Guardian's Challenge

by Green, Bronwyn

  Until he’d begun stripping her clothes from her body, she’d forgotten about the scar she’d received while escaping from him. She tried to tug free from his grasp, desperate to hide her disfigurement, but he refused to release her.

  His shoulders and limbs were stiff with tension as he stared at the puckered skin. With a shaking, callused finger, he traced the fading pink knife mark from her collarbone to the top of her breast.

  “A Caderyn warrior,” she murmured, looking away from him.

  “When you and Elizabeth ran away,” he guessed.

  She nodded. “She saved my life.”

  Dragging her gaze to his, she saw the tangle of emotions he didn’t bother trying to hide—fear, anger, shock—all directed at her. Eyes closed, he dropped his forehead to hers and took slow, measured breaths.

  “Neeve—” He broke off and inhaled deeply, pulling her into his arms and nearly crushing her against his chest.

  Lowering his face to her collarbone, he gently followed the path the knife had taken with his lips—across her chest and over the swell of her breast.

  She trembled beneath his barely there caress.

  “You could have been killed,” he rasped against her skin.

  “But I wasn’t.”

  He drew back and glared at her. “If you had stayed at the keep—”

  “I couldn’t. The chancellor…the former chancellor,” she amended, “would have killed me, if he’d discovered the truth.”

  “I would have protected you.”

  Anger stirred in her gut. “How was I to know that? You fucked me, Asher—that was it.”

  “Only you,” he gritted, his eyes hard.

  She returned his glare. “Sooner or later, the novelty would have worn off. You would have found someone else more interesting and passed me on to someone else.”

  His fingers tightened around her arms. “That’s not true.”

  She pushed aside the hope that he was telling the truth. His words didn’t matter. She’d known when she’d left that a future with him was impossible. She refused to start wishing for it now. “It’s in the past. There’s no way to know with certainty what you would have done.”

  “I know what I’m about to do,” he promised darkly.

  Her stomach trembled with nervous anticipation as his lips slowly lowered to hers. There was no gentle give and take in this kiss. There was only Asher taking—taking her breath and her body. She knew he wanted more, but she refused to give him her heart. If she were honest with herself, she’d admit that he already had it, but she’d never let him know that.

  Tunneling her fingers through his hair, she pulled him closer, opening beneath the insistent urging of his tongue. He pressed into her mouth, teasing, tasting while his fingers trailed over her body as if learning her for the first time. Her skin heated under his caress, and she pulled at his clothes, eager to touch him, to feel what she’d denied herself these many months.

  Asher’s lips trailed along the side of her neck, coaxing her nerve endings to shuddering life as he nipped sharply at her collarbone, soothing it a moment later with the velvet stroke of his tongue. He paused as he moved along the slope of her breast.

  She opened her eyes to find him staring again at the shiny scar. She shifted in discomfort beneath him. He wasn’t hurting her, but the longer he stared the more her emotions roiled. She tried to urge his lips back to hers, but he wouldn’t budge.

  She glanced at her ruined skin. Until now, she’d seen the mark as a testament to Elizabeth’s healing gifts and her own will to survive. Now, she viewed it as he must—ugly, marred flesh. She was foolish to think he’d want her looking as she did. Freeing her hand from his hair, she covered the hideous scar.

  Gently, he pried her fingers from her body. “Don’t hide from me, cariad,” he whispered. “Never hide from me.”

  Almost reverently he pressed kisses along the damaged tissue, as if he could heal it with the touch of his lips. As he neared her tightening nipple, the sensation became more arousing than comforting.

  Trailing a fingertip around her areola, he watched her nipple pebble beneath his eyes. For a moment, his gaze left her breast to clash with hers. He held her gaze and flicked his tongue across the tip of her knotted flesh. Her breath caught in her throat as he blew a puff of air across the damp skin, and it tightened further.

  His features were taut with desire, and need glowed brightly in his deep green eyes. What was he waiting for? Why was he torturing them both by delaying the inevitable?

  “Please,” she whispered.

  “Please what?” His lips brushed her skin as he spoke.

  “Please just fuck me already.”

  He shook his head, the silky length of his hair trailing over her chest.

  Desperately, she tried to pull his head to her nipple, begging him without words to take it between his lips. She needed to feel his mouth on her, feel the pull of his lips and tongue. She needed to feel his cock piercing her, filling her—anything to chase away the emptiness of the last few endless months.

  He caught her hands with one of his and pinned them to the mattress above her head. She knew he could restrain her with magic—he’d done it before. She remembered it vividly as a shudder engulfed her body and her pussy clenched with longing, but now, he seemed content to control her physically. That was fine with her. She wanted his hands on her body however she could get them.

  With his free hand, he circled her nipple again before pinching it lightly between his finger and thumb. Her breath left her chest on a rush as she pushed upward into his touch.

  “Part of me wants to make you wait—to suffer as you made me suffer,” he admitted, rolling the engorged flesh between his thumb and forefinger.

  “Do you think you’re the only one who suffered?” she snapped, struggling to free her wrists from his firm grasp.

  “You had the power to end both our miseries, and yet, you chose not to.”

  “I told you why.”

  “Not good enough,” he growled as he lowered his head and rubbed his stubbled cheeks across her breasts before nuzzling the sensitive flesh of her belly. Dragging his eyes back to hers, he held her gaze as he again lowered his head, but this time, he drew the aching peak of her breast between his lips.

  As soon as the moist warmth of his mouth engulfed her, her eyes fell closed, and she arched into him, wanting him to take more, suck harder. She writhed against him, turning her lower body, trying to press against him, urging him without words to take her.

  Gripping her hip, he pushed her back to the bed, before trailing his fingers over her damp curls. It didn’t matter that he’d made her come just a few short hours earlier. It had only satisfied her momentarily. She pushed against his hand, seeking relief.

  With the barest of touches, he drew a single finger along her folds, parting her just slightly. She bit her lip in an attempt to hold back the whimper that threatened. She thrust her hips against him again, desperate for more contact than he seemed willing to give.

  He added more force, stroking her slick flesh. “Is this what you want?”

  She rocked against him, increasing the pressure. “What I want is to have you inside me.”

  He held her gaze for a long moment. “Too bad.” Releasing his grip on her wrists, he shifted to his knees and watched her.

  Shock and disappointment mingled, forming an uncomfortable weight in her stomach. He was leaving her like this? Unbearably aroused and frustrated? She reached for her dress. If he wasn’t going to fuck her, she wasn’t going to lay around naked, her neediness obvious.

  Before she could close her fingers around the fabric, he leaned forward and dragged open-mouthed kisses over her trembling belly. His lips caressed her skin while his hands stroked along the curve of her waist and over her hips. Sliding to lie between her spread legs, he gazed up the length of her body and met her eyes.

  Her stomach fluttered in nervous anticipation. As much as she wanted to feel his mouth on her, she almost dreaded
it. She’d thought that perhaps they could both find some sense of peace with one another before they parted again. But, lying before him, vulnerable and quivering, she wondered if she’d made a grave misjudgment. If she didn’t guard against it, she’d easily fall under his spell again.

  His warm breath bathed her pussy, and she shivered at the sensation. Attention returned her to the present, and she squirmed under his gaze. Asher spread her legs further and parted her folds. Her breath stalled in her chest at the sight of the raw lust glittering in his eyes. The rest of the world fell away until it was just the two of them suspended on the precipice of need.

  He splayed his big hands over her abdomen, and her muscles jumped under his touch. Using his thumbs to spread her lips, he bared her completely. Still holding her gaze, he dragged his tongue along her exposed flesh. Pleasure skated through her body as he repeated the action. She’d almost forgotten what the heaven of his mouth felt like. As much as she might have wanted to completely banish him from her memories, she hadn’t been able to. Too many nights she’d dreamt of him—his body possessing hers, making her come against his mouth, plowing through her tender folds, loving her completely. She’d woken hot and needy, gasping for breath, her skin feeling too tight. Now, he was here with his face buried between her thighs.

  She drove her hands into his hair and tried to pull him closer. Her nails scraped against his scalp as she twisted her fingers and tugged on him. He circled her clit with the tip of his tongue, and she cried out, shoving her hips against his face. Chuckling, he threw an arm across her abdomen and pressed her to the bed, holding her steady for his carnal assault. A fresh rush of moisture flooded her core. He lapped faster at her sensitive flesh as if trying to capture every drop.

  “You taste even better than I remember, cariad,” he murmured.

  His desire-roughened voice caressed her as surely as his hands and mouth. She wanted him inside her. She wanted his weight, his heat, his cock pounding into her needy body. But knowing him, she wouldn’t get any of that until she’d come at least once. She writhed against him, desperate for that extra bit of contact that would push her over the cliff of release and that much closer to what she really wanted.

  Asher shifted uncomfortably against the mattress as he savored the honeyed taste of Neeve. His cock was harder than it had ever been, aching to feel her tight, wet heat around it. He flicked his thumb across her swollen clit as he stabbed his tongue in and out of her clenching sheath. Her whimpers turned to moans as he stroked her faster, and the sound of her harsh breathing filled the room. He couldn’t keep his eyes off her face, watching as frustration mingled with the hunger. Her nipples were tight berry-brown peaks begging for his tongue and teeth—at the very least, his hands.

  “Touch your breasts,” he murmured against her damp flesh. If he couldn’t touch her, she’d have to do it. He wasn’t about to call in Joseph, despite the fact that he could sense the other man’s arousal from the other side of the door. As soon as the thought of the younger man entered his head, Asher couldn’t help but imagine them both pleasuring Neeve. Both sucking at her sweet flesh, filling her tight body, making her scream her pleasure until she was hoarse.

  His cock jerked in his braes at the thought. No. He didn’t want to share Neeve. He didn’t want to see another man’s cock in her mouth, in her cunt, in her ass. She was his. “Touch them, cariad,” he said again. “I want to see your hands on your body.”

  “Wouldn’t you rather see them on yours?” she groaned.

  “Now.”

  Sighing, she relaxed her death grip on his hair and slowly slid her fingers over the satiny skin of her stomach to cup the weight of her breasts. “Like this?”

  “Show me how you want me to touch you.”

  With only a moment’s hesitation, she dampened her forefingers then circled her pebbled nipples. His gut clenched at the sight of her slender fingers drawing the peaks even tighter.

  “Pinch them,” he groaned as slid a single finger into her grasping channel. Shuddering, she clamped down on the invading flesh so he added another and began to work them in and out of her slick warmth.

  “Pinch them for me,” he demanded as he set a steady rhythm. Unable to tear away his gaze, he watched as she pulled and twisted the swollen nubs. Her eyes closed, and she cried out, thrusting her hips into his hand.

  He could keep her on the edge all night if he wanted to, but he took pity on them both and drew her clit between his lips as he continued to pound his fingers into her pussy. Scraping his teeth across the tight bundle of nerves, he watched as her release washed over her. A keening cry filled the air, and she arched off the bed, flooding his hand and mouth with her juices. It was a wonder he didn’t come with her.

  He stroked her slowly, caressing her with his lips and tongue until her breathing returned to normal and her eyes fluttered open. Lifting his head from the apex of her thighs, he studied her. Her golden-brown skin was flushed pink, and her lips were puffy as if she’d been biting them.

  “I hope you don’t think you’re finished,” she whispered as she pushed herself up on her elbows and pinned him with her deep brown gaze. “Take off your clothes.”

  Slipping off the side of the bed, he kicked off his boots heedless of where they fell. Her gaze skimmed over his chest and followed the path of his hand as he released the closure on his braes. He tugged the breeches from his body and let them fall to the floor, as well.

  Her eyes fixed on his cock, and her breath caught in her throat, as he returned to the bed and knelt between her legs. Hooking his hands beneath her knees, he yanked her abruptly toward him, startling a gasp from her. He felt the force of her sharp inhalation deep in his gut.

  Her ass rested on his lap, and her thighs splayed wide leaving her vulnerable, open to his heated gaze. Glossy black curls framed her glistening folds. He brushed his thumb over the swollen flesh of her clit, and her head fell back on a sweet whimper.

  “Please, Asher…”

  It had been so long he wanted to savor this moment, to prolong the satisfaction of uniting with her again. Taking his cock in hand, he dragged the head through her gathering cream. Loving the shudders that racked her body, he repeated the motion.

  Her head snapped up, and she glared at him. “I swear to the gods of the earth and sky, if you don’t fuck me now, I’ll find someone who will.”

  On a growl, he leaned forward and captured her hands, securing them above her head. “You.” Shifting, he seated himself in the cradle of her body, the head of his cock resting at her entrance. “Will.” He slid home, filling her completely. “Not.”

  Her eyes fluttered closed, and she groaned, a satisfied smile curving her lips. She’d goaded him into doing what she wanted. So much for taking things slowly, but he still relished the moment of being encased in her welcoming body.

  Her pussy gripped him, clenching around his cock. He dropped his lips to the curve of her shoulder, reveling in her velvety warmth caressing his shaft. This was where he belonged, buried balls deep in the only woman he’d ever truly needed.

  “Too long,” he murmured against her damp neck. “Too fucking long.”

  Unable to remain still, he pulled back. Neeve locked her ankles at the small of his back as if she were afraid he’d leave her. She needn’t have worried. He wasn’t going anywhere. Not until they were finished with one another. If he had his way, that would take considerably longer than the trip to Pryderi and back.

  “Release me,” she whispered, her words drifting past his ear. “I want to touch you.”

  He surged forward, coming to rest as deeply as possible before loosening his grip on her hands. As soon as he freed her, she drove her fingers through his hair and held him steady for her kiss. Her lips, petal soft but insistent, coaxed his mouth open, and her tongue mimicked the slow rhythmic slide of his cock into the welcoming heat of her body.

  Unable to ignore his body’s demands, the speed of his thrusts increased as he lost any semblance of control. He plowed t
hrough her seizing muscles, shafting faster as she clenched and unclenched around him.

  Lips against his ear, she urged him on with half strangled whispers. “Harder. More.” Her hands slipped from his head to his back, and she planted her feet against the mattress, meeting him stroke for brutal stroke. “Harder,” she moaned out as he lost himself in her silken heat.

  With an anguished cry, her entire body went rigid in his arms. Her internal muscles convulsed around his cock, milking him so hard it was nearly impossible for him to move and equally impossible for him not to. Her release trembled through her, pulling him inexorably toward his own. He plowed in and out of her grasping body as her nails scored his back, the pain an enticing contrast to the need tightening his balls. Pleasure streaked along his body to tingle at the base of his spine before shooting forward to twist his balls until he filled her, coming in shuddering gushes.

  Asher had no idea how long they lay, limbs entwined and sweat drying on their skin. The only thing he was aware of was the gentle way Neeve stroked her hands across his shoulders, her touch comforting as the ship’s quarters came back into focus. Slowly, he raised his head to gaze at her. Her eyes were closed, and a small smile curved her lips.

  “What are you thinking about?” he asked as he trailed kisses along her jaw line.

  Her sleepy brown eyes opened, and her smile widened. “Just that I should run away more often if that’s the greeting I get when I return.”

  He frowned. “That’s not funny.” He wasn’t about to enrage her again, not while he had her lying warm and naked in his arms, but he had no intention of letting her leave again. Not any time soon, anyway.

  As she shifted in his arms, he caught sight of the wicked scar—physical proof of how close he’d nearly come to losing her. Unable to help himself, he smoothed his hand over the puckered flesh. If Neeve had died…

  His throat clogged, and he tried to swallow around it. It was one thing to know that she’d gone into hiding, but the idea that death could have taken her from him forever terrified him. He owed Elizabeth a debt of gratitude he wasn’t sure he could ever repay. Gathering Neeve in his arms, he focused on the present which involved convincing her she belonged with him in Maelgwn.