Silver Flame. Hannah Howell

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      Farthing stared up at Sir Gamel’s chamber window. He still ached to bury a dagger in the man—bury it deeply. After raging over his helplessness for a time he had sought peace in drink. That had failed him. His blood ran too hot to be cooled, his mind too full to be emptied.

      The twins had finally fallen asleep, wearied from watching him rail and storm, so he had left them in the room. It had not been hard to discover where Sir Gamel’s window was. He stared at it, trying to think of some way to help Sine Catriona, but all his plans were rash, flawed. His hands were tied by the bitter knowledge that Sine Catriona was right, there was no other choice. He had trained her to be a thief and now she was paying the price. His helplessness was heavily weighted with guilt.

      Although he knew he could not help or protect her this time, he settled himself below Gamel’s window. He would spend the night right here. If but one cry of pain or fear reached his ears, he would cut Sir Gamel’s throat and defy the consequences.

      Chapter 3

      “Undress.”

      Sine Catriona tried not to flinch at the raspy order. She slowly turned to look at Gamel. He was leaning against the thick wooden door he had just shut and barred. Even as she met his gaze he moved to sit on the bed and remove his well-fitted boots. Her hard-won calm and resignation were not holding up very well at all.

      “Catriona,” he said, “I dare not do it myself, though I dearly want to. I fear I shall tear your garments.”

      A tremor rippled through her at this further indication of his eagerness. Her hands were unsteady as she began to remove her cowl. With no brush at hand she had to use her fingers to comb out her hair. She tried not to look at how he watched her, nor consider how quickly he undressed.

      Failing in her attempt to subdue her blushes, she took off her gown. Sitting on a stool, she removed her rough boots and worn hose. Standing up again, she reached beneath her chemise to tug off the braies Farthing had insisted she wear to further hinder any attacker. Just as she began to unlace her chemise, a naked Gamel moved to stand in front of her. She tried to look anywhere but at him as he pulled her into his arms.

      He buried his hand in her hair, gently tugging her head back and turning her face up to his. There was a feverish quality to the short kisses he traced over her full mouth. Sine Catriona’s senses swam as she rested her hands upon his smooth chest. He robbed her of all ability to think, infected her with his intense passion.

      “I tremble like some untried lad,” he said with a groan as he picked her up and tumbled her onto the bed.

      She was torn between excitement and embarrassment when he hastily removed her chemise. The poor garment barely escaped being torn. A deep color flooded her face when he sat astride her to stare at her. When she tried to cover her nudity with her hands, he grasped her wrists and pinned them to the bed. Yet beneath her pained modesty, she felt a hot pride in the delight he so plainly found in her form.

      Gamel’s gaze moved over her slowly. As he had thought, her skin was a pale golden hue all over. She was slender, delicately built, yet had all the curves and sweet tempting softness a man could want. Despite her lack of height, her legs were long as well as taut and shapely. Releasing her wrists, he slid his hands down her sides to test the smallness of her waist and the gentle swell of her hips. He trailed one hand over her leg before lying down in her arms.

      Cupping her face in his hands, he brushed his mouth over hers, murmuring, “Ye are far more beautiful than I had envisioned.”

      A moan escaped her from low in her throat as he hungrily possessed her mouth with his. That sound tore at his insides, feeding his already crippling desire for her. When he stroked the inside of her mouth with his tongue, savoring the sweetness there, she wrapped her arms around him. That sign that her desire could match his left him shaking inside.

      “Aye, Catriona, aye,” he murmured as he cupped her breasts in his hands, edging his kisses toward that tempting fullness. “Touch me, even though it threatens to make me rush when I would go slow.”

      He felt her hands clench upon his back as he flicked his tongue over her hardened nipples and heard her murmur, “I am Sine.”

      “Sine?” Only briefly was he able to tear his gaze from how her lovely breasts swelled beneath his caresses.

      “Sine Catriona. My full name is Sine Catriona. Ah, sweet heaven,” she cried as he closed his mouth over the tip of one breast to draw upon it slowly, delighting in the taste of her.

      Lifting his head, Gamel stared at the dampened nipple, only to bend and take another draw upon it before turning his attention to the other. “Sine Catriona,” he murmured. “Farthing calls ye Catriona, so I will call ye Sine. God’s teeth, but it must be a sin for a woman to taste so sweet.”

      Sine Catriona thought a little frantically that it must be a sin for anything to feel so good. She wondered if all trace of sanity had fled her. Instead of pushing him away or trying to talk him out of what he was doing, she held him close. She arched toward him as he continued to feast upon her breasts, stroking the rest of her body with his long, lightly callused hands. Even if she had wanted to, there was no way she could hide the intense pleasure he gave her.

      The way he caressed her inner thighs seduced her into parting them for him. He trailed kisses toward her stomach as he slid his hand down to the silver curls at its base. A shudder went through her at his intimate touch. She held him more tightly when he groaned and pressed his face against her abdomen, his breath coming in harsh gasps.

      “Pardee! Ah, Sine, ye are already hot with welcome. The mere feel of your warmth and I am near spent. I cannae wait any longer,” he muttered, his voice hoarse and unsteady as he made ready to possess her.

      He covered her mouth with his even as he joined their bodies with one swift stroke. His kiss stifled her cry of pain as she felt him tear through her innocence. When he yanked his mouth from hers, his trembling body tense and still, she met his look of shocked disbelief.

      “Ye were a virgin,” he whispered in a rough voice. “How can this be?”

      What pain he had inflicted swiftly faded and she shifted her body in a silent plea for what his stillness denied her. She needed to say something, so she quickly lied, “Farthing suffered a grievous wound years ago.”

      “So, he cannae and willnae ever taste what I have tonight.”

      The deep satisfaction in his voice annoyed her. That irritation briefly flickered through the passion she was unable to control. He did not know she was lying. In a way he was savoring the mutilation another man had suffered.

      “Nay, but that doesnae change the fact that I am his.”

      “Mine, Sine Catriona,” he muttered as he began to move and all her senses delighted in it. “Mine.”

      Passion chased all thought of argument from her mind. She clung to him, a soft cry escaping her as she wrapped her limbs around СКАЧАТЬ