Page 69 of Wolfehound
He laughed low in his throat, but he didn’t have to be told twice. He went to her, wrapped her up in his big arms, and kissed her squarely on the lips. He’d only kissed her this way a couple of times because someone was always around and he was terrified they’d be caught, so his kisses had been to hands or foreheads. But now… now, they were alone and he would take advantage of it.
He kissed her long and hard and hot, feeling her body against his. She was breathing as if she’d just run twenty miles. But he wasn’t content simply kissing her lips, so he flicked his tongue out of his mouth, licking her lips, carefully inserting it in between her lips and licking her teeth. Cambria gasped, opening her mouth to him, and that was all the invitation he needed to taste her deeply. She felt so warm and wonderful against him and any measure of control he’d ever had was blown to pieces. As his lips kissed her furiously and one arm held her close, the other arm, and hand, began to wander down her backside. He could feel her rounded buttocks through the garment she wore.
That was enough to bring on an erection.
Groaning, he forced himself to stop because he didn’t want to have to explain a full-blown erection to her or to anyone else. He was going to marry her today and, God willing, consummate the marriage immediately, so he could wait.
Barely.
Christ, she felt good.
“My apologies,” he murmured, kissing her in between the words. “If I keep going, I am afraid I will not be able to control myself, so let me go and retrieve that gift. It will give me time to cool my burning blood because, lady, you set me on fire.”
He kissed her again, twice, and she put her hands on his face, trying to hold him against her. “We are to be married,” she said as he suckled her lower lip. “If we want to kiss, who is to stop us?”
“Me,” he insisted weakly, finally pulling away completely. “If I do not, we will end up on the floor, or on your father’s table, doing something we should not be doing right now.”
She cocked her head curiously. “Mating, you mean?”
He cast her a long look before breaking down into soft laughter. “Aye, mating,” he said. “Sit yourself down and stop being so naughty. I will return shortly.”
He was pointing to the chair and, with a smirk, she lowered herself down. He winked at her and turned for the door, reaching out to grasp it when it suddenly flew open and his brother was standing in the opening.
Kyle was breathless, but his gaze moved to Cambria, sitting over by the hearth. “Papa says to keep her here and away from the windows,” he said. “He says you must go to the hall immediately.”
Liam frowned. “Go to the hall?” he repeated. “Why?”
Kyle shook his head. “I do not know,” he said. “All I know is that a rider arrived a few moments ago and now Papa and Warenton and Lord de Royans are looking as if they’ve seen a ghost. Cassius has run off to hide. I am to find Mama and guard her.”
Liam felt as if a bucket of cold water had been thrown on him. Everything in him ran cold—his blood, his heart, and even his soul.
That was cold, too.
“Who?” he managed to ask. “Who has come?”
“I do not know. A royal knight, I think.”
That was all Liam needed to hear. He knew exactly who it was.
God help him, he knew.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“What a coincidencethat I should find not only Lord de Royans here, but the Earl of Warenton and the legendary commander of Bamburgh Castle, Lord Herringthorpe.”
The words came from a handsome, well-dressed man who looked like any other noble knight. But he wasn’t. Carlton, War, and Scott were in the hall as Tyrus le Mon introduced himself. For a man with such a terrible reputation, having been drummed out of the Executioner Knights, one would have expected him to appear with horns and cloven hooves, but he didn’t. He appeared quite proper and normal.
That threw Carlton, War, and Scott off guard.
“You know me?” Scott said, peering at the man. “That is strange. I do not believe I know you.”
“Forgive me, my lord,” Tyrus said. “When I came through the gatehouse, I saw the Warenton banners. I also saw royal standards flying alongside Herringthorpe, so I knew who was here. Quite an occasion, I must say.”
“What do you mean?”
“One of your gate guards told me that you were here for a wedding.”
It was difficult for the men not to react to that. The very thing they didn’t want him to know had already been divulged by a loose-lipped gatehouse sentry who didn’t know any better. It wasn’t as if they had been hiding the wedding.
