Page 69

The kiss deepened, his free hand sliding beneath her to draw her up off the pillows, and she followed him without thinking, rising with him until there was nowhere left to go.

Her back met the headboard, but she cared little about the wood digging into her spine. It reminded her that this moment was real, that she was in Evander’s arms and it was not a dream. His lips against hers felt odd, but she wanted more.

She shouldn’t be doing this, and yet that was exactly what she was doing. Lying here, begging him with everything but words. But this time, there were no crying children to stop them. There was no one to stop them in the midst of it.

Should they be stopped, Freya was sure she would be more disappointed than anything. She would be annoyed by the fact that they had to stop.

His teeth nipped at her pulse point, causing her to shiver. He could so easily mark the soft skin of her neck. It should have scared her, but it did not.

“Ye can bite me if ye wish,” she murmured, tilting her head to the side to give him better access. “I’m nae… afraid.”

He groaned, dropping his head onto her shoulder. “Freya, ye cannae say things like that to a man.”

Her cheeks flushed. Had she—could she make a man like the Wolf become undone with just a few words?

She’d heard other women talk before about being able to undo a man with a glance or just a few words, but she had never thought it was possible. Now she realized that it was more than just possible. It was actually happening before her very eyes!

“Why nae?” she asked, quieter now, forcing him to look up at her. “I… I think I trust ye, Evander.”

“Ye barely ken me.”

She swallowed. “If ye wanted to hurt me, ye could have done it many times over. And I’m nae some weak lass trembling with fear, though perhaps I’m nearer to one than I care to admit.”

The dubious look on Evander’s face told her that he did not believe a word she said.

She sighed and drew him into a gentler kiss. When it broke, he looked a little surer of himself. She was less so.

She took the opportunity to pull her thin shift over her head, leaving her in nothing but her stays. Evander’s eyes went wide.

His breath left him in a low rush, and the raw hunger on his face made her feel, for the first time in her life, powerful rather than afraid.

Sitting almost completely bare beneath him was more than a little intimidating, but she wanted to show him that she did not truly fear him. Perhaps she should, though only time would tell.

“Gods above,” he muttered.

He tugged her stays down, fully baring her chest to his gaze. She hissed when his warm hand cupped her right breast, her nipple instantly pebbling at the sensation.

Evander watched, fascinated, as he ran his nail over the hardened tip, and she arched, forcing more of her breast into his hand.

“I never took ye for a man who called upon the gods,” she gasped, her breath hitching when he cupped her other breast.

Evander chuckled, kissing her neck again. “We honor what we must. That’s as close as ye’ll get from me.”

He trailed kisses from her neck down to her breasts. He took a nipple into his mouth, using that talented tongue of his to lavish attention on the small bud. Ever so gently, his teeth scraped against the tip, and she threw her head back. Her skull met the carved wood, but the pressure barely registered.

He released her breast with a soft, wet sound, kissing down her stomach and settling lower on the bed.

“Nay,” she whispered.

He chuckled against her stomach, using his hands to spread her legs so he could settle between them.

“But I want to, Freya. I need to ken what ye taste like.”

Evander lowered his mouth to her sex. He traced a path along her folds to her entrance, causing a fire to build inside her. He caught on quickly, listening to the changes in her breathing to know exactly where she wanted his mouth.

Freya felt herself drawing close to something alarming, some loss of control she’d fought against for years, so she grabbed him firmly by the shoulders and gave a tentative shove.

He blinked, gazing at her with an unreadable expression. “What did ye do that for?”