Nathan flicked his tongue over her experimentally again, and she felt as if she were spasming; it was too much. He chuckled, but the world around her was starting to feel hazy, like it was slipping in and out of focus as Nathan backed away from her slightly, just enough to look at her and see the way the surge of such intense feeling had overwhelmed her—and she lay basking in the afterglow of her orgasm until sleep claimed her.
—
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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Breakfast was quiet the following morning. Mostly because Freya couldn’t stop thinking about the previous night. Would it be terribly inappropriate of her to ask if something like that would happen again between them? Surely it was not going to be just a one-time thing. Certainly, there would be other ways to repeat that performance. She wanted to stay awake for what happened next, she wanted to experience the other parts and learn how to please him too.
But there was no denying she had had perhaps the best sleep of her life. She had only been vaguely aware of the man sliding into bed with her at some point, and pulling her body against his chest. That man was now devouring his food and glancing at her every few minutes.
Freya couldn’t stop the flashbacks. She couldn’t seem to make them behave or to stop the arousal from building inside of her at every subtle glance or the slight way their knees would brush against one another from time to time. Neither one of themreally had much to say to the other as they packed their things, readied the horses and said goodbye to the small town.
It was all she could do to keep from giggling like a silly girl every time that he glanced at her.
Would it pain him to know she was rapidly losing interest in just about anything that didn’t involve keeping him for herself?
No, Freya. She thought to herself, knowing her train of thought was getting to be far too selfish for her own good. If ye love him, ye have to let him be.
Freya’s spine straightened and her eyes widened. What on earth was that thought about? She was not in love with Nathan! Clearly, being with him and being kissed by him was getting to her head and clouding her judgment. She couldn’t be in love with him. It wouldn’t serve her at all. It would only be setting her up for pain. She didn’t need any more pain in her life than she had already had. That much she was certain about. They would find where he belonged, for a man such as him could have family, children even. It would be best to deliver him and return to her hut to face the consequences that might await her there. That was the only reasonable thing to do, was it not?
There was a conversation they needed to have and it seemed that neither one of them wanted to start it.
Freya couldn’t seem to pay attention to the roads they passed, nor the scenery, because everything that wasn’t the man riding slightly in front of her was little more than a blur. Her mind wasreeling, and she couldn’t stop thinking about what it might be like to be perched on top of Nathan in the same way that she was on top of this horse.
She was so distracted, in fact, that she almost missed the way he abruptly stopped. She almost didn’t see how his hand lifted, his head swiveling to the side to look for something she was clearly wholly oblivious to. She tried to turn in her saddle, to see what could have possibly gotten him so spooked, all things considered, but she couldn’t find anything—nothing in the tree line, but clearly he was upset about something.
“Nathan—”
He whipped his head around and motioned for her to be quiet. She instantly obeyed, her grip on the reins of her horse tightening so much that she could hear the leather creak in protest. Her eyes widened in time with her quickening heartbeat. Nathan’s hand dropped to his dirk, his grip tightening on the handle as he waited for whatever danger was to present itself.
He waited long enough that she was almost convinced there wasn’t anything there after all. Only, at the last possible moment, she heard it too—the whinny of a horse and impatient shifting of their hooves as if protesting being made to lay in wait.
“I think we are being followed,” Nathan whispered, motioning for her to move her horse further down the line so that he would be in a position that was easier to defend her in. She might haveargued, but the look on his face gave no time for anything but obedience, so that was exactly what she did.
No sooner had she moved than they were ambushed.
It was the same three men they had been playing cards with the previous night. She knew her gut feeling hadn’t been wrong. She hadn’t been that far off base when she had expressed her fear over the fact that they would make it into a bigger issue. She supposed she ought to be glad it was only them, and not the clan soldiers.
Nathan pulled his dirk, not willing to dismount from the horse as they charged closer to them. Freya’s heart jumped up into her throat as they also were armed. They formed a half circle, keeping a cautious distance from Nathan’s long wingspan. She understood that they did not want to get close. If they knew what was good for them, they never would have dared to come after him in the first place.
Nathan was radiating hostility.
