by Rebecca York
He sprang to his feet. “Get away from there.”
She did take a small step back. But she was still touching the wall with her mind, shifting some of the rocks within the mass.
She was glad her back was to him, because it was hard work, and she knew her face must be a study in concentration. She had never thought of herself as a calculating person. Now she was doing things that she didn’t want to examine too carefully.
When she heard a slight interior rumble, she fell back.
Grant had heard the rumble, too.
“Watch out,” he shouted as he rushed toward her.
When stones began to fall around her, he snatched her out of the way, pulling her from the entrance to the cave as more rubble tumbled down.
She had planned to start only a small rock fall. But she realized quickly that she’d lost control.
No. Lost wasn’t the right word. She’d never had control because she’d acted impulsively, without knowing what was inside the mass of debris and how the pieces fit together.
He had protected her with his body earlier. He did it again, curving himself over her, holding her tightly as he moved her away from the danger.
She clung to him, her heart pounding. What if the whole ceiling came tumbling down? What if he was injured? It would be her fault.
As the rocks stopped falling, she shifted her focus from the danger to the man who held her in his arms. Closing her eyes, she clung to him, breathing in his scent, feeling his strong arms enfolding her.
She made a muffled sound. “I shouldn’t have gone near those rocks. I guess I set off vibrations or something. I won’t do that again.”
“You could have gotten hurt.”
“And you. I’m sorry I put you at risk.”
She stayed in his arms, molding her body to his.
“It’s all right. You’re safe with me.”
She tipped her face up, meeting his eyes. “Thank the gods.”
He stroked his hands over her shoulders, into her hair. His touch felt good. He had comforted her before. Now the protective way he held her promised more than comfort.
She felt them teetering on the edge of unexplored territory. He might pull away, now that she was safe. But she wasn’t going to let that happen.
When she cupped a hand around his head and brought his mouth to hers, he didn’t protest.
He moved his lips against hers, gently, nibbling, pressing then withdrawing a little, and she understood he was a man who knew how to kiss a woman. A man with experience.
Good. One less thing to worry about. When she roused his passions, he could take the lead.
She felt the heat building between them. As she kissed him, she stroked her hands over his back and shoulders, feeling his strong muscles ripple under her fingers. With one hand, she reached upward, playing with his thick, dark hair.
She had experimented a little with boys in the village. Sexual encounters weren’t forbidden to the youth of Valleyhold, as long as they saved the ultimate act for marriage. But once Telman had made his intentions plain, no boy dared come near her in an intimate way.
Now a man who made her blood run hot was holding her in his arms. She moved against him, stunned by how different she felt than when she was with Telman. With him, her skin crawled and she could barely wait to get beyond his reach.
But this contact with Grant churned up a craving deep inside her.
Her breasts felt full and tender, and she moved them against his chest, trying to ease the pressure. The motion only set off an ache high up between her legs.
She could feel his breath coming faster. Feel his hard shaft pressed to her middle.
Astonished at her own brazenness, she leaned a little away from him, found one of his hands and brought it to her breast.
For heartbeats, he held perfectly still. Then he cupped her fullness, squeezing slightly before playing his thumb over the hardened tip.
She moaned into his mouth, moving to press her women’s parts against his thigh, feeling heat surge through her body. She knew what came next, the blessed feeling of relief. Alone in her bed, under the covers, she had done that for herself and felt no shame. Her mother had told her sexual pleasure was natural, but she had never thought she could get it with Telman. Not when his touch made her freeze, and the things he said he wanted to do made her cringe.
Now she had plunged into unknown territory. This was nothing like her innocent dalliances with the boys of Valleyhold. She had enjoyed experimenting with them, but none of them had ever made her feel so out of control. So needy.
There was too much clothing between them, but she knew that wouldn’t be true for long.
One of his hands trailed down her body, caressing the roundness of her bottom through her leggings, pulling her more tightly against his rigid cock.
He found the drawstring at her waist, loosened the tie, then slipped beneath to stroke his hand over her naked bottom.
“You are so soft, so silky,” he whispered.
She caught her breath, totally absorbed by his touch. No man had dared such intimacy with her, and part of her was shocked, especially when he dipped lower, two fingers gliding into her woman’s parts. They slipped inside her and stopped abruptly when he met resistance.
As he jerked his hand away, her eyes blinked open and stared at him.
“Are you a virgin?” he asked.
She swallowed. “Yes.”
“Then we cannot do this.”
When he started to step away from her, she caught his arm and held him.
“Don’t leave me.”
“I should never have gone that far with you.”
“I didn’t try to stop you.”
“There is no honor in taking your virginity.”
“Even if I want you to do it?”
“You aren’t experienced enough to be the judge of what’s best for you.”
Chapter Four
Rowan wanted to shout that his taking her virginity had been her intention. It would be her way out of a marriage that both frightened and sickened her. But she couldn’t tell him that.
When he turned away, she swayed on her feet and moved to the cave wall to steady herself, aching to call him back.
But she knew that would only make her shame worse. Grant was honorable. And pushing him further would make him think the less of her.
Could a man think a virgin was a strumpet?
She leaned back against the wall, wrapping her arms around her shoulders as she watched him walk into the shadows where she couldn’t see him.
He had been aroused. Was he going to do the thing to bring himself release that she had seen boys do when they thought no one was watching?
She hurried to the river, where she knelt and splashed cold water on her heated face. Perhaps it helped to lessen the flush she felt, but it did nothing to quiet the demands of her body.
He had brought her pleasure with his touch and his kisses, and she ached for him to finish what she had started.
But she knew he wouldn’t do it.
She clenched her fists, struggling to hold back the tears that stung the backs of her eyes. She had run from Valleyhold, thinking she could make her way in the world. And immediately she had gotten into trouble. With the dragon and with Grant.
Now she had better think carefully before she made another mistake.
The fire was burning low by the time she turned back toward the campsite. Quickly she crossed the stone floor of the cave and lay down on his blanket. Dragging her own blanket over her shoulders, she turned away from the fire, curling on her side and pulling her knees up. When she heard Grant’s footsteps coming back, she tensed, but he stayed on his side of the fire pit.
She had both their blankets. She should give his back. But the idea of speaking to him now or even turning to face him brought tears to her eyes again. Tears she struggled to banish.
* * *
Grantland watched the woman lying on the other side of the fire. She looked totally m
iserable. He ached to go over and lie down beside her. Turn her to him and start kissing her and touching her again. To comfort her. To reassure her that she hadn’t done anything wrong.
But he wanted her too much. If he lay down beside her and touched her now, they would end up making love.
Though she had tried to put on a face of sophistication, he had sensed her innocence from the start. He would have kept his hands off her if she hadn’t walked too near the pile of rubble and made it start to fall.
Well, perhaps that wasn’t the way to put it. She couldn’t have caused the rocks to tumble down. But it had happened when she’d walked too close. He’d better keep that in mind when he tried to figure out if he could open the cave entrance.
He switched his thoughts from the rock fall to the woman who still lay with her body rigid.
No more rigid than he was himself. Well, not his whole body. Only the part that ached for her.
He had told her there was no honor in taking a woman’s virginity. In fact, he had always avoided it because he wasn’t going to give any reason for a woman to insist he marry her. The decision had always served him well.
With a muttered curse, he pulled his pack over and took out a shirt, spreading it between himself and the cold stone floor. He lay down with his head cushioned on the leather pack, wondering how much sleep he was going to get that night.
* * *
Rowan woke, stiff from lying on hard stone. For a moment she didn’t know where she was. Then she remembered everything. Her escape from Valleyhold, the dragon, the landslide that had covered the cave’s mouth, and most of all Grant.
Last night she’d tried to seduce him, and he’d been too honorable to take her virginity.
Which left them where?
The fire had burned down, but the sun had come up outside the cave, and a few shafts of light penetrated the darkness, enough for her to see Grant looking at her.
He sat up. “I’m going to see if I can find another way out of here.”
“All right,” she answered, wondering what would happen after he did. Would he walk away from her?
That thought made her stomach knot. She hadn’t known him long, but she felt something for him that she had never felt with another man.
“Can I go with you?” she asked.
“It could be dangerous.”
“Why?”
“There might be crevices. Or an uneven floor you might not see in the dark. You should wait here.”
She swallowed her disappointment. “You should eat something first.”
“No time for fishing.”
“I told you I have some food.” She found apples, bread and cheese in her carry bag.
He took an apple, along with one of his torches.
“Stay away from the rocks at the cave entrance,” he said.
“I know.”
He put some more wood on the fire and waited until it was burning.
When he turned his back and started farther into the cave, she caught her bottom lip between her teeth. She hated that he seemed in a hurry to get away from her.
Was there a way to bring him back into her arms? Obviously she couldn’t try the same trick twice, but maybe there was something else she could do. What if she fell into the river? Well, pretended to fall. If she screamed for help that would surely bring him running to her rescue.
As she mulled over the situation, she wandered over to the watercourse, inspecting the shallow place where she had washed. She’d have to go farther out to make it look like she was in trouble.
While she took off her boots and leggings, she thought about herself and what she was planning.
All her life, she had been an honest person. Telman had changed her. She’d lied in order to get away from him. And now she was scheming to get closer to Grant. Speeding up what would be the natural course of a relationship.
She hated being so devious. It would make her feel better if she could simply tell him what she wanted. But he might think she was using him for her own purposes, and he would be right.
Wading into the river, she shivered as the cold water lapped at her ankles. But she wrapped her arms around her shoulders and kept walking. With her mind on her plan, she took a step farther along the flat riverbed. But it turned out the surface wasn’t uniform. Her foot sank into a hole hidden below the surface, making her lose her balance.
Wheeling her arms, she tried to right herself, but she went down with a splash and a scream. Unable to find her footing in the deeper water, she grabbed at a boulder sticking above the surface, but it was too slippery.
The current seized her, sweeping her toward the center of the river where the water was much deeper. Ahead of her she could see a wall of rock and a dark tunnel. The river barely cleared the surface, and if she went into the tunnel, she was sure she would have no air to breathe.
“Grant. Help me, Grant,” she shouted, afraid that he was too far away to hear her.
* * *
Grantland had started toward the back of the cave, trying to find another outlet, but the torch he carried began to fail. When the flame started to sputter, he stopped. He had told Rowan exploring was dangerous. It was even more dangerous when he couldn’t see where he was walking. There might be a shaft ahead of him where he could break his neck. Or his leg.
He was on his way back when he heard Rowan scream. Then she was calling his name, calling for help.
His heart leaped into his throat. “Rowan, where are you? What’s happening?” he shouted as he rushed forward.
He couldn’t see much in the dim light, but he heard the sound of thrashing in the water. Racing forward, he forced himself to stop long enough to snatch up another piece of wood and shove it into the fire. When it caught, he held it aloft as he scanned the river. Downstream he saw Rowan struggling against the current, trying to prevent herself from being swept into the tunnel where the river disappeared from the cave.
Gods!
“Hang on,” he shouted.
Without hesitation he pulled off his boots and threw them on the floor, then tore off his shirt as he ran along the bank until he was closer to Rowan. Leaping into the water, he ignored the shock of cold and made for her.
He was a strong swimmer. He and his sister had sneaked off on summer days to frolic in the millpond. Later, as part of his training, he’d been forced to swim in swift currents with a heavy pack.
The rushing water carried him toward Rowan, who had managed to wedge herself between two rocks. When he reached her, he braced himself against a boulder.
Her wide, terrified eyes made his insides clench, but he kept his words steady.
“Hang on to me. Don’t struggle.”
She obeyed.
Using the rescue techniques he’d learned, he turned her around so that her legs floated in back of her.
He could hear her teeth chattering and feel her violent shivering as he laid an arm across her body under her breasts. Once he had her secured, he struck out with his free arm, fighting the current as he angled toward shore. It was hard going. The water tugged at him, and the added weight of Rowan’s body held him back.
But he kept swimming because that was his only option.
His strength was giving out when he finally felt his feet touch the bottom. With a sigh of relief, he staggered onward, dragging Rowan to shallow water and then onto the bank.
She lay on her back, coughing.
“Can you breathe?” he asked urgently.
“Yes. Thank you for pulling me out,” she gasped through chattering teeth.
She was as pale as death, her lips blue tinged. Her whole body was shivering violently, her blond hair streaming around her, and her shirt was plastered to her torso so that she might have been wearing nothing. In fact, it was her only garment, and he tried not to stare at the triangle of blond hair at the juncture of her legs.
“I’m sorry,” she gasped as her coughing subsided.
“Shhh. It’s all right.”
“No. Th
at was so stupid. I…I only wanted to bathe while you were gone.”
“It’s all right,” he said again.
The first thing he had to do was warm her. Scooping her up again, he carried her back to the blankets and stripped the upper one aside so that he could set her down. The sopping shirt was going to make everything wet, so he pulled it off, keeping his eyes averted, and tossed it aside. After quickly covering her with the second blanket, he threw more wood onto the fire.
She was still shivering violently, and he knew that the cold could kill her as surely as a knife blade.
He was cold, too, but his training had toughened him.
Now he must warm her as best he could. Without thinking about what was proper, he pulled off his wet leggings and climbed under the covers with her.
She gave a little sob and rolled toward him, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him close.
Her skin was chilled. So was his, but the contact warmed them both.
He made a strangled sound as he cradled her against himself, feeling his body respond. He had only meant to drive the chill from her skin, but now that they were both naked and in each other’s arms, it was almost impossible to remember that had been his goal.
She snuggled against him, sliding her hands over his naked back and shoulders, working her way downward to his flanks.
Last night he had walked away from her, vowing that he would not take her virginity.
He should walk away now, but his willpower was as thin as a strand of spiderweb.
When she raised her head, he brought his mouth to hers. He wanted it to be a gentle kiss, but it quickly turned hot and thirsty.
In the night she had tempted him almost beyond endurance, and the heat they had generated came surging back.
“Tell me this is wrong. Tell me you want me to stop,” he managed to say.
Chapter Five
Rowan kept her gaze on him. “That would be a lie.”
“Think of what you’re doing.”
“I am.”
She opened for him, telling him with her mouth and body and hands that slid over him that she was his for the taking.