But she still hesitated. How could she be the queen they needed? What if she agreed to take the crown but only ended up making things worse? What if her inexperience, her lack of skills, meant that she made terrible mistakes? The kinds of mistakes that resulted in people being hurt.
The thoughts and worries churned through her mind until the quiet of the walk finally eased them.
Whenever he found something edible, Mathos pointed it out, and they either stopped to eat or collected what they could. It was heavy going, following the tiny animal tracks, constantly being scratched and tugged back by brambles and bushes, occasionally leaping over small streams and having to detour around large thickets.
Gradually the day passed and the forest changed around them, the trees starting to thin and grasses growing higher, and she knew they must have covered a good distance.
The sun was low in the sky when Matt pointed out a large fallen log. He asked her to pick up the other end, and together they carried it to a gnarled and wind-swept pine where they balanced it between two low branches.
She saw immediately what he was trying to do and helped him gather armfuls of long, dry branches to prop against the frame he’d made, then together they covered the shelter with leaves and long grasses that they wove roughly together.
The sun had fallen behind the trees some time before they finished, and it was fully dark by the time they crawled inside the rough shelter.
Mathos lay down and immediately lifted his good arm for her to crawl under so that she could rest her head on his shoulder.
There was only just enough space for the two of them, pressed hard up against each other’s bodies. His breathing mingled with hers, and the sound of his heart beating thudded in her ear.
He had said that he didn’t have relationships… but he had also almost said something more. Something about how he felt about her. Maybe even admitting that he cared for her.
Lying there in the dark, feeling him holding her so protectively, she wanted him to care for her. Wanted him to feel as attracted to her as she was to him. To respect her as much as she was coming to respect him.
Her life stretched out ahead of her, as lonely as it had been in the past. Or maybe this was the turning point? Maybe this was where she started to take control of her life and her body.
Now she understood him so much better. She admired him. Genuinely liked him. What she felt was so much more than lust. And maybe this could be a turning point for him too?
She pushed herself up his body, feeling his rough beard tug at her hair, his hands settling loosely on her hips until she could lean her forehead against his. “Matt?”
“Mm-hmm,” he rumbled.
“Will you kiss me?”
He stilled. “Is this what you want, Lucy? Knowing… what you know about me.”
“Yes.” It was. Did she hope that maybe he would find something in her to make him want more? Of course. But she would take his kisses in the meantime.
His hands came up to her face as he pulled her down, meeting her mouth with his.
At first, he kissed her slowly. Small sips and tastes. She ran her tongue along his lower lip, loving how he groaned in response, his hand fisting in her hair and pulling her closer.
His beast rumbled loudly, a vibrating purr that reached down to her belly and lower as she slanted her mouth and sank deeper into him.
Their kiss grew harder, moving from hot and sultry to frantic and breathless as her whole body came alive.
He pushed her shirt up and over her head, and she quickly unwound her bindings, thrilled by the way his breath caught as his hands wrapped around her ribs, his thumbs rasping over her puckered nipples.
He pulled her back down for another heated kiss, his hands scorching on her cold flesh, a deep ache growing in her core. She reached down to unbutton his breeches, squirming in the tight space until she released him and could feel his heavy length against her belly as they pushed themselves together, panting and aching and trying to get closer.
She shoved her boots off with her toes and then lifted her hips to help him pull her breeches down, and she shivered in the cool air until he ran his scorching hands back up the length of her legs.
She expected him to pull her forward, but instead he guided her to lie back onto his body facing up, her legs spread on either side of his hips, her head resting on his shoulder.
His voice was rough, and she shivered as he whispered, “I want to touch you so much... Do you know how beautiful you are? What you do to me?”
Gods. She had never imagined this position. She sprawled, spread open above him in wanton abandonment, as his hands moved reverently over her; sweeping down her sides and over her hip bones, finding the hollows at the creases of her legs; over her belly, lingering at her naval, and onto her breasts, cradling and shaping, his thumbs rasping against her tight nipples, all while his shaft pulsed at the apex of her legs, a rigid length against her core.
One of his hands played with her nipple, pinching and tugging, and the other slid down to find her clit, teasing and rubbing with torturous precision. Dipping inside her, and then finding that swollen bud once more, as his beast rumbled continuously at her back.
“Ah, fuck, Matt!” The curse fell out of her mouth, and he groaned as his fingers worked harder, driving her mad.
