Page 88 of Halfling
She stuck to the shadows for a moment, enjoying the view. Orek had chosen a pool near the middle, one of the larger ones in a crescent shape. It was deep enough that with him standing in the center, the water lapped at the middle of his chest.
Bent down to the surface, he scrubbed his face and ears, unaware she’d come to join him.
With her heart in her throat, Sorcha waited until he was upright again, distracted by the dark droplets of water sluicing down the thick column of his throat and wide expanse of his shoulders.
She made her way slowly, deliberately, toward him, careful of every step. It wouldn’t do for her seduction to start with scraped knees after an embarrassing tumble.
She’d only just emerged from the shadows when his head jerked in her direction. His hands stilled on his face, and he watched her approach with rapt eyes. Those big shoulders seemed to ripple as his breath came quicker.
Sorcha stopped at the edge of the pool, the warm water lapping at the tips of her toes.
“What do you do?” he rasped, his throat bobbing on a swallow.
“May I join you?”
Her question hung heavier than the thick steam in the air for an agonizing heartbeat.
Orek’s breath left him in a rushing hiss. “Yes.”
Licking her lips, which drew his gaze immediately to her mouth, Sorcha hooked her thumbs in the band of her loose braies and drew them down her hips and thighs. She went slowly, savoring how his gaze skated across her body, leaving goosebumps in their wake. He traced the contours of her legs with his eyes, up and up, and watched her pull her shirt over her head.
Her nipples puckered in the damp air, and feeling brave, Sorcha cupped her breasts in her hands. Orek hissed again, shoulders bunching as he held himself still. Hunger carved stark lines across his face, and as he seemed to harden and tense, Sorcha felt herself growing warm and lax. She could get drunk on how he looked at her, his heated gaze burning like molten gold.
“Do you want me?” she whispered.
His nostrils flared, but he still held perfectly still. “More than anything I’ve ever wanted.” The harsh, low rumble of his voice made her quim clench.
Carefully, Sorcha stepped down into the pool. Standing on her toes, the warm water surrounded her, and she moaned in pleasure as her muscles loosened. It came to her chin, making it easy to dip below to wet her hair.
When she surfaced, Orek was just where she’d left him, two arms’ length away on the other side of the pool. He looked so tense that the smallest touch would shatter him.
Sorcha bathed, unhurried. She scrubbed her hair and her nails, washed her arms and her neck. She teased just a little, making sure her breasts bobbed at the surface and taking particular care to wash them. All this he watched, the muscles of his great chest thrown in stark relief as he held himself back.
When she was clean and had her fill of teasing, Sorcha glided slowly through the water for him. That hungry gaze watched her come, his mouth drawn in a thin line, but she didn’t let that worry her.
She stopped just a breath away, gazing up at his brutal, beautiful face.
“Can I kiss you now?” she said.
He jerked as if slapped. He still didn’t reach for her, but he did nod.
Shoring up her courage, Sorcha said, “Can you sit back on the rocks?”
His eyes searched hers, his brows cast almost forbiddingly low. A deep rumble, almost like a purr, emanated from his chest as he eased back onto the shelf. He spread his arms out over the lip of the pool and again held still. Watching her. Waiting.
Sorcha followed him, but because he was giving her almost nothing, she had to ask, “Can I touch you?”
His chest almost seemed to collapse as his breath gusted out of him. “Yes,” he growled.
“Anywhere?”
“Everywhere.”
She smiled, her nerves giving way to a heady sense of power. That this big, powerful male held himself back, as if the wrong move would scare her, was exhilarating. To see how tautly he held himself and realize it was because of how deeply, desperately he wanted her…yes, she could work with this.
She started with a hand on his thigh. His muscles jumped under her touch, and she slowly ran her hand up his leg to his hip as she drew closer. He watched her with amazement as she straddled his lap, resting on his thick thighs.
Sorcha finally indulged and pressed her hands into the meat of that glorious chest. He had a smattering of dark hairs on the pectorals and around his flat nipples, but otherwise he was all smooth green skin. His heart thundered in his chest, and she felt it kick when she leaned down to kiss that groove between his pectorals.
