Chapter 25 #2
He grabbed her under her rump, and she fell over his shoulders with a shriek.
He stomped over to the bed and dropped her on it.
He had no time, he knew, to properly dash all her plans, to turn her inside out and teach her a few things, things men with experience could teach women who thought they knew everything.
The others would return, Terence would return.
But Michel couldn’t help himself in that moment, and provoking her was all he could think about.
As soon as her body hit the cushion of her bed, he was on top of her, nudging between her legs as he pulled her skirts up to her waist. She seemed startled by his attack, but was already panting and grabbing at his shoulders, pulling him to her.
He leaned in to kiss her, a furious and greedy kiss as his hand struggled with her clothing.
He was aching himself, inside his pants, but, for the moment, he was in control enough to stay in control of her.
He settled his weight so he could get his hand into her bloomers, and when he managed to find his way in, Eve arched up with a groan.
Her soft skin went slick immediately at his touch, soaking his fingers.
He loved that he had this effect on her, any effect on her.
This woman. He kissed her mouth again as he canvased her delicate skin, teasing her, opening her up, calculating the best ways to use his calloused fingers to make her shudder.
Eve’s head went back, and she groaned again.
Michel pressed at the most sensitive spot and watched a tremor pass through her, ending on a moan from her lips.
He smiled watching her, rubbing her firmly now, aware that his time was limited, wanting to make her say his name again before they would be interrupted.
Wanting Eve to know that he had plans himself, ones that she couldn’t predict. Or escape.
He changed his angle, feeling toward her opening.
He sank his middle finger into her, followed by another.
He knew this would be a new sensation for her, but he also wanted to shock and scandalize her.
She gasped, and her eyes opened wide, finding his.
She looked angry and wild at the same time, lustful and irritated.
But he pressed in deep, and her body moved like he hoped she would move one day when they would be fully connected.
This was just a taste.
“You said you liked my hands. Was this part of your plan, Siren?” he asked against her ear.
Eve groaned. “Never,” she sputtered, “I never knew…”
“Should I stop?” he teased, lessening the pressure of his hand.
“No!” she shrieked, grabbing onto him, her nails cutting through his shirt and into his shoulders.
He grinned as he kissed a trail to her neck, not wanting to muffle the sounds she was making.
He curled his fingers on the inside and pressed his thumb on the outside of her, and she lost her words, except for his name, which she gasped over and over.
He worked his hand, feeling the muscles burn in his arm in the most delightful way.
A growl grew low in his chest. He leaned into her, over her, catching her panting moans on his lips, working his hand in the absolute best way that he could. And then she broke apart.
Her breath came out, and he felt her contract, her body lifting off the bed and crashing into his.
He grabbed her mouth again with his, but her body was too uncoordinated to kiss him back, so he just held her and watched her while he let her ride out the last waves of release on his hand, the bed beneath them flooded.
In the next moment, her eyes snapped open. She glared at him, still letting her nails prick his skin.
“Sorry,” he crooned, teasing. “You should know, I have some plans too.”
She laughed. He grinned. Then they were kissing again, her body still soft and shuddering beneath him.
His hand brushed over the smooth skin on her stomach now, still caressing, still intimate.
He never wanted to leave this bed or her arms or the softness and wonder between them.
Soon, though, too soon, he heard the sounds of the men returning, and he knew it would have to end for now.
“For now,” he said, the thought on his lips. “That’s all.” He kissed her nose and then her forehead. “For now.”
He rose off the bed and adjusted his clothing and his body. Then he took her hand to pull her up, and his heart felt full as he did.
No, this had not been part of her plan, Eve thought. But what a wonderful surprise the things he did to her had been.
She let him pull her up to sitting, her body still aching from the way he had just touched her. She tucked her knees under herself and watched him as he fixed his own clothing, a grin on his face.
That smirk, she thought, again feeling the desire to smack him, to kiss him, do something. He deserved to smirk, though. He had put her in her place. Though she had enjoyed being the one who had smirked at him minutes ago when she confessed how easy it had been to draw him in.
Everything she had told him before he threw her on her back had been true.
After she had run away, she had traveled west. The little sack of supplies the girl had given her contained all the things Eve had on her when she’d been kidnapped, including the jade necklace she’d worn.
Seeing the necklace had surprised her at first, but the girl’s intentions had nothing to do with money.
Eve had sold what she could, discarded her tribal clothing for a simple dress, and traveled between towns and camps quickly.
She took little time to rest and booked passages where she could, knowing that she had to put distance between herself and the tribe of her dead husband.
She knew the nomadic lifestyle. She was built to travel long distances, ride horses, and live under the sky.
She could forage, cook, stay clean and healthy, and charm or outwit anyone who came her way.
Yes, there were dangerous men, but Eve could navigate that problem.
She knew men. She knew how to play with their egos, ingratiate herself, stir protective instincts, and pit them against each other if it came to her own safety.
It had taken a week to reach Carth, a major city on the trade routes.
There, she went unnoticed and could interact with people who were not of the tribes.
She had spent most of her time in the tavern waiting to hear gossip of travelers.
It wasn’t long before she had heard open speak of the Frenchman who came through the region every few years.
The one who brought profit and gifts. The man was well-liked, well-respected. Eve had decided to find him.
She learned his expected route. All she had to do was find someone to get her there…and that’s when she saw the fat little merchant wander into the tavern.
A fake twisted ankle on his route later, and the merchant was at her side, helping her to stand.
“I am lucky you have stumbled upon me,” Eve had said to the man in the dialect she’d heard him using.
“I am on my own, and no one knows I have run away.” She gripped her ankle and looked up at him mournfully.
“I do not speak the educated languages here, and most people will not help me. I’m lucky to find someone who understands me,” she had said, surveying his expression as she did. “I may have never been found.”
“Yes, sit down here on my cart,” he said, watching her curiously.
“You hear such terrible stories of girls who are alone,” she said as she let the man help her hobble to his little cart stuffed with wares. “I hear the brothel in Merv will buy a girl right from the back of a cart! Like pottery! Can you believe it?”
“They will buy girls at the brothel?” His bushy eyebrows went up.
“Oh, yes,” Eve had confirmed. “For quite a bit of money, too.”
And that was really all she needed to say.
Now she was here, in the yurt with Michel, the man who had been her target, her passage to France, and her freedom from crimes left behind.
She had planned it all, yes. She had gotten lucky, too, just like Michel had said.
More than lucky, really, because not only had she found the man she was looking for, she had found a man who was good.
She sat on the bed, her knees tucked beneath her.
She watched him swagger around the yurt, casting grins her way, still proud of himself.
He had been right. She felt the most marvelous sensation, like all her seams were falling apart and then weaving back together. Now with Michel as part of the pattern.
No, she had not planned for this. Never in her life.
Eve had fallen in love.