“Forgive me,” she said, breaking into his thoughts, her voice not quite steady. “That-that wasn’t as bad as it sounded.”

“Was it not, little liar?”

“No, really, I think it was a mind thing-you know, expecting it to hurt with a normal man, but here you are bigger than big. So my mind would naturally assume it’s going to hurt a bit more with you, and when it started to, the old mind thought, ‘Look out!’ and there you have it, a reaction all out of proportion.”

He almost laughed. The things she said could turn him inside out trying to understand them, but for once he felt he grasped her meaning.

“A mind thing? Women often cry before they have reason, merely in anticipation of a reason.”

“I’m going to let that comparison slide since you got the general idea, but take note there are no tears in my eyes.”

He smiled at her gently. “I did not mean to sting your pride, warrior woman. Your pain was great, and yet you bravely discount it for my sake. You also attempt to take my guilt from me, for which I am grateful. It is I who must ask forgiveness for hurting you. Your-breaching-need not have been so brutal. Had I waited-”

She put a finger to his lips. “I don’t mean any disrespect, babe, but can we put this discussion on hold? If you haven’t noticed, I’m not hurting now. And as much as I like the feel of you inside me, I’d also like to know what comes next, so I’d really appreciate it if you’d get on with it.”

She would appreciate it. A Kan-is-Tran maiden would have spent the rest of the day crying and screaming that she had been torn asunder and must never be touched again. His Kystrani maiden would appreciate it if he would “get on with it.” He did just that.

Chapter Sixteen

Tedra wrapped her arms around her bent legs and laid her cheek on her knees as the soothing motion of the comb gliding through her hair began to put her to sleep. Challen had been at it for nearly a half hour already and gave no sign of wanting to quit.

When he had produced the golden comb after they had finished the evening meal, and ordered her to sit between his spread knees on the fur, she hadn’t objected. Her hair was a mass of tangles by then and she didn’t know the first thing about removing them herself without a styler at hand. Her warrior had made short work of the tangles, only he hadn’t stopped there. She was beginning to think he simply liked to comb women’s hair. That he might be fascinated with her own black locks didn’t occur to her.

They hadn’t left that morning for his hometown as he had planned. Tedra had fallen back to sleep after that first glorious experience of sex-sharing, and Challen had let her sleep the morning away. She had awakened when the sun was high overhead and had immediately been joined on the fur for her second, more leisurely experience.

Challen leaned forward now and bit her bare shoulder, bringing her to instant wakefulness. The man did like to bite. The many nips she had received so far had been hard enough to get her attention, but not hard enough to bruise. Yet the element of suspense was there each time those strong white teeth grazed her skin.

She sighed and glanced over her shoulder at him to see if there was a reason for the bite, then grinned at the look that was in his dark eyes. It was a look she was now able to recognize, one that hadn’t been there at all yesterday but had appeared a number of times today, a great number of times. It meant he wanted her again. She didn’t mind. She wasn’t surprised either. The third and fourth times he had rolled her beneath him today she had been surprised. She’d stopped counting and stopped wondering about it, accepting the fact that she had an insatiable barbarian on her hands. For whatever reason he had denied himself yesterday, he was making up for it today. And how could she object when she was getting so much pleasure out of his need?

“Did you want something, Challen?” she purred teasingly, only to find herself swiftly turned and sprawled over his chest as he dropped back onto the fur. “Do I assume that was an answer?” she asked, planting a kiss on the smooth chin she had earlier watched him scrape a blade over.

Without a word he pointed to his lips and she obliged, lazily running her tongue over their grinning surface. When she did no more than that, however, he nipped-and missed. She giggled, then squealed when he tried again. The trouble with that game was his arms were around her to trap her there. Unable to get away, she was quickly kissing him exactly as he wanted, giving him the joining kiss he had rejected last night.

Before she got really carried away, however, he drew her head back, wanting to know, “Are you sore?”

The question was a little late in her opinion, but she didn’t point that out. “No.”

“You would not tell me if you were, would you?”

She grinned. “No.”

“This will be the last time, kerima, I give you my word.”

“Just don’t make the sacrifice on my account-or are you sore?” She got a bite on the neck for that insinuation. “Ouch! So you can do this all day and night. I never doubted it.”

That brought a rumble of laughter from him. The man really enjoyed sex-sharing. Tedra found that she did, too, at least with him. He made her laugh. Sometimes he made her want to scream. And most times she did scream when the pleasure came upon her, it was so intense.

Right now he lifted her and sat her down on his lower chest, with her knees bent forward, her feet tucked near his hips. This put her entirely within the reach of his hands, and there was no part of her body that he left alone when he began caressing it. This time he wouldn’t let her touch him, making her place her hands on her thighs and keep them there. All she could do was stare at him and watch the passion deepen in his eyes and wonder if it was reflected in her own.

“Give me your breast.”

She made a sound like a whimper when she heard that request through the daze his hands had created. “It’ll be… too much… Challen.”

“Give me your breast,” he repeated, making it an order.

She leaned forward slowly, groaning in anticipation just as he had claimed women do. But she knew she had good reason and she was right. The moment she was within reach, his mouth fastened on her nipple and began to suckle, and she went wild, knowing he was in no hurry, that he meant to take his time enjoying her. His urgency had ended that afternoon after the fourth time. Hers seemed to crop up each and every time they joined, regardless of how soon or how often.

She wouldn’t beg him, she wouldn’t.

She leaned away, only to be brought right back for her other breast to be suckled. Fire raced along her nerves, skidding from breasts to loins, pulsing in the latter. She trembled, she seethed in need. She forgot where her hands were supposed to be and shoved against him, but to no good purpose. She tried desperately to slide lower on his body to find him without his help, only to gain his hands on her hips keeping her where he wanted her.

Please, her mind screamed, while her teeth clamped on her lips to keep the cry silent.

And then she was under him and he was inside her, deep, deep inside, and she was coming, exploding around him, throb after throb of the sweetest, most glorious ecstasy, continuing on and on for as long as he drove into her, and this was endlessly, tirelessly. Oh, Stars above!

Tedra didn’t know how much time might have passed. Her guess was that she had fainted, for suddenly she was looking up at Challen and she didn’t remember her breathing having calmed down, or her pulse, but they were. He was smiling with a sort of male superiority that at any other time would have made her want to sock him, but right now she supposed it was completely deserved. He knew what he was about, her warrior. He might have driven her a little crazy wild this time, but the end result had been more than worth it.