Everything he’d done had felt incredible, and she was certain she could do the same for him. But she wanted to be closer. Cait had said it wouldn’t hurt. And maybe…maybe if she let Trick into her body, he would let her into his heart. Maybe she could start chipping away at the emotional wall he’d built.
And beyond those logical reasons, the naked truth was, she wanted him. Craved him. His body joined with hers, her heart joined with his.
“Trick?” she called softly.
No response.
She poked his shoulder. “Trick?”
“Hmm?” Without opening his eyes, he rolled toward her and flung an arm over her middle.
She snuggled happily into his warmth. “Tomorrow,” she said, struggling to keep the tremble from her voice, “tomorrow night, I want to sleep with you.”
“Sleeping now,” he murmured.
“No. I want…I want…”
His eyes slid open and gazed into hers, so close. “Are you begging,leannan?” he whispered, a tentative note of hope in the words.
“I’m begging,” she answered simply.
He raised up to give her a sleepy smile, and she kissed him, running her tongue across the chip in his tooth. When his head dropped back to the pillow, his arms tightened around her, holding her fast against his body.
And she drifted off to sleep again, not feeling smothered at all.
Thirty-Three
“THERE’S THEcastle,” Trick said after a long day spent on the road. “In the distance, atop that hill. Just as I remembered.”
Kendra squinted through the half-light of dusk. “It looks…forbidding.” At the end of a narrow, twisty path, twin square towers rose from the hill, thrusting gray and ugly into the leaden sky. “How old is it? Is there no manor house attached?”
“Thirteenth century. It’s just the two connected keeps. They’re large, though—the distance is deceiving.”
“It must be very cold.”
“There are fireplaces.”
“I’m not talking about the temperature. It doesn’t look like a friendly place.”
“It isn’t,” he said shortly.
While two carriages and a luggage cart rolled slowly behind, attended by Trick’s servants, they guided their mounts silently past a somber gray-stone church that stood at the edge of a small village. The simple homes seemed eerily empty, however. Though the rain had stopped, no children had come out to play, no women were hanging out wash, no men were at work.
The clip-clop of their horse’s hooves sounded loud in the odd stillness.
“Where is everyone?” Kendra asked.
“I’m wondering myself.” He glanced up the hill. “Do you hear laughter?”
“Maybe. Far away.”
“Up at the castle.” As they rode closer, he could hear it better. “They must be holding an entertainment that includes the whole village. Strange…I cannot remember anything like that from when I lived here. Mother doesn’t strike me as the type.”
“People change in eighteen years.”
“I expect you’re right.” Lost in memories, Trick remained quiet as they made their way to the hill and started up it. The laughter grew louder. When they crested the rise, they saw athletic events in progress on the lawn that bordered the keeps. Five young men were lining up for a foot race while two other lads executed standing jumps and lassies poked fun at their results.
“Will you test your skills?” Kendra asked as they slid off their horses.
