Bride of Ice (The Warrior Daughters of Rivenloch #2) - Glynnis Campbell Page 0,74

bleak hurt in her eyes, he knew he couldn’t simply abandon her. There was but one thing to do to convince her of his devotion. He had to finish what he’d started, one way or the other.

He had to act swiftly, before her desire could wane. He emerged from the bath like Lir, the sea god, dripping as he caught her under the arms and lifted her to her feet. Stepping from the tub, he swept her onto the bed.

She made no protest. Indeed, her gaze burned even brighter with craving as he laid her on her back atop the linens. For a moment, he could only stare down at her in wonder.

How had this happened? How had he won the hand of the beautiful Valkyrie? Did he even deserve such an amazing reward?

Now was not the time for second thoughts. She was aching. And he knew how to ease her.

“Close your eyes,” he murmured.

“I’m not afraid,” she protested.

He smiled. “Nor should ye be.”

He eased himself onto the bed beside her. Lying on his side, he used the tip of his finger to trace a line down her center, from the top of her brow, between her closed eyes, down her nose, over her lips, which parted at his touch.

Before he was through, those lips would sigh with delight, beg him for mercy, and cry out in ecstasy. Soon they would recite wedding vows. And he hoped one day they would utter words of love from her heart.

He continued on his journey, tracing her chin and her throat, where her heart throbbed in anticipation, sinking into the hollow of her collar bone, smoothing the silky flesh between her breasts.

The pounding need in his groin was only growing worse. And he would find no ease from her today. But it was a small price to pay to earn her trust.

His fingertip grazed her abdomen, circling her navel, and slipped into the golden curls guarding her womanhood.

She arched up to meet him, and he pressed the heel of his hand down, eliciting a soft moan of pleasure from her.

She stiffened when he threw his leg over her thighs, anchoring her to the bed. But once he began ministering to the throbbing ache betwixt her legs, she relaxed back on the feather-filled pallet.

Watching her face as he tenderly stroked her delicate flesh was almost more than he could bear. Her eyes squeezed shut with fierce need. Her mouth opened in breathless awe. She rocked her head as she floated in a world where suffering was a hair’s breadth away from satisfaction.

Furrowing his brow with his own torment, he swooped down upon her, capturing her rough gasps and lovely sighs in his mouth.

He knew the moment she began her ascent into the heavenly realm of surrender, when she’d reached the point of no return.

Her focus became so centered, she was no longer able to return his kisses. Her fists clenched the linens. Her breath caught in shallow gasps. Her body went rigid.

He watched her with awe as she finally yielded to her passions. He felt her release almost as if it were his own as, with a ragged cry of ecstasy, she arced in a blissful seizure and finally shuddered back to earth.

For a brief moment afterward, he held her in his arms, soothing her with soft murmurs, despite the white hot lust yet raging in his loins.

And then, just when he was convinced she was a beautiful angel, fallen out of the sky and left for him as a gift from God, she perpetrated a most devilish deed.

Chapter 26

Once, in a tournament melee long ago, in the midst of triumphant battle, Hallie had taken an unexpected blow to the helm. A blow that left her sitting on her arse, groggy and disoriented.

That was how she felt now. After a thrilling moment of unbridled joy and glowing satisfaction, now, in the dazed aftermath of her earthshaking release, she felt weak. Spent. Useless.

Colban had guided her on a remarkable journey—climbing up and cresting a great mountain, soaring blissfully across the sky, and finally plunging off a cliff of ecstasy.

Yet even in her dizzy state, she could sense the dramatic trek had changed her. It had forged her into a new weapon. A weapon that was stronger. More determined. And more willful.

Once she was rejuvenated and empowered, she felt it was only right to return his lusty overtures. To prove to him she could give as good as she got. But also to seek sweet revenge