and expression on her face made Caid laugh. Keeley always made him laugh. Always made him . . . comfortable. There weren’t many who did. He did fine around his family but strangers bothered him. He hated chatting. Hated idiotic conversations about nothing, but not as much as he hated conversations about what some random being thought was important. Honestly, Caid was most happy when he was by himself, in an open field with horses. Not centaurs, but actual horses, because they didn’t bore him with constant conversation either.
Keeley was the only being he could think of whose conversation didn’t make him homicidal. Even when she was panicking, pacing and prattling on, he didn’t want to get away from her. Instead, he wanted to help. To calm her down. Even if calming her down meant letting her prattle on and on until she’d worn herself out.
It was a price he was willing to pay. For her.
Keeley finished examining his kilt, released it, and put her hands in her lap. She looked at him then.
“What?” she asked when she saw his face.
He didn’t know what to say to her. Didn’t even know how to begin. So he said nothing. Silence had always been his friend; he’d assume the same thing now. It was safer.
Safer to keep his mouth shut. Safer not to say what he was thinking and feeling. Safer not to push too hard and lose everything.
But he should have remembered . . . Keeley never played it safe. She never did anything that anyone expected. That’s what would make her such a powerful queen one day.
One moment she was gazing at him, and the next . . .
Her lips touched his. Soft. Gentle. Hesitant. No doubt she hadn’t forgotten his earlier reaction to an innocent request. She was probably worried he’d push her away this time too; assume she was just another human female wanting to “try out” a centaur. But he knew now that wasn’t Keeley. She didn’t see any being as something that was simply for her own entertainment. An object to be used. If Keeley was kissing him, it was because she truly desired him. Caid.
Wanting to show her that the interest was mutual, he slid a hand behind her neck. Tugged her in closer; pressed his lips harder.
It happened all at once then. Their mutual desire exploded. It was all so fluid, Caid didn’t even know when it happened. Sitting next to each other; calmly chatting. Then they were on their knees and facing each other. Hands on each other. Caid with his hands dug into Keeley’s hair; Keeley with her hands on his shoulders and neck.
They seemed to open their mouths at the same time and their tongues touched, played. Their breaths mingled and Keeley groaned. Caid felt it as much as heard it. It went up his spine, spread to his shoulders, down his arms, and out his fingertips.
Keeley abruptly pulled out of their kiss.
“What?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She looked to her left. “Go,” she ordered . . . the air? Who was she talking to?
Then he saw them. They appeared from behind the other trees that surrounded them, their flame eyes watching Keeley and Caid. As they all trotted off, the leader moved the slowest, his glare for Caid and Caid alone.
Once the wolves had left them, Keeley leaned back and pulled her chainmail shirt up and over her head, tossing it aside. Caid did the same and once he cleared his chainmail away from his face, he saw that Keeley already had her breast bindings off.
She leaned in again, sliding her arms around his neck. Caid gripped her waist, pulled her in close so her breasts were flush against his chest. They kissed again, this time even more urgently.
Knowing that Keeley wanted him as much as he wanted her made Caid unbelievably hard, his cock pressing against her, the kilt barely keeping them apart.
He moved in closer and they somehow slipped, Keeley falling back; Caid going with her. When they landed, they were both laughing, but they still held each other tight. In fact, the laughter only made it better. More relaxed. More perfect, if that were possible.
“We need to get you a kilt,” Caid complained as he tried to pull down her leggings with one hand while still holding her with the other. “This is taking too long.”
Keeley silently agreed by moving his hand away and pulling her legs into her chest. She lifted her hips and brought the