Page 25 of While Angels Slept
Her eyebrows lifted. “Is that so?” she was forced to contradict him. “And just what would you think if I looked at you like that? You would think I was a silly, besotted girl.”
Tevin’s dark gaze moved to his sister several feet away. “I would think that I was the most fortunate man alive.”
Cantia suddenly couldn’t breathe. She had asked the question to prove her point of a potential romance between Val and Myles. She wasn’t hunting for a personal response from Tevin. She yanked her hand from his elbow but he reclaimed it firmly, tucking it into the crook and holding it fast with his free hand. He was without his armor this day and he wore no gloves. His flesh against hers was the sweetest thing he could have imagined.
“Nay, lady, you’ll keep your hand right here,” his voice was hardly above a whisper. “You’ve ignored me for days and I’ll not let you retreat again.”
Cantia’s heart was thumping madly against her ribs. Tears sprang to her eyes and she lowered her head so he wouldn’t see. There was such confusion in her mind, such exhilaration and such guilt. She didn’t know what to think.
Tevin looked down at her lowered head. “Surely you’ve sensed thatmy interest in you goes beyond normal concern,” he said quietly.
A lone tear trickled down her cheek. He saw it. Not wanting her to burst into tears in front of everyone, he led her to a small alcove off the main sanctuary where hundreds of tallow prayer candles burned. It was out of eyeshot and earshot as he faced her.
The room was warm and glowing, giving her beauty an even more ethereal look. His thumbs came up to wipe away the tear, but more followed and he found himself fighting off a flood.
“I am sorry to make you weep,” he said sincerely. “I don’t know why I said that. I should not have. Forgive me.”
She shook her head, wiping at her face. “There is nothing to forgive,” she whispered. “I simply do not know what to say.”
“Say nothing,” he told her. “I will never say anything so bold to you again. It was wrong of me.”
He started to leave but she put her hand on his arm, stopping him. “Nay, do not go,” she whispered. “I did not mean it the way it sounded. I simply meant that I wish I could say the same thing to you.”
He patted her hand. “You are a truthful woman. You will not say what you do not feel simply to gratify me. I respect that.”
“Nay,” she said, more strongly. The lavender eyes gazed up at him. “You do not understand. I would say the same to you, my lord, only… only I cannot possibly say it because my husband is barely cold in his grave and to do so would be wrong. If I were to tell you that your presence brings me more comfort than you can possibly know, then it would sound as if I am merely saying so because I just lost my husband and am desperate to find someone to cling to. I do not know myself if that is the case. But I do know one thing; I respect you far too much to treat you so carelessly.”
He looked down at her. His gentle expression turned into something of regret. “I can see that my extended presence at Rochester has only brought you more pain,” he said. “To stay any longer would only bring us both anguish.”
“Why?”
He suddenly took her face between his two massive hands. He had the biggest hands of any man alive.
“Because I stay only to be near you,” he whispered emotionally. “But I fear my presence has been selfish. I’ve not thought of the effect it might have on you. You need to come to terms with your grief over Brac before you can move on with your life. I fear I have added to your burden more than I realized and for that, you must forgive me. I have been horribly selfish. You are such a sweet, pretty thing. I simply wanted to be near you.”
Cantia closed her eyes to his touch. His hands were powerful and warm, something so different than what she had ever experienced with Brac. It was wrong, she knew it, but she didn’t care at the moment. She found herself leaning into his grip, rubbing her cheek against his rough palm. It was instinctive, flesh against flesh, feeling something she had not felt in ages.
Tevin’s hands moved from her cheeks and into her hair. He could hardly believe she was responding to him but he wasn’t about to question it. It was selfish of him but he did not care. Now that he had her, he knew what he wanted to do. Without any further words, he guided her sweet lips to his mouth for a kiss.
It was tentative at first, as if both of them knew the wrongness of what they were doing. But the moment he tasted her, a ferocious passion took over and he pulled her to him so forcefully that he drove his teeth into her soft upper lip. He tasted her blood along with the sweetness of her flesh and it drove him wild. His tongue probed deep into her mouth, gorging himself on something he had never before known.
He licked and suckled, bit and kissed. Through it all, Cantia was collapsed against him as if rendered boneless by his touch. She let him ravage her, forgetting her guilt and confusion for the moment. What she was experiencing with him, was no bad reflection on Brac, was something she had never before felt. Brac had been like the warmth of the afternoon sun. Tevin was like the scorch from the fires of hell.
When he finally removed his mouth from hers, it was with great reluctance. Her mouth was red from his attention, the small cut on her lip oozing with a drop of red. Tevin saw the blood and licked it hungrily. Cantia responded to his probing mouth and they lost themselves in yet another powerful kiss. He was aggressive and, surprisingly, so was she. In the process, Tevin backed into the candles and promptly lit his tunic on fire.
He smelled the smoke, felt the flame, and quickly quelled it, leaving the hem of his tunic scorched. Cantia’s eyes were wide with concerned until she saw the fire was out completely. Then she burst out in laughter so strong that she had to cover her mouth to quiet the guffaws. Tevin struggled against his own laughter for a half second before erupting in deep chuckles. Cantia was laughing so hard she could barely stand. They must have created something of a commotion because Val, Myles and Simon came rushing to the threshold of the alcove, concern written all over their faces. One look at Cantia with her hands over her mouth and Val thought something horrible had happened.
“What’s wrong?” she demanded. “What’s happened to her?”
Tevin was wiping tears from his eyes. “Nothing,” he turned to show them his singed tunic. “But I almost went up in flames.”
Val’s concern turned to understanding. Cantia took her hand away from her mouth, unable to speak for the laughter that was bubbling forth. Val grinned her toothy, charming grin.
“I see,” she lifted a pale eyebrow. “You are most entertaining, brother.”
“Damn near burned the place down,” he mumbled, taking Cantia gently by the arm and steering her towards the door.
With Cantia still sputtering with laughter, they re-emerged into the sanctuary. Val had Cantia by one hand while Cantia’s other hand was tucked into Tevin’s elbow. A priest moved towards the group, also alerted by the sounds in the alcove. He was a pudgy man in dirty robes.
