not awaiting his answer-'twas needless after all-she slowly got to her feet and then backed away a pace so that the warmth from the fire flickered over her skin.

hiding her smile, she turned until her back was presented to him and then she began untying the sash at her waist. she glanced over her shoulder to find him watching her with avid fascination.

"i have need of your help, husband."

his hands shook against her nape as he unfastened her dress. when he'd undone enough that she could step from the folds of the material, she let it fall to the floor so that she stood in only her undergown.

turning so that she faced him once more, she reached up and threaded her fingers underneath the straps over her shoulders. then she hesitated before pulling ever so slowly until they eased over her shoulders and down her arms.

the neckline caught at her breasts but with a gentle tug, it slid over her nipples and fell into a pool at her feet.

"now shall i attend you, husband?"

"oh aye, wife. aye, indeed."

she slid to her knees in front of him, her hands gliding down the sides of his legs. she memorized every swell, the bulge of his muscles, the uneven puckers of scars, new and old.

then she tilted her head back and stared up at him. "show me what pleases you."

"god's teeth, but you're beautiful, lass. your eyes shine like a thousand sunsets. and your mouth, so perfectly formed. i cannot wait another moment to feel such sweetness around my flesh."

he grasped his straining erection with one hand and cupped her nape with his other before guiding himself toward her mouth. such intimacy shocked her, though it shouldn't. after all, he'd loved her thoroughly with his own lips and tongue until she'd been senseless with pleasure.

the idea that she could make him just as insensible thrilled her. she licked over her lips in a nervous gesture just as the tip of his cock brushed against her mouth.

"open for me, lass. take me inside your heat."

his husky drawl drifted over her, bringing her body alive with the images his request invoked. she was alternately nervous and excited. and restless. she wanted to rub her body against his and purr her satisfaction like a cat being stroked.

she parted her lips and tentatively took him on her tongue. his fingers rubbed impatiently at her nape and then threaded upward into her hair.

growing bolder and more confident in his reaction, she slid her lips farther up the base, taking more of him into her mouth. 'twas a sensation like she'd never imagined. she shook from head to toe, her body tight and aching with need.

letting her instincts guide her, she began to suck lightly, using her tongue to further torment him. his taste was wholly masculine and a hint of musk danced through her nostrils.

the sound that came from his throat was one of agony. his hand tightened in her hair and he moved his other hand from his cock and cupped her face as he slid deeper into her mouth.

"i've never known such fire and sweetness," he said behind clenched teeth. "you are a temptress, wife. 'tis the truth you kneel at my feet, but 'tis i who am for all practical purposes at yours."

his words brought her feminine power roaring to life. she'd always considered that embracing her womanhood somehow made her weak, but 'twas the truth, she'd never felt more powerful than at this moment.

here was this man, a fierce warrior, and he was completely and utterly at her mercy. she held his pleasure, his pain, his satisfaction in her very hands.

she curled her fingers around the base of his manhood and followed the path of her mouth, up and down, exerting pressure as she served him with her lips and tongue.

he dragged both hands over her head, clenching and unclenching as if he were in unspeakable agony. his face was drawn into harsh lines and his head thrown back, eyes closed as he thrust his hips forward.

she sucked to the tip and pulled his erection away before leaning in to press her lips and tongue to the plump vein on the underside. she licked a sensual trail from base to tip before sucking the head back into her mouth.

warm liquid seeped onto her tongue as his harsh groan split the air.

"you're going to be the death of me, wife. cease this torture, for i cannot take any more."

"i know not what you speak of, husband," she said innocently. " 'tis for you to show me the way of things."

he reached down, grasped her arms, and dragged her up his body. he found her mouth in a heated, impatient rush. breathless. raw. bone-melting and shiver-inducing.

she wrapped her arms around his neck and returned his kiss with a fervor equal to his own.

he turned and carried her to the bed, his mouth never leaving hers. " 'tis what i like most about you, lass. you give no quarter in loving. you're so passionate and wild in your responses."

she landed with a thump and he came down over her, his body pressing urgently to hers.

"and here i thought 'twas my submissive side you liked so well," she teased.

" 'tis the entire package. you can be so devilishly coy and yet so sweetly innocent that you make me daft with wanting."

he kissed her neck, sucking wetly at her pulse before nibbling a path to her ear.

"you're an unselfish lass. willing to do much to please me. i've never had a woman willing to put my pleasure before hers."

she thumped him on the chest and scowled. "now 'tis not the time to speak of other women. even if i compare more favorably."

he chuckled and lowered his mouth to her breast. 'twas her turn to groan as he sucked at one nipple. he teased it over and over, sucking and nipping, alternating until she writhed beneath him and begged him to cease his torment.

"i've considered the next way you may please me, wife."

she regarded him suspiciously.

he toyed with her breasts, touching the plump swells and then tracing lines around her nipples.

"you have beautiful breasts. so very beautiful. i wager they're the most perfect breasts i've ever seen."

"again with the comparisons," she growled. " 'twould seem you're destined to bring harm to that portion of your anatomy you love so."

he grinned and then rolled, bringing her atop him. she sprawled rather indelicately across his body, her hair spilling over his chest.

"i am trying to pay homage to your beauty."

"perhaps you could just say i am beautiful and that my breasts are incomparable and that my face is worthy of a bard's poem. no need to bring other women into it."

"you are beautiful. your breasts are incomparable. truly, truly incomparable ..."

she thumped him on the chest and broke into laughter. "enough. now tell me this way you mentioned to please you."

" 'tis a simple enough thing," he murmured as he curled his fingers around her hips. he lifted and positioned her so that his erection was tucked against her opening. her eyes went wide as she caught on to his intention. "you simply ease down ... here ..." he breathed as he slid inside her. "and then you ride me."

she braced her palms on his shoulders, her entire body rigid as she adjusted to the unfamiliar position.

"surely such a thing is not done," she whispered as she stared down into his eyes that were cloudy with pleasure.

"i care not if such a thing is not done. 'tis done here."

"some might consider me a wanton for indulging in such activities," she said primly.

he groaned and closed his eyes when she clenched down on his cock. "i care not what others think. only what i think. and what i think is that you astride me is the most desirable thing i've ever encountered in my life."

"oh very good," she murmured as she leaned forward. "see? you didn't ruin it by saying that me astride you was better than the other women you've had astride you."

his body shook with laughter and he wrapped his arms around her to pull her down to his chest. " 'tis an easy omission since you're the only lass to ever have me between her knees thus."

"then i must make the experience a memorable one."

"aye, indeed. by all means."

"i mean to have you insensible," she warned as she took his mouth with hers. she kissed him, tangling her tongue wetly with his.

"lass, if you make me any more insensible, i'll be a blithering idiot."

mimicking his earlier attentions, she grazed his neck with her teeth and kissed her way up to his ear. he went even more rigid inside her, stretching her until she was unbearably tight around him. such delicious friction. she moved the tiniest bit and they both let out sighs as she tugged relentlessly at his length.

his arms felt so strong around her. she felt safe. protected. cherished even. 'twas a wondrous sensation. one she didn't want to end.

astride her warrior, she didn't feel small and insignificant. the look in his eyes, the tight coiling of his body told her that he enjoyed her wanton seduction. and in this moment, 'twas all she desired. to please him and make him want her more than he'd ever wanted another woman.

if she had her way, he'd never even consider another female. forgotten would be the one he used to love, the one who had betrayed him. rionna would prove to caelen that she was fierce and loyal and that she'd never waver.

he would love her. it was a vow she made herself.

she would give him every reason to love her. she would fight beside him to make their clan strong, but she'd also be a proper wife, as proper a wife as she knew how to be in the privacy of their chambers. she'd even temper her demeanor outside the bedroom, if 'twas a more submissive wife he wanted.

"how close are you to your woman's pleasure, wife?"

" 'tis not important," she whispered against his mouth. " 'tis your pleasure that is important this night."

"your pleasure is my pleasure," he murmured back.

oh, but the man knew exactly how to pierce a woman's heart.

"then 'tis not long i think. 'tis the truth each time i move i feel as though i'm going to tumble down a steep mountain."

"then let go, lass, because i already have one foot over that peak."

she fused her mouth to his as his arms tightened around her. she rocked forward and then back, moaning into his mouth as bliss flooded her veins, warm and whispering to her of deeper, darker pleasures to be had.

he gripped her hips, and his fingers dug into her buttocks. she was sure she'd wear his marks tomorrow, and it only heightened her excitement.

he took over, pulling her downward as he bucked upward into her body. hot and slick. the sharp slap of flesh meeting flesh echoed through the chamber. their low sighs and moans rose erotically and danced in time with the flames from the fire.

he slammed her back down and held her tightly, so tightly she felt stretched in places he'd never reached before. his large hand splayed over the swell of her behind and he squeezed and caressed, his touch firm and possessive.

unable to keep still, she bucked and writhed over him, squirming, undulating until she knew not what she did.

when she finally regained awareness, she was sprawled limply over her husband's chest, her hair covering her face as he ran one hand idly up and down her back in a soothing, caressing motion.

they were still tightly joined. indeed, he was still hard within her, even though the sticky feel between them told her that he'd found his release as well.

he kissed the top of her head and gently smoothed the hair from her face. "i find i like this submissive side of you, wife. 'tis pleasing when you obey my every command."

she snorted at the amusement in his voice, but she was too sated and tired to move a muscle.

"and you make a fine pillow, husband. i plan to sleep here tonight."

his hold tightened around her and his cock pulsed once again deep inside her.

" 'tis a good thing, because i have no plans for you to move."

chapter 21

rionna woke to hands at her hips and a rigid cock sliding deep into her sheath. she gasped and came more fully awake, blinking as pleasure sizzled through her body.

she was belly down on the bed, face turned sideways with her legs over the side. her behind was perched high in the air, held up by his firm grip.

caelen stood behind her, mounted over her, tucked deep inside her body. he uttered not a single word as he pushed into her again and again.

his silent intensity only spurred her excitement to greater heights. he was firm, unyielding. the thoughtful, careful lover of before had been replaced by a fierce warrior intent on slaking his own desire.

her release, when it came, shocked her. it happened so fast, and was so sharp, it took her breath away, leaving her panting and sagging against the bed.

still, he hauled her up higher, supporting her as he continued to drive into her, over and over. pleasure stirred within her once more, rising and tightening her body all over again.