woke. Thirst. Turning, he grabbed the nearest mug off the tray and raised it to his mouth. It was the ale, so he gulped a good amount of it down, and released a little sigh as he set the mug back.
He turned to peer at Evina again. She was quite lovely in sleep, Conran noted. Her stubborn little chin was more relaxed, and there was no sign of anger, impatience or fear shadowing her features. Although a lot of that had eased from her expression this last week since he’d started his wooing anyway. It hadn’t completely left her though. There had still been a hint of wariness about her and the occasional troubled look that had made him suspect she hadn’t quite resigned herself to marrying him.
Although, in truth, Conran didn’t want her resigned to the fact that she had to marry him. The more he got to know her, the more he found he actually wanted to marry Evina, and the more he wanted her to want to marry him. She fired his blood. The few lessons he’d managed regarding the bedding had left him aching and wanting, and he was eager to progress to the actual joining. He knew without a doubt that it would be good this time and that their marriage bed could be a place of pleasure.
But it was more than that. Conran actually liked the woman. He’d enjoyed the talks they’d had while playing games here in her room as she healed, and he’d come to admire her. She was smart, and brave, with a quirky sense of humor that he appreciated, and Conran had quickly concluded that they would deal well together once he got her past the fear of the marriage bed that their first time had created. It had quickly become clear to him that Evina threw herself into everything she did with passion and pleasure. That was part of the reason their first time in the clearing had been such a debacle. She’d been uninhibited, and responded eagerly to him, and he’d assumed that was a result of her experience rather than her nature and gone too quickly. But that passion and eagerness would serve them well in the marriage bed once he proved to her that the pain she’d experienced was just the breaching, a one-time thing. He felt sure her resistance and wariness regarding their marrying would fall away once he showed her that the joining could be as pleasurable as the other lessons he’d taught her.
Conran glanced to the mead Alick had put on the tray and back to Evina, debating whether to wake her with kisses and caresses and seduce her, or to just wake her to eat and drink, and then try to seduce her. The latter option was probably what he should do, he thought, but it would give her a chance to raise her guards again and she looked so soft and open in sleep . . .
Evina sighed sleepily and turned onto her back, her body stretching under the caressing hand moving along her side and down her hip. At first, she thought she was still asleep and dreaming, but then that hand moved back up her body to tug her gown and tunic off one shoulder and down her arm, baring her uninjured breast. When a hand then closed over what had been revealed, the last of sleep’s grip slipped away and Evina opened her eyes on a small gasp, her body instinctively arching upward into the caress.
“Ye’re so damned beautiful.”
She blinked at those softly whispered words and focused on Conran. He was seated next to her on the bed, clad in only his shirt, she noted, and it seemed the most natural thing in the world that he should be. At least her body seemed to think so as it hummed under his attention.
“Are ye thirsty?” he asked softly.
Evina met his gaze, but hesitated to answer. His fingers had found and begun to pluck at her hardening nipple and it was causing complete chaos in her body. Partially a result of the excitement he was stirring, and partly in anticipation of the wild pleasure she knew could follow if this continued. Unfortunately, now that he’d mentioned it, Evina realized she was absolutely parched and, after a moment, she reluctantly nodded.
As she’d feared, Conran immediately stopped his caressing. His hand slid away and then under her shoulder to ease her upright as he quickly rearranged both pillows on the bed