Heart of the Flame (26 page)

"Aye, you do, my lady. You are but a breath away from unmanning me where I stand."

His hands played over her bare shoulders, and along the curve and swell of her breasts. Haven reveled in his touch, in the hungered way he stroked her skin. His fingers were warm and strong as he caressed her nape, then plunged them into the mass of hair that cascaded down her bare back. He lifted the heavy tresses, crushing and sifting them through his fingers and letting her hair fall in waves around her.

"Come up here now," he commanded her in a rough whisper.

Haven obeyed the gentle pressure of his hands beneath her arms, allowing him to assist her back onto her feet. He stroked her face, frowning slightly as his finger traced around the inflamed scratch that slashed down the slope of her cheek. With a tender look, he leaned to retrieve a small folded cloth from the edge of the bathtub. He bent to soak it in the steaming water, wrung it out, then carefully blotted at her small injury.

She was in no pain at all, but his tender ministrations soothed her. Each stroke of his touch, each caring glance, delivered her farther and farther away from the disturbing events of that morning. With Kenrick there was only light and warmth and peace. There was trust as well, something that did not come easily to her...or to him.

Haven accepted his care now, and the sensual promise of what was to come. She brought her hands up to caress his back as he cleansed her, her fingers tracing along the sinewy ropes that twisted and flexed as he moved. Their bodies brushed together, her breasts against his chest, their thighs smoothing together in pleasing friction with every touch.

She did not realize he had set down the cloth until he was tipping her chin up to meet him as he bent to claim her mouth in a passionate kiss.

Haven's senses swirled wildly under the heat of his lips on hers. His hand drifted down her body, down and down, until she felt his fingers wade through the curls between her legs. One blunt finger slid into the moist cleft, parting her to his brazen touch. She groaned as he teased her dewy folds, spreading sensual fire through every fiber of her being. She felt her limbs begin to quake beneath her, like butter melting in the sun.

"Sweet witch," he murmured along the edge of her mouth. "My beautiful, mysterious lady...I think the bath must needs wait."

Haven opened her eyes to meet his gaze. Her heart was racing. Inside, she felt molten and shimmering with a need she could not define. Kenrick kissed her again, this time with a fierceness that nigh overwhelmed her. His tongue slid past her lips, past her teeth, thrusting with an animal need she felt echoed within herself.

"Yes," she gasped when her breath was once again her own. "Oh, Kenrick...yes."

He hesitated not for an instant.

Sweeping her up into his strong arms, he turned away from the wreathing steam of the bathtub and carried her across the solar to the adjoining bedchamber. Haven nestled into his firm chest, drowning herself in the delicious scent of his bare skin. Part spice and warm man, part musk and rich claret wine, he was an intoxicating balm to the fever raging in her blood.

In the short time it took to reach the large bed in his private antechamber, Haven was all but lost to him. He set her down on the thick mattress, plush fur tickling her backside as she sank deeply into the coverlets spread over the bed.

Now that she was there, now that she was looking at his bold, naked form as he looked down at her from beside the bed, Haven knew a shiver of doubt.

Forbidden
, her conscience warned.

Forbidden to touch his kind.

Forbidden to care for him.

His expression muted as he gazed at her, from needful hunger to intuitive concern. "What is it, love?"

"I don't..." She gave a weak shake of her head on the bolster. "I don't know..."

He bent down to smooth the hair from her brow. "If you do not wish to lie with me," he said, the coarse sound of his voice betraying the deepness of his need, "I will not force you. You must know this."

"Yes, I know. There is nowhere else I want to be than here...with you."

His answering smile dazzled her. His mouth curved with affection and not a little satisfaction as he reached out to take her hand in his. He placed her palm flat against the center of his chest, where his heartbeat thudded with rapid strength. She felt his life vibrantly pulse there, saw his honesty--his soul-deep honor--gleaming in the dark gemstone blue of his gaze.

"Your spell is thorough, sweet witch. I am yours to command." He lifted her hand to his mouth then, kissing each fingertip with reverent care. "If you wish me to stop...at any time...you need only say it."

Haven closed her eyes at the sweetness of his declaration. She knew he spoke true; no matter his own need, he would cease if she willed it.

But turning him away was the last thing she wanted when she searched her heart for a reason for her trepidation. Kenrick was all that was solid and good in her life now. Indeed, already his touch was chasing away the darkness of doubt that had been grasping for her.

Forbidden....

The warning was just a whisper now and fading. Haven knew not where it came from, nor why she should mistrust her feelings for Kenrick.

She opened her eyes to find him standing beside the bed unmoving, stoically awaiting her decision. He still held her hand. Haven slowly retracted it, clasping her fingers around his and guiding him toward her. He sat down beside her on the mattress, glorious in his nudity, his sex thrust high and eager between his thighs.

"You are certain?" he asked.

Haven nodded once, met his probing gaze, then nodded again.

His exhaled sigh held a weight of feeling that said much of his desire for her. He kissed the heart of her palm, a slow, sensual kiss that sent spiraling flames into her very core. With his gaze locked on hers, Kenrick guided her hand down to the blunt spear of his manhood and wrapped her fingers around him.

Haven delighted in her further exploration of this fascinating part of him that responded so deliciously to her touch. As she stroked and teased him, Kenrick began a likewise exploration of her. Bracing himself over her, with one hand fisted beside her to prop up his weight, the other hand made a tactile study of every exposed inch of her skin.

"You feel like velvet under my hand," he told her, worshipping her breasts and arms, then her belly and the tender skin of her hips. "You feel like velvet flames, warm and soft and bewitching enough to consume a man's mind." He gave her a wicked smile. "And a man's body."

Haven could not respond, even if she'd had her wits enough to offer a clever reply. Her mind was caught in a heavenly conflagration, her body as well, for Kenrick's touch was venturing to places far more sensitive.

Places far more sacred.

She bit her lip but could not contain her soft mewl of pleasure as Kenrick's fingers cupped her mound. He teased her there, making her writhe and yearn for more.

"So wet," he murmured, playing at the petals of her womanhood with wicked mastery. "So sweet."

He pivoted, and slowly descended on her with a deep, carnal kiss.

Haven's spine arched at the stunning heat of his mouth closing over her sex. He nuzzled her close, breathing her in. Faith preserve her, but he was lapping at her, suckling her with the devilish tip of his tongue.

Something queer began to happen to her as Kenrick feasted on her so passionately. She felt weighted down, coiled and captured by unseen bonds. She could not move, could hardly breathe for the sudden stiffness of her body. All thought, all feeling, centered on the shocking pressure--the sensual heat of Kenrick's kiss.

Pleasure shot through her like a bolt: pure light, piercing, rooting her beneath him on the bed. His kiss deepened, and she heard herself cry out in helpless wonder. Heat shimmered along her limbs, her madness climbing when she felt the blunt penetration of Kenrick's finger sliding inside her.

"Kenrick," she whispered. "Oh, faith..."

She could say no more, for he began a rhythm of thrusting and withdrawing that left her incapable of anything but the rapt indulgence of this spell he wove over her. She climbed a crest of astonishing pleasure, so intense it made her want to weep. She soared higher, and higher still, until she felt certain she could bear no more. But Kenrick's masterful seduction gave no quarter. She cried out, breaking into pieces under his touch, spiraling in a tempest of utter, wordless joy. She fell as on a cloud, aware of naught but the shattering wonder of the moment.

"Criste, you are sweet," Kenrick growled, positioning himself atop her as she continued her heavenly descent. "I need you, Haven...now."

She felt his hardness pressing at the mouth of her womb. She was still reeling with pleasure, her body slick with passion, her legs slack and welcoming. The blunt head of his sex nestled easily at her threshold, a demanding presence that she craved like nothing she had ever known before. He nudged slightly, making clear what he meant to do.

"Yes," she sighed, tilting her pelvis to better greet him.

Haven moaned as he lowered himself to kiss her. Their mouths met in a hungry joining, and with a firm thrust of his hips, he buried himself fully inside her sheath. An exquisite fullness warmed her as their bodies adjusted to their mating, Kenrick moving only slightly, and she lying beneath him in a state of dazed bliss, tremors of pleasure still arrowing through her.

"We are a perfect fit," he said, dipping his head down to kiss the tip of her nose as he rocked within her in a controlled rhythm. "Do I please you, my lady?"

She gave him a lazy smile. "Aye, my lord. I am well pleased."

"Good."

He grinned, a broad and satisfied look of male pride. He flexed his hips again, his gaze on hers, watching as he claimed her. Each stroke deepened, each thrust held more power, until the heat between them surged into something primal and wild. Kenrick rose up, bending her knees to take her more fully. He was animal, and Haven delighted in his loss of control--in the power she seemed to wield over him as he rode her to the crest of his own release. He gave a coarse shout as his body constricted, the muscles in his chest taut, tendons in his neck engorged as he threw his head back and roared his pleasure.

He put his hands beneath her and lifted her up off the mattress, withdrawing just as the heat of his spilling seed rained onto her thighs. The musky essence of their passion was a heady perfume, his sweat-sheened golden skin glittering like starlight. Haven could not resist tasting him. She bent her head and kissed the hollow of his shoulder, tracing her tongue along the salty-sweet warmth of him.

"God's love, woman," he panted as the shudders slowly subsided. "You will ruin me, I swear it. I'll never want to leave this room."

Haven nestled against him, fervently wishing they could stay there without end. But from a shadowed corner of her mind, an insidious voice warned that like the pleasure she had just been shown--this idyll she was living at Clairmont--could not possibly last.

Chapter 20

For several glorious days the idyll did continue, and Haven found herself becoming more enmeshed in life at Clairmont, more a part of the keep and its folk. And every hour proved her more charmed and bedazzled by its enigmatic, golden lord.

Where Kenrick's work during the day kept him occupied and lamentably out of her company, by night he had shown her a sensual openness that knew no bounds. The passion he stirred in her was deep and lasting, a gift that almost compensated for the long hours that kept them apart while he sequestered himself behind the locked door of his private chambers in the tower.

On this particular day, a sunny morning that dawned bright and cloudless, Kenrick had invited Haven with him for a stroll in Ariana's gardens. She went gladly, unable to marshal her broad smile as he escorted her out into the courtyard. They walked with hands linked into the gated patch of flowers and greenery situated just below the towering keep.

"I have a surprise for you," Kenrick said as they strode into the center of the garden. "Close your eyes."

She shot him a questioning, curious look.

"Close them."

She obeyed, biting her lip as he guided her by the hand to a point somewhere deep within the heart of the natural sanctuary. Her nose filled with the perfume of blooming flowers and fresh, fertile soil. There was something more as well, the faint aroma of baked bread and warm honey.

"Very well," Kenrick whispered beside her ear. "You may look now."

Haven opened her eyes and breathed a sigh of wonderment. "Oh, Kenrick! It is beautiful."

A small blanket, dusted with rose petals, had been spread on the ground, nestled amongst the flower beds and traveling ivy. At the center of it was a tempting collection of bread and cheese and sweets, all neatly arranged in a shallow basket. It was an enchanting sight, one that tempted her stomach and her eyes.

"Do you like it?"

She turned to look at him, beaming her joy. "Yes. I like it very much."

"Come."

He brought her forward with him onto the blanket, then seated himself near the basket. Haven joined him, folding her legs beneath her as she absorbed the glory that surrounded her. Nothing pleased her more than seeing Kenrick so close beside her, a smile curving his sensual mouth.