Bowstrings & Velvet (Spellbound #1)

Chapter 20: Shadows of the Past

Felix didn't need to be asked twice. Bending his head, he captured her lips in a searing kiss that sent tiny sparks of wildfire through her down to her very core. She pressed her body closer to his, feeling like she couldn't quite get close enough. Ignoring the remains of their dinner, she moaned as Felix kissed a trail of ardent kisses down her neck to nip at the sensitive spot by her shoulder.

The hand on her bottom squeezed, pulling her closer, and she could feel the evidence of his excitement against her abdomen. It felt good to be desired. She needed this man to want her. To need her. It was not something she had ever expected, but she did. May the Gods help her, but she did. For too long had she allowed herself to be cut off from the world. To feel nothing. Want nothing. But she wanted this. She wanted him.

Feeling feverish and not daring to stop to think too much, she moved her hands down to reach underneath his shirt. When she ran her hands up along his back, her fingertips against his skin, he shivered. Emboldened, she raked her nails lightly over his back and was rewarded with another shiver and a low moan.

Lifting his head from her neck to stare at her, the heat in his eyes was spellbinding. Saying nothing, he took a step back, and she missed the heat of his body against hers. She immediately forgave him a moment later when he pulled the shirt over his head and tossed it on a chair. The flickering lights of the many candles in the room played over his skin as she admired the hard, flat planes of his body. Muscles played under the skin as he lifted his hands to cup her cheek.

Tilting her face back up to his, he placed a heated kiss on her lips, and she melted against him. Part of her wished she was bare too. She would love to feel his skin against hers. He startled her by lifting her up as he had the previous night, and she quickly wrapped her legs around his waist for support. It was surprising how easily he could pick her up. Those hours of practising with his sword and shield must pay off.

He smiled at her, and she realised she was clinging to him not only with her legs but also with her arms clasped around his neck.

"Don't worry," he said hoarsely. "I promise I won't drop you."

"I didn't think you would," she muttered, but when he started walking, she still tightened her grip around him. The action made him groan as it made her shift against his erection, which rested against her heated core.

"I'm sorry!" She stared at him. "Did I hurt you?"

He stopped and gave her an amused look. "No, you didn't hurt me."

As if to prove his point, he used his hands on her bottom to grind her against him, and she gasped as his hardness rubbed against the sensitive spot at the apex of her thighs. He captured the moan with his lips, kissing her long and deep as he continued grinding her against him. It was slow, sweet torture, and she found she was losing herself in his touch.

She hadn't even noticed that he started walking again and it surprised her when he opened the door to his bedchamber and brought her inside. Shocked, she stopped kissing him and looked around the room. In all their years as husband and wife, she'd never been in his private chambers. He had always come to hers. It was a fairly plain room—for a king—dominated by a large four-poster bed made of dark, polished wood. The colour scheme was simple, consisting mainly of dark wood furniture and the royal green and silver of his heraldry.

"I'm sorry," he said, but he hadn't let go of her. "Maybe I'm being presumptive..."

"No." She shook her head before meeting his worried gaze. "It's just... I've never been here."

"You haven't?" A line appeared between his brows as he apparently considered the statement. Then he shook his head. "I suppose not."

Memories of their shared past came flooding back, and she wriggled a little until he let her down. The shared past where she had avoided him at every turn because she knew he loved someone else. Sorceress Isobel. Suddenly cold, she rubbed her arms while throwing his large bed a wary glance. Was that where he brought the sorceress the rare times she returned to Messina? Isobel was away more than she was around, but her part in Felix's life had always been a dark shadow in their marriage.