“I think I’ll join him.” Kael shot me a wink. “Care to give us a hand, Lieutenant?”
“You know I don’t hold that rank anymore,” Lance said. “I tossed my insignias at the general.”
“Did you? I’d like to have seen that…”
The door closed, and suddenly the strange room seemed all too quiet. What I was about to say, it went against the grain of me, but I’d say it anyway.
“We don’t have to do anything.” Her eyes went wide. “I mean we need to eat and drink and I definitely need some sleep.” Snuggling down beside her, I threw an arm around Fern’s waist and then pressed my nose into her hair. Breathing deep that ozone and roses perfume had something settling inside me. “We could do that now, if you like.”
“That’s not what you want.”
She rolled over, her smile helping ease some of the tension in my chest, but when her finger trailed down my sternum, a different kind was back.
Gods, how I needed her.
“I have what I’ve always wanted.” Pressing a kiss to her forehead, then I pulled back. “You. As long as we’re together, Fern, I’m happy.”
“So I shouldn’t touch the big, brave man who saved me and my dragon from slavery.” Her hand slid lower. “I was told a wife was supposed to please her husband.”
“Gods, woman.” I rolled on top of her, pinning her wrists above her head, and wasn’t that distracting. “I’m trying to behave here. My body would very much like you to please me, but much to my dismay, I’m finding I’m an honourable man.” For a few seconds, all I could do was stare. I’d had so many fantasies about just this moment, I couldn’t believe what I was about to say. “But don’t you want some fancy wedding? A white dress and a church where all your friends and family are in attendance?” I flicked my hair back over my shoulders. “Each one stunned at how handsome your husband is.”
“He is,” she said, returning my smile, “and I’m supposed to. Stay chaste until marriage, because that’s what my husband expects.”
“Well…” I released her hands, unable to stop mine from sliding down her cheek, then collaring her throat. “Virginity?” With a shrug, I forged on. “Not quite all it’s cracked up to be.” With a swallow, I sat back. “Never touched a woman before now myself.”
“What?” She rolled up onto her elbows and I admit, I wasvery distracted by the bob of her breasts. It took me a second to recover, but I shook my head and dragged my eyes upwards.
“Our dragons were never going to allow us to dally with some woman,” I said. “The fact ‘Fang isn’t beating down the door means he is convinced you’re the one for us.”
I like Fern, he said in sleepy tones.She’s nice and she makes you happy.
So, so very much, brother, I replied.
“So if you want your big day,” I continued. “We’ll make it happen. Elsie and the girls would love to help make you a dress, and they’d make sure the lot of us scrub up right. Not sure what your family would make of us, but I’ll do my best to win them over with my tales of bravery.”
Her giggle when I flexed my biceps was everything. Whatever it took to make her laugh, I’d do it, I vowed. But she grew serious, watching me with heavy lidded eyes.
“Before I left home, I read so many stories about heroes and their heroines,” she said. “Back then, it was all her swooning into his arms. What came next was described in very vague terms.” Fern tilted her head slightly to the left as she regarded me steadily. “I think I’d like to know more about that.”
“About what happens to the fair maiden once the knight has rescued her from certain peril?” I leaned down, placing my hands either side of her head. “Whatever she wants.”
“Whatever they want,” she corrected.
“Now you’ve done it.” That came out in a low growl, because I had been trying so damn hard to hold it all down. “An ache started in me the moment we met and it hasn’t let up for a second.”
“Well, that sounds painful.” Her gentle smile made me hopeful. “What could be done about that?”
“Well, this for starters.”
I was always quick fingered, a good skill for a thief to have. A better one for a lover. The clasps of her tunic were popping open in seconds. I was too caught up in the idea of finally seeing the body I’d fantasised about to see her smile had faded.
“Wait.” Her hands circled my wrists, and while her grip was gentle, I froze on the spot. “I…” Her lungs filled with air, then she let it back out again with a hiss. “The last time a man looked at me as a potential wife, he likened me to a farm animal.”
“I will kill him and his stupid friends,” I said between clenched teeth. “Call them out, challenge them to duel, or whatever posh people do to resolve conflict. Dead, all of them and a warning to any other man who dare say a thing against you. It will be done.”
“I just…” Her attempts to master herself were apparent. “I don’t want the past in the bed with us, but I think we just need to take things slow.”
This I knew something about. My sisters had made clear that every woman was different and pouncing on her to get what I needed was very poor form. My fingers moved far more slowly. I looked up, checking in with Fern’s responses after each one. A final quick nod had me smoothing the tunic back, revealing a thin, cotton, short chemise.
