Page 98 of The Queen and the Half-blood
Moving around the edge of the trestle table, she approached her husband, stopping when they were a couple of feet apart. Alar turned to face her, panic in his eyes now.
Heat rolled over Lara. “Don’t you want me … is that it?” Something inside her cringed then. He hadn’t touched her since their handfasting. She’d told herself he was holding back out of respect, but she might have completely misread him.
“Of course, I want you.” His voice was tight. Choked.
Relief slammed into Lara, making her lightheaded, reckless. She reached out and placed the palm of her hand on his chest. His heart was racing. “What then?”
His gaze burned into hers. “I told you … I’mnota good man.”
“I don’t care.”
His mouth twisted. “You should.”
Lara stepped closer still, breathing in the fresh scent of his skin. Dizziness swept over her once more. “If I’m to take back The Uplands and then deal with my overkings, I need a ruthless husband at my side.” She paused then, her fingertips digging into his leather vest. “The innocent, sheltered lass I was once nolonger exists. And it’s just as well, for she wouldn’t survive the coming war.”
Alar stared down at her. His chest rose and fell sharply now, and the rawness in his eyes made her lower belly clench.
“You don’t know what you’re asking,” he whispered, a plea in his voice.
“I do.”
He breathed another curse. And then, a heartbeat later, his mouth slanted over hers. It was a fierce embrace, bruising, yet she welcomed it. For too long, they’d danced around each other. They both needed to stop fighting this.
They kissed wildly. Lara clung to him with a desperation that shocked her. Shecravedhim. Likewise, he didn’t hold back. His arms fastened around her, and he hauled her up against the long, hard length of his body.
And then, as the kiss deepened, he bent her back over his arm. The sensual stroke and plunge of his tongue made dizziness sweep over her. She responded eagerly, drowning in the taste of him: the rasp of his shaven chin against her skin, the graze of his teeth, and the heat of his mouth.
Gods, she’d never recover from this kiss.
It drew out, hot and hungry, and then his free hand slid up from her hip, over her belly and ribs, to where her breasts strained toward him through the woolen tunic she’d donned after bathing. His palm grazed them, and then his fingertips teased her nipples into hard, aching peaks.
And all the while, his mouth continued to feast on hers.
Lara writhed against him, the sensitive flesh between her thighs throbbing. This teasing was driving her mad. “More,” she gasped. Aye, she did want more. She wanted him, naked, in the furs.
He made a sound low in his throat—something halfway between a growl and a moan—and then pulled her upright. Amoment later, he bent down, grabbed the hem of her woolen tunic and the long linen shift she wore under it, and yanked them up, undressing her in one smooth movement.
His scalding mouth was on her breasts then, his hands pushing the twin mounds together as he drew each engorged nipple in, rolling it between his tongue and teeth.
Lara gasped and then whimpered. Her hands tangled through his long, damp hair, encouraging his delicious torture.
He released her then, and she cried out in disappointment.
Cursing, he swept his hand over the table beside them, sending wooden cups and trenchers flying. Before she had time to recover from her surprise, he moved her sideways and pushed her onto its now clear surface.
And then, he spread her trembling thighs wide, lowered himself to his knees on the furs, and gazed at her.
Heat rolled over Lara.
He’d looked at her like this before; even so, the intimacy of it still shocked her.
And then he leaned in.
The feel of his mouth on her sex, the hot flick of his tongue, and the pressure of his lips made her buck against him, excitement churning in the pit of her stomach. She couldn’t believe he was tasting her there, or that she liked it this much. But he was, and she did.
Goosebumps pebbled her skin, even as she started to sweat. Moments later, her legs began to shake and jerk. Growling something inaudible, Alar pleasured her even more hungrily now, his tongue spearing into her repeatedly, making her arch toward him.
But when he fastened upon the nub of aching flesh nestled in the petals of her sex—and he began to suck it like he had her nipples—she went wild.
