by Isabo Kelly
Removing a final stray pin, she set it with the others, rubbed her fingers across her head, then reached for the strap of leather holding the end of her braid. She jumped when she felt Einar’s hands on her shoulders.
The sensation, both familiar and new after all this time, sent a tremor of heat through her belly. With only that brief contact, she could already feel the Shaerta rising. Her nerves danced. She drew in a deep breath, absorbing Einar’s scent, and the heat in her stomach spread through her abdomen to her core.
Turning to face him just then would destroy what little resistance she had, so she kept her body motionless, her gaze on the street.
He skimmed his hands down the length of her arms, leaving a hot chill along her skin and forcing her hands down to her sides. Then he leaned in and said against her ear, “Allow me.”
She wanted to melt into him but couldn’t manage any movement, closer or away. He released her wrists and shifted to her braid, untying the leather strap, then slowly separating the strands.
Heart pounding, Nuala closed her eyes, the wash of sensation from having his hands on her overwhelming and perfect. She concentrated on the play of his fingers up her braid, the gentle run of his palms over and through the strands, the heavy fall of weight when her hair was fully freed of its confines, and the merciless thrill of him brushing her hair, his fingers threading over her scalp, pulling the thick locks away from her face. She tilted her head back at his urging, giving him access to better massage her temples. Without realizing she would, she groaned.
“I’ve missed this,” he said, his voice low and deep. “The feel of your hair, your skin.”
“I’ve missed you too,” she admitted, despite her best intentions. “I’ve felt…half of myself for a long time now.”
His grip tightened at her admission. Then he released her, and Nuala wanted to cry, knowing he would continue to resist where she could not.
An instant later, she was facing him, his hands tight on her shoulders. His dark eyes sparked in the early morning light, his expression more animated, more desperate than anything she’d ever seen him reveal. Before she could absorb the full impact, his mouth was on hers, firm, strong and so heartbreakingly gentle her entire body relaxed into him.
Einar. After all this time. To taste him again was beyond exquisite, beyond joy. She had no way to put into words the sensation that enveloped her except that it felt like her world finally settled into place and became real.
He cupped her cheeks in his hands, holding her near as his kiss deepened. Still controlled, still luxurious, as if they had all the time in the world for just this kiss. Gripping his waist, she followed him into that place, her tongue brushing and swirling around his, a delicate duel no one would suspect the Darkness capable of. Most thought him hard, emotionless, cold.
She knew better. He was all heat and warmth and emotion. With her, he was passion. And she was free.
Their kiss heated slowly, perfectly. Destroying her and renewing her with each play of lips against lips. He slipped his hands from her face to her waist, snugging her tightly to his body. The press of her breasts against the thick expanse of muscles along his chest weakened her knees. The feel of his cock already hard against her abdomen thrilled her on a deep level. Suddenly all she wanted was the heat of his skin, naked against hers, so she could explore this body she’d been denied for too long.
The Shaerta raged through her, heightening her every sense. That underlying musky scent that was Einar filled her head. The touch of his hands, strong on her waist, branded her. The heat of his cock warmed her through her clothes as if there was no barrier between them. And still his kiss was deliberately languorous, deliciously tempting.
Tension flexed his muscles, a tightness echoing her building passion, yet she couldn’t rush this reunion any more than he could.
So long, so much time wasted. The reason for their separation no longer seemed to make sense. Not when they had this. Not when she loved him so very much.
Without allowing any space between them, Einar edged her back toward the bed. She followed his lead, step by step, floating over the dust-covered wood in moments and hours. Her legs touched the mattress and she dropped back, dragging him with her. The drop made them bounce, and despite everything, Nuala giggled.
Einar lifted enough to look down at her, his expression beautifully open. A small smile tugged at his lips, the stone mask he normally wore gone to reveal a tenderness only she was allowed to see.
Reaching up, she cupped his cheek, too touched for words, too happy for regrets.
They would deal with the aftermath of this day soon enough. Now, having him inside her was as vital to her as water and air. More powerful than magic.
With the Shaerta riding her, she embraced the consequences, tugging his mouth back to hers.
Chapter Seven
The first touch of his warm palms on her breasts, even through her clothing, was enough to turn tenderness to desperation. Nuala arched against him, moaning into his mouth. His grip tightened. Her skin was incredibly sensitive, so that when he found her nipples through her shirt, the tug and pinch was almost painful. She wouldn’t have changed a second of that sensation.
But she wanted his hands on her bare skin. Pushing him off, she sat up.
“Nuala?”
The uncertainty in his voice squeezed at her heart. She leaned close again to kiss him, running her hand down his stomach to the thick bulge pressing against his trousers.
“I have no intention of leaving without getting my hands and my mouth on your cock,” she said. “I want every inch of you, naked and at my mercy. But I don’t want to enjoy you with my clothes on.”
Her admission brought more heat to his dark eyes, so black now they were almost frightening. “I can help with removing your clothing,” he said.
Rubbing his cock through his trousers, she shook her head. “You have more important things to do.”
He raised his brows.
“Take off your own.”
She slid away before he tried to change her mind. Watching him, she unbuckled her belt with Einar’s knife in one scabbard and set it gently on the floor. Then she undid the ties closing the front of her robe as he sat up and slipped off his vest and tunic. She allowed herself the freedom to fully appreciate that beautiful chest of his, finally and after so long.
Licking her lips, she dropped her robe and started unlacing the front of her blouse. The heat of his gaze was like a physical touch, a touch she couldn’t deny. She opened her shirt, letting the soft material fall down her arms to pool on top of her robe, then quickly pulled off the fitted vest that kept her breasts contained.
He groaned, his gaze locked on her chest as she cupped her breasts and pinched her nipples into hardness.
“You’ve too much on,” she reminded him as she continued to play with herself, knowing how it affected him.
Without taking his gaze from her, he shifted to the edge of the bed to tug off his boots. Rubbing one hand down her abdomen to the top of her riding trousers, she watched him watching her, knowing he wanted to put his hands on her more than he wanted to breathe. Knowing because she felt the same. He stood and shucked off his trousers and underpants, barely paying attention to his own actions.
Because he was doing exactly what she asked, she opened the buttons on her trousers. Then bent to remove her boots. The forward motion made her breasts sway, and cool air caressed her skin, emphasizing how hot she felt, how deliciously sensitive and ready.
With her boots tossed aside, she straightened and edged her pants down her hips, wiggling a little to free the material. Einar’s nostrils flared. He was standing now, as if he hadn’t been able to move once he’d stripped. As he watched her reveal the rest of her body, he took his thick erection into his palm and stroked slowly, almost absentmindedly, like he couldn’t help himself.
Hunger like she’d never felt swept through her. She wanted her hand on him, her mouth, but she was mesmerized watching him stroke
himself. She found herself following his example, letting her fingers dip into her wet curls, stroke through the slick folds of her sex. A shiver took her as she cupped one breast with her free hand.
“I’ve spent too many nights touching myself and thinking of you,” she whispered into the silence, which was punctuated only by their ragged breathing.
“Nuala,” he moaned and his fingers flexed around his cock.
“Now, with you watching, I feel whole again. Because I know your hands will be here—” she slid her fingers deeper into her heat, “—taking me, feeling how much I want you.”
“You have driven me wild from the first moment we met, Nuala. An insanity I can’t regret now.”
She smiled and finally allowed herself close to him again. He grabbed the hand she’d used on herself and brought her still-damp fingers to his mouth, sucking the moisture off gently. Her heart thundered, and her knees trembled. Goddess, but he was magnificent. And for this moment, he was hers completely.
Dropping to his knees in front of her, he kissed the skin above her curls, low on her abdomen. Every muscle in her body tightened in reaction, in anticipation. To her relief, he didn’t tease her. He mouth dipped lower, over her heat, his tongue licking through her folds and pressing eagerly against her clitoris. She cried out, so sensitive she knew she would come quickly. She didn’t care. She would come as often today as he’d allow her. Her fingers shook as she buried them in his short, dark, thick hair and let her head fall back and her eyes close.
He licked and sucked her swollen flesh until she trembled all over, her legs barely holding her upright. The building pressure swelled, consumed, engulfed her until only his mouth on her anchored her to reality. Then the pressure broke and she cried out, despite knowing she should remain quiet. The sound came without thought or permission, a primitive reaction to a release so hard and thorough her knees finally did give out.
Einar caught her before she collapsed, his arms circling around her hips. When she opened her eyes and looked down, he was staring at her, his gaze full of satisfaction.
“I’ve missed watching you come,” he said, his voice deep. “I’ve never seen anything more beautiful in my long life.”
She smiled. “I hope you intend to watch me come a few more times before we’re done.”
“As often as you can stand,” he promised. Then he rose to his feet, his big body enveloping hers as he kissed her again, his hands tight on her waist.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and allowed him to lift her, turning her back to the bed. So much she wanted to do to him. So much she needed from him. As they tumbled to the mattress again, she reached for his cock, delighting in the heat and hardness of him.
His mouth devoured hers now, a man desperate and quickly losing control. She was the only one who’d ever been allowed to see him this way, so unguarded. So close to the edge of a different kind of madness. The privilege of it took her breath away.
Rolling him onto his back, she sprawled across his body, savoring the feel of his naked flesh against hers, so long remembered, so familiar and beloved. The Shaerta made every scrape of his chest hair over her breasts, every slide of damp skin against skin, more electric, harder to take and yet impossible to move away from. Overwhelming.
She’d experienced the effect of the hormone with a few other men in her life. With Einar it was always different—leaving her both desperate and somehow calm when he finally touched her. As if they had from now until time ended to touch, to feel, to pleasure and enjoy each other. It drove her, until she needed to take now, to have him in her, hard and fast and gentle and slow all at once. Pain and pleasure, words too small to describe how she felt with his hands on her, his mouth tasting her.
Remembering this now, feeling it all again, Nuala accepted that she was lost. She would never be able to give this up, to give him up again. Her magic be damned. His duty be damned. This, this heat and need between them, this was a magic all its own, and it would no longer be denied.
Einar’s lips slid along her jaw, down to her neck as he tugged her farther up his body. She might have resisted, except she was too needy, too weak to refuse him whatever he wanted from her. When his lips closed hot around her nipple and his teeth scraped the peak, she bucked in response. He held her in place with one hand on her ass as he suckled her breasts, one at a time. The tug started yet another build of pressure low in her abdomen, and she ground her hips against his solid stomach muscles in search of relief.
He rose to a sitting position, which let her drop into his lap, his cock nestled between their bodies, and she continued to rub and grind against him. It would never be enough. She needed him inside her. But she was so lost to sensation, she couldn’t even demand he fuck her, couldn’t speak or control her body enough to take what she wanted. She was helpless to his onslaught, to his pace, his direction.
Somehow, that was perfect.
When he lifted her hips off his lap, she followed, giving him everything she had. The feel of his thickness pushing at her heat became the center of her existence. She tried to drop back to his lap and take him inside her in one swift move, but he held her tight, sliding her down in agonizingly slow increments. She whimpered, unable to help the soft needy sounds as she circled her hips, trying to take him in faster.
Finally, finally he relaxed his grip and she slammed down, filled and stretched and oh-so-much happier. The satisfaction of having him fully inside her lasted a heartbeat. Then she had to move.
Despite the wash of need and love filling her soul, she rode him slowly, her hips undulating in a rhythm designed to please them both. In this position, she could watch his expression closely, and the intimacy cemented her fall. She was his. She had been from the very beginning of their relationship. She let him see that now, after all these years, nothing had changed for her.
She loved him. Beyond reason and sense.
He cupped her cheek in one hand while his other stayed firmly on her hip. The emotions in his eyes engulfed her. Kissing him was like oxygen after that, vital to her existence. She continued her steady rhythm, teasing and taking until her body trembled. Then he retook control.
Rolling her onto her back, he built the speed of their coupling slowly at first, increasing the tension tightening her core. Then harder and faster. She clung to him as everything spun away and her reactions took over.
This time, when the release took her, she muffled her cry against his chest, biting down to keep silent. A moment later, she felt him follow her, his body tightening as he came for her.
A pleasure and satisfaction unlike anything she’d known with anyone else lapped over her, leaving her content and savoring a moment she’d remember always.
He hugged her close for a long while after, their breathing slowing together. When he slipped to the side, he gathered her to him, leaving no space between their bodies. His heat seeped into Nuala, keeping her warm despite the chill in the room and the sweat cooling on her body.
In the silence, she wanted to pretend this could last. They could be together with no repercussions. But even her love and contentment didn’t allow her the delusion. There would be consequences to this perfection.
She opened her mouth to start a conversation she didn’t really want to have, but stopped when her stomach growled so loudly it echoed in the quiet.
The sound was so unexpected she started to giggle. When she felt Einar’s chest bumping her cheek as he tried to suppress his own amusement, she laughed harder. A moment later, he lost control and his deep, uncontrolled chuckle joined hers. He so rarely laughed that the sound enchanted her.
She looked up into his face and smiled. Serious conversations could wait a little longer.
“I guess that means I’m hungry.”
“Running across the rooftops then monumentally fabulous sex does tend to do that.”
“You experience both together often?”
“Only with you.”
She reached up for a kiss.
“
The owls should have delivered some food by now. I’ll go check.” His hand stroked up the length of her bare back. “I want to tell you to stay naked. But…”
His hesitance surprised her. “But?”
“If someone enters the building while I’m on the roof, I don’t want you to be vulnerable.”
She cupped his cheek. “I’m not vulnerable without clothes. Except with you. But if it will make you more comfortable, I’ll dress while you’re gone and strip immediately after you return.”
That earned her another of his glorious smiles, this one sexy and deliciously wicked. “I do prefer keeping the sight of your beautiful body to myself. I’ll be quick.”
He was out of bed and dressing so fast, she giggled again. As he hurried out the door to the roof, she tugged on her trousers and shirt, not bothering with the niceties of undergarments or her riding robe. She wouldn’t be keeping these clothes on long enough for that.
She did, however, uncover her scabbard belt from the pile of clothes and remove Einar’s knife. She only noticed then that he’d moved her bow and quiver to lean against the wall near the head of the bed. She’d been so caught up in their passion, she’d forgotten she’d left them on the mattress.
After a brief hunt in the room next door, she uncovered an empty, thankfully intact chamber pot and took advantage of the find. Then she went to stand by the window in their room and study the street carefully while she waited for Einar to return. As before, everything was silent, giving the area an abandoned feel.
Likely, this part of Noman’s Land was abandoned. Or any squatters were hiding and asleep. She’d never stopped to consider if the Sorcerers attacked during the day or kept their movements restricted to the night. There was no reason they wouldn’t be about during the day, not that she could think of, but the utter silence of the morning hinted that everyone had huddled back behind their lines to wait for…something.
She didn’t look away from the street when she heard Einar return, giving the area a final sweep, just in case. Silence and stillness reigned.