Crying out in relief, she threw her arms about his shoulders and held him tightly. The strength of his chest against hers stole her breath and caused her heart to pound.
Suddenly, his lips claimed hers.
His rich, masculine scent filled her head and she trembled. Aye, this was what she’d wanted. All she’d ever want.
Her body burned for his touch and she ran her hands over his back,delighting in the dips and curves of his muscles. He entwined his hand in her hair and cupped the nape of her neck, tingling her scalp.
The very next thing she knew, Valteri swung her up in his arms.
She gasped in alarm. “You’re going to hurt yourself!”
“Nay, and even if I do, I don’t care.” He carried her through the hall and to their chambers.
With a gentleness she could barely fathom, he laid her against the bed.
Ariel trembled at the force of her desire. At last she’d have her fondest wish.
Valteri stared at her like a starving man eyeing a king’s feast. The raw hunger in his eyes sent waves of desire through her. She wanted him to devour her, and she longed to taste the rich, salty ripples of his muscles until she’d had her fill. But part of her heart told her that she’d never be sated with him.
Nay, she’d always want him, always yearn for his touch.
Licking her lips, she offered him a hesitant smile. “Come, my lord Valteri,” she whispered, pulling him back into her arms. “I have waited for you.”
Valteri closed his eyes at her words, savoring each and every syllable.
Even if he was damning both of them to an eternity of rumors and hostility, he couldn’t stop himself from seizing this one moment, this one woman. He needed her, and the only way he could let her go would be to cut his own heart from his chest.
Nay, he could never leave. If there was a God above, then this must be His way of making amends for all he’d suffered. And if this was his reward, Valteri decided it’d been worth each and every torment ever delivered, and he would gladly relive all of it for this one moment in her arms.
She wrapped herself about him and he shivered from the tenderness. He tasted her silken lips, her neck, where he inhaled her divine rose scent. His lips tingled from the saltiness of her skin and he drank of it deeply. This was the only nourishment he needed, the nourishment he’d starved for the whole of his life.
Heated fire replaced the coldness in his heart. Every color and scent seemed amplified and more vibrant to him, as if he’d opened his eyes for the very first time. As if he had been reborn.
Her hesitant touches echoed through his soul, crashing through every single barrier he’d placed around himself to keep from being harmed.
Now he stood before her like a naked babe on the edge of a cliff.
And just like that child, he wanted to cry out in desperation. Never had he felt so exposed, so very vulnerable, and indeed he knew one word of rejection from her would destroy him.
She pulled his tunic from him, her hands eagerly exploring each dip and curve of his flesh. Valteri closed his eyes, his body burning.
“Do your wounds still plague you?” She ran her fingers over the stitches in his side.
Valteri shook his head, his throat tight. In truth all his wounds both past and present seemed completely healed because of her.
She gave him peace.
“All I feel is you, Ariel, and you could never bring me pain.”
Those words made her blush. Her head reeled with the masculine scent of him, the gentle pressure of his strong hands roaming over her flesh. Everywhere he touched, hot chills rose up.
Ariel brushed her lips over the hard stubble of his neck, delighting in the salty taste of his skin. His throaty moan reverberated under her lips and thrilled her more than all the glorious mornings of the world.
“I need you,” he whispered against her cheek.
Ariel pulled him closer. “I will always be here for you.”
She shivered as he pulled her kirtle from her, and heat stole up her cheeks. Even though she’d already given herself to him, she was embarrassed for him to see her. Before it’d been dark, but in the full light of the day, she lay completely exposed, completely vulnerable to his gaze, his touch.
