She could not delay. Mouth tight with worry, she pushed forward and somehow managed to rest her palm on his brow. It was…
Cool.
His forehead was damp, but he had no fever.
She sat back on her heels as relief swept through her, along with a sense of surprise. He wasn’t ill, then. So, what was it?
Just then one of Damien’s arms lifted to crook over his face, as if to shield it from some unseen attack.
“Nay…no more…will not speak, will not…”
Different words this time, and a more urgent tone in his voice, hoarse and guttural, as if it was being wrenched from his throat. Heat welled behind Alissende’s eyes to hear it, at the same time that her gaze happened upon something that had only just been revealed with Damien’s movement and the ever-increasing light of approaching dawn.
Her hand flew to her mouth, stifling a gasp at the sight. He had taken off his elegant over-tunic before he’d fallen asleep, unlacing the linen shirt beneath as well, as the evening had been warm. When he’d lifted his arm it had fallen open, exposing scars on his torso that could only have come from painful lacerations or burns. They spread upward in an almost methodical pattern—along his ribs and across his chest until they were hidden from her sight. He moved again, his arm coming back down as he rolled completely on his side, facing her, and the edge of his shirt fell to conceal the marks once more.
Sweet Mother of God. When had this happened—and from what cause?
The Inquisition. His torture.
The voice echoed its dark message through Alissende’s mind, and her throat felt as if it was closing. She reached out once more, gently stroking his brow and murmuring words of comfort to try to ease the throes of his nightmare. It was difficult enough to consider such horrible suffering when the injury was from accident or even the results of battle. But to think of being restrained and helpless while others purposely inflicted the kinds of wounds that had left these scars…
She could not think on it without becoming sick.
Damien made another sound, less anguished this time. It pulled her, thankfully, from her tormented thoughts, and she slowed the gentle stroking of her hand on his brow and hair, though she continued to speak softly to him. In response he quieted even more until the tension seemed to ebb from him, and he stopped twitching and shifting altogether, looking peaceful, except for the way his brow furrowed. Suddenly, he breathed in sharply—once, then again—before exhaling on a long and deep sigh.
“Alissende…”
She stiffened in surprise.
Her name had been released on that breath, laced with a note of longing that made her go still, made sweet warmth unfurl inside of her before she was able to fortify herself against it.
“My Alissende…”
At the same time that he murmured those words, he reached out, gripping the hand that had been stroking his brow, and she gasped—loudly—her own surprise throwing her off-balance as she tried to push herself up from her knees to back away. It was too late. Anchored by his grasp, she toppled forward onto him.
Before she could draw in her breath, he’d tugged her halfway up his prostrate form, his hands cupping her buttocks to ease her into a position that caused her legs to slide open, her knees touching the floor on either side of his hips. It was a decadent pose, bringing her into direct and stunning contact with the heat of his masculine length, covered by naught but a thin piece of cloth.
He shifted against her, and her moan came out as a half gasp. But the sound was lost to a muffled sigh as he threaded his fingers into the hair at her nape, curling himself up toward her and guiding her mouth to his in a kiss that seemed to sear her from the inside out. The sheet she had wrapped around herself upon leaving bed had long since come undone, and she felt the muscles of his abdomen contract against her naked belly with the movement…felt the hard contours of his chest press into her breasts in a way that was startlingly erotic, even as he began to rock his hips up, rubbing against her.
Oh, God…
It felt so good…so good that she couldn’t bring herself to stop him, though it was surely wrong to enjoy such sinful pleasure with a man who was both half-asleep and bound to forswear her by reason of the darkness that had taken up residence in his soul.
She should stop this. Sweet heaven, she should. She must, lest he awake to find her compliant—nay, yearning—to complete the intimate teasing he had provoked with his position.
With supreme effort, Alissende planted her hands on his chest and pushed, trying to lift herself up and break off their kiss. She made a sound in her throat as she managed to pull free, almost regretting her action as she uttered his name in a hoarse, demanding whisper.
The combined movement and noise was at last enough, apparently, to rouse him. His eyes snapped open, and he moved so suddenly that she fell in a rather ungraceful heap next to him.
“What are you doing?” he snapped, and she looked up from her awkward position on the floor to see that he was scowling down at her.
“I?”she echoed, her still-pulsing desire, the edge of panic, and pure exasperation all battling for supremacy in her voice. She struggled to sit up, scrambling to cover herself with the sheet again. “Iam doing nothing, sir. It isyouwho caused this circumstance, I can assure you!”
He did not speak again right away, but rather sat up as well before leaning back against the wall, rubbing his hand over his eyes and brow as if attempting to bring himself to full awareness and regain his bearings.
When he looked at her again, it was clear that his body retained a clear memory of what they had just been doing, even if his mind did not. His gaze burned over her, lighting on her bare feet, the contours of her legs, hips, and breasts outlined by the thin sheet, her naked arms half-covered by long tendrils of her dark hair, before making its way up again to her face. She felt another tiny thrill at his expression, at the flaming heat in his eyes. But then he scowled even more deeply, looking like a thundercloud readying to burst.
“Why did you get out of bed?”
