“Please,” his husky voice sent a tingle down her spine, “enlighten me.”
“You trained as a bard, not a warrior,” Eva explained softly.
Finn’s jawline tightened noticeably. “I told you already—”
“I know,” she interrupted. “I know. But hearing it from your sister gave me greater cause for concern.”
“Just because I can sing, you believe I cannot fight?” he challenged. “I assure you, my lady, I am quite physically capable.”
All the air left her lungs in one great rush. She should tell him why she couldn’t let him kiss her last night. She should leave before she said anything more at all. She should return to her quarters before she gave him a false sense of hope. Instead, she did the most unreasonable thing imaginable.
She kissed him.
Or tried to do. As it turned out, ’twas not so easy a task to kiss a man twice your height without involving him in your plan. As she stood there on her tiptoes, thinking he’d meet her halfway, he looked confused.
He leaned down but didn’t touch her. “I thought,” he whispered, “last night…”
“Last night I wanted you to kiss me. I didn’t want Ethlinn to see it.” Eva wished it weren’t true. Everything would be far simpler if she felt nothing for Finn. But, though her mind knew naught could happen between them, her traitorous heart refused to listen.
Before she could gain control of herself, his mouth covered hers, capturing her next breath and robbing her of all sense.
Other than that unfortunate occurrence the night prior, Eva had never kissed anyone before. Her heart pounded painfully against her chest as his lips claimed hers.
His hand went to the small of her back, pressing her so close to him that she could feel every hard inch of him against her. He certainly wasn’t lying about being physically fit. His tongue teased at her bottom lip, igniting a fire inside her like she’d never felt before.
Finn surrounded her; he was the entirety of her world in that moment. The warmth of his body against hers. His intoxicating scent of earth and spices. His honey-sweet taste on her lips. The sound of his labored breathing as he devoured her.
It felt so right to be in his arms.
Without warning, he pulled back. “Eva.”
The hitch in his voice only fanned the flame now burning within her. “Finn? Why…”
“We can’t,” he breathed, “I can’t.” He dropped his hands from her like he’d been burned. “I don’t think we should meet here again.”
The flames sputtered out, replaced by an ache centered on her chest. “You mean to kiss?”
“I mean at all. Eva this cannot be. And I cannot trust myself to be alone with you any longer.”
Tears threatened, but Eva managed to hold them in. “And if I need to send a message to my brother?”
Finn’s smoldering eyes raked over her. “Then wear the cream colored gown.”
She let the first tear fall as she watched him walk away. Knowing he was right did naught to ease her sorrow.
*
He was goingstraight to Hell, as his mother liked to say when she was unhappy with his behavior. Dallan had asked him to cheer up his sister, to keep her company, to take her messages. Not to kiss her senseless.
The memory of her lips drove him to distraction as he made his way back to his tent. He could still feel the shape of her against his hands, could still hear the soft, delicious noises she made.
He could still see the hurt on her face when he told her they couldn’t meet any longer. But a daughter of kings deserved better than the son of an Ostman farmer. And his friend deserved better than betrayal.
Dallan spotted Finn the moment he entered the encampment. “Now will youpleasetell me what is going on with Illadan? What did he need to see you about?”
“It seems my sister tracked us here from thecrannóg.” Finn kept his voice low, not wanting to start folk talking.
“Alone?” Dallan’s chestnut eyes went wide. “Through the wilderness?”
