Kisri: ... and the Beast, Book 2 Page 3

  He laughed. “If you fled, I would have to chase you.” He drew his tunic over his head before reaching for her again, this time to stroke the pad of his thumb over her hipbone.

  His broad chest was strongly muscled, which she’d known well enough from being crushed against it. The knowledge didn’t make studying the wide set of his shoulders and the spattering of scars any less arousing.

  Not as arousing as the thought of being chased. She arched a little, then rolled to her hands and knees. “Maybe I will run, if you plan to tease me endlessly.”

  He moved quickly, his hands steely strong as he flipped her onto her back once more. One hand snuck beneath her to soften her fall to the bedroll, and Ennon leaned over her. “We do this my way, Kisri. And my way is slow.”

  She sucked in a breath and curled her hands around his shoulders. Hot skin, and a tension that reassured her, oddly. He desired her. Holding himself apart was a challenge. It made it easier to agree. “Slowly, then.”

  “Yes.” His teeth scraped her collarbone, and his mouth brushed the curve of her breast, just above her nipple. Her body jerked without her permission, and she arched up and clenched her hands in his hair.

  Ennon whispered a pleased noise and slid his mouth, wet and hungry, down to cover her nipple. His hand tickled over the tops of her thighs, parted them and eased between.

  She twisted and gasped in a breath as instinct tried to drive her legs together again. Only the need to feel him kept her from squirming away. She moaned and pulled at his hair. “Ennon…”

  His fingers parted her, and one teased inside her. “Yes?”

  It felt good but passive. She didn’t want to lie quietly—she wanted to explore him. “When can I touch you?”

  He exhaled a shaky breath. “That depends. What do you want to do?”

  “Everything.” She relaxed one hand, slipped it down his chest and pressed her fingers against the hard length of his erection.

  His teeth ground together as he thrust against her touch. “If you rush me, I’ll have no choice but to drive you mad quickly.” His finger pressed deeper and curled, rubbing inside her.

  It was good at first, and then it was incredible, lights behind her eyes and fire in her veins, but no release. Just sparking pleasure that lifted her hips and made her moan and clutch at him, willing to do anything if only he wouldn’t stop.

  He didn’t, but his mouth dropped close to her ear. “I will take you once you’ve let go, Kisri. Once you come for me.”

  Oh, how she wanted to. She fairly trembled with the need, but the closer she got, the more the lioness inside scratched and snarled. Too easy, the wildness whispered as Kisri dragged her nails down his back with a frustrated moan. He should fight for us.

  His snarl echoed the one inside her. “You’re holding back.”

  Kisri hissed out a breath, and the lioness overtook her for a moment. Wild instinct made her twist away from Ennon, though the last thing she wanted to do was escape. She ended up on her knees, trembling with indecision—and mortification. “I don’t know how to do this,” she whispered, hiding her face with her hands. “I’m an ignorant, foolish girl.”

  “No.” He touched her back in slow, soothing strokes. “Instinct is pushing you to tease me. To make me work hard for the reward of your pleasure.”

  It seemed distinctly self-defeating when pleasure would be her reward too, but it echoed the wariness inside her. Even now, when the callused fingers tracing her spine made her want to arch into him, that voice urged her to rock to her feet and run, to see if he’d give chase.

  She didn’t have to obey, but she couldn’t quite relax, either. “Will it stop?”

  “Do you want it to, or do you want to give in?”

  “Both.” Rubbing her thighs together only accentuated the throbbing ache. She’d been so close to bliss—to relief—and now she felt feverish and unsettled. “I want to run. But I need you so badly…and I’m afraid you won’t want to catch me.”

  She felt the sudden scrape of teeth across her lower back. “Run, Kisri. Set her free and see what happens.”

  Glee. She came to her feet as a human and stayed that way. He’d found a beautiful clearing to camp in, one of the many fields of wild, soft grass that separated the border between plains and forest. The ground was soft enough under her bare feet, and she wanted to feel his skin when he caught her.

  If he caught her.

  A tiny thread of doubt lingered, even with his confident challenge in her ears. She launched herself toward the distant tree line and wondered if he was still by the fire, laughing at her for thinking she was worth the trouble of the hunt. A clumsy girl who wouldn’t know how to please him, whose cousin would be furious—

  Ennon’s hands closed on her hips, and they tumbled to the ground. She landed on his chest and barely had time to take a breath before he claimed her mouth, took it for his own.

  This wasn’t the gentle kiss of before, or even the hungry one. Ennon was a warrior—the First Warlord of the plains—and he knew how to stake his claim. His teeth bit into her lip and his tongue stroked at hers until she moaned and squirmed.

  After several dizzying seconds, he dropped her to her knees on the soft grass. “Will you accept me, Kisri?”

  She was panting, and every breath she dragged in brought with it the heady scent of him, of leather and lion and sweat. He was so aroused that his erection strained his trousers, and a wicked urge seized her. So she leaned forward and nuzzled her cheek against the hard ridge of flesh. “If you can handle me.”

  Ennon wound his hands into her unbound hair and held her in place for just a heartbeat. “You like to tease.”

  “Yes,” she admitted readily. “How will you know where the boundaries lie if you never test them?”

  “Some of us simply know.” His fingers tightened. “I know how far I can push you. Where the line between pleasure and pain lies.”

  She had no explanation for the thrill she got from his hands tugging at her hair. Not rough, but not gentle, either. Caught somewhere between pleasure and pain, arousal twisted with a sharpness that drove a gasp from her.

  This was why she’d chosen him. “Show me,” she whispered. Pleaded. “I need release. I need you.”

  He let go of her and opened his pants. “Stay where you are, but turn around, Kisri, and I will. I’ll show you.”

  At first she couldn’t quite decipher what he wanted. Gossiping maids and illicit books had expanded her vocabulary and given her a rough idea of how sex worked, but the intricacies and variations were something of a mystery.

  She started to turn her back to him, thinking perhaps he might mean to forgo this endless teasing and take her body. But he hadn’t risen to his knees, or moved at all, beyond freeing his erection from the confines of his trousers.

  That sight all but wiped the memory of his instructions from her mind. His cock rose hard and thick, impressive enough to make her doubt her understanding of the practicalities of sex. Oddly, it didn’t diminish her longing—heat pooled between her legs as she wet her lips. “How do you wish me to be?”

  “I will let you choose, for it depends on what you want.” He closed his hand around his cock. “I can take you, let you ride me. Or we can pleasure one another with our mouths.”

  Turn around. He’d meant for her to position herself so he could use his mouth—and she could do the same.

  It was so appealing that she moved before she’d voiced a decision, sliding her leg across his chest. She sat up and glanced over her shoulder. “Like this?” she asked as she brushed her fingertips over the head of his erection.

  He tensed and groaned. “Like that, Kisri. Just like that.”

  Power thrilled through her at his reaction. Untutored and inexperienced she might be, but her slightest touch could make the second most powerful man in her world pant and shudder. Smiling, she turned and wiggled back a little, enough so she could bend over and tease his cock with a tiny lick.

  Oh yes, she would enjoy this
power a great deal.

  She had no idea that her position left her open to this touch. Ennon considered warning her, then shuddered again and slipped his fingers against her wet cunt.

  Her back arched, and a gasp feathered her breath over his erection. Strong legs squeezed his chest, like instinct was trying to force her thighs together. “Ennon…”

  “Our mouths on each other, Kisri.” He delved deeper. “This is what I meant. At the same time.”

  A pause. A shaky laugh. Her cheek pressed against his hip as she curled her fingers around his shaft. “I’d forgotten,” she admitted, easing her thumb up and down his length. “I was distracted.”

  “By me? I’m flattered.” He wrapped his free hand around her hip and drew her down, closer to his mouth.

  She shivered again, but her body rocked toward him. “You’re distracting. You’re…very large.”

  She sounded more worried than impressed. “You needn’t be alarmed. We can go slowly.”

  “Not alarmed.” Loose strands of her hair tickled his legs as she lifted her head again. “I trust you, Ennon,” she whispered. Then she closed her lips around his cock with a throaty moan.

  He tried to choke back his groan, but it was impossible with the sweet heat of her mouth on him. All he could do was take her with him, so he parted her slick flesh with his thumbs and licked her firmly.

  Her hips jerked, and he steadied her. Tiny, helpless moans hummed against his erection as she trembled, aroused so quickly she had to have been riding the edge all this time.

  Ennon gathered his self-control and pushed one finger inside her, testing her readiness.

  “Oh!” She dragged her lips from him and dropped her forehead to his thigh, as if she couldn’t hold her head up. The slick warmth of her clenched tight around his finger, and she moaned. “I—I don’t want to h-hurt you by mistake.”

  “You won’t.” He couldn’t keep the tension from his voice, and he stopped trying as he eased another finger into her tight channel. “Just let go.”

  In the next moment he felt her teeth, sharp against his hip as she bit him to muffle a keening cry. Her release was wild, as unrestrained as she and as unashamedly passionate. He didn’t want it to end, so he curved his fingers inside her and rocked his hand.

  “Ennon!” She was panting. Shaking. Another spasm shook her, and she raked her nails along his leg and whimpered. “I—I can’t… Oh goddess, it’s good.”

  He pressed his open mouth to her thigh. “Shall I stop?”

  “I don’t—” Her voice sank to a raspy whisper. “I need to catch my breath.”

  Ennon turned her, gathered her against his chest. “Are you all right?”

  As bold as she’d been before, now she seemed shy. She nuzzled her cheek against his chest and shivered. “I thought I knew what release felt like. My own…explorations were apparently insufficient.”

  “That sounded almost like a compliment, sweet.”

  “Almost?” She inched higher and brushed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “And here I thought it would please your ego to know you were the first one to show me pleasure.”

  It should have—but he’d already known her to be untouched. “Ah, but I also like the notion of you taking your own pleasure.”

  One small hand slipped down his body and came to rest at his hip, her fingers fanned wide. “I’d rather pleasure you.”

  She had no idea how his body tightened at the thought. “Not if you need time.”

  “I—” Her cheek warmed against his chest. With a soft noise she slipped away, sliding down his body until her unbound hair tickled his skin. “This, tonight,” she murmured, her breath skating over his aching erection. “Tomorrow, you can teach me something else.”

  If they weren’t careful, her magic would bind to his. If they weren’t— The thought dissolved as the flat of her tongue touched him, wet and eager. “Kisri.”

  She smiled, her satisfaction in his reaction evident. “You tasted me.” Another lick, this one firm. Demanding. “My turn.”

  Her mouth closed around him, and his entire body jerked as pleasure overwhelmed him. The sight of her bending over him, trembling with her eagerness, threatened to strip him of the little control he’d retained. “Deeper.”

  Inexperience made her awkward, but she obeyed, working deeper in tiny movements that grew more confident when he arched up and touched the back of her head.

  Ennon could have let her go on, but instead he tugged at her hair. “Kis—I’m going to come.”

  The noise she made was encouraging, so enthusiastic he could feel the vibrations in his bones. She gripped his hips and kept up her steady, determined pace until he had to dig his fingers into the grass so he wouldn’t push at her head. Take her mouth and find his release deep in her throat.

  When she began to pull back on an upstroke, almost releasing him, he let go. Pleasure sang through him, pulsing in time with his clamoring heart.

  Her touch gentled, became almost soothing until he sprawled on the grass, utterly spent. Then she prowled her way up his body and collapsed against his chest with a purring noise of contentment. “I can please you too.”

  Answering took far more effort than it should have. “Did you doubt that?”

  “Perhaps.”

  He swept her hair back and kissed her temple. “You shouldn’t have. You please me greatly.”

  A tiny sigh. “Now we have to run back to camp. Perhaps being chased is more fun in the moment than in the aftermath.”

  With her body on his, she was shielded from most of the chill. “We could rest here for just a little while.”

  Her cheek rubbed against his chest as she nodded. “Mmm.”

  Soon, she would drift into sleep, and he’d be left to carry her back to camp.

  Ennon relished the thought.

  Chapter Four

  Two days of travel and two nights in Ennon’s arms, and she was still a virgin.

  Well, mostly.

  Kisri stretched her arms over her head and laughed when one hand bumped a wall of solid muscle. Still sleeping, though not so soundly that he didn’t stir at her movement. “Good morning, Ennon.”

  He grunted and slipped an arm around her. “Kisri.”

  Sleeping in his arms was warmer than being curled in front of her hearth, and more comfortable too. She snuggled closer. “The sun has been up for hours. I think you must not have been getting enough sleep.”

  His laugh rumbled under her cheek. “There’s a reason to move?”

  Perhaps not. Hiding her smile, she stroked her fingers down his side. Amazing, how many burdens seemed lifted from her shoulders now. “I wouldn’t mind lingering.”

  “Nor would I.” He held her still as he stretched. “Now, see? We can sleep all day if we so desire.”

  Her cousin would believe easily enough that she hadn’t had the stamina for a hard run. “Is that what you want to do? Sleep?”

  He rolled her suddenly—and with a wicked grin. “There may be other things we desire.”

  “Many things.” Intriguing, illicit things that she couldn’t help but imagine with his unyielding body pressing her down into the bedroll. It was a pity her nervousness lingered. “You don’t mind that we haven’t done all of them yet, do you?”

  Ennon laughed low in his throat. “We’ve done our fair share, and then some. No, I don’t mind at all.”

  Was she blushing? Her cheeks felt warm, but so did the rest of her, as if his presence burned hotter than the sun. “I don’t know if I should be embarrassed at how little I know or relieved at how much you do.”

  “Or, as a third option, you could refrain from worrying quite so much about it.”

  Wrinkling her nose, she lifted her head just enough to nip at his chin. “I suppose men don’t worry so much about their first times.”

  “Mmm, only if they cannot seem to make it happen, no matter how hard they try.”

  “Somehow I doubt you suffered any such concerns.”

  He groaned
and rolled away. “Surely you don’t want to discuss the idiocies of my misspent youth.”

  She certainly did not, for so many reasons, not the least of which was the tickle of inappropriate jealousy at knowing how many women had felt the touch of his hands, or the pleasure of his mouth. Still, the words had tumbled out, because talking filled a need that touching him didn’t—comfort of an entirely different sort.

  Not the sort of intimacy he’d agreed to, though. He might risk her cousin’s rage if the reward was a few extra days between her thighs. But idle chatter? What could she possibly have to say that would interest a warlord? “I’m sorry.”

  Ennon sat up with a lazy stretch. “Sorry? Whatever for?”

  Staring at his back was less intimidating than being forced to meet his too-knowing gaze, at least. “I must seem like I don’t know what I want.”

  He found her hand as he turned and looked down at her. “You seem like a lioness on the verge of discovering what she wants.”

  “If I hadn’t been born to the family of the High Lord, I might already know.”

  He agreed readily. “Yes. I’ve never met a more protective man than your cousin.”

  “He has more resources at his disposal than most.” And he used them ruthlessly. Ennon’s mere presence was a testament to that—how many women would have been given the most dangerous soldier on the plains as a personal escort?

  He lifted her hand to his mouth. “Are you worried about what he might think?”

  “No.” She managed a smile. “Are you?”

  “Not for a heartbeat.”

  With that reassurance, Kisri rocked to her knees. “Run with me? Not to get somewhere. Just…to run.”

  His eyes clouded. “We could pull up camp and go.”

  “Do you want to?”

  “Not particularly, though my reasons are far from honorable.”

  Relieved, Kisri smiled. “Can we take another day or two to be dishonorable, then?”

  Ennon trailed his fingers up her arm, over her shoulder to the back of her neck. “The important thing is that you’re safe, yes?”

  “Yes.” Or maybe the important thing was the way she felt when he touched her. Not so wild as the first night, when nerves had turned her inside out. The warm promise of true pleasure grew inside her, now that she knew what it felt like. How release could shake through her and bring bliss.