Chapter 45
Chapter Forty-Five
The sounds of the Roma camp faded as they slid through the darkness of the forest. Though the horses whinnied for action, Logan chose to walk. He wanted to spend a little more time with her, under the spell of twilight, before ducal duty and estate obligation burdened him again.
Pulling the reins of his horse, he murmured, “Come along, Gehenna, I don’t want to lose you out here.”
“You named your horse after Hell?” Haven’s incredulous tone made him smile.
“She is as black as the pits of hell, and she was certainly one hell of a horse to tame.”
She laughed. “Do tell.” Her sarcastic tone was light and filled with amusement.
“When I first purchased her, she would buck and scream when anyone got near. It took me nearly a year of persistence and stubbornness to get her accustomed enough to let me touch her face. It took another six months before she’d let me put a saddle on her back.
Within two weeks, I was riding her, and we’ve been together since.
” He ran his hand along Gehenna’s flanks.
“You gave me hell, but I stuck it out, didn’t I, girl?
You may wear my saddle, but you’re still as wild and spirited as you were when I first set eyes on you. ”
It took Haven a second to realize he was speaking in deep whispers to the horse. She shivered. What would it have been like for him to speak those words to her?
Wait…wasn’t he?
Glancing up from where his hand caressed the skin along the horse’s nose, she caught a look of blatant mischievousness in his expression.
That tricksy devil.
Well, two can play at this game.
“Sounds like you’re skilled at taming spirited creatures.” Her tone was playful, inquisitive, but she thrummed with excitement.
“I believe I’ve proven such on several occasions.” His deep voice thickened, and a wicked gleam darkened his face.
“Oh? Do you have any other skills I should know about?” Placing her hand on her hip in a very twenty-first-century manner, she cocked an eyebrow, daring him to move their innuendo-laden conversation into deeper, more dangerous waters.
A slow, sensual smile spread across his face.
“Not many. You’ve already experienced many of my skills first hand.
In depth.” She shuddered. “I believe you’ve witnessed my talents with the rapier.
Many of my female admirers have gushed profusely about my fencing skills—my deep lunging thrusts, and my lively parries. ”
Choking back a bark of laughter, she looked up from under her thick black lashes. “Oh, I will admit you have the deadliest thrusts, and most masterful of parries.”
His smile grew.
“It’s just too bad I’m not really a fan of fencing,” she said innocently.
His smile stalled, but his eyes continued to dance. “Oh? I'm quite the bruising sportsman.” His boast ringed of honesty and vanity.
“Sports? What kind of sports?” She arched her eyebrow.
“Racing, fox hunting, wrestling, boxing. All the sports of gentlemen.”
“Hmm....” She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “In racing, the horse gets the most exercise, in fox hunting the dog does all the work. Your idea of wrestling is basically two grown men hugging, and boxing is bloody and brutal and boring. Don’t you do anything requiring true stamina?”
It was his turn to quirk an eyebrow, his gaze flashing fire. She trembled at the heated look, desire rising over her skin.
“I can think of a few things,” he drawled deeply.
He wasn't talking about sports anymore.
Heat bloomed through her belly.
She swallowed past the newly formed lump of desire in her throat. “A sport that takes real skill is hunting—with a gun. I’m not talking hunting for fun, but for keeps.”
“Is that so?”
She walked toward the tree line furthest from him.
“Yep. The preparation, knowing every detail about your prey: their weaknesses, their strengths, where they forage for food, where they like to lie down and sleep at night. Then, you have to stalk them, watch, remain utterly still and silent, and draw them in until they are so close you can smell the musk of their hide.”
He followed behind her, his heavy footfalls breaking twigs and kicking loose stones.
Prickles of awareness danced across her skin.
“Once you have your prey in your sights, you pounce, going in for the kill. Devouring them until there is nothing left.” She turned to gauge his reaction.
Empty darkness greeted her.
He was gone.
Haven narrowed her eyes, stopped walking and tensed, her heart pounding—a prey response.
She was being hunted.
She stood there for long moments, listening for his heavy footfalls in the pine needles, searching for any sign of where he’d gone.
How did a man his size move so quickly and quietly? It was eerie, but also a turn on.
Listening seconds longer, she heard Gehenna and Gamehen grazing nearby, and a slight breeze pushed against the trees.
She couldn’t hear Logan.
Her short, nervous chuckle burst through the silence, and a slight shuffling noise sounded a few paces to her right, toward the denser part of the woods. She’d just been teasing him about how hunting took real skill. Now, he stalked her. And it was thrilling.
In her line of work, she was used to flirtation—catcalls, lurid invitations, and even some incidences of stalking—but she’d never been pursued by someone who held such power over her.
Not only could he set her heart racing by looking at her, but he could also turn her to mush with a single touch.
Now he turned her moment of playful teasing into an erotic game of cat and mouse, of predator and prey, and she was burning up with expectant desire.
Where was he?
The bright moon shone down, piercing the covering of trees to cast ethereal shadows at her feet.
Her path was well lit, but just a few feet away, the night was black between the branches and trunks of the trees.
She should be scared, or at least alarmed, but something about being stalked by a fiercely sexual and devastatingly sexy animal made her heart race from excitement and the promise of a chase.
The scents of the night carried to her on the wind, and captivated her with the smells of forest, spring, and danger.
Something in the air teased her, pulled, called her to move deeper into the darkness, and into the hunter’s domain.
A gentle breeze slid across her skin, and goosebumps rose.
She treaded softly, fighting the urge to dash away from the shadows and the mysteries they hid.
He was hunting her.
A predator.
Waiting for the perfect moment to move against her, to leap from the concealing twilight and take hold.
Fear and excitement warred for prominence in her heart.
A tall, solid shadow erupted from the trees to her right, and she gasped.
He cut off her scream with his hand, grabbing her arm and pulling her to him.
Predator sinking his teeth into his prey.
Something inside her snapped.
With a quick flick of her elbow, she was free and racing for the darkest part of the forest. Pleasure and anxiety thrilled through her, and she grew more panicked by the second. Snapping twigs, pounding, and thrashing echoed through the trees behind her.
Thankful of her many hours spent at the gym, she knew he’d get one hell of a chase before he caught her.
The prey was loose…and the predator was determined to catch her once more.
She sped up, uncaring that her borrowed skirt and top snagged and tore on grasping branches.
A burst of laughter bubbled from her lips.
Come and get me.
As the adrenaline pumped through her blood, she moved faster, her feet carrying her deeper into the woods. Though she didn’t know where her path led, she knew when he caught her—and he would—there'd be hell to pay.
When had Hell become so appealing?
His grunts and heavy footfalls grew closer, and the excitement rose to new heights.
When the thick woods gave way to a clearing, she stumbled, nearly crashing to the foot of a large, wide tree, alone and majestic beneath the bright illumination of the moon.
He was there before she could regain her footing, grabbing her waist to pull her to an abrupt stop against the heaving wall of his chest. Within moments she’d turned to face him, her eyes level with his lips, her belly with his rock hard shaft.
His intense gaze speared her, and her weak legs couldn’t hold her steady. Swaying, she grabbed his shoulders to stay upright. She stepped closer, pressing her chest against his, marveling at the strength in his arms, and the strong, quickened beat of his heart.
First, there was only the sound of their gasping inhalations, then of peeling bells as he crushed his mouth to hers.
His kiss sizzled, sending electric sparks through her body, turning the nerves in her skin to kindling. Hot, wet, and demanding, his mouth took command, and laid waste to the sliver of doubt remaining.
This was what she hungered for. Right here. Right now. This man. This moment. And she would thoroughly enjoy every second.
The heat gathering in her belly pushed at her, but she couldn’t stop the kissing, didn’t dare pull away to draw a breath.
Their mouths pressed together. She clutched at his jacket, eager to get him naked. He pushed her hands away and moved in to cup the heaviness of her breasts.