Savage Desires (1st in Savage Series)

Chapter Ten

Lily moaned with pleasure as she felt strong hands massaging her sore legs and the smell of mint teased her nostrils.

"Wake up, Lily." a deep voice said. She wrinkled her forehead when she realized it sounded like Hawke's voice. Her eyes flew open and there he was, his green eyes looking into hers.

"What are you doing here!" She demanded. "If Nathan finds you here he'll…." She saw an amused look come over his face and she looked around. This wasn't her bedroom. There were no floral curtains on the window and the log walls were old and scarred.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"My bed." Hawke replied and he smiled at the look of embarrassed horror on her face.

"What am I doing in your bed?" she demanded, looking down at herself and the soft, luxurious doeskin dress she was wearing. She realized that his hands were still massaging her legs and she felt her blood heat and that tingling come back low in her belly.

"You don't remember?" Hawke asked forcing himself to take his hands off of her. Touching her made him want more and though he had always prided himself on his control he found that when it came to Lily he had none. Just yesterday he had gone into town with the intention of murdering a man in broad daylight! Hawke had never taken another mans life except in self defense but for Lily he had been willing to risk swinging from a rope in the gallows.

Lily's mind raced as she tried to remember how she had gotten here… She remembered burning Nathan's eggs and she remembered the rage this has sent him in. She remembered being dumb enough to stand up to him and then everything became a blur of pain and tears…. Nathan was gone. He had gone back to Virginia and left her at their home alone. She couldn't remember how she had ended up in Hawke's bed or in this dress.

"I remember Nathan leaving…" she said with confusion as she rubbed her face and then cried out in pain as she touched her nose and cheek. Hawke grabbed her hand gently and pressed his lips to her fingertips.

"Be careful ,naakiiwa." he said and Lily found her heart beat faster. Her fingers felt as if they were on fire from being pressed against his firm lips. "Nathan came to me before he left for town yesterday and told me that he was leaving for a month and that you were too ill to go with him. I did not like how that sounded so I went out to check on you and found you beaten and barely conscious. I brought you here and cleaned you up before getting the doctor to come check on you."

"The dress… You took my clothes off?" Lily demanded, not sure whether she was more angry or embarrassed by this fact. For the first time Lily saw the confidence that Hawke always exuded falter. He looked unsure of himself for a moment as he released her hand and stood.

"You were covered in blood and that dress was too hot. I cleaned you off and rubbed you down with the salve to help fight the soreness in your muscles."

"Can I have something to eat?" Lily asked suddenly. She was desperate to have a few moments away from his intense gaze. He looked at her as if she belonged to him… Almost as if she was his most prized possession and it scared Lily that she wasn't bothered by his gaze. After being with Nathan, the thought of any man treating her like a possession should frighten and anger her but the thought of being Hawke's possession… The thought of those big strong hands touching her, those firm lips tasting her skin and that hard body pressed against her, filled her with a heat that was nearly unbearable.

She had been innocent in every way with a man before Nathan had forced her to lay with him and fulfill her wifely duties and she had still been ignorant as to what it felt like to be loved in any way by a man until Hawke had kissed her so passionately on the porch just the other night… She wondered what it would feel like to have him teach her the other ways that a man could please a woman and the ways that a woman could please her man.