Kathleen E. Woodiwiss(240)

“Your family?” Shanna moved a space closer.

“Shortly, love,” Ruark smiled, “and I will take you to them.”

Again he was crouched on the furs, spreading them, smoothing them, setting one aside for cover. In that instant Shanna’s vision of a savage formed in her mind and he was it, half-naked, gold and bronze before the fire, hair pulled back to a knot at his nape. Those who thought they could bring this man to heel were fools, whether Gaylord, Ralston, or even her father.

Ruark came to stand before her, a red- and black-hued shape, dark as any savage, and the wild beating of her heart gave evidence of the fact that this new glimpse of Ruark Beauchamp excited her beyond anything she had ever known.

The heavy coat was taken away, and his fingers were at the ties of her gown, slipping it from her shoulders. Shanna closed her eyes in ecstasy as his hands slowly followed its descent, cupping her trembling breasts and stroking her smooth velvet hips. In the warm, wavering glow of the fire, her skin shone with a golden luster, shadowed and highlighted, even lovelier than he could remember. There was a radiance about her he had never noticed before, something different, but he could not name it.

“How lovely you are,” he breathed, almost in reverence. “I could not have believed it, but you have grown even more beautiful. What sorcery has love performed?”

Shanna smiled softly into his eyes. “No sorcery, my love. Your eyes deceive you. You have fasted long and would relish plain porridge for a dainty dish.”

“Eh, no plain porridge this,” he said thickly and bore her down to the furry pallet. Ruark’s hands shook as he set aside his own garments. Then he gathered her close. Her soft breasts were a brand against his chest, a dream fulfilled, a release from the longing torture of the sea voyage. Her silken thighs opened to his questing hand, and his wandering caresses brought soft, breathless cries of trembling joy. His kisses came upon her mouth, warm, devouring, fierce with love and passion, then traced lower to spread their heat over her quivering breasts, which thrust forward eagerly in anticipation. Shanna closed her eyes as the bliss of his greedy mouth swept her every nerve with intense excitement. She felt the bold urgency of him against her, and then he was a flame within her, consuming, searing, setting fire to her until the rippling, molten waves flooded her with almost unbearable pleasure. She heard his harsh breathing in her ear, the hoarse, whispered words of love. His heart beat wildly against her naked breast, and beneath her hands the hard muscles of his back tensed and flexed with manly vigor. Then they were caught together in a shimmering, surging, swelling tide of rapture.

The rain beat upon the oiled skin stretched across the windows, and the wind howled like a banshee in the night, but in the aftermath of their own storm, Shanna and Ruark lay peacefully content. They faced the hearth, her back pressed against the solid bulwark of his chest, his knees tucked behind hers, as they watched rekindled flames eagerly lapping at the flanks of a log. Their voices were hushed and lazy, yet seemed to echo in the silence of the cabin. Their hands raised before the shifting, flickering fire, and they gently entwined slender fingers in a knot of love. Ruark’s lips nibbled at the soft flesh of her shoulder and sank warmly against her creamy throat, then paused to taste an ear lobe.

“I’ll build you a mansion,” he breathed.

Shanna laughed. “This cabin will do—if you are here with me.” She wiggled onto her back so she could look up into those soft, begilded eyes and read the gentle love that smiled down upon her. “Stay with me always. Never leave me.”

“Nay, love. Never again. I love you.”

The corners of her mouth curved softly. “And I you.”

Ruark smoothed her tumbled hair across his arm and nuzzled his face into the fragrant curls, breathing in the sweet scent of her.

“I think I’ve loved you forever,” Shanna confessed in wonder. “When the scales of blindness were lifted from my eyes, I saw you not as a dragon, but as the one I would have chosen.”

“You did choose me, remember?” Ruark grinned.

Shanna giggled and snuggled closer against him. “Aye, that I did.” Then in sudden seriousness she murmured, “You know the way here as if you followed the trail before. Where is your home?”

Ruark stretched lazily, flexing a bronzed arm in the air. “Wherever you are.”

Shanna’s eyes were soft with love as she gazed at him. “And will our home be like this?”

“A cabin in the wilderness?” He smiled and whispered, “Months on end alone together? Would you fret upon that, my love?”

Like an eager child Shanna shook her head. “Oh, nay, but never leave me.”