Page 19 of Heart of the Raven
Raven was silent. I heard a sound like a breath of wind, and then a rosy glow appeared. But it wasn’t firelight. My mouth fell open, and I stared at the wall, which was a giant, glowing, amber stone.
“There.” Raven stepped back as the light grew brighter.
I sank down on the earthly floor, staring about in wonder. The amber glow permeated the darkness, but it was gentle enough not to burn my eyes. We rested within the hollow truck of a tree, and far above me was the faint twinkle of starlight. In a corner was a ledge, or perhaps had once been a tree branch, jutting out and growing inward. It was wide and almost ran around the rim of the tree trunk. I saw a neat stack of blankets at one end, and on the other a bowl of nuts, water skins and a trunk of what I assumed were provisions beneath it. But most impressive of all was the jewel.
Raven grinned as he crossed the floor and stood in front of me in two steps. “This is yet another safe house. I’ve shown you the wildwood, but you’ve never once asked me where my home is,” he whispered, his voice low and enticing.
The thrumming deep in my belly stirred, and when his fingers brushed my chin, I thought I’d melt.
Words forsook me as his arms came around my waist, pressing me against his chest. I inhaled his scent. He reminded of wild leaves and tree sap and, more than anything, freedom. The life of independence, to go where one wished, when they wished it, without bowing to the wishes of others. To shape one’s future without wealth or power or position. I thought I understood why, when he gained his freedom, he choose the life of the wildwood instead of return to the kingdom where the villagers tilled and toiled and offered sacrifices to save themselves from the wildwood. For a life out there was bondage for him, and a life in here was freedom. He wasn’t human, not like me. Magic sang in his blood, he could shift depending on his needs, and none would ever catch him, except the Goddess of Death. But perhaps even I could play a hand in changing his future. If I wanted to.
But reason called out to me. Although I’d met him before, the last few days in the wildwood I could not account for me being of sound mind. First the attack, and then the bargain with Raven. I’d been emotional, desperate, longing for any small comfort. But after speaking with the Queen of the Wildwood, I knew I had the chance to reconsider my position. Should I continue to Capern and search for the lore keepers? Or should I find my way back to the Queen of the Wildwood and work through my magic under her guidance? And…?
I pushed my final thought away as I studied Raven. The amber light displayed the stubble on his chin, the glint in his eyes as they darkened, turning to liquid pools that begged me to give in.
“I know what you said the other day,” his voice was deep, husky with need. “I don’t ask you to change your mind, but you have to know how I feel. Long have I wandered these woods, my days endless, never daring to believe that any would see me for who I am, would believe my tale of reforming. Until now. But you’ve changed all of that. You’ve given me hope. And perhaps I should not give in, but I sense your magic and know a change has come, and it affects me directly. You should know that I want you with a knowing I’ve never felt before. It was fate, destiny, that brought our paths together. Even should they split I won’t regret this, I won’t regret you. I tell you this, and yet I would ask if I may kiss you. To ease my conscience when you leave. For the taste of your lips is token enough, and it will sear the memory of you on my soul for eternity.”
I traced the line of his jaw and unbidden tears came to my eyes at his words. Such beautiful words. But did he mean them? My thoughts gave me a moment of hesitation, before I lifted my hand to his cheek and pressed my lips against his.
Chapter Seventeen
His kiss sentflutters tingling through the core of my being. The pressure of his hand on my waist made me dizzy with longing, for him to unravel all my secrets and see me, for who I truly was. For my life had changed since I’d thrown Lord Brecken’s proposal in his face and fled. I was no longer a noblewoman, a lady of wealth, I was simply Sasha. Independent, free to go where I pleased, to live where I wished, to love whom I desired.
I drew a slow breath as he broke the kiss, yet the impression of it still hung on my lips. Heat buzzed around my face and swirled in the pit of my belly. My lips parted to speak, to explain my feelings for him, but words stuck in my throat. Try as I might, they would not come out. My eyes darted to his, and his smoldering gaze was almost my undoing. How could I speak when he looked at me that way? As though he would eat me alive if I said yes. Locks of his fine black hair hung in his face and his body shuddered with each breath he took as though he waited for me, waited for more. One word would be all it would take to stop our stolen tryst, two people who did not belong together and yet, in the wildwood, our pasts were stripped away, leaving nothing but the present.
Why should I hold back? Why should I think of the future when here and now was everything I needed?
A low and steady hiss of desire left his mouth while his hands tightened around my waist. I bit my bottom lip but couldn’t stop my whispered confession. “I want you.”
A pitiful truth and nowhere near as lovely as the words he’d spoken, his confession that rocked me to my soul. Instantly I raked my mind for more words. How could I tell him how I felt when it was much easier to show him?
Fingertips brushed my cheeks as he tilted my face toward his. “Are you sure?” his voice was nothing more than a heated whisper.
Hot surges of pleasure flooded my body, at his touch, at what he would do to me, and I to him. My fingers trembled as I touched his hand. “It is the one thing I am certain of.”
The hunger in his eyes intensified. He brought his lips to mine in a slow, gentle kiss. The restrained passion behind it took my breath away and my knees went weak. When his tongue pressed against the seam of my lips, I opened my mouth to his, taking, consuming, all that he would give. His tongue swept into my mouth and my fingers threaded through his hair, holding on, as though we were on the bridge again, and he was the only one who could save me from falling. Now his words danced back, but the better meaning would have been: If you fall, I’ll fall with you.
He claimed my lips with deep, sensual kisses, leaving my breath ragged, and my mind astonished by how tender his kisses were. Brushing the hair off my neck, he dropped one of his hands to my waist and pulled me tight against his hard body. I trailed my fingers down his back, enjoying the hard lines of ridged muscle that lay there, taunt against smooth flesh. Deepening the kiss, he steered me toward the ledge. Excitement and desire fired through me as he pressed his body against mine. Through his pants I felt his hardness and liquid danger spiked within me, to have him, to move past the passionate kiss to the dance of pleasure I so longed for.
He guided me down until I sat in the blankets and broke the kiss in one move. A cry of frustration burst from my lips. I spread my legs shamelessly, wanting to take him all.
“Sasha,” he groaned. His warm tongue licked the hollow of my neck, tasting me as he undid the tie of my cloak. It fell back, leaving my shoulders bare, but I could not feel the cool of the spring night as his warmth consumed me. Desire coursed through my veins. I pushed his cloak of feathers down his shoulders until it dropped onto the earthly ground. Taking my time, I ran my fingers down the board expanse of his chest, emboldened by the raw desire in his eyes. When I reached the band of his pants, he froze.
Pulling back, he studied me, as though ensuring I knew what I was doing, what I wanted. Eyes lidded with lust, I stubbornly met his gaze as I brushed my fingers over his length. The words I’d wanted to same came from my lips at last. “We are here, in the wildwood where I am no one. Just Sasha. And you are Raven. Perhaps our destinies are entwined, perhaps they aren’t, but what we have is here, now, and I…” my lips stumbled over the words. “I don’t know how to explain how I feel, or the sensations that twist through me, but you are real. Not a dream. You’ve treated me with kindness, like an equal, but it did not keep you from being honest with me. That I appreciate, but also sense that you deny yourself happiness because you believe you don’t deserve it. And I do the same. When trouble strikes, I run, when choices are too heavy to face, I hide. But with you, I don’t want to run, or hide, I want you to see me.”
“I do, Sasha.” Tenderly he took my hand, guiding it to his lips, where he kissed my open palm, holding my gaze all the while. My other hand he took from his pants, gently pulling me to my feet. “I see you.”
My lips trembled as he angled his head, and his sensual lips devoured mine, eliciting sweet sensations that rushed through my veins. Hot kisses trailed down my neck. I quivered with arousal as he pressed his mouth against my bare shoulders. He slipped the dress down my shoulders, to my waist and off my hips until it pooled on the ground.
His eyes flickered to my face as I stood naked in the amber light. “You are my goddess,” he breathed before continuing his relentless quest with kisses.
My breath hitched when he reached my swollen breasts and took them in both hands, his fingers tracing the inflamed peaks. Bending his dark head, he drew one of my aching nipples into his mouth and teased it with his tongue. A moan escaped my parted lips and my body went tight with desire. Twisting in his arms, I pushed myself against him, breathless in my desperation for more.
His fiery mouth moved to my other breast and took the nipple in his mouth, teasing with his tongue, sucking and biting. My nostrils flared as I struggled to regain control, but he wouldn’t let me. One of his hands trailed down between my legs, teasing the soft skin of my inner thighs. He hesitated one excruciating moment before his feather-light touch grazed my damp slit. Molten need rippled through me and flamed my cheeks as I gripped his shoulders. But I was too far gone to want anything other than his touch, to experience him within me, feeling me, satisfying me.
“Raven,” I whispered his name, guiding his lips back toward mine and reaching until I felt his hardness again. I tugged his pants down as I spread my legs, wanting him to take me right then and there.
“Let me love you,” he said, pressing fevered kisses to my lips, each one slow and seductive.
