He shifted his weight between his feet and pulled at his collar again. She could tell that he simply wanted to rip it away and expose his skin to the world. The thought made her chest tighten. Her heart skipped a beat. She moved towards him slowly. Her hips swayed naturally and the moonlight played upon her face, casting her in silver light. It caught the ring on her finger and it gleamed. The jewels embedded in the ring shone as the caught the light of the moon.
“I think you look rather handsome,” she said in a low breathy voice, almost a whisper as she quickly closed the distance between them. She reached up with tentative hands and spread her palms over the top of his chest. She could feel the thrum of his heartbeat and it sent waves of satisfaction through her. She looked up at him and smiled warmly, trying to entice him with her natural charm. Caitlin’s mind was filled with thoughts of the kiss the previous night. It had opened up a new world of sensations for her. As soon as she had seen him at the beginning of the night she had been eager to kiss him again, to feel the heat of his warm breath against her lips, to have more than just a fleeting kiss. The sensations were pleasing and she found herself reaching up towards him, her lips parting with yearning, her eyes pleading with him for affection and tenderness.
But just as she started to wrap her arms around his neck he stopped, and for a moment she feared the worst. She cursed herself, believing that she was a fool for being so forward. But Rhys quickly put her mind at ease.
“Stop, Caitlin. This time it’s my turn tae dae the kissing,” he said. Before she had a chance to respond, his arms moved around her in one fluid motion, reaching around her body. He pressed into the small of her back and rolled her onto the tips of her toes. One hand reached up and his fingers ran through her hair. His lips found her mouth, ardent and tempting. Their breath swirled as one as heat rose. She whimpered softly, and if Rhys hadn’t been holding her she was certain she would have melted into a puddle. She caressed his cheek and ran her hands through his thick hair, feeling the wild spirit start to take hold of her.
When this had all started and she had learned that she was to marry a mortal enemy, she had accepted her fate with a cool equilibrium, believing that it was her duty to sacrifice her needs for the sake of the clan. But that had been burned away by the hot strength of their desire. Now, she couldn’t imagine doing anything but kissing him, and she was beginning to get used to the idea of kissing him for the rest of her life.
8
Rhys awoke the day before the wedding. The inexorable pull of destiny hauled him forward through life without mercy, without giving him a chance to think about anything. As soon as he awoke he raised his hand to his mouth and rested his finger against his lips. The taste of her still lingered, the taste from the kiss that he had been unable to resist. He hadn’t intended to do it. He had done as his father asked and had tried to be aloof but as they stood up there alone in the darkness he was filled with an irresistible urge to be close with her, to hold her in his arms, and when he did so he felt a heavenly feeling envelop him.
And now that he had experienced the sensations again he could place the feeling. It was similar to the same thing he felt whenever he was alone in the beauty of nature and completely separate from the world, when he was at peace and had nothing on his mind. Kissing her was a delight. Even now he could remember the way she felt in his arms, how she had shuddered and smiled as they broke away from the kiss, how her eyes had sparkled in the moonlight and looked like deep pools of silver. She had placed another soft kiss on his lips, as though she was claiming him as her own. He smiled as a wave of arousal ran around his body, and for a moment he thought he would be burned up by the heat.
His father had warned him not to fall in love and now he was worried that he had. He had never experienced love before and, in truth, he hadn’t had any time for it. But it had happened without warning, without preparation. Caitlin had come along and completely shaken his world. If it wasn’t love then it was a lot like it, and he was racked with guilt about the plan. He had lied to her and told her that she could come back and see her family whenever she liked. She hadn’t suspected that anything was amiss as he learned the layout of the keep, specifically the placement of the armory and the barracks. She had given him everything he needed to know to help his father conquer the keep, but she had also given him her kiss and her heart as well.
It made him sick inside. A wave of revulsion swept through him as
