Chapter 20 #2
But it still wasn’t as close as she had hoped, perhaps because she was fully clothed.
At once, she applied herself to the task of taking off her own clothes, and though she was daintier and slower at the act of stripping than he had been, the buttons on her jacket came undone easily, and she shrugged out of it. However, there were layers of other clothing beneath.
He was frowning at them. “Why do you wear so many garments?”
“’Tis the style, I fear. But the clothes do keep a body warm.”
“Perhaps. Yet so many of them hinder free movement.”
“And are a bother to remove as well.” She smiled up at him.
He grinned back at her. “It is true, I think.”
Together they set to work over the buttons of her blouse, and she thought she had never seen a more delighted look come to a man’s face when he discovered she had set out on this trip without a corset.
“It was just too much of a bother,” she explained.
“I am glad of the bother.” He slid the straps of her chemise down over her arms and off. At once, the undergarment dropped to her waist, revealing her femininity to his hungry gaze.
And he did admire her.
After a moment, he said, “You realize that if we go farther than this, neither one of us will be able to stop, until…”
She didn’t comment.
He continued, “I say this as a warning, so if you object to what we do, you should tell me while I still have the will to stop.”
“I appreciate your saying this to me. And I should stop, but…”
He lifted an eyebrow. “But?”
“I…want you.”
His reaction to her simple statement was a groan—a sound much too sensuous for her peace of mind.
He laid her back against their fragrant pine mat and set to work kneading her soft and exposed feminine mounds, his lips following where his hands led.
First he adored one breast with kiss upon kiss, then the other.
Then, while his lips paid tribute to her, his fingers were already working over the buttons on her trousers.
At last it was done, and he came up over her to press another hot, wet kiss on her lips.
She gloried in his fresh taste, musky and masculine, and in response she surged upward, determined to feel as much of his skin against her as she could.
He acquiesced with no protest, and as soon as his flesh met hers, her pulse kicked into double time.
So stirred was she by him, she forgot to think.
Back and forth, up and down, chest to chest, they reveled against each other, dancing to a rhythm of their own. He growled softly in her ear, “It feels so good.”
“Hmm,” she mumbled, unable to utter anything intelligently.
“Are you ready for more?”
“Please,” she begged.
Coming up onto his knees at her side, he reached down to urge her trousers and pantalettes over her thighs, her calves, her feet. While the cooler air assailed the lower part of her body, she was dismayed to see he still wore breechcloth and leggings.
“You are almost fully clothed,” she commented.
“Hau, it is true. Soon, I will lay naked with you, but for now, I would admire you.”
And admire her he did. His gaze touched her everywhere.
“You are a beautiful sight for any one man.” Reaching out for her hand, he held it within both of his own, kissing every one of her fingers.
Briefly, he shut his eyes, rubbing her fingers against his cheek. Then he added aloud, “Canto’kignaka.”
She smiled. “What did you say?”
He hesitated, and his response was not the one she expected, for she had anticipated he would do no more than translate. However, he sighed. “My words mean that I have placed you in my heart. Perhaps it is too soon for me to tell you this, but I fear…I love you.”
Her smile faded, even as her gaze clung to his. “You love me?”
He nodded. “Though I am uncertain now is the right time to tell you, mayhap it is best, I think, for you to know.”
She was still caught up in the wonder of his confession, and she said again, “You love me?”
“Hau. In truth, I may have loved you from the first moment I ever saw you. I cannot be certain of it, but it is possible. What I do know with surety is that I love you now…and no matter what happens to me or to us, once I give my love, it is forever.”
“I… I…” she stammered, knowing she should say something back to him. But what? So unexpected was his declaration, she was momentarily stunned. “What do you mean by no matter what happens? You don’t expect anything bad to happen to you, do you?”
“A man never knows, and I am on a quest with an enemy I little understand and little know.”
“Yes, your quest with…the one you call the Thunderer.”
“Hau, hau.”
“Well, I have this to say about what you have told me. You had better not let anything happen to you. I have only just found you.”
He grinned at her. “Does this mean you like me a little?”
“I suspect it may be true, since here I am, naked before you.”
“So you are.” He smiled at her devilishly. “It is good for you to remind me of this.”
She laughed slightly. Coming up into a seated position, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. Simply hugged him.
“I am not certain what I feel,” she told him honestly. “I desire your lovemaking very much, but I still hesitate to trust you. However, I can tell you this: I have admired you from afar, I wish for your touch, I melt when you look at me and I get excited at the mere mention of your name.”
His grin became more pronounced. “It is so?”
“Indeed.”
“I am glad to hear it,” he whispered against her ear, and he nudged her back onto their mat.
He began to kiss her behind her ear, then over to her neck, to her cheek, to her lips, back down to her neck, to her chest, to each breast. She fidgeted beneath his ministrations, and, closing her eyes, she offered herself to him as though she were a banquet.
He seemed only too willing to relish her, and his fingers slid reverently over her breasts as his kisses ranged ever lower…
down to her stomach, her navel. On her own, her legs parted in invitation, and he accepted.
With the fingers of one hand he aroused her, and with every touch her nerve endings erupted, as though set afire.
She squirmed beneath him, seeking the pleasure she knew he could give her. So when he at last found her most secret place, there between her legs, she sighed in relief.
He was taking her on an erotic journey, his tongue and his lips providing her with the means. Fiery and wet, his kisses made love to her.