Of him.
Law held the woman against him with one powerful arm, and stroked a clump of matted hair from her face. He couldn’t stop himself. Even covered with dirt, dried blood crusting her wounds, her brown hair wild and filthy, and her clothing in shreds, she was quite simply the loveliest being he had ever seen.
His fingers left her hair and he trailed them down the slope of her delicate nose to her slightly parted full lips, and over her chin. Before he realized what he was doing, his fingers neared her beautiful bare breast, traveled up its slope and then rested on the hardening nipple.
A growl rose up in his throat and his cock went rigid against Analeen’s belly.
Unbidden visions filled his mind. Of caressing every inch of her bare flesh. Of sucking her jensai red nipples, licking a path down her body, and tasting the heat of her juices 9
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between her thighs. Gods how tight she would be, her quim sheathing him as he fucked her hard and so very deep.
With a cry that neared a howl of frustration, Law jerked his hand away from her nipple as if Analeen’s body had scalded him. His need for her, his desire for this woman, was so intense that his body began to shake.
No.
This woman was human. He would not take a human for a mate.
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Analeen moaned in Law’s arms and he sensed dark dreams chasing one another in her mind. He could not leave her, would not leave her. He could do nothing but scoop her up in his powerful grasp and carry her through his forest to his den.
Cool air brushed his naked skin and his cock remained at full attention. He could not tear his thoughts away from the image of taking this woman over and over.
When he reached the den he chose to reside in during spring and summer months, he strode in through its opening, down a long passageway, and deep into a crystal cavern. What was left of the day’s sunlight poured in through an opening at the top of the cavern. The minimal light reflected through crystals, causing rainbows to glitter and dance upon the floor.
He lived alone, having left his uncle’s pack long ago. Once his family had been murdered, he had not wanted bonds of any kind.
Law carefully set Analeen upon a pile of tanned hides and used a rolled-up doeskin on which to rest her head. He found a knife in his supplies and sliced the rope from around her neck.
She slept. Her body needed to recover from the trauma she had been through. He covered her with a soft doeskin blanket, checked on her frequently, and gave her sips of water even as she dreamed. He wiped dirt from her eyes, her face, and her neck with a soft wet cloth. When he finished, he cleansed the wounds on her arms and feet. And still she slept.
He felt fiercely protective of this woman and could barely stand to let her out of his sight, even to hunt for his own meals.
For two days she slept fitfully, tossing her head. Her eyelids fluttered and her cheeks burned hot with fever. He forced pulverized bits of willow bark through her lips along with sips of water. Finally her fever broke and she rested.
On the third day, he decided she had slept long enough. He carried her outside the cavern and down to the pool.
Analeen woke to the gentle brush of a moist cloth against her cheek. For a moment she relaxed into the caress, feeling safe and loved by her mother’s soft touch. She heard the soft slosh of water against shoreline, the call of the nordai and the kiss of wind against her cheeks and over one breast.
Her eyelids flew up and her lips parted to scream, but a large hand clamped over her mouth. She went entirely still as her gaze locked with the fierce gray eyes of the man who had captured her in the forest. He knelt beside her, his powerful body as 11
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naked as before. He was so large he blocked everything from view. All she could see was this huge man who held her prisoner.
“Scream and I will have to turn you over my knee, kitten.” Amusement flared in those eyes, but they immediately darkened with what looked like desire. He gave a shake of his head and tossed his hair back with the movement, as if shaking away that desire. “I will release you, but if you make a noise, I will gag that sweet mouth of yours.”
Analeen bit her lip beneath his palm and gave a slow nod. She could tell this was not a man to trifle with. She would escape him, yes, but she would have to wait until the right time.
He moved his hand from her mouth and resumed washing her face with careful strokes. She flinched when the rag trailed over a wound on her chin, and he frowned.
“Bastards,” he growled. He continued wiping the cool cloth over her face and neck until he seemed satisfied.
“You took care of me,” she murmured as memories came pouring back to her. She had been ill with fever and he had wet her face with cool cloths and had fed her bitter tasting powder that must have been willow bark.
He shrugged. “You were ill. Three days you slept.”
Her eyes widened with surprise. “Three days?” She tried to push past him, to sit up. “I must get back to my sisters. They need me.”
The man grasped her hand as he rose to his feet, pulling her up with him. For a moment the world spun and she sagged against his muscled form. His chest was hot against her one bare breast and her cheeks flushed with their own heat.
“Are you all right, Analeen?” he asked softly against her hair.
She jerked her head up and bumped his nose. “How do you know my name?”
He simply looked at her as if memorizing her features.
Analeen swallowed. “Who are you?”
“I am called Law.” He cupped the side of her face and rubbed his thumb along her cheekbone. “You, my lady, have stumbled into my territory. What comes here leaves or stays by my word alone.”
“Excuse me?” Analeen’s frown was immediate. “You can’t keep me here.”
His eyes darkened and she took a step back. “You will stay until I allow you to leave.”
She glared at Law and tried to jerk away from him, but she almost fell, she was so weak. He caught her and held her in his firm grip.
Before she could respond, he caught her chin in his hand. “Come. You need a bath.”
Analeen was in no shape to fight the man. He supported her with one arm and led her toward a pool just feet from where she had been lying. A springy carpet of moss felt soft against her injured bare feet as she gazed in wonder about her. All thought of what 12
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he had just said slipped away from her mind as she took in the beauty of the sanctuary, more beautiful than the Mairi Sea.
Trees grew thick around the pool, countless leaves hanging in soft lacy curtains, drifts of the greenest green, spilling down to the water’s surface. Flowers sprouted in haphazard clumps of red, pink, and purple, and the pool shimmered a deep crystal blue-green.
“The same color as your eyes,” Law murmured, and she glanced up at him in amazement.
“It’s unbelievable.” It was more than that, but that was all she could think of to say as he led her into the water.
Again she was surprised. It wasn’t freezing cold, but simply a gentle coolness that energized her body and cleared her mind the deeper they walked into it. Her aches and injuries nearly vanished with just the caress of water.
Law led her to a rock alcove near the shore, far enough into the water that it rose to just beneath her breasts. Her shredded dress billowed around her legs, and her one breast that wasn’t bared begged to be set free.
“You are a lovely creature, Analeen.” Law took her by the shoulders and forced her to turn her back to him. She felt him untie the back lacing to her dress. “A sore temptation for any man.”
She frowned.
Why would he say such things?
She knew she wasn’t pretty, just a breath above ugly, as she had been told countless times by her father.
Law whipped her around to face him so fast she cried out. She would have lost her footing if he hadn’t been holding her shoulders so tightly. The scowl on his face caused her heart to thud.
“You are a beautiful woman, Analeen.” His voice was a low roar. “By the moon, I will teach you to see your own beauty before I let you go.”
All she could do was stare at him in surprise. He seemed so serious. And it was like he had just read her thoughts as clearly as if she’d spoken them aloud.
Law’s gut churned as he lifted Analeen’s hair from where it caught in the neckline of her dress. The abuse she had gone through extended far beyond what the bastards Dyrke and Jove had done to her. He desired nothing more than to track the men, and then to hunt down her father, and make them all pay for the damage they had done to this woman. His fangs nearly exploded in his mouth and he felt the tightening of his skin that came before change. It took all his power to fight back the wild beast threatening to overcome him.
Analeen audibly caught her breath as he lowered her dress slowly over her shoulders, down her arms and beneath the water to her waist, where he let it fall to her feet at the bottom of the pool. Both her breasts were bared now and he nearly moaned aloud.
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Almost without thought, he brought his hand out of the water and trailed his wet knuckles down the curve of her slender neck, over her collarbone, and to the tantalizing swell of one breast.
She stilled and he sensed her fear and her anger at being touched without her permission, yet her arousal, too. He forced himself to stop and reached behind a hidden shelf on the rock alcove and brought out a jar of soap that smelled of mint. While she watched, he dipped his fingers into the white substance and scooped out enough to wash her body.
Slowly he soaped her shoulders and arms, down to her fingers. Analeen trembled beneath his touch. Her thoughts were so easy to read. She wanted to slap him, wanted to run, wanted to stay, wanted him to stop, never wanted him to stop.
After he soaped her arms, he washed her back, and then her belly. When all that was left untouched were her breasts, he took her hands and put soap in her palms.
His voice came out in a hoarse whisper as he said, “Wash your breasts.”
Analeen’s cheeks flushed and she hesitated. “You have no right telling me what to do.”
“Now,” he demanded in a voice so menacing that Analeen brought up her hands and began massaging her breasts.
Law’s cock jerked at the sight.
“Your nipples.” He could barely keep from touching her.
She bit her lower lip with her small white teeth and tugged at her taut pink buds.
“Rinse off,” he ordered, his tone curt as he struggled to maintain control and not ravish this woman where she stood.
She paused only a moment, then dived beneath the surface of the pool and came back immediately. She swung her long hair out of her face. Her hair glistened and beads of water rolled down her fair skin.
He put more soap into his palm. “Turn,” he demanded. “I am going to wash your hair.” She stared at him for one long moment, her eyes narrowed, then slowly faced away from him.
Analeen was a good foot shorter than he was, just the right height. He worked the shampoo into her hair, and he felt her tremble with desire at his touch.
Gradually Analeen relaxed as he massaged her scalp, despite her intentions to stay stiff and unyielding. She leaned back against him, feeling like her muscles could no longer hold her upright. Law’s skin felt hot and sensual next to hers, and his cock grew harder yet against her backside. All in all, it was an exquisite set of sensations.
Despite the fact this man was a stranger, Analeen felt herself becoming more aroused by the moment. She had always been curious about sex, but always assumed such pleasures would be denied her, except for random, sweaty encounters in the dark—clumsy and hurried, such as she had known. She wasn’t a beauty like her sisters, and she had no wealth to attract a suitor.
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Yet here she was, in an exquisite pool, with an exquisite specimen of maleness paying her tender attention. Her quim ached and her nipples were hard as Mairi Sea Pearls.
Analeen sighed. “That feels so incredibly good.” She was this man’s captive, but somehow she didn’t feel threatened. She wanted him with a desire that shocked her.
In truth, she had never actually felt that he would harm her in any way, a fact that puzzled her. Just by the look in his incredibly fierce gray eyes, she knew he was wild and deliciously wicked.
“Rinse time,” he said, the second before at least a gallon of water sloshed over her head.
Analeen sputtered and started to yell at him when he doused her yet again. She whirled to face Law, who held a wooden bucket, and glared up at him. But for the first time since she had met him, he was smiling.
“You were getting far too comfortable against me, kitten.” His mouth curved into an arrogant grin. “It is obvious you want me.”
“Oooh!” Analeen slapped her hand onto the pool’s surface, sending a spray of water right at the cocky bastard’s face.
Surprise crossed his features and he slung his long hair out of his face just as she splashed him again. He narrowed his eyes, his gaze fixed on her like a predator about to take down his prey.
With a cry, Analeen turned and tried to hurry through the water toward the shore.
Her feet tangled in her forgotten dress and she dropped into the water.
The next thing she knew, Law’s arms were around her waist. He brought her up out of the water, and she gasped for air. He was laughing, his voice deep and throbbing, and she had to return his grin.
His gaze caught hers and she went completely still. Those beautiful silver-gray eyes clouded with desire and she shivered with the intense need she saw there. Her nipples ached even more, and her quim flooded with her juices.
He slid his hand into her hair, cupped the back of her head, and drew her body flush against his. His cock was a hot and hard rod between them, and her breasts were pressed against his powerful chest.
“Law.” A waterfall of sensation tumbled through Analeen’s belly. “I—”
He let her thoughts flow around him like the gentle warmth of the pool. She was as aroused as he was, but she didn’t know him.