Forged

by Jacquelyn Frank

  She hesitated, but he could still see her white-knuckled grasp on the door handle. She glanced over at Ihron, who wisely raised his hands and backed away from the situation. Good thing, too, because Ahnvil wasn’t sure he wasn’t still of a mind to kill him for touching her.

  He didn’t examine the ferocity of the feeling. He was there to protect her, at all costs, and he would not fail her. Not her. Not this time.

  “I swear tae you,” he vowed deeply, making sure she felt the depth of it. “I will no’ let anything happen tae you.”

  “B-but … you’re happening to me,” she said shakily. “You’re always happening to me! Every time I turn around you’re there doing something that pushes me and pushes me! I haven’t had a single second to catch my breath before you’re there again! Ihron wasn’t doing anything!”

  “He was!”

  “He wasn’t!” she yelled at him, suddenly forgetting about the door, forgetting all about her fear and lunging up into his face. “We were talking! I was upset. He touched me to reassure me, which is a hell of a lot more than I can say for you!”

  To his shock she reached out and stabbed him in his chest with her finger to punctuate the accusation … right before she shook it out and muttered, “Ow,” under her breath. Apparently poking him hard had hurt her, whereas he’d hardly felt a thing. It just made him all the more aware of how fragile she was.

  “I brought you here tae protect you!”

  “I don’t need protection! I don’t want your protection!”

  “You’re a damn fool if you really think that!” he shouted back at her. “Do you think I’d go through all this trouble for my own amusement?”

  “Oh, so now I’m a fool, right? I’m trouble. And how am I supposed to know what goes on inside that thick skull of yours?” She scoffed at him. “Fool. You know what, I am a fool,” she agreed suddenly. “I’m a fool for ever trying to help you in the first place! I knew you were trouble the minute I laid eyes on you, but nooooo … I had to get all Good Samaritan. And now look at me!”

  “You’re safe behind protected walls with nigh over a half-dozen immortals to protect you.”

  “I—” She cut herself off and looked at him funny for a minute, clearly taking stock of the picture from his perspective for that minute.

  “Aye, that’s it, lass. Go on and think on it for a moment. I canna help that you were the one tae find me in those woods, and I canna help that by helping me you’ve thrust yourself in the middle of a war. But I wouldna have left you behind for trackers tae find so they could torture answers out of you in order tae find me. Think what you like, but I couldna have that on my conscience. I’ve a damn site too much on it as it is. Enough blood has been spilt for my benefit already, and I’m sick tae death of it.” He turned from her and glared at Ihron. “Doona put your hands on her again if you know what’s good for you. We’re friends, you and I, and I’d like it to stay such. But doona touch her again unless ’tis to save her life. Am I making myself clear?”

  “Crystal,” Ihron said. Then he turned his back on them both and left the room through the other door. He shut the door behind himself, leaving them closed into the room together.

  She had her arms crossed under and over her breasts, in a kind of self-induced hug. Her eyes seemed so large in her delicate face and he was angry with himself for putting that fear in her life.

  “I’ll be going, too,” he said quietly, turning to do just that.

  There was something defeated in the sketch of his body and in the vitality of his normally bold presence in a room. It was as though something key to what he was had just abandoned him. She didn’t have to be especially intuitive to feel it.

  “Wait,” she said, rolling her eyes, wondering why she was such a glutton for punishment. She should just let him go. She should just push him away and keep him away until she could figure a way out of the mess her life had become. “I’ll go. This is your house …”

  “Our house,” he corrected clearly more harshly than he intended. “Damn it!” He ran a hand back through the thick, black waves of his hair, growling in frustration. “You doona understand! I canna … I just canna …” He floundered, looking so helpless that she felt another twang of sympathy for him. Then he looked at her hard, his fierce golden topaz eyes pinning her to the spot. “It’s no’ all about protecting you,” he said intensely. “I … you ken I’m … I’m wanting you fiercely bad, lass. In ways I have no right tae feel. If I had an ounce of sense or honor I’d leave off you and that would be the end of it, but I just canna seem tae make myself! I take one look at your bonny face or that delicious body you’re constantly trying to hide away from me and … you just doona get it. They’ve yet tae make an article of clothing effective enough tae keep your beauty under wraps. There’s nothing that’ll hide the lush scent of you from my senses. There’s no way for you tae erase the way you’ve felt in my arms, knowing that just a kiss can light you tae fire like kindling. How can I know all of that, feel all of that, and then just be expected tae walk away? I’m no’ that noble and I’ve never claimed tae be. I’m selfish, Kat. Selfish enough tae want you for myself. Myself and no other.”

  He reached out, lifting a hand as if to push back that lock of hair that always seemed to catch his attention, but he stopped himself and drew back. When he turned she leapt for him, grabbing for the hand he’d just tried to touch her with.

  “No, wait! Please!” She pulled on him, but he kept moving away from her.

  “Just let me go now.”

  “Ahnvil, stop!”

  “Jesus, woman! I’m giving you your freedom! Do you bloody want it or no’?”

  “No!” What?

  “What?” he echoed, sounding equally shocked aloud as she had in her own head.

  “I mean …” What did she mean? “I mean … I’ve never … I mean …” When he went to move again she said hastily, “I mean I’ve never had anyone think about me like that before!”

  Well, that was true. All of her life she’d been “Little Kat.” Tiny, dwarfish, weird little Kat. Freakish. Sometimes sassy. Sometimes brilliant, given a good moment. But … desirable? Never. Irresistible? Absolutely not. But to listen to him say it, he thought she was the most desirable, irresistible woman on the entire earth. And as scared as he made her feel sometimes, it was nothing compared to how those words made her feel. That she made him feel strongly, that it moved him to make rash choices and behave irrationally. He scared her mostly because she didn’t know what in hell to do with that! What to do with him.

  As he turned to look at her, his face and expression were entirely incredulous. Her heart thumped upward in her chest, leaping into a dance of delight just to see it. He truly believed his words! He wasn’t just saying things for the sake of getting on her good side, but he truly believed them. It was written all over his handsome visage, his bright eyes burning with it as he closed the distance between them once more, reaching for her, ringing the back of her neck with a strong hand and pulling her forward slightly … yet not enough to come into contact with him. Just enough to make certain she was looking into his eyes.

  “I canna believe this is true,” he said, his sentiment so low, making the r on the word “true” spin hard on his tongue. “That the world can be so blind. Anyone can just look at you and see how fine you are. Any man wi’ blood in his veins can see the lush weight of your breasts and the wicked curve of your arse and start to feel his blood boil hot wi’ need of you. Aye, you’re a tiny thing by and by, but you pack a lot in this fine li’le package.”

  For the first time in her life she felt the honest truth of those words blossom inside of her, making her entire body curve toward him in newfound sensuality, wanting to tempt him as he said he was tempted, needing to wield that power over him.

  “What else do you like about me?” she asked, hearing the breathy nature of her voice and pleased with the sound of it. It too sounded suddenly sexy to her ears and she hoped it sounded the same to his.

 
“Good God woman, doona speak tae me so. I’ll be fixating on every last part of you then craving you as I go. ’Tis all I can do from this moment tae next tae keep my hands from you. You made me promise no’ tae … tae touch you like that. I may be many bad things by and by, but I’m a creature of my word and I will no’ go back on it wi’out your permission, as I’ve said before.”

  “Yes, as you’ve said before,” she breathed softly. “And before I wanted you to be that man. But right now … right now I don’t want you t-to keep your word anymore.”

  It was by far the most provocative, most dangerous thing she’d ever said. She knew what he was, knew the world he was from, and yet she was inviting him into her. Inviting him to do his worst and his best. She began to breathe hard as she recalled the heat of his body and the bold passion of his touch before she had set limitations. It was awesome and shocking to realize she wanted that more than anything. She wanted him to overwhelm her with his hunger.

  “Och, lass! You canna say such things tae me! You doona ken what you’re saying!” He dragged her into the press of his huge body, towering over and around her until she felt very small and very fragile indeed. He was breathing hard, and she knew this because he had burrowed his face against her neck once again and the hot spill of his breath was swift and fierce. “Jesus, you smell so good,” he rumbled. “Can no’ you see? Just the smell of you has me running away from myself and has me mad wi’ need of you.” To prove his point he ran a hand down her arm, gripped her hand in his and brought it to the front of his jeans, to the raging hard erection lying just beneath the denim. He used her hand to rub himself hard, used her to put pressure against himself. There was nothing about him that could be considered even remotely small, this least of all, and she had to admit that frightened her, but not half as much as it excited her. She uncurled her fingers, cupping them around him and pressing her palm into him of her own accord. She could feel the heat of him burning against her palm and now she was the one breathing hard and he was the one catching his breath in a gasp.

  “Ah fuck,” he groaned, that guttural tone returning with a vengeance. “If this be a game, lass, you’ll be sore regretting it in another minute or two.” He drew back far enough to catch up her gaze with his own. The sight of the fire that was burning in his eyes took her breath away.

  “I … I’m not saying I want to … to … Not yet I mean. But I want to … I want you to …”

  “You want me tae want you,” he ground out. “You want tae cocktease me, no? ’Tis a dangerous pastime, Katrina Haynes. And I can make no promises of controlling myself. I’m a beast, Kat. Was once a man, but now … I’m a beast and I’m starting tae look on you as a mate … Hell, I have been for a while now. Why else would I work so hard tae respect whatever you wish of me that was in my power tae give tae you?”

  “I’m not …” Kat flushed so hotly she was afraid her face would burst into flame. “I’m not trying t-to … t-to tease you. I didn’t mean …”

  “I speak plainly, and that is what it is. Maybe no’ with the conniving connotations the term sometimes implies, I ken you’re no’ like that. But you’re afraid of me yet. Afraid, but curious. Afraid but hungry for what I can give you.” He leaned into the press of her hand again, his eyes shuttering closed a moment as a low groan filtered up from deep in his chest. “Verra well then. I’ll take whatever you can give me and give whatever you can take of me. But I’ll warn you now. I’ll press you. I’ll press for what I want every single moment I can. If that scares you then best you back out now, though I’m no’ sure I can let you go even so.”

  She swallowed noisily. “I don’t want to back out. And I think I can hold my own. I have so far.”

  “Ah, do you now?” A darkly devious smile spread over his lips a moment before he yanked her off her feet and strode into the next room, then up the stairs … all the way until they were back in his bedroom. Her heart was thundering louder and louder every step of the way, but never as loud as when he threw her down onto the bed so hard her body would have caught air if not for the fact that his weight came down on her immediately after. He propped himself up over her with his weight leaning on one arm. He straddled one of her legs and with a powerful hand he pulled her thigh up into the seat of his jeans, rubbing himself against her. “I’ll make you a deal, Kat lass. You keep doing this tae me, tae keep me busy let’s say, and I’ll be doing other things tae keep you busy.”

  “O-otherwise?” she hitched out nervously.

  “Nothing for you tae fear, Kat lass. Nothing at all.” His free hand came up and he touched her, two fingers, in the hollow of her throat. Such a sensitive, vulnerable part of her, and he touched it with a soft sort of reverence. Then he drifted those two fingers down to her breastbone, slowly riding the length of it until he reached the edge of her shirt. She watched breathlessly, anticipating, waiting. His big fingers slipped the button free with a whisper of sound and an incredible lightness of touch. One might expect a man as big as he was to be ham-handed and brutish, but whenever she expected it to be that way he proved her wrong with this grace and gentility.

  “I’m going tae touch you, Kat lass. Slow-like and as long as you’ll let me. Tell me that’s what you want.”

  “I do,” she breathed in a rush, sounding overly eager to her own ears. It was probably why he chuckled. But she couldn’t make herself feel embarrassed about that. She was too far beyond embarrassment. She probably had been since she’d first seen him naked in her house. Naked and male and erect and dominant and … “Oh my,” she whispered.

  He chuckled again, the sound low and rich and companionable, not mocking. It made her smile in spite of herself.

  And then she felt him slide his hand beneath her shirt, cupping her breast in his fingers and palm. All of a sudden she felt so small. Small beneath him. Small within his hands. Small and inadequate. Who was she kidding? She was tiny. Diminutive. Itty-fricken-bitty. All these years of fighting to make people see beyond her height and build and suddenly she was facing the truth of it. Probably because he was the polar opposite of her. Good God, what could he possibly see in me? A man like him needed a buxom lass with wide hips and a big fat booty. She had a tiny booty. Practically no booty. She was booty-less.

  “Ah, Kat lass, look how fine and full you are,” he invited, his tone sounding strained as if he were somehow holding himself back. “I want tae devour you, lass.” His fingers curled into the fragile lace of her bra and pulled it free of her, exposing her breast and nipple to the open air. “I’m going tae taste you now. I’m going tae have you on the flat of my tongue and between my teeth.”

  She swallowed hard. There it was again. That feeling he could create in her. The feeling that she had all the power in this thing between them. But she didn’t, did she?

  She had no further time to think about it. Her nipple was between his teeth that next instant and the sensation was so outstanding that she cried out. His mouth was bold and wet, hot and strong, sucking her in, toying with her in quick little flicks, letting her go to cool in the air of the room. Her entire spine turned to butter, melting away beneath her as she squirmed with pleasure. Then he ramped up the sensation by exposing the opposite breast and closing his mouth over her with a voracious sound of hunger.

  “Kat lass,” he said, his breathing rolling hot over her dampened skin, “you’re so bloody fine. Can you no’ feel how much I’m hurting for you?” He pressed the rigid length of his erect shaft against her thigh to make sure she was certain of his meaning. “Jesus. Jesus,” he groaned, burying his head in her neck, his breath hard against her. “I canna do this. I canna be this close tae you, tae feel you, wi’out wanting tae be inside you. But you’re such a wee li’le thing.”

  “Say that again and I’ll knee you in the nads,” she said breathlessly.

  That made him laugh, the sound gusting hard against her. He raised up again and looked down into her bourbon-colored eyes. So brown with the slightest tinge of red. It was as beautiful as the rest
of her.

  “I want tae make love tae you, Kat. If not entirely, then enough tae give you the pleasure you deserve. I want tae taste you on my tongue, feel you from the inside on the tips of my fingers. I want tae hear you cry out in my ear. Maybe you’ll say my name rough or maybe soft-like. Maybe you’ll taste like chocolate, just as you smell.”

  “Ch-chocolate?” she asked, her mind reeling from his words. She had never heard anyone want anything from her so passionately. Just hearing all of his suggestive desires had made her wet with response.

  “Yes. Warm, sweet … delicious.” His lips brushed ever so lightly over hers. His tongue came out to drift over her lush bottom lip. Her breath caught, her throat tight with a thousand emotions. How could he ever know what his desire for her meant to her? How could he understand that she had never, in all of her life, felt more like a real, normal—even better than normal—woman in the eyes of another. It had taken finding this man and this dark little world for her to learn that normal was such a subjective thing.

  “Do it,” she said with soft ferocity. “Do it all. I want it all. I want to give it right back to you, too. I want to know what you taste like, Ahnvil. What you feel like.” She reached between their bodies and ran a hard palm down the length of his zipper. He bucked against her touch, his hips lurching forward almost frantically.

  He reared up then, ripping away the clean shirt he had donned, exposing his bare, massively beautiful chest. She reached out and grabbed at the buckle of his belt, her nimble fingers undoing it swiftly. She pulled it free and his loose waistband slid down to ride low on his hips. She could see the strong cut of muscles stretched taut over his hips, disappearing suggestively beneath his jeans. Equally suggestive was the furry line of hair that drew downward from his navel. Oddly enough he hadn’t a speck of hair on his chest. It was all just tight, gorgeous muscle and a pair of flat, buff nipples.