What color are they?” His voice rasped as his middle finger flicked across one of her nipples.
“What?”
The finger flicked again and she bit her lip to stifle the gasp. “What color are they?”
She felt the heat explode in her face. How embarrassing. “Umm. Pink?”
“Like a rose?”
“Umm. Sure.”
“I knew it. You are truly exquisite.” He glanced at her through hooded lids as his head lowered, his tongue reaching toward her nipple, then circling her bud before drawing it into his mouth.
Embarrassment forgotten in the sensations, she closed her eyes, reveling in the pleasure that swept through her with each lick of his tongue, each swipe of his fingers. Arching her back, she held his head against her breasts as his tongue played with one peak and then the other.
The rasp of his unshaven beard against her sensitive skin drew another shudder from her. The man was magic. Each stroke of his hand, each lick of his tongue brought her closer to begging him to crush her. She wanted it, she needed to feel his body press against hers.
She wanted it until she felt him loosen the tie of her trousers and slip his hand inside, cupping her most private parts. Then the reality of the situation hit her like a pile of grain. She stiffened, shoving his hand away.
Lily tried to roll away, but he threw a leg over both of hers, holding her in place.
“What is wrong, woman? You want me. My fingers are coated with your dew.”
How mortifying! He’d felt the unusual wetness coating her woman parts and then remarked on it. She clasped a hand over her face.
****
Enar stared at his woman, sexual heat throbbing against his veins. He wanted nothing more than to bury himself inside her and the slickness his fingers felt meant she wanted the same. So why had she pushed him away? And now she lay with her hand hiding her face as if embarrassed. Why should she be embarrassed? Surely she’d been with a man before.
Then he remembered the priest and the empty shelves in her store. The thinness of her ribs indicative of not enough to eat. The way he had to threaten the shopkeeper to return her paintbrushes.
Maybe she had never known a man’s touch. Maybe he would be her first.
Another one of those strange feelings causing an ache in his chest crashed into him. He rubbed his chest as he peered at her.
“Lily, how many men have you joined with?”
She put her other hand over her face and shook her head, giving him all the response he needed.
His. She would only belong to him. His touch would be the only one she would know. What a responsibility. If he erred this time she might never welcome him to her bed. Totally unacceptable.
He kissed her cheek, pulling her hand down. She closed her eyes against his gaze.
“Lily, let me,”
swive
, no she might not like that word, what about, “pleasure you.”
Her eyes flew open. “But, there’s something...wrong...with me...down there.”
Enar thought about checking out what was wrong, he hadn’t felt anything out of the ordinary, but his hand hadn’t felt all there was to feel about her sweet core either. “Like what?”
“It’s all, umm, well you felt it.”
“Wet?”
She put her hand over her face again, nodding.
Enar snorted. “Woman, that’s supposed to happen. Means you want me to swi-um, pleasure you.”
Lily dropped her hand, staring at him. “Seriously?”
“Didn’t you enjoy my touches?”
He couldn’t be certain in the dark, but he thought a blush crept across her cheeks.
“They were nice. But you’ll crush me. You’re much bigger than I am.”
Ah, the real problem. “Nonsense. I’ll fit you fine. Let me show you just how fine.”
She stared into his eyes as if trying to discern whether or not he told the truth. After a moment, during which Enar thought he might pass out from holding his breath, she nodded. He smiled, running a hand down her cheek, feeling the smoothness of her skin.
Making a woman so crazy with pleasure she forgot her surroundings was a lot of work. But someone had to do it and Enar felt up to the task.
He kissed her lips, when they opened to him, he tangled his tongue with hers until the tension left her body. She turned toward him, clasping her fingers in his hair, holding his head. He recognized the feeling in his chest this time, pride. His woman wanted him.
Probably not as much as he wanted her though. His staff ached, straining against the leather ties, wanting to find its home. If she had been anyone else, he would already be in her.
But he wanted to savor his woman, not frighten her.
Running his hand down her bare skin to her hip, he kissed down her throat, nipping the pulse point in her neck. A little moan left her lips as she tilted her head, allowing him better access to her throat. Ignoring her silent plea, he kissed up to her ear, swirling his tongue around the rim, nipping the lobe. She jumped, her exhale a sigh of pleasure.
He’d have to remember her ears were so sensitive. Wonder what else was sensitive?
Nothing for it but to find out.
Tracing the path he took earlier, Enar kissed the silky skin of her chest, trailing his way to one nipple. Happy to note it met his questing lips all perky, he drew it into his mouth, flicking his tongue across the bud. Lily arched her back, clasping his head to her. He worked her other nipple with his fingers, rolling the tender nub, scraping lightly with his nail. Then he switched sides, caressing with his lips and tongue what his fingers had touched, while his fingers rolled her wet nipple, pinching lightly. He continued from one side to the other until she cried out, her hips arching, beckoning him in the age-old way of women.
He took the offer.
This time she made no protests when his hand snuck beneath the band of her trousers. Her springy curls were damp with her dew, the best welcome in the world. Unfortunately her trousers were in the way of her sweet core.
It took a lot of willpower for him to remove his hand from her, but he managed, knowing he would be rewarded for it in a bit.
“Please,” Lily tried to hold his hand against her. “I’m not scared anymore.”
He was the man. “The trousers need off.”
She hooked her fingers in the waistband and wiggled out of them, lying nude for his viewing pleasure. Shame he couldn’t see her clearly in the dark. Not that he needed to for what he had in mind. Tomorrow he would look at her, and the day after that. She was his forever, what was one night?
“You are beautiful.” What he could see of her.
He bent to her lips, feeling the press of her body against his clothing. His clothing? Why was that still on? Best get rid of the stupid things lest they get even more in the way. She helped him pull his shirt off, leaving him to his leathers. His staff sprang free of the confines, jutting away from his body.
Enar rolled, pulling Lily against him, pressing his staff against her belly, kissing her deeply. He kissed his way down her body, over the smooth skin of her stomach, until he came to her damp curls. She stiffened. Before she could voice whatever censure she had in mind, he took her into his mouth, lapping at her folds. She tasted of honey and spice, a scent belonging to her alone.