Why did he take me to wife?
Alaric had not pressed her in bed, never did anything but praise her around the house, and gave doting attention to her boy.
He did not hold her shame over her head, as she had expected him to.
Hanna sighed, dropping her head into her arms, taking a moment to feel the soothing cool of the wood tabletop pressed against her forehead.
There was no running anymore. There was only here, and now.
She had been caught, snared. Would she struggle, or would she submit?
Last night she had slept alone in their bed, and she had tossed and turned, missing his warmth beside her. Now, her man was home, but she didn’t know how to cross the divide inside of her.
Footsteps padded down the stairs and Hanna quickly raised her head and straightened her shoulders.
“Hanna? Come to bed,” came his deep voice. Always low and lilting, almost soothing to the senses.
Alaric prowled into the room, stopping to watch her as she continued to look down at the tabletop.
“What is it?” Alaric asked, an edge to his voice now. “Has something happened?”
Hanna sniffed, but shook her head. Scared he would see her feelings on her face. Stuffing her vulnerability down.
But perhaps she did not do as well as she thought, for he stepped closer, reaching out to grasp her chin and turn her eyes up to his, studying her with his tawny gaze.
It was late and he was bare chested, only a thin pair of drawers covering his body as he stood before her.
“Come to bed,” he said, again. And Hanna suddenly understood her reluctance.
It was time. She felt it in the air between them, the tension ripe and full.
Narrowing his eyes, Alaric took her expression in, his hand slipping down to finger a lock of her hair, sweeping it back over her shoulder and trailing his touch down her arm with a considering look.
“Fine, don’t come to bed. I will stay here with you.” He stepped up beside her and leaned against the kitchen table, watching her.
After a minute his brows drew together and Alaric sighed, opening his arms. “Come here,” he said, and Hanna rose and stepped into his embrace without hesitation. Feeling the warmth of his body envelope her and hold her tight.
Hanna closed her eyes and snuggled her face into the crook of his neck, breathing deep of his masculine scent, letting herself relax as her arms shyly came around his waist.
For a long moment they just stood there, Alaric resting his chin on the top of her head, breathing together. Then, finally he moved, dipping to smell her hair, softly rubbing his cheek against her face.
Their lips met, and Hanna felt a surge of feeling throughout her body, her belly flipping as if she had jumped from a great height.
He brushed his mouth against her ear. “Have I told you yet today how beautiful you are to me?” he whispered, pulling her tight against his chest, pressing hot, open mouth kisses along her neck.
Hanna mumbled something unintelligible, then gasped as he cupped her bottom and turned her, depositing her on the kitchen table and stepping between her thighs while he dragged her close.
Hanna’s breath was coming fast now, her skin flushed as Alaric's hands roamed her body, nothing but her light chemise separating his palms from her skin.
His gaze fixed on hers, capturing her eyes with his as he watched her response to his touch. That look grew hungry, his hands cupping her breasts, palming their weight and squeezing gently as Hanna caught her breath, desire simmering in her blood as his touch roughened, his fingers grazing across her nipples in a way that made her gasp in shocked delight.
“I think about you all day,” he growled, leaning down to nip at her lips, teasing her mouth with his as his hands continued their torture. “I think about you all night, while you lie asleep next to me.”
“You do?” Hanna managed to ask, her breath coming fast now as Alaric bucked his hips between her thighs, pressing the thick bulge in his drawers tight against her cunny in a way that made her dazed with something like need.
“You have stolen my thoughts, one by one, and now they are all yours,” Alaric whispered against her skin, running his mouth along her neck, kissing the line of her collarbone as he bent her back over the iron band of his arm.
And then he was kissing a line down her chest, lifting her breasts to his mouth so that he could suck at her sensitive nipples through the shift, warm pleasure spreading from his touch as her body reacted eagerly to every flick of his tongue.
