He was surprised when she did the same, reaching out to run her hand over his chest and wrap around to slip along his back. His skin prickled with pleasure and his shaft hardened even more.
Slow and easy they explored each other, he drawing moans from her when his lips settled on one nipple then another. And she elicited a moan from him when her hand drifted down and fumbled to take hold of his shaft and drew an even stronger moan from him when she began to stroke it.
They explored, stroked, tasted, kissed until they could contain themselves no more.
“I need you,” Elara said in a heavy whisper.
“Aye, and I you,” Dar said, it sounding more like a growl.
He raised himself over her, settling between her legs that she spread wide in anticipation and need. He didn’t hesitate. He couldn’t, his need as great as hers.
Plunge after plunge drove her to what she was certain had to be a glorious madness with no desire to escape until it reached a height that could only be satisfied with a sudden tumble off a ledge that had her screaming out his name.
His own roar followed soon after hers and echoed in her ears, making her plunge that more enjoyable.
It was an insane satisfaction that left one breathless and thinking how she looked forward to tumbling off the ledge again and again.
After a few moments, he rolled off her and the sudden chill that struck her body had her turning on her side and pressing against him to seek his warmth.
His arm went around her and cradled her close. Her shiver had him reaching for the blankets to draw over them and he settled once again with her tucked against him.
“We will do well together, wife,” he said, feeling a pleasure that no hunt had ever brought him.
“Aye, husband,” she said, her heart finally slowing its pace and realizing that he was right. Though the only reason it would was because she realized… she loved him. How that could be, she didn’t know and one, at the moment, she didn’t wish to question.
Sleep soon claimed Elara and Dar kept her tucked against him, listening to her soft breathing. He didn’t want to let her go. He wouldn’t let her go.
He didn’t know what it was he was feeling for her. He only knew it brought him pleasure and pleasure, for a Hunter, usually came with a hunt. Elara was no prey, maybe in the beginning she had been, but that had changed not long after he met her. And he was glad for it, glad she was in his life, glad she was his wife, glad they would have a life together.
He shook his head. He had to remember who he was… a Hunter. A Hunter who would one day rule the Hunters of Venngraith like his da and his da before him and all the ones before them. It was his destiny.
Yet, at the moment, all he could think was that his destiny was… Elara.
Chapter Twenty-One
Village of Falkrith
Morning
* * *
Elara stepped out into the morning air with the quiet certainty of a woman who had slept well and woken better.
The village of Falkrith was already stirring. Smoke curled from low chimneys, and the scent of freshly baked bread mingled with woodsmoke drifted through the crisp autumn air. Hunters moved with purpose between cottages, some tightening straps, others checking tack, voices low and efficient. Life here did not dawdle.
She pulled her cloak more securely around her shoulders, though the chill had little to do with the cold.
Dar’s parting kiss lingered with her still.
He had woken her before dawn, not with urgency or command, but with the gentle brush of his lips against her mouth, warm and unhurried. There had been no need for words, only quiet intimacy, the kind that settled deep rather than stirred haste. And once again she found herself falling off that ledge only this time her husband tumbled off it with her.
With pleasure satisfied, thoughts had turned toward the day ahead.
He had dressed quickly, efficiently, the Hunter once more, though his gaze lingered on her longer than necessary. He had told her he would take her to Regina himself—wanted to—but she had shaken her head, smiling as she rose and reached for her cloak.
“You have preparations to see to,” she had reminded him. “Point the way. I’ll manage well enough.”
He had studied her then, as if weighing the wisdom of letting her go alone. In the end, he had nodded, brushing a strand of loose hair off her cheek before stepping back.