Page 36 of The Warrior's Innocent Captive

‘You’re turning blue,’ he said, a small frown between his eyes.

‘It feels great, Erik. You should try it.’

‘Come on, Lin.’

He leaned down and draped the cloak around her shoulders and pulled her into a standing position.

‘Your whole body is shaking.’ He wrapped his arms around her tightly and tugged her back towards Cai.

‘I feel as if everything is washed away, Erik. All those years of worry. I’m like new.’

‘You sound as if you’ve had too much ale,’ he said, tucking her up close to Cai and rubbing her arms briskly.

‘I feel as if I have.’ She smiled. She was weightless; the ties that normally held her together were gone. She was giddy and floating all at once. It was glorious.

‘You’re starting to scare me, Lin.’ He reached up and touched his hand to her forehead. His fingertips were so warm it felt as if she had been branded.

‘You’re so warm,’ she murmured.

Without thinking she leaned her whole body into him. The hard leather of his tunic bit into her nakedness.

He groaned into her hair as she rested her head against his chest. Beneath his clothes she could hear his heart racing.

Later she would have to be good. She would have to take the generous dowry Ogmore had gifted her and her sister and marry a wealthy nobleman, but why couldn’t she have this moment for herself? She knew Erik had lovers, why couldn’t she be one of them?

She reached up on tiptoes and brushed her lips against his. It was a gentle, innocent touch, but it made her heart race.

‘Lin, please. Stop,’ he whispered against her mouth.

Despite his protest he didn’t move away. Only a wisp of air separated their lips. She brushed against his mouth again and then once more. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, his lips moved in response.

Tentatively, she reached up and traced the length of his jaw with her fingertips, slipping her hand into the hair gathering at the nape of his neck. She ran her fingers through its soft length. His eyes closed, his lips slightly parted.

She lightly skimmed the back of his neck with her fingernails.

He inhaled sharply against her mouth.

She smiled and felt his answering one against her lips. ‘What are you doing to me, Linota?’

‘I want to know what it is like to feel passion,’ she whispered against the skin of his neck. And love. She wanted to feel loved, but she would not say that to him. Not ask him for something he couldn’t give her.

She trailed her lips along at the base of his throat and he groaned.

‘Linota, I...’ His mouth settled over hers and he kissed her gently.

And she knew she was winning.

Thrilling tingles raced up her spine as his tongue lightly swept along her lips. She knew what to do now. How to make them both feel good. She opened her mouth and he grunted, his kiss turning demanding. Every moment something inside her tightened and she became lost in a world of lips, tongues and teeth.

She was no longer in control of her body. Her hands were everywhere, running through his hair, over the width of his shoulders and grasping at his muscled arms. She came to the bindings of his tunic and her hands played with the ties. She wanted to pull back the layers of his clothing; she longed to be skin to skin. To feel whether he was burning up, just like she was.

As if he could read her mind his hands slipped beneath her cloak, so warm against skin she hadn’t realised was cold. He skimmed over her hips and lightly traced the length of her back. She arched into him; he groaned. The sound almost as if he were experiencing pain.

One of his hands lightly skimmed the curve of her buttocks and she moaned into his mouth, surprising herself with the decadent sound. Her breasts felt heavy and she longed to feel the touch of his fingers there. She would beg if she had to.

His thumb brushed the underside of her breast and she gasped as pleasure surged through her.

Abruptly he pulled his hands from her body and stepped away from her.

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