She had found the right man—the one her body wanted, the one her internal voice assured her was perfect just for her—but Bard didn’t seem to want her in return.
Why, oh why didn’t he want her?
21
I knew I shouldn’t have agreed to sleep in the same bed with her, Bard thought, feeling guilty as he pushed the little female away. But he hadn’t wanted her to start having nightmares again. So after petting Tiny to reassure him and giving him an extra portion of chewy meat sticks to keep the big animal busy, he had put on his sleep trousers and gone into the spare room with Makenna.
He had told himself they were just going to sleep beside each other but after a lot of twisting and turning on her part, she had taken off the nice new nightgown he’d bought her to wear and then plastered her soft, naked body right against his bare side.
Of course his traitorous cock rose to the occasion at once, the minute the soft mounds of her breasts and her wet little pussy rubbed against him. But Bard told himself he was having none of it. He’d already gone much farther than he should have with Makenna—he wasn’t going a single step further. So he pushed her away and tried to get back to sleep.
A minute later, he heard her crying.
Oh Gods, what now?
A female’s tears had always been his weakness, he had to admit. He hated to see a female upset or in pain. Like all Kindred warriors, he had the innate need to heal and protect so he couldn’t just ignore her tears.
“Come on now, baby girl,” he murmured, turning towards her and placing one hand tentatively on her shaking shoulders. “Please don’t cry. We can’t do…whatever it was you were wanting to do. It’s not right.”
His touch brought her to him and he shortly had an armful of soft, naked girl rubbing against him once more.
“Bard, please,” she begged, her thick lashes wet with tears. “Please.”
“Please, what, baby girl? We can’t do this!” he exclaimed, trying to push her from him again.
Makenna clung to him, refusing to be removed this time. In the dim light, her eyes looked almost wild.
“Bard, please!” she repeated again. “Please, Makenna needs…needs…” She shook her head, clearly frustrated with her attempts to communicate.
“What do you need, baby girl?” Bard asked, frowning. The scent of her heat was strong and needy, just as it had been the first night when she’d pushed his hand between her legs and her nipple between his lips. What was going on with her?
“Makenna hurts,” she whispered at last and nodded down between her legs.
“Oh, you’re still hurting?” Bard was surprised. “I thought I’d healed you.”
“Healed but still hurting,” she replied, swiping at her tears. “Please, can’t Bard heal Makenna again? Please?”
Bard knew he shouldn’t do it—hadn’t he promised he was only going to do it once? But if she was still hurting…well, what choice did he have?
He slipped one hand between her legs and found that she was as hot as a fucking furnace and wet as a waterfall. Clearly she was in some kind of need, whether it was from the damage the spreader had done to her or for some other reason.
“You want me to lick your soft little pussy again?” he asked, raising his eyebrows at her.
Makenna bit her lower lip.
“Bard heals Makenna another way?” she asked hopefully.
“What other way?” Bard asked, frowning.
Reaching down between his legs, she grasped his already half-hard cock through the silky material of his sleep trousers.
“Bard heals Makenna with this?” she asked, sliding her hand up and down his now-aching shaft.
Bard groaned. Pulling her little hand away from his shaft was one of the hardest things he’d ever done, but somehow he managed it.
“No, baby girl,” he said firmly. “I’ll lick your soft little pussy for as long as you need me to but I am not ‘healing’ you with my shaft.”
Makenna looked disappointed but it was clear if she couldn’t have exactly what she wanted, she was willing to take the other option.
“O-kay then, Bard,” she said, nodding. “Bard not putting his shaft in Makenna’s pussy, Bard putting his tongue inside her instead.”
He shifted his hips, his cock throbbing at her soft, matter-of-fact way of describing what they were about to do.
“That’s right, baby girl,” he said hoarsely. “Bard’s gonna put his tongue deep in that soft little pussy of yours again.”
“Now?” Makenna suggested hopefully. Reaching up she tangled her fingers in his hair and gave a little tug, as though urging him down. “Please?”
“Yeah, baby girl—but let’s switch it up a little bit,” Bard told her.
Reaching over, he lifted her easily and positioned her so that she was straddling his face, with her knees on the pillow on either side of him.