“Oriana,” a voice called from behind her.
Garren.
It was as if their minds were one, as if she had conjured him from the fleeting thought of saying one final goodbye.
She spun, unshed tears glistening in her eyes as she saw him standing at the edge of her forest like a phantom in the night. She had been on the cliffs of Shipwreck Cove all day, until the stars filled the midnight sky, winking in and out as if to say we see you, we are with you.
“I had to see you,” Garren’s voice broke on the words, raw with emotion. “I thought you might be here.”
She was at a loss for words, afraid that if she opened her mouth, only a strangled sob would come out. She hadn’t thought she would see him again. She hadn’t wanted to, for she knew it would be too painful.
“Are you alright?” His steps rustled through the grass as he came closer, edging from the gloom of the forest and into the shimmering beams of moonlight.
“No,” was all she could muster, voice cracking.
He came before her then, grabbing both of her hands in his. “I am so sorry. I was an ass.”
She smiled up at him, looking into his dark, breathtakingly exotic face, such a contrast to his cool gray eyes, noticing for the first time how truly different his features were from anyone she had seen before. “I could never stay mad at you,” she finally offered. “I’m not sure anyone else would have acted any different after what I told you.”
“But I’m not just anyone,” he whispered, bringing one of her hands up to his lips and flipping it over to place a gentle kiss on her palm. The feel of his beard brushing against her skin and his warm lips pressed there sent a desperate, aching heat traveling through her.
“Garren, I…”
“Shh,” he hushed, silencing her as his lips descended upon hers.
Oriana moved closer, melting into his embrace as he explored her with a gentle possessiveness that sent a tingling heat rushing through her. Their tongues mingled, teasing one another, each growing more ravenous as desperation built between them.
She explored him just as possessively, deepening the kiss as she unbuttoned his tunic, pushing it open to expose the hair-roughened, hard flesh beneath. Her hands traveled over him, feeling the taut muscle shifting beneath her fingers.
Garren’s breath hitched and he left her mouth, trailing soft kisses down her neck that sent sensations of pleasure down to her most sensitive area.
Oriana moaned, moving against him, digging at his trousers, desperate to feel him, all of him.
Garren pushed her gown from her shoulders and yanked it down over her hips until it pooled at her feet, revealing her completely to him. He surveyed her fully. She bit her lip and squeezed her thighs together against the ache that throbbed between them at the look of pure lust on his face.
She looked down to the true evidence of his desire tenting his pants. He stepped closer, reaching out to cup a breast in each hand. His hands were rough, calloused from long hours of sword wielding. They glided over her erect nipples and she sucked in a breath at the swirls of ecstasy coursing through her.
“I need you,” she rasped against him, pushing his trousers down so that his hardness sprung free for her to see. She grasped his length and he growled, moving his hands down over the smooth flesh of her belly and around her waist. One large hand migrated between her thighs, spreading her lips to feel the wetness of her anticipation.
“Fuck,” he whispered into her neck, his cock twitching against her belly.
Garren tore off the rest of his unbuttoned tunic, stepping out of his pants before lifting Oriana from the ground with fluid grace and laying her down upon the soft grass beneath them.
“You’re so wet,” he groaned against her mouth.
His words only caused her need to grow, and she kissed him harder, placing her hands on his back and pressing him further against her, rocking her hips up to meet his.
He sucked in a ragged breath, sinking his full length deep inside her.
She almost cried out with pleasure. With each gliding thrust, she rose and met him with equal fervor, moaning against his lips.
Oriana clawed at his back, desperate to feel him closer, deeper.
Their bodies moved together, faster and faster, until their breathing grew hoarse. Ripples of intensity began spreading through her body in waves, building with each deep thrust until she shattered, gripping onto him and crying out in fiery pleasure, riding each euphoric wave of her release. Garren bit her lip before yelling out with his own release, collapsing atop her with a sweet sigh of rapture.
They lay there as their breathing slowed, their bodies still tangled together, her hand rubbing against his back in lazy circles.
Garren turned, pulling Oriana along with him, so that they were on their sides and he could observe her form more fully. His eyes were whirling storm clouds as he stroked them slowly over her physique. She openly did the same, letting her gaze wander down his sculpted, naked body before she smiled up at him.
