Part 3 (2/2)
”I've never seen one.” She caught her breath as Cathmor dipped his head and nibbled the carrot out of her palm. ”He's bigger than I imagined, and more handsome. And softer.” Unable to resist, she stroked her hand down the horse's nose. ”Some of the children have been keeping him company. They'd make a pet of him if they could.”
”Would you like to ride him?”
”Ride?”
”He needs the exercise, and so do I. I thought I would hunt this morning.
Come with me.”
To ride a horse? Just the idea of it was thrilling. ”I have duties.”
”I might get lost alone.” He brought her hand back up, ran it under his along Cathmor's silky neck. ”I don't know your forest. And I'm still a bit weak.”
Her lips twitched. ”Your wits are strong enough. I could send a man with you.”
”I prefer your company.”
To ride a horse, she thought again. How could she resist? Why should she? She was no fluttery girl who would fall into stutters and blushes by being alone with a man. Even this man.
”All right. What do I do first?” . ”You wait until I saddle him.”
She shook her head. ”No, show me how to do it.”
When it was done, she sent one of the boys scurrying off to tell Orna she was riding out with the prince. She needn't have bothered, for as they walked the horse out of the stables, her people began to gather at the windows, in the courtyard. When he vaulted into the saddle, they cheered him like a hero.
”It's been a long time since they've seen anyone ride,” she explained as Cathmor pranced in place. ”Some of them, like me, never have.” She let out a breath. ”It's a long way up.”
”Give me your hand.” He reached down to her. ”Trust me.”
She would have to if she wanted this amazing treat. She offered her hand, then yelped in shock when he simply hauled her up in the saddle in front of him.
”You might have warned me you intended to drag me up like a sack of turnips. If you've opened your wound again-”
”Quiet,” he whispered, entirely too close to her ear for comfort, and with her people cheering, he kicked Cathmor into a trot.
”Oh.” Her eyes popped wide as her bottom bounced. ”It's not what I expected.” And hardly dignified.
With shouts and whoops, children raced after them as they trotted out of the castle.
”Match the rhythm of your body to the gait of the horse,” he told her.
”Yes, I'm trying. Must you be so close?” He grinned. ”Yes. And I'm enjoying it. You shouldn't be uneasy with a man, Deirdre, when you've seen him naked.”
”Seeing you naked hardly gives me cause to relax around you,” she shot back.
With a rolling laugh, he urged the horse to a gallop.
Her breath caught, but with delight rather than fear. Wind rushed by her cheeks, and snow flew up into the air like tattered lace. She closed her eyes for an instant to absorb the sensation, and the wild thrill made her dizzy.
So fast, she thought. So strong. When they charged up a hill she wanted to throw her arms in the air and shout for the sheer joy of it.
Her heart raced along with the horse, continued to pound even when they slowed at the verge of the forest that had been known as the Forgotten for the whole of her lifetime.
”It's like flying,” she mused. ”Oh, thank you.” She leaned down to press her cheek to the horse's neck. ”I'll never forget it. He's a grand horse, isn't he?” Flushed with pleasure, she turned. His face was too close, so close she felt the warmth of his breath on her cheek. Close enough that she saw a kind of heat kindling in his eyes.
”No.” He caught her chin with his hand before she could turn away again. ”Don't. I kissed you before, when I thought I was dying.” His lips hovered a breath from hers. ”I lived.”
He had to taste her again; it seemed his sanity depended on it. But because he saw her fear, he took her mouth gently, skimming his lips over ones that trembled. Soothing as well as seducing. He watched her eyes go soft before her lashes fluttered down.
”Kiss me back, Deirdre.” His hand slid down until his arm could band her waist and draw her closer. ”This time kiss me back.”
”I don't know how.” But she already was.
Her limbs went weak, wonderfully weak, even as her pulse danced madly. Warmth enveloped her, reaching places inside that had never known its comfort.
The light that had sparked inside her when their hearts had brushed in healing spread.
On the Isle of Winter in the snowy rose garden, beneath a s.h.i.+eld of ice, a tiny bud-tender green-formed on a blackened branch.
He nibbled at her lips until she parted them. And when he deepened the kiss she felt, for the first time in her life, a true lance of heat in her belly.
Yearning for more, she eased back, then indulged herself by letting her head rest briefly on his shoulder. ”So it's this,” she whispered. ”It's this that makes the women sing in the kitchen in the morning.”
He stroked her hair, rubbed his cheek against it. ”It's a bit more than that.” Sweet, he thought. Strong. She was everything a man could want.
Everything, he realized, that he wanted.
”Yes, of course.” She sighed once. ”More than that, but it starts like this.
It can't for me.”
”It has.” He held her close when she would have drawn away. ”It did, the minute I saw you.”
”If I could love, it would be you. Though I'm not sure why, it would be you. If I were free, I would choose you.” She turned away again. ”We came to hunt. My people need meat.” He fought the urge to yank her around, to plunder that lovely mouth until she yielded. Force wasn't the answer. So he'd been told. There were better ways to win a woman.
Chapter 5
She spotted the tracks first. They moved soundlessly through the trees, and she was grateful for the need for silence.
How could she explain or ask him to understand, when she couldn't understand herself? Her heart was frozen, chilled to death by pride and duty, and the fear that she might do her people more harm.
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