“And before sex, too.”
She laughed, and reached below the water to grab onto her soaked skirt. “Wet wool,” she muttered. “Now I smell like a sheep.” She gave him a once-over.
“Does that make me a ram?”
She was holding the dress up around her thighs. He caught a glimpse of pale skin through the steaming water. “Don’t stop now,” he urged. He wanted her naked.
She inched up the skirt some more.
“Oh, lord,” he groaned. He splashed through the waist-deep pool and grabbed her. “Don’t tease me, woman.”
She threw back her head and laughed, and he took the opportunity to kiss the base of her throat.
“Help me,” she said. “This thing weighs a ton.”
It took him a moment to realize that she was talking about her wet dress, but once he caught on he grabbed a double handful of soaking wool and yanked while she pulled and squirmed.
Soon he had her as naked as he wanted her. The water gave her skin a translucent sheen.
“You look like milk in moonlight,” he said. Then he remembered her name. White. “You look like your name, Dr. Virginia White.”
“Ginger,” she answered instantly. “No one calls me Virgin—of course around here no one calls me Ginger, either.”
“What do they call you?” he asked, while his hands got very busy.
She drew back. “Priestess,” she answered. “Or the Lady of the White Bird Spring when they’re being formal.” She ran her hands down his chest, admiring the rippling muscle beneath his damp tunic. “Who are you?”
He needed to know how she’d gotten separated from her team, how she’d gotten here, and why she was part of the indigenous power structure. But he needed something else even more right now.
“Later, he said. “We can get to it much later…” He pressed his hips against her. “Touch me,” he demanded. He circled her nipples with his thumbs.
She found the hem of his tunic, and pulled it above his hips. Once his cock was free she stroked him slowly from his balls to the throbbing tip. Ginger loved the heat of him, the weight and thickness, the velvet over steel feel of him in her hand.
But she wanted him inside her even more.
She backed up a few steps to the edge of pool, pulling him with her.
When they reached the side of the bath, he cupped her ass and lifted her onto the mosaic edge. She leaned backwards on her arms and spread her legs.
He filled her in one hard thrust.
Then both of them forgot everything else.
He collapsed on top of her for a long time afterwards, unwilling to move away from her warmth. He reveled in the feel of her soft breasts and the scent of her skin. He didn’t know why, but the sound of her heartbeat against his ear made him feel like he was home.
Then she laughed and the sound brought Bern back into the here and now. He lifted his head to look at her.
“What?”
“Lord Ched sent me in here with you to make Morga jealous.” She grinned at him. “She’d really be jealous if she knew what we’ve been doing.”
“What’s with the chieftain wanting me to marry his daughter?” Bern asked.
“I suppose that’s my fault. It’s a local custom. He needs somebody to rally the troops,” she answered. “He’s looking for a warrior to replace the Year King, and I saw you in the well when he asked who could lead his army. So—”
“I think we’ve both been in the past too long,” he said. “Because what you just said seems to make sense to you, and it almost makes sense to me.”
Tears suddenly welled in her big blue eyes. “You’re really from my time.” The relief in her voice bordered on worship.
He kissed her cheeks, tasting the salt from her tears.
“Happy to be of service,” he said.
“You’re not from my team,” she said. “I would have remembered you. How do you know my name? What are you doing here?”
He should have explained all that to her already. He should have gotten a debriefing from her. Duty should have come before sex.
But he found it difficult to regret the last few moments.
“You couldn’t tell what I was doing? I guess I’ll just have to do it again…” He kissed her again. “I can’t seem to stop wanting you.”
“In the vision, maybe I communicated my lust through the psychic link with you,” she explained. “My gift is for scrying with water energy.”
“Right,” he answered. He knew that about her. He’d read it in the file. It hadn’t been something he’d been happy about.