Slaves of Love

“I suggest you take your leave.”

The soldiers grumbled, but mounted their horses and left.

Keern vaguely remembered his brother complaining about a greedy neighbor with an eye on their land. Could this Wakefield be telling others this pond belonged to him, giving them permission to use it as a way to solidify his claim? Would he keep whittling away at the edges of their property, expanding his own in the process?

“They’re gone,” he said to the woman still clinging to him. The feel of her soft and pliant against him, the delicate floral smell of her hair as it wisped across her cheek, sent his hormones soaring. He hooked his finger beneath her chin and lifted until she looked into his face.

Her eyes were glazed with terror, and he wished he’d skewered the bastard who’d torn away her peaceful bliss. Better yet, he wished he’d had his laser pistol and been able to fry every last one of them, but technology was forbidden here. The coalition had designated this planet as a conservation area, to be kept untouched by industry, pollution, and chemicals. Anything high-tech was deemed a threat to the natural balance of the world. Keern used to hate that policy, until he’d traveled to other worlds and seen how technology had changed society, damned near destroying many.

Less than a half-hour ago, he’d watched this lovely woman bathing in the sparkling water, carefree as a creature of nature in her glorious nakedness. He’d felt a little guilty spying on her, but how could he resist? Her beauty surpassed that of any woman he’d ever seen. He could almost believe her to be a mythical being straight from one of the storybooks his mother used to read him when he was a boy.

She gazed up at him, her blue eyes soft and dewy.

“Thank you.”

The words, like delicate petals, drifted from her lips. She looked like a woman wanting to be kissed. He slid his other arm around her and drew her body close to his. The memory of her pressed against him earlier, naked and dripping wet, tightened his body in arousal. He couldn’t help remembering that she was still naked beneath his black cloak.

“Why don’t you thank me with a kiss?” he murmured.

Shena wanted to grant him more than a kiss. She’d never felt this way with a man before. Safe. Protected. She wanted to burrow into his arms and stay there forever.

At her hesitation, he smiled encouragingly. “Surely you can grant me one kiss?”

One kiss. Yes, at least that. She drew her t

ongue around her lips to moisten them, then parted them slightly as she raised her hands to hold his face. His cheeks scratched slightly with the new growth of his beard, but she didn’t mind. The very masculinity of it stimulated her, made her feel more feminine. His eyes, the color of sun-gilt bronze, darkened as he watched her. She pushed herself onto her tiptoes to reach him, and he waited for her. When her lips touched his, she felt as if she would faint, the feeling was so painfully exciting. As though he sensed her weakness, his hands slid up her back and he pulled her closer to his body. She moved her lips on his, and he followed her lead, though she sensed he carefully controlled his movements.

She felt the tip of his tongue slip across the seam of her mouth, then nudge with a delicate pressure. She opened, granting him access. His tongue slid inside her mouth, then caressed the inside of her lips. The delicate yet powerful sensation caught her breath. He pulled her tighter to him. Her breasts, crushed against the hardness of his well-muscled chest, swelled, the nipples tightening to hard buds. She longed to feel bare skin against hers.

As though reading her mind, he skimmed his hand over her, then slipped it inside the cloak to cup her breast, and a choked sound of pleasure escaped her. His other hand pushed her cloak aside and cupped her bottom. He pulled her pelvis close to his body, and she felt the bulge of his arousal. She tensed, and he immediately loosened his hold, but his hand remained on her breast, warm, exciting, her nipple thrusting into his palm. As he parted from their kiss to gaze down at her, his hand shifted slightly on her breast, sending arrows of pleasure shimmering through her body. She knew she should pull away, should be frightened of him touching her, but his warm bronze eyes, filled with compassion and kindness, soothed her frazzled spirit.

“I won’t do anything you don’t want me to.”

She couldn’t utter a word under the primal need raging through her, so she just nodded, then slipped her arms around his neck and pulled him into another kiss. His hands danced the length of her body as he eased her onto the soft grass beneath their feet. He untied the cloak and slowly peeled it back, holding her gaze the whole time. He smiled as he looked at her naked body, his gaze like liquid fire across the length of her.

“My God, you’re beautiful.”

She smiled back at him. No one had ever told her that.

He kissed her lips, dipping his tongue inside her mouth, then moved to the crook of her neck. Slowly, he kissed down her chest and over the swell of her breast. She melted as his mouth captured her rigid nipple. Her eyelids fell closed as his hand found her other nipple and nurtured it to heightened arousal. Both her breasts wanted more. She wanted more. Had she said it out loud? She didn’t know or care.

All that existed for her was the rise and fall of her breathing, the rigid need of her breasts, the overwhelming desire for something more. She just didn’t know what. He stroked her breasts, and she undulated to press more firmly into his hands. The rhythm of her labored breathing, the odd, whimpering sounds she made, only skimmed the edges of her consciousness.

“It’s all right, sweetheart.”

His calming words sluiced through the heated fever overtaking her. His hands fell away from her breasts, but his lips claimed hers, capturing the tiny sound of disappointment. Their only contact now was his mouth on hers, but his tongue sweeping across hers, and the ardent pressure of his lips, demanded her full attention. Her heated body longed for more, and an instant later she felt his body return. Naked now. She opened her eyes to look at him. His arms, thick and corded with muscle, settled on either side of her, suspending him over her. Her nipples peaked as the light coating of coarse hair sprinkled across his tanned chest stimulated those sensitized nubs. She dragged her hands across his strong, broad shoulders, awed by the feel of his steel-hard muscles rippling under her fingertips.

Then, with a flash of frigid water through her veins, she froze at the feel of his hard shaft falling across her belly. Her eyes shot wide open. He eased his pelvis away from her and placed the tip of his cock against the moist opening of her vagina.

She sucked in a breath as panic tore through her, and she planted her hands firmly on his chest.

“No.” The word, choked out, was hardly audible.

He paused. “What is it, neisha?” The tip of his immense cock sat cradled in the soft folds of her, waiting for entry. One shift of his huge, muscular body and he’d be inside her.

Open, a voice inside her screamed. Pull him in. Feel the power of a man inside you.

He kissed her temple, still poised to fill her. Fear churned through her insides. Oh God, what if he didn’t stop?