“No. I’m not.”
“I say you are.”
She frowned. “How would you know?”
“Come down for dinner tonight.” He stood.
“I will. I told you I’m fine.” She wanted to reach out and grab him. She wanted to run her fingers through his hair, to bite his hard, smooth belly.
“Stop looking at me like that, sweet.”
“Like what?” Her voice came out breathless, but she didn’t care. Her body ached and throbbed, desire growing stronger with each day, each hour of being near him.
“Like you want me to forget you’re sick.”
She licked suddenly dry lips and swallowed hard. “I’m not sick.”
He rubbed the pad of his thumb along her lips. “Tell me. Is it just that you’re eager for me to give you a baby?”
Baby? Dazed, she stared at him, uncomprehending for one brief second. Long enough for him to read the answer in her eyes. Her very bones vibrated from the soft promise in his laugh.
She opened her mouth and touched his thumb with her tongue, drawing it gently inside. He tasted like paradise.
“Soon,” he said.
Soon wasn’t good enough for her. Soon, she’d be running back to her people. Now, she needed him. For a baby, true, but not just for a baby. Not anymore.
It could take months for her to get pregnant. She didn’t want to wait until the icy arms of winter embraced the world, but knew she might not have a choice. She sighed and closed her eyes. “Go away so I can dress for dinner, then.”
“Don’t pout, sweet.”
She opened her eyes to deliver a sharp retort, but he was already gone.
Climbing from the bed where she’d been cosseted and babied for days, she stood for a moment, letting her body talk to her.
She was well. She was better than well; she was fantastic. Her body hummed with life, and she longed for sunshine. She wanted to run through the grass, eat messy fruit that dried on her fingers with a fragrant scent, and wash it off in the clear, cool river.
And more than that, she wanted to lie on the ground with the sun shining on her naked body as Lake thrust inside her.
Suddenly ravenous, she pulled a clean shift over her head, slipped into the soft, calf-high leather boots Lake’s mother had given her, and followed her nose to the scents of roasting meats and baking breads coming from below stairs.
When they spotted her, Lake’s people quieted and stared. A few of them tried to be polite about it, darting quick looks at her from the corners of their eyes, but for the most part, they stared openly. Even with their curious faces and friendly eyes, there was something so alien about them she couldn’t help but stare back.
Maybe it was because they were so open and friendly, or maybe it was because they reminded her so of Lake. Or maybe, maybe it was because here were the people so blessed that children ran underfoot constantly, that some of the women were even now so big with child they looked like they might deliver during dinner.
At the thought, a sweet-faced little girl tugged on her shift, sticky fingers leaving traces of who knew what on her fresh fabric. But she didn’t care. Squatting down, she pulled the little girl into her arms and buried her nose in the soft, downy hair. “Hi, love.”
“Fly me,” the little cherub said.
Mila pursed her lips, blank. “I…how do I do that?”
The little girl looked at her like she was stupid. “Fly me.”
Mila stood, stunned when Lake’s watcher appeared and swung the little girl into his arms. “Like this,” he told Mila, and proceeded to swing the child around, swirling her through the air like a big bird.
Mila would have laughed at the little girl’s squeals but was too shocked that here the watcher looked like any other man. He met her eyes and smiled.
“This is Fern, and I am Slawomir. Welcome.” He lowered the little girl and gently pushed her away. “Let me help you to your chair.”
“I’ll take her, Slawomir.”
Lake stood watching them, hands on hips and feet apart, a dark look in his eye. Mila smiled. Lake was jealous? More importantly, Lake was jealous of the watcher?
Slawomir inclined his head and began to back away, but she stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Thank you, Watcher.”
“Slawomir,” he said, but he smiled and patted her fingers. “And you are very welcome.”
Lake encircled her upper arm with a tight grip, frowning. “If you’re finished fawning over the Myaian, I will take her to her table now.” Without waiting for a response, he pulled her after him and plunked her into a chair.
His heavy handedness was pissing her off. “Do you mind, Lake?”
“Mind what?”
The Ednians watched with avid expressions, and that she was their entertainment for the night just added a little more anger to her already stewing, frustrated temper. She ground her teeth and jerked her arm out of his grip. “Would you mind taking your big hands off me?”
He folded his arms. “That’s a switch. Weren’t you the girl just begging me to—” Looking around, he seemed to realize they had an audience and closed his mouth with a snap. Then he said, “Everybody who hasn’t met her already, this is Mila Wineberry. Mila…everyone.”
“Welcome, Mila,” most of them chorused.
Lake sat beside her throughout the interminable dinner, and she ate with mindless abandon, her thoughts on the way his thigh pressed against hers, the way his hair brushed his strong neck, the way he smelled. The low timbre of his voice sent chills through her body. He laughed at something his kin said, and she shuddered. The man was driving her mad with desire and wasn’t even trying.
The rest of the evening passed in a blur. Maybe she wasn’t quite as well as she’d imagined. She couldn’t concentrate, the heat seemed overwhelming, and the press of bodies in the overflowing room overpowered her senses.
Throwing an apologetic smile toward Lake’s mother, she slipped as quickly as possible from the hot, noisy room.
Once outside, she felt immediately better. She started walking, glad there was some light from the moon and stars that graced the vast dark sky.
“Are you all right?”
She had thought Lake would come, not his watcher. Surprised, she turned toward him. What could he possibly want with her? “Slawomir?”
He shrugged. “I saw you leave.”
“I’m shocked that Lake isn’t right behind you.” Her voice was dry, but her gaze darted hopefully, probing the shadows for the big man’s lurking body.
“I’m sure he won’t be long. I must speak with you.”
“I sensed as much.” She peered up at him, curious. “What is it?”
He shifted from foot to foot, looking as though he had no idea what to do with his hands. He clasped them, rubbed them, and finally settled them on his hips. “This is a delicate situation and one I am not familiar with. I’m afraid I don’t know where to begin.”
She smiled, reaching out to touch his sleeve gingerly. “Just say what you need to say. It will come out.”
He cleared his throat. “Shall we walk as I explain? I desire some distance between myself and the hall.”
“I suppose. But not too far. I fear I am still somewhat weak.” Not a complete lie, but she had no wish to wander too far from the relative safety of Lake’s presence should she discover the watcher to be quite mad.
He took her arm and turned her away from the hall, his manner solicitous but not in the least sexual. “Of course.” His swallow was painfully loud.
She felt sorry enough for him to try and help him out. “Watcher, has this something to do with Lake?”
“Not directly. And it’s Slawomir, please.”
“Slawomir. We haven’t much time.”
He took a deep, deep breath. “It is about your clanswoman. Vera.”
She’d been prepared for just about anything but that. “Vera? What of her?”
She felt a pang of anguish at the name, reminded with painful clarity of home and Ch
o and her people, her friends. What did they think of her disappearance? Was Cho searching for her even now? She could imagine his desperation. She stopped walking and grabbed his arms. “Have you had word from my people? Do you know anything of Cho?”
“No, no, nothing of the sort.”
She let go of his arms, shoulders slumping. “Then what is it?”
“Can we walk?”
She realized he didn’t want her looking at him while he talked. “Yes.”
“You don’t remember me.”
“Of course I do. You came with Lake to my village. You’re his watcher.” She’d stopped walking and spoke slowly, gaze darting. The poor man was insane, and she was going to have to make a run for it.
He waved an impatient hand. “From before, Mila. I have been in your village on three occasions. This one with Lake, and twice before with young men not of our village, but Ednians nonetheless.”
She blushed. “I’m sorry. I don’t…”
“Doesn’t matter. Each time I was there, I was met with the overly aggressive attentions of your friend Vera.”
Mila shrugged. “I’m not surprised.” Vera loved new males. When they chanced to appear, she would take them to her bed. “I’m sure she tried very hard because you could not be taken. Vera is like that.”
“I could not be taken before,” he said, his voice strained.
She stopped walking. “What do you mean?”
“This last time, I could not resist her.”
Mila’s mouth fell open. “You…and Vera? I thought you were not permitted to…you know…” She gestured.
“Fuck a woman?”
She blushed harder. It was difficult for her to talk to this man, this watcher, of sex, let alone think about him actually participating in the act. And with Vera, yet. “Yes.”
“I cannot be a watcher and lie with women. I have already reported my acts. I am no longer a watcher. What I am…” He stopped walking and turned toward her. “Is a man in love.”
She shook her head. “I can’t believe it.”
“It’s true. And I need your help.”
“What can I possibly do?”
“I want to bring her here.”
“So…then go get her. I still don’t understand what you need me for.”
“I asked her to come with me. She refused. She thinks we are savages and that our village is poor. She thinks that because she…seduced me, my people will cast her into the darklands.”
Mila raised her eyebrow. “Will they?”
“No.”
“Well. When the councilor discovers what she has done, he will probably cast her into the darklands.”
She could see his jaw bunch. “Your councilor will not. He uses her for his own entertainment.”
“He does not!” Angry, she turned to leave.
“Mila, I need to convince her to come here. You can convince her. Tell her of our wealth, of my people’s tolerance.”
“I’m here, Slawomir. I can’t tell her any—” Then it hit her. Slawomir was going to get her back to her village. She would have had no idea on her own of how to get back to her village. She didn’t know the way, nor did she have a horse to ride or a wagon to pull to get there. Or supplies…but Slawomir would take care of everything. “I will do it. She listens to me.” Liar.
He closed his eyes. “Thank you. Now I will have to try to convince Lake to let you go.”
She clutched his arm. “No. You must not say a word of this to Lake. He will never allow me to go back to the village. He’s already said as much. But after he impregnates me, I will go with you.”
His frown was deep. “You can’t mean to—”
“Here I find you two again, alone in the dark, clutching at each other like a couple of old lovers,” Lake called, walking out of the shadows. His face was darker than the night sky. “Tell me, Slawomir, why is it that you’ve taken such an interest in the Myaian?”
Mila pinched Slawomir’s arm and whispered quickly, “Say nothing. We’ll plan later.” Her heart sped at the look on Lake’s face, her nipples pebbling as she watched him come toward her.
“I saw her leave,” Slawomir replied, his voice even and calm. “I did not want her to get lost.”
“Hmmm. You’re awfully concerned all of a sudden.” He stood before Slawomir, his hands casually at his sides, voice almost amused, but she could see the tension in his body.
Slawomir inclined his head. “I will leave you to care for her, Lake. Good evening.” And he walked away.
Lake watched him go, his eyes narrowed. “Something is going on with him,” he muttered. “He’s been acting strange since we came back from your village. I had to force him to drive us here the night you…” He shook his head. “Something happened to him.”
Mila swallowed. “Nothing happened.”
He took his gaze from the retreating watcher’s back and stared down at her. “What is your interest in my watcher, Mila?”
She crossed her arms. “I have no interest in him whatsoever.”
“Your friend Vera called him handsome.”
She hoped he didn’t notice her gasp of surprise. Quickly, trying to cover, she blurted, “He is handsome.”
“Why does everybody keep saying that?”
“What? You think he is unattractive?”
He wrapped his big hands around her arms and jerked her against him. “I don’t want to think about him at all, Mila, and I’m going to make sure you don’t either.”
Chapter Thirteen
If she’d known all she had to do was get him jealous so he’d forget about her so-called illness and lie with her, she would have done it nights ago. She could have been pregnant and back home already!
He buried his hands in her hair, holding her captive against him. “I’ll have you now.”
She reached up, buried her fingers into his hair, and jerked his face down to hers. “I think I will have you now, Ednian.”
Her bravado was short-lived. His lips brushed hers, and her legs became boneless strings that refused to hold her up. But that didn’t matter. His arms were tight bands of muscle holding her against him, and she couldn’t have fallen had she tried.
He lifted her into his arms and strode back the way they’d come. “I want you in my bed.”
She snuggled against him. “Isn’t it lucky for you that I want to be there?”
“Luck has nothing to do with it.”
“No?” Her stomach tightened with nervous excitement and an overwhelming lust. She buried her face in his shirt when he kicked open the door to the hall, unwilling to let the remaining Ednians see her desire.
“Is she all right, son?” called Lake’s father.
“She will be,” Lake muttered, and stomped up the stairs. When he reached his bed, he tossed her onto it, and she scrambled up to his big pillows to watch him.
“Entertain me,” she suggested.
He was too far gone to be amused and ripped his clothes from his body like a wild thing. “Get your dress off.”
“You get my dress off.”
He paused for one brief second before kicking his boots off and sending his pants into a corner. “You’re different.”
“I told you so.”
He inclined his head. “You did.”
She’d already forgotten what they were talking about. His bare, muscled body gleamed in the candlelight, and she could have no more resisted touching it than she could have resisted breathing.
She crawled to the edge of the bed and reached toward him, relief that she was finally going to feel him inside her mixing with a primal, animal lust she’d never felt before.
There were no other choices, right then. She had to have him. She lay her palm against his hard abdomen, letting his warmth sink into her before running her hand over his smooth belly to below, where his cock stood stiff and huge.
He sucked in a deep breath when she stroked his erection, throat working as he swallowed. “Damn, sweetheart.”
She smiled,
knowing exactly how he felt. She darted her tongue at the head of his sex, tasting the fluid gathering there. His groan was a perfect accompaniment to the taste of his essence, and she went back for more.
“You taste good,” she whispered, rolling her eyes up to look at his face.
“You’re killing me, Mila.” His stare was hot enough to burn her, and he dug his fingers into her hair, pushing her face toward his dick.
She didn’t even hesitate. Opening her mouth, she slid him inside, wondering for a moment if he wasn’t too big for her. He was satin over hot steel; soft, hard, smooth, so very, very male.
She closed her eyes and sucked him inside, her tongue swirling over the silk of his cock, one hand wound around the base, one hand cupping his firm, heavy balls.
“Mila.” His fingers tightened in her hair, and he thrust into her mouth, gently, so gently.
She knew he held back and smiled inside at this huge man being so careful of her. Sucking harder, she dug her fingers into his ass, then pulled away. “You don’t have to be so gentle, Lake.”
“Mila—”
She squeezed his balls, not hard enough to hurt, just hard enough to, perhaps, scare him. “In fact, Lake, I’d prefer that you weren’t.”
“Gods, woman!” Before she could say another word, he shoved her to her back and grabbed her thighs. He forced her legs open and, without taking time to ease his passage, plunged his big cock inside her.
His thrusts were hard, fast, and uncontrolled. He wanted her that badly, and her heart swelled with pride even as her pussy began to throb with the beginnings of an intense, hot orgasm.
She screamed, arching her back, digging her fingers into the covers. Her climax hit her suddenly; it didn’t slowly build, it exploded, unexpected and hard enough to hurt.
Still he pounded into her, giving her no time to recover from the first orgasm before the next one hit her. His hard grip bruised her flesh as he held her, but she felt only pleasure, intense, throbbing pleasure.
“Lake,” she yelled, nearly sobbing in her need. “Oh, Lake!”
“Fuck,” he ground out, and with the proof of his own intense orgasm written upon his face, he brought her once more to climax.
He collapsed atop her, lying between her legs, his lips warm against her throat.
First Night Page 8
