protect her, but they did little to ease her anxiety. Did she not just utter similar vows before a man of God to honor, love and obey this stranger? She doubted her husband meant his promises to her any more than she meant her own. Their pledges were exchanged to satisfy the priest and the customs of the church. How could she swear to love a man she spoke no more than a dozen words to prior to the ceremony that would bind them for life?
She shivered involuntarily, uncertain if her tremors were caused by the cold or her anxiety about the fate awaiting her later this evening, much less the course of her entire future after tonight.
“Are you cold?” Nathan asked, surprised by the slight tremor beneath his hand. The night air seemed unseasonably mild to him.
Rhiann’s voice deserted her when she lifted her glance to meet her new husband’s intent one and she could only nod in response. Nathan immediately removed his cloak and wrapped it around her. The garment hung around her much smaller form like a heavy quilt. She hurried to lift the lower half to keep it from dragging along the ground behind her. His masculine scent lingered on the fine cloth and Rhiann found her senses filled with the evidence of him. His heat clung to the garment and she welcomed its warmth. “Thank you,” she whispered, shyly meeting his glance.
Nathan smiled at his wife’s evident timidity. He found it amusing the way she kept trying to put some distance between them, how she attempted to pull her hand free from his grasp, and even now how she was unable to bring herself to hold his glance for long. He couldn’t resist the urge to push a stray strand of her long hair, now blowing gently in the breeze, away from her lovely face. The golden curls felt like silk in his hand and he let his knuckles linger on her soft skin. His body was already reacting insistently to her nearness and the thought of the banquet he would feast upon later this night. Her eyes were huge in her pale face but she didn’t recoil from his touch. He smiled tenderly at her wary expression. “You’re welcome.”
He heard her sigh audibly at the same time she dropped her glance beneath his. The smile playing around his lips turned into a grin.
His bride was so honest in her reactions, so openly genuine. He reached out and lifted her chin so she would be forced to meet his gaze. It was hardly a revelation to discover he liked touching her. He especially enjoyed the way she pressed herself up against his side at the church when his men offered their pledges of loyalty. He easily captured her startled gaze as she raised her eyes to his. She was as skittish as a young colt, with the same wary fear in her vivid green eyes at his touch. His hand slid along her jaw, underneath her silken tresses and cupped the back of her neck.
Her eyes widened at his boldness and she drew a quick panicked breath but though he could read the temptation in her eyes, she restrained from drawing away from his hand. He suspected she knew he would not allow her to retreat from his touch and no doubt his young bride had learned the painful lesson over the course of the past few weeks and months that some battles were not worth the price one paid to wage them.
“You belong to me now. It is my right to touch you.” His voice was harsher than he intended. The softness of her skin, the sight of her gold curls blowing gently in the breeze, the wide-eyed innocence of her gaze all combined to tantalize his masculine passions in a way he had not allowed himself to indulge in since he was a young man.
He was an innocent once. As innocent as the maid he somehow managed to capture for his own. He paid a high price for surrendering to his naive lust for a woman he thought was as pure as he once was. He acknowledged now how foolish his younger self was then. There was no mistaking the purity of Rhiann’s eyes. The way she flinched beneath his
She shivered involuntarily, uncertain if her tremors were caused by the cold or her anxiety about the fate awaiting her later this evening, much less the course of her entire future after tonight.
“Are you cold?” Nathan asked, surprised by the slight tremor beneath his hand. The night air seemed unseasonably mild to him.
Rhiann’s voice deserted her when she lifted her glance to meet her new husband’s intent one and she could only nod in response. Nathan immediately removed his cloak and wrapped it around her. The garment hung around her much smaller form like a heavy quilt. She hurried to lift the lower half to keep it from dragging along the ground behind her. His masculine scent lingered on the fine cloth and Rhiann found her senses filled with the evidence of him. His heat clung to the garment and she welcomed its warmth. “Thank you,” she whispered, shyly meeting his glance.
Nathan smiled at his wife’s evident timidity. He found it amusing the way she kept trying to put some distance between them, how she attempted to pull her hand free from his grasp, and even now how she was unable to bring herself to hold his glance for long. He couldn’t resist the urge to push a stray strand of her long hair, now blowing gently in the breeze, away from her lovely face. The golden curls felt like silk in his hand and he let his knuckles linger on her soft skin. His body was already reacting insistently to her nearness and the thought of the banquet he would feast upon later this night. Her eyes were huge in her pale face but she didn’t recoil from his touch. He smiled tenderly at her wary expression. “You’re welcome.”
He heard her sigh audibly at the same time she dropped her glance beneath his. The smile playing around his lips turned into a grin.
His bride was so honest in her reactions, so openly genuine. He reached out and lifted her chin so she would be forced to meet his gaze. It was hardly a revelation to discover he liked touching her. He especially enjoyed the way she pressed herself up against his side at the church when his men offered their pledges of loyalty. He easily captured her startled gaze as she raised her eyes to his. She was as skittish as a young colt, with the same wary fear in her vivid green eyes at his touch. His hand slid along her jaw, underneath her silken tresses and cupped the back of her neck.
Her eyes widened at his boldness and she drew a quick panicked breath but though he could read the temptation in her eyes, she restrained from drawing away from his hand. He suspected she knew he would not allow her to retreat from his touch and no doubt his young bride had learned the painful lesson over the course of the past few weeks and months that some battles were not worth the price one paid to wage them.
“You belong to me now. It is my right to touch you.” His voice was harsher than he intended. The softness of her skin, the sight of her gold curls blowing gently in the breeze, the wide-eyed innocence of her gaze all combined to tantalize his masculine passions in a way he had not allowed himself to indulge in since he was a young man.
He was an innocent once. As innocent as the maid he somehow managed to capture for his own. He paid a high price for surrendering to his naive lust for a woman he thought was as pure as he once was. He acknowledged now how foolish his younger self was then. There was no mistaking the purity of Rhiann’s eyes. The way she flinched beneath his
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