Page 20 of Heart of the Raven
My skin tingled with heightened pleasure, making every touch, every kiss, potent and pleasurable. I licked my lips, unable to catch my breath enough to speak as his fingers stroked my inner thigh again. I squirmed, ready for him to take me, but he drew out each delicious sensation, a devilish smirk on his face.
His heart thumped, loud and steady as he moved down my body, tasting, licking, until he reached my hips and knelt between my legs. Shuddering, I curled my fingers into his thick hair and my hips rocked back and forth, opening to his caress. His fingers stroked my wetness, opening me up like a flower budding. I arched my back, bucking into him. He paused and our passionate gasps filled the air. I moaned. The only sound I could make as I silently begged him to take me and make me his. His alone.
When his finger slipped inside me, my body jerked. He paused, studying my reaction through hooded eyes before easing his finger out and then in again. I moved with him, sliding back and forth, unashamed of my wanton behavior. If I surprised him, he was so lost in passion he did not react, only added another finger, moving back and forth as I spasmed and bucked underneath him. Finally, giving in to my needs, he removed his fingers, leaving me empty and wanting. Kneeing my thighs wide open, he entered me with one swift thrust. A cry of pleasure escaped my throat as an erotic tingling rode up and down my spine. I pressed my legs against his hips and pulled his head toward me.
“Take me,” I demanded.
He lifted me in his arms until my bottom was on the ledge and he stood, moving in and out of me with rhythmic thrusts. My fingers dug into his shoulders and my cheek brushed against his stubble. He held me against himself and there was something undeniably sexy and fulfilling about his sharp pants as he rocked against me. A trembling tension built in every fiber of my body and our passion moved to a new level. Our tongues twisted, biting, tasting, teasing. His fingers stroked down my back, eliciting new sensations as he cupped and squeezed my bottom. I held onto his arms, bulging with hard muscles. We moved together, our lovemaking both rough and tender, desperate and blissful. I lost control as he took me to the brink of release and held me there with a long thrust. My body tingled as he took me over the edge with him into unending waves of ecstasy.
Chapter Eighteen
When I wokemy body hummed with need, desperate for his touch again, like a fire that could not be put out. A pleasurable soreness between my legs reminded me of our lovemaking, and I touched fingers to my lips. I sat up and my light hair trailed down my bare back, but I was alone in the hut. A whisper of worry made me move fast. Tugging on my dress and tossing the cloak around my shoulders, I went to the door and opened it.
Raven appeared on the other side as though I’d called him, and relief seeped through me. Words failed me at the sight of him, and something within me broke. Did I deserve to be happy? After the trouble I’d caused and the death I’d left in my wake, what would a life in the wildwood look like for me?
“I went to scout ahead,” Raven explained. “The path is clear. By the end of today we’ll reach forest’s edge, and the road to Capern.”
I couldn’t miss the wistfulness in his eyes. Taking his hand, I pressed it to my chest, as though to imprint him on my soul.
“Sasha.” He stepped closer. The aura of his presence sent shivers up and down my spine.
I swallowed hard, keenly aware I wanted him just as badly as I’d wanted him last night. As though our lovemaking had done nothing to quench the fire within.
I could make excuses, claim I was tired, and we had to stay another day in the amber hut. But my resolve fizzled away. “Kiss me,” I begged, searching his eyes.
Angling his head toward mine, he claimed my lips with such passion it took my breath away. Tears gathered at the corner of my eyes, but I brushed them away, hoping he would not see. He studied me a moment. “Come, Sasha,” he said, and led me away from that enchanted hut, deep into the wildwood.
Both of us were quiet as our journey continued, through thick wood and mysterious glades. Every now and then I caught of glimpse of a tiny creature, with wings moving so quickly it was almost impossible to see. Their bright bodies glinted in the low light, and soon I saw the faerie followed us. I liked to think of them as a bit of luck for our journey.
Raven’s words from the evening before rang in my ears and a new thought came to me. I still wanted to go to Capern, to find my great grandmother and ask her advice. I needed to speak to someone else and discover if the wildwood had only enchanted me. Maybe I would come to my senses when I left it. But another thought tangled through my mind, and when I tried to unravel it, I lost pieces of it. What if. . . I considered. What if the wildwood hadn’t enchanted me, and I was lucid? What then?
I chewed a piece of dried meat as I considered, but when I saw streaks of sunset, and the end of the forest, my feet came to a halt.
“Here we are,” Raven pointed.
Between the woods I saw wild open fields. Land as far as the eye could see, with no trees in sight. A wide dirt road curved away from the forest, leading into what looked like a town in the distance, only a blur against the light.
“It’s not as far as it looks,” Raven said, “If you hurry, you could reach the village of Capern before the dark.”
I pressed my lips together. If I hurried. But the village was only a few miles away, five at most, and I wasn’t sure if my feet would carry me that far. Although, given my travel through the wildwood, I’d walked much further on foot than I ever had in a day. Perhaps if I had a fast horse, it could take me that way. I realized my mind was flying through excuses because I wasn’t ready to leave Raven. Not yet.
“And if the darkness comes first?” I asked, my fingers fidgeting with the clasp of my cloak.
“Then you will be forced to spend another night in the wildwood,” he said.
I faced him. “I’d rather go during daylight, but I won’t hold you to your bargain now, for you have fulfilled it.”
An indescribable look crossed his face before he frowned. “I would not leave you alone in the wildwood,” he protested. “Sasha. . .you don’t have to—”
“But I do,” I interrupted, then lifted my chin. “I have to know if what is between us is real. I have to know what life outside the wildwood might mean. But Raven, should I return, how will I find you?”
He faced the hidden village, and I couldn’t stand the look of hurt on his face. “I am where I choose to be, at all times, it is by luck that one would find me. But I sense magic. If you return to the wildwood, I have no doubt our souls would call to each other, and I’d find you.”
I blinked to keep my tears at bay again, taken aback by the words he spoke. How could an evil knight of a Dark Queen have such a heart? And how could I leave him? In leaving I would deny him, and myself, and what if he was the love of my life, and I’d never find another who fulfilled me the way he did? Who took me on adventures to magnificent, beautiful places?
A weariness came over me and I sat down, pressing my back against a tree trunk. “Will you watch the sunset with me?” I asked.
“Aye, Lady Sasha,” he replied.
