Prince of Passion (2 page)

For a month, she hadn’t ventured from the inn. If she did, it was in daylight with several people around her, and she never strayed from the village. The Tnarg might be vicious, but it wasn’t brave enough to barrel through a village and chance being hunted by the men.
 

Still, every night, she would lay awake wondering if it would get through the shutters she’d reinforced with iron.
 

Aimery had been positive the Tnarg would arrive any day, and she knew the beast was nearby, waiting for her. The fact Keiran now sat before the fire was proof of it.
 
She had longed for Keiran to come for her, to claim her as his mate, but now…now she worried they’d never get past the Tnarg to save their people.
 

Senga glanced at Keiran. He sat hunched over the table, hair so dark it was nearly black hung to his shoulders. His hazel eyes held so much sorrow and self-doubt that she longed to tell him who she was.
 

But she couldn’t. Aimery had forbid it. He had taken a chance sharing the information with her.
 

Keiran’s face didn’t hold the youthful exuberance it once had. In its place was a man hardened by this new world and his responsibilities, but it only served to make him more mysterious, more handsome, if that were possible.
 

Even before Aimery had told her of her destiny, Keiran had caught her eye. As heir to the throne, every female from child to crone, wanted him. The fact he was more handsome than sin only made things worse.
 

She shook her head and walked to the back room where dishes awaited her. When she reached for the bucket she was sure she had filled just an hour ago, she found it empty.
 
The dishes couldn’t wait. She had to have them cleaned before morning and the arrival of her employer, because if he let her go, she had nowhere to live.
 

Senga picked up the bucket and opened the back door. The music of crickets filled the cold, clear night. The moon was only a sliver in the night sky and the stars glistened from above. It looked to be a beautiful setting, but she knew what lurked in the shadows.
 

She peered into the night, straining her ears to hear any sound of a Tnarg. Other than the crickets and an owl in the distance, there was nothing. She lifted her foot to step outside when hands grabbed her by her shoulders and spun her around to land roughly against the wall.
 

Senga looked into Keiran’s troubled hazel eyes. His face was inches from her, his legs braced on either side of hers. The heat from his body made her breath catch in her throat.
 

“What are you doing here?” he asked in a strangled voice. “Why did you leave Drahcir?”
 

She opened her mouth to answer but glanced outside and swore she saw something move in the shadows. Before she could lean over to look, Keiran slammed the door shut.
 

“I need an answer,” he demanded.
 

“And I can’t give you one.” She wanted to tell him, but a vow was a vow. Especially to a Fae.
 

Keiran leaned closer, his warm breath fanning her cheek. “Why did you leave?”
 

His voice was as frigid as the temperatures. Since few ever left their kingdom, he would not stop until he had an answer.
 
Beneath her hands, arms of steel held her immobile.
 
His body was hard, like a wall of granite that she would never get past.

His thick muscles had been honed since he
 
was a young lad, and he’d filled out even more since he’d departed Drahcir.
 
The boy had become a man – a man who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted.

She swallowed and let her eyes drift over the hard planes of his face from his cheekbones to the hallows of his face to the small indent in his chin.
 
His brows were thick and slashed low over his hazel eyes that watched her like a hawk with his prey.

His lips, wide and full, were flattened in a hard line that told her his patience had reached its breaking point.
 
She gave a slight push against his solid chest and wide shoulders, but she didn’t even budge him.

“It was my destiny,” she finally admitted as her eyes took in the way his tunic was open at the neck, revealing a large swatch of bronze skin and black hair.
 

His gaze searched her before he closed his eyes. “You’re lying.”
 

“Nay. I’m not.”
 

His eyes flew open, flashing in anger. “You left the magic and beauty of Drahcir for this?
 
You expect me to believe that?”
 

“I left because it was my destiny. We all have things we must do that we’d rather not. Yours was to fulfill an ancient curse. Mine was to leave Drahcir.”
 

He released her and paced away. His body was stiff, and dark circles lined his eyes. Senga stepped toward him and put out a hand to still him.
 
Heat met her palm as she came in contact with his chest again.
 
A muscle twitched beneath her hand, and she had the desire to push away his jerkin and lift his tunic to touch his skin.
 

“Please, your highness. I’ve a chamber you can use. You need rest.”
 

He snorted. “Rest? Senga, if I doona find my mate, all of Drahcir will vanish.”
 

“I know,” she answered softly.
 

“And doona call me ‘your highness’. I’m just Keiran here.” He ran a hand down his face and leaned against a wall. “By the gods, I’ve never been so exhausted.”
 

She took a step closer, bringing her near him again.
 
She couldn’t seem to stay away.
 
He’d always drawn her, and after finally seeing him again after so long, she was powerless to resist his pull.
 
“Come. You need rest.”
 

Somehow, he allowed her to take his hand and pull him from the room. Once in the main room, she dropped his hand, but he continued to follow. She would give him her chamber. It wasn’t large, but it was safely tucked between others, so it would be difficult for the Tnarg to get to him without alerting them it had arrived.
 

Though every man, woman, and child of Drahcir knew of the Tnargs, only the royal family and their mates had ever encountered one. Stories of how the beasts would try to kill the mates were legendary, but worse were the stories of the Tnargs turning on the Sinclair family if the mates couldn’t be killed.
 

Senga refused to allow Keiran to die so near his home.
 

He climbed the stairs slowly, and when she stopped inside her chamber, he halted beside her.
 

“It’s your chamber?”
 

“There are no other empty rooms,” she lied. “You need to rest.”
 

One side of his mouth tilted in a smile. “Will you be joining me?”
 

Senga’s stomach fluttered at the sexy baritone of his voice.
 
The teasing lilt had deepened his voice, making chills race over her skin.
 
She couldn’t meet his eyes, not when she knew the future already. “Rest, Keiran.”
 

She tried to step away when his arm halted her. His hazel eyes trapped hers as he leaned toward her, swarming her with his heat and his scent of pine, snow…and power.
 

“You’re verra beautiful,” he whispered. “Too beautiful for this world. You should’ve stayed in Drahcir.”
 

And not gotten you? Never.
 

His hand moved to her neck and upward to cup the side of her face. It became impossible to breathe as she waited…hoped…for his kiss. She had dreamed of it for years, wondered what he would taste like against her.
 

She fisted her hands to keep them from shaking as his gaze lowered to her mouth. Her lips parted of their own accord, her heart pounding so fast she knew it would burst from her chest.
 

All she had to do was lift her face and their lips would meet, but fear kept her immobile.
 

And then his head dipped.
 

The first contact of his lips against hers was like lightning through her body, and she was powerless to resist. Yet, he didn’t stop with the simple brush of his mouth.
 

Soft, supple, and insistent were his lips. A small sigh escaped her when his tongue slipped between her lips. Her heart stopped when his mouth slanted over hers, his tongue pushing inside her mouth. He moaned low in his throat, rumbling his chest as he brought her closer.
 

It was the most exquisite pleasure, the most intense sensuality.
 
And she never wanted it to end.
 

As soon as she opened for him, he deepened the kiss, bringing her up against the hard planes of his body. Unable to stop herself, her arms wound around his neck, and her fingers threaded through his thick, dark locks.
 

Aimery had cautioned her to wait until they had returned to Drahcir before she let Keiran claim her, but the kiss awakened something deep inside of her. Something that wanted only Keiran.
 

Gods, aye. I’ve waited so long.
 

When the kiss finally ended, she found she couldn’t step away from him. Being in his arms made her forget everything but him.
 

“Look at me,” he urged her.
 

Reluctantly, Senga opened her eyes.
 

“I’ve no right to ask, but stay with me.”
 

She could walk away. She knew he’d let her. But the stark loneliness in his gaze made her heart catch. If she stayed, he’d claim her. Aimery had made it clear for them to wait.
 
But how could she after such a kiss? Already her body longed to feel his lips again.
 

It was simply asking too much of a mere mortal.
 

She forgot about the dishes and the few patrons still below. All she cared about was the man in her arms.
 

“Aye,” she answered.
 

With a shove of his foot, Keiran closed the door and took her in a fierce kiss that left no doubt what he wanted to do to her.
 
The promise, the passion had begun as a slow ember, but it had been fanned, and the embers were now a roaring blaze.
 

Her bed was narrow and there was no hearth in her small chamber, but none of that seemed to matter as Keiran led her to the bed. Slowly, as if he had all the time in the world, he began to undress her. The cool air met her exposed flesh and caused chills to rush over her skin as piece by piece her clothing was discarded.
 

When she stood naked, he reached around for her braid and released her hair until her curls cascaded around her.
 

“Exquisite,” he murmured.
 

No man had ever seen her nude, but Keiran’s gaze warmed her, making her feel beautiful and sensual—the woman she’d always wanted to be.
 

His hands caressed down her arms to her hips. Achingly unhurried, he began to move his hands upward to the indent of her waist, stopping just below her breasts.
 

Her breath came in great gasps as she waited expectantly, anxious to feel his hands touch her. Her breasts swelled and her nipples puckered in the cold air beneath his heated gaze.
 
When he finally cupped her breasts, her eyes slid closed.
 

When his thumbs moved over her sensitive nipples, Senga sucked in a breath, her senses whirling. The pleasure was so intense, so wonderful that it became almost too much. She gripped his shoulders to keep herself steady as something new and amazing blossomed within her, spreading from deep inside outward until she was panting with it all the while aching for more.
 

Her head fell back as she began to drown in the pleasure. Keiran’s mouth was everywhere. He kissed her neck and the sensitive skin behind her ear, but when his lips moved to her breasts, her legs refused to hold her.
 
One of Keiran’s arms wrapped around her for support a moment before his mouth latched onto her nipple.
 

Keiran laved the pert little bud in his mouth, luxuriating in the sound of Senga’s soft cries. Her other pink nipple cried for attention as he shifted his mouth to the awaiting peak. Her breasts were firm and filled his hands perfectly.
 

He suckled her deeply, dragging her nipple far into his mouth before running his tongue over the bud. His cock throbbed, begging him to fill her and ease the longing within him.
 
But he wasn’t yet ready to stop his exploration of her magnificent body. Her flawless, creamy skin was smooth as silk and soft as down.
 

He gripped her hips and thrust his rod against her.
 
Her answering moan and shift of her hips only made his desire burn brighter. To find someone from his home had been just what he needed, even if she wasn’t his mate. He didn’t feel so alone with Senga in his arms.