Flame Thrower (10 page)

She lay there in a dreamy state, partially induced by the medication Edda gave her and partially from the intensity of their first kiss. “I don’t know what is happening. Could it be the drugs? All I know is that I need you.” Her voice was quiet but spoken without fear. Confident.

He paused in feeding the fire because his magic charred whatever remained to ash earlier. Slowly, he turned to look in her direction. “I don’t think it’s the drugs. I’m not under their influence and I’m absolutely consumed by you. So, I don’t know. I’m sure they are enhancing your response somehow, but if you are feeling more than arousal, then it’s not the drugs.”

She rolled onto her side to look at him directly. “You are consumed by me?” she teased. She was quite pleased to hear this. He was handsome and kind, but she never thought that he, the legendary Flame Thrower would be charming. Tillian felt her irrational attachment to him grow; that made her smile. He wasn’t ashamed of her situation and he wasn’t treating her as a common whore. Then again, he didn’t know the truth of why she was kidnapped or how she reacted to their attentions. Would he feel this way if he knew? That was a sobering thought that caused a little of her arousal to fade. Tillian closed her eyes from his body that knelt before the now roaring fire and sank in despair. She believed in her heart that, if he knew, she’d lose him too. While she drifted in thought, her fingers toyed with the fabric of the blanket.

As the fire raged to life, an orange light radiated throughout the room. Ryan stood over the bed and looked down at Tillian where she lay curled on her side. She wore a distant, worried look and he much preferred the heated smile she wore only moments before. She absently played with the bedding. “What are you thinking?”

His proximity startled her and she shifted in order to crane her neck up to find him smiling down at her. “Oh.”

His breath caught in his throat when he got a good look at Tillian in the firelight. She was stretched out on the bed with one arm thrown over her eyes to shield the brightness. He literally felt as if he’d come apart at the seams and his need to have her roared back to life. What made it worse, was the nightgown Edda gave her was thin and barely contained her curves and the top was unlaced. That opening showed the swells of her breasts. Not to mention the hard peaks of her nipples poked through the material and it aroused him extremely.

“What were you thinking? You looked worried,” he repeated.

“How can you not be ashamed of me, Ryan?” Tillian finally answered. “You found me on your land, abused and naked. You must have horrible thoughts of who I am. What I am,” she added, her voice cracking.

His arousal melted instantly. He sank to the bed and pulled her hand down from over her head to hold it in his. His long fingers wove through hers and knitted them together in a tight fist.

“Tillian, I found you after you’d been kidnapped. Did you go with these men willingly?” he asked.

“Well, no.”

“Then why would I have any thoughts on who and what you are?” he challenged.

Tillian looked away and pulled her hand from his caring grasp. He would find her disgusting if he knew the truth and she just couldn’t bear that.

“Tillian, please. I hold none of this against you. Every ounce of my being screams to care for you, shelter you. I’m angered beyond words that anyone, and I mean anyone, could bring harm to your mind, body or soul. That thought alone makes me so infuriated that it is taking all my control to not unleash my anger on anyone who could be to blame.” Ryan didn’t mean to be this honest or this passionate but the words were said and Tillian slowly turned back to him with a look of horror on her face.

“No, you can’t do that. You can’t,” she begged, desperate to have him agree he’d not do any such thing. That would mean going against her Father and her brother, and regardless if she hated one and was disappointed in the other, she couldn’t allow Ryan to bring them harm.

“Then tell me why. Who did this to you? Who gave you those lashes?” he argued and leaned closer, inches from her succulent lips. He used his seduction as a lure to get her to submit. He failed. He watched as she bit her lower lip between her teeth and then looked away in despair.

“I don’t know who did this to me.”

Seeing he caused her this sorrow, Ryan collected her into his arms and held her tightly to his chest. He nearly crushed her under his weight but didn’t, carefully cradling her instead. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to push you.”

She fell apart in that embrace and wept gut-wrenching sobs that tore at his heart while he cradled her in his arms. Their intimate time together would come at another moment. For now, he was content to shelter her in his arms and try to make her healing journey a little less painful. In that moment, Ryan knew the answer to the question Wallace wanted him to explore. Without a doubt, Ryan knew he loved her and wouldn’t give her up for anyone.

He was so distracted by his own thoughts that he missed where Tillian’s hand was traveling. Ryan nearly jumped off the bed when her tiny hand found his throbbing erection and slowly, very tentatively began rubbing its length. He growled in her ear as he trembled at her touch. “Tillian, don’t.”

“Love me, Ryan. Show me you don’t think I’m tainted,” she mumbled through her sobs. “I need to feel I’m not ruined.”

Ryan released another agonizing sound, kissing her sweetly. He poured all his feeling into that contact while she continued to caress him. The sensation tumbled Ryan into a state that he knew there was no turning back from unless he put a stop to this. He was going to do something very stupid and soon. “Tillian, please, I need–” His words were cut off when Tillian began to unbutton his breeches.

Enough of this!
Ryan flew off the bed and prowled the room, trying to gather his composure. He dragged his hands through his hair and then clasped them behind his neck while he tried to calm his racing heart. She drove him beyond all boundaries and he was on the cusp of falling into the chasm of her desire. He either walked away now and explained it to her in the morning, or he returned to that bed and ravaged her until dawn. He knew what his body wanted to do, but was it right?

It was her voice that shattered his thoughts. “Am I so repulsive?” she whispered, trying to hide the hurt layered there, but failed.

That brought him back to the bed where he kneeled on the planked floor to capture her face in his hands. “You must stop, Tillian. I need you and can barely control my desire. Please, no more touching and no more talk of being tainted. You must realize just how badly you are tempting me.” His voice strained as badly as his breeches did, but his touch was gentle on her face.

“I’m burning with need myself as a result of those damn drugs, but that’s not all it. I need you, too. I’m offering myself tonight, so are you rejecting me?”

He saw the fear flash in her stunning eyes and it was like an arrow straight through his heart. She felt ruined and he wasn’t helping.

“No, not rejecting you. Never that. Delaying is a better word. Sweet Princess, you have been through a horrific ordeal and I’ll not do this tonight. I can’t do that to you. What is it you need of me that does not involve me ravaging your body until dawn? Whatever that is, I’ll give it. ”

Tillian let out one tortured sob and looked away; her need to be set free overwhelmed her at the moment since he’d set off her inner fire with his kisses. She needed him to finish what he started and she couldn’t bring herself to say the words.

“Tillian?” Ryan’s concern grew. While he watched, she slid back into her dangerous state of mind. It wasn’t where he wanted her mind to go and he panicked.

“I need you to ease this pain; set me free,” she finally choked out in an emotional rush.

Damn
. It was going to involve ravaging her body until dawn. Ryan groaned and forced her face back to his and smiled. “You need me to love you. That’s all?”

A tear escaped her lower lid and slide down her cheek. Tillian nodded before she closed her eyes to the shame of that request. She asked him to take her intimately and that was the lowest she’d ever thought she’d sink.

He clearly read her thoughts and that broke his resolve. “Tillian, you think asking me to make love to you is shameful? As if this is some arduous chore that is going to be painful for me? Let me enlighten you, my sweet Princess, I want this more than anything I have ever wanted, but tonight is not the night. I won’t make love to you but I can still show you how I feel.”

Slowly, he moved his hands to push the nightgown up her thighs, exposing her creamy flesh to his hungry eyes. Tillian sucked in her breath at the sensation of his hands touching her bare flesh of her inner thigh. Wherever his fingers caressed, it set off explosions through every nerve of her body. She flung one arm out to clutch at a pillow when he gently touched the apex of her thigh. The sensation continued to inflict intense feeling where his fingers tickled and he wasn’t ending this anytime soon. He trailed feather light touches along her flesh and she watched his brown eyes drink in the sight. He was fascinated by what he saw and it radiated in his eyes, that he couldn’t hide. Her gaze never left his face as he watched more and more of her body come into view. The sight warmed her heart and heated her blood to match what she saw brewing in his evaluation.

He pushed the gown as high as it would go until he pulled it over her head fully exposing her to the firelight in the room. She was perfection. Utter perfection. The soft orange glow cast shadows over her curves, giving her this unearthly appearance of some spirit or messenger from one of their Gods. It frankly stole his ability to breathe.

“Tillian, you are so beautiful,” he moaned just before his mouth lowered to tickle around her pebbled nipple, sending her in a shaking fit. When his lips touched her skin, she exploded into a babbling state of moans and sighs while he expertly kissed the swell of her breast and gently nibbled the peak, sending her to a new level of pleasure.

He paused, his lips barely touching the skin of her breast. “Is this what you needed, lovely Tillian?” Ryan cooed. He moved to the other breast to deliver the same attention.

“Yes,” she moaned in a heated and passion-filled voice. With both hands, she gripped the sheets wildly. Tillian arched her back into his caress and that opened a gap for him to wrap his arms around her midsection and pull her close to his body. She shaped herself to him and together they practically melted into one being while he leaned over her naked body.

“You are enough to tempt me to sin. I will not make love to you. I will not, but I want to!” Ryan’s voice rushed out, more to convince himself to remain in control. He continued to lavish her skin with his kisses, becoming intoxicated by her taste and scent. She was utterly divine and he knew he was at her mercy at the moment. If she continued to beg for him to make love, he feared he would give in and show her just how amazing sex could be with someone who cared.

Her charm captivated him. While he suckled, nibbled and toyed with her sensitive nipples, he argued with himself and repeated over and over that he was an honorable man and honorable men do not seduce vulnerable women.

He lost the argument when she moaned loudly and placed one hand in his hair, pulling him closer to her breast, urging him on. Ryan paused to look up and saw a mirror of his desire reflected in her eyes. He cupped her face tenderly and watched when the corner of her mouth turned up in a smile. It sent a new thrill through Ryan, giving him the encouragement he needed.

Using his palm flat, he gently caressed her neck and down her chest through the center of her breasts and ended up cupping one in his hand. His eyes never left her face and he drank in her growing arousal. Ryan marveled at how quickly her body responded for the nipple tightened immediately upon contact. Using his thumb, he stroked the erect nub, eliciting a vicious moan from Tillian’s half parted lips.

This was torture for Ryan. His soul screamed to make love to every inch of her body. He ached to taste her, to feel her under his hands. He ached to know how she would respond when he stroked her to release with his body. He longed to know how many sounds she’d make while caught in her own tidal wave of passion.

Ryan looked down in anguish and sighed. He continued to rub her nipple and he relished the feeling of it beneath his fingers. He felt his own body respond to a painful state and accepted he’d be miserable until the day he could finally complete this.

Sighing again, he gently ran his hand over her stomach and felt her tight muscles and narrow waist. He continued down toward her most private area but stopped just before he delved where he most wanted to go, cupping her mound in his palm. Tillian subtly spread her legs for his entry, inviting him to continue, tempting him to give in.

Ryan was driven mad and knew what he did was wrong on so many levels, but couldn’t stop himself. He looked down towards the haven she opened for him and whimpered. He memorized every dimple, every curve of her creamy skin and steaming body, making both available to his wanton hands.

He’d shifted and now kneeled between her spread legs. Ryan gave her one last chance to stop this madness and whispered “Tillian, now is the time for you to tell me to stop.” His voice was deep and husky. He prayed she wouldn’t say anything because he wasn’t sure he could actually stop if she asked him to.

In reply, she delivered a seductive smile and shifted. That gave her more room to spread her legs, inviting him to continue.