Her breath caught in anticipation. She could think of nothing more thrilling than being alone with this man. Except celebrating with him. Reece helped her mount the horse sideways, which left her feeling very unbalanced. He then climbed up behind her and wrapped his arms around her as he took up the reins. She snuggled against his well-muscled chest, suddenly feeling secure. And loved. The still-gathered spectators cheered as Eleanor and Reginald rode out the gate.
Lady Eleanor looked up at Reginald. Breathless with happiness, she wrapped her arms around his neck and rubbed her cheek against his face. “Are we really to be married, Reg?” she asked.
“I told you the first time I met you that I would marry you someday.”
“Reg, you were six years old!”
“True, but I was in love with you even then.”
She kissed him, thinking of the wonderful things he had done to her body the night before and wondering if it was too soon to ask him make love to her again. Maybe she could wait until their wedding night. Maybe.
Chapter 12
Reece drew the horse to a halt when they reached a small stream. He helped Lara slide to the ground before dismounting. Pulling the banner with his family’s crest from the horse’s rump, he spread it on the ground before reaching into the saddlebag and drawing out a flask of wine. Lara sat on the banner and waited for Reece to join her. Had he always been this irresistibly handsome, or did it have something to do with the valor he’d displayed during the tournament? Just looking at him made her mouth water. Maybe it was because he was all sweaty. As he became when he made love to her.
Reece stretched out next to her on his side and propped his head up on the hand of his bent arm. He took a swig from the flask before passing it to her. She pressed it to her lips, strangely aware that his had just touched it. Very middle school of her to think of it as an indirect kiss, but she couldn’t help it. The wine was warm, but sweet. She savored it on her tongue before swallowing.
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
She was hungry. For Reece. And not indirect kisses.
“Not for food,” she murmured.
She shifted closer to him, bent her head, and brushed her lips against his tenderly. When she drew away, his eyes were closed. He seemed to savor her kiss as she had the wine.
“How’s your shoulder?” she asked. “Asshat hit you really hard with that lance.”
“I’m sure it will be bruised,” he said, fingering the area, “but the armor absorbed the blunt of the blow.”
“That’s good,” she murmured. She leaned forward again and, anticipating her kiss, his eyes drifted closed. She loved him like this—all calm and dreamy. Yeah, loved him. She smiled before she kissed him again, prolonging the gentle brush of her lips against his. When her tongue tentatively stroked his upper lip, he groaned and reached for her, drawing her against him. Her hair curtained them to any creature who happened to witness the sweet kisses they shared.
She drew away again and they stared into each other’s eyes. After a moment, he lifted a hand to touch her cheek. “Have I told you how beautiful you are today?”
“Something about ravishing.” She lifted her hand and rested it against his breastbone, loving the feel of his heartbeat beneath her fingertips. She flattened her hand and stroked her way up to his neck, her fingers finding the strands of his hair, still sweat-damp from his exertions in the arena. She wondered why she found his musky scent enticing. Shouldn’t a sweaty male be offensive? But he wasn’t. She wanted to lick him from head to toe.
He grinned at her. “Are you surprised?”
“About what?”
“That you really can fall for someone like me?”
“First of all, what makes you think I’m falling for you?”
“I remember the first time you looked at me like that,” he whispered, and ran the tip of his nose along the side of her neck. “I’ll never tire of it.”
“What look?”
“The one where you’re the predator and I’m the prey.”
“Shouldn’t prey be a little more afraid of his predator?”
“I like it,” he whispered into her ear before planting a suckling kiss on her neck just beneath her earlobe.
She tensed, a spasm of desire catching her off guard.
“And why is it so hard to believe I could fall for someone like you?” she pressed. “Is there something you aren’t telling me? Are you married with three kids or something?”
His lips paused in their delectable exploration of her throat. He seemed about to tell her something. “Nothing like that,” he said. His hand moved to her side where he stroked up and down with slow, gentle motions.
“Then what?”
“We’re different, that’s all. Reserved intellectual meets impulsive troublemaker.”
“I wouldn’t call you reserved,” she murmured.
He chuckled, his breath teasing her throat. “I’m going to make love to your ear now.”
He traced the edge of her ear with his nose from lobe to apex, while blowing a gentle, warm breath up the skin just behind. Lara shuddered, urging him closer with the hand she had tangled in his hair. His tongue followed the reverse path his nose had taken. When he reached her earlobe, he drew it into his mouth, sucking vigorously before raking his teeth over the sensitive flesh. A moan rose to the back of her throat. He nibbled his way up the edge of her ear again, and tested her responsiveness by moving his hand to her breast. While she was distracted by that new sensation, he plunged his tongue into her ear. She cried out, surprised by how good he could make her feel just by being attentive to her ear.
He drew away and looked down at her. “If you keep making those sort of sounds, you’re going to give me the wrong idea.”
“What kind of idea did you have in mind?”
“I’m going to think you want me to make love to you.”
“What’s wrong with that idea?”
His stunned look made her chuckle.
“Well, perhaps not the whole enchilada,” she conceded. “Reg and Eleanor should probably save something for the honeymoon.”
“Half the enchilada?” He grinned, raising his eyebrows.
“I was thinking more like second base,” she teased.
“Second base I can do.”
“Aren’t you already on second base?”
He glanced down at his hand resting gently on her clothed breast. “I think I can do better than this.”
She chuckled. “I hope so.”
“Will you allow me free access to everything from the waist up?”
She bit her lip as if considering his proposal. “I suppose. What do I get access to?”
“You have an all access pass to every inch of me, baby.”
Her sly grin drew a look of concern from him. “Every inch?”
“Why do I think you’re going to make me regret that statement?” he said.
“Oh, I don’t think you’ll regret it,” she murmured, shifting to cover his mouth with hers.
He moved to his back and she tumbled on top of him. His hands shifted to her lower back, pressing her closer as she kissed him heatedly. When his hands drifted further south and covered her over-clothed buttocks, she drew away to look down at him.
“Last time I checked, that was below my waist,” she teased. “Have you already forgotten your access is limited?”
“Sorry, I have a terrible sense of direction,” he murmured but trailed his hands up her back to her shoulders. His wince of pain had her instantly concerned.
“Are you really okay?” she asked.
“Shoulder’s a little stiff,” he admitted. “It hurts when I raise my arm too high. Nothing that won’t heal.”
She sat up, straddling his hips. Unfortunately, there was a minimum of fifteen yards of cloth separating their flesh. Her fingers moved to the buttons of his shirt, releasing them one by one, exposing his skin an inch at a time. Once she had the buttons unfastened, she brushed the fabric aside, loving the feel of his har
d muscles and crisp, chest hair beneath her palms. She cringed at the ugly bruise she found on his left shoulder.
“Reece, this is horrible.”
“It’s just a bruise. You could kiss it and make it better.”
She touched the area gingerly. “I wish my kiss would make it better.”
“Your kiss makes everything better.”
She looked at him and then laughed. “You really are a sap, Reece Jericho.”
He tumbled her onto her back, fingers digging into her sides as he tickled her. “Say that to my face.”
Laughing hard, she gasped, “I did say it to your face.”