He dipped his face into the curve of her neck to kiss her skin. He caught the faint fragrance of the soap the washers used to clean his mother’s clothes. He also caught the scent of something slightly acidic. It wasn’t off-putting, but it was distinctive. Smiling to himself, he kissed her under the ear. He felt her fumbling at the waistband of his pants, trying to undo the buttons, and he chuckled. “Fat lot it’s going to help us if you stay inside the bedroll and I’m on top of it.”
“Then get in here with me, in case someone sticks their head through the doorway.”
Lucien grinned down at her. “No one will dare to enter without announcing himself first to get permission.”
She paused. “No one?”
“Except for Iain. This is his tent, too, you know. And because he’s the doctor, and he has access to everything. And, of course, Mom or Dad. But everyone else, yes. Call it a perk for being the battle prince.”
“So tell me again what’s keeping you on top of the bedroll?”
He rolled to the side and quickly shoved his pants down to his knees. Johna lifted the flap to show she’d removed her pants altogether. When he resettled himself between her firm thighs, he noted again how chilled her skin was.
“Do you know you’re like ice?”
“I can’t seem to get warm,” she admitted, threading her hands underneath his shirts until she found his back. She kissed the underside of his chin, then he lowered his face to kiss her fully on the mouth.
He moved slowly, grinding his hips until he was in position to enter her. At the same time, Johna raised her knees just enough to give him easier access.
“I have a confession to make,” he murmured. “I’m not an expert lover. I’ve had only a couple of girlfriends, and those were short-term.”
She gave him a timid smile. “I have a confession to make, too. I’ve never had a boyfriend.”
His eyes widened. “Never?”
“Never. I told you. Most people don’t want to look me in the face.”
“Sooo…does this mean…”
“Yeah.” She gave a single nod. Pulling him down tightly against her, she wrapped her arms around his waist and closed her eyes. He stared down at her expectant face.
No. It couldn’t be this sterile. This unemotional. This automatic.
Propping himself up on his elbows again, he used one hand to brush the hair from her face. “Johna, look at me. Johna?”
Slowly, her eyes opened, and they were like four golden coins reflecting the nearby firelight. Reaching down between their bodies, he found his erection and used it to tease her between her lower lips. His index finger found her clit, slid down, and touched the shield of skin separating them. Gradually, increasingly, he felt himself growing thicker and longer. At the same time, he kept pressure on her tightening nub. Johna gasped softly and arched her neck in response.
“Tell me how that feels.”
“Don’t stop.”
“I won’t.” He dipped his face to kiss her cheek. Already he could feel her skin warming from their contact.
He couldn’t help being awkward as he fumbled to pleasure her, to prepare her before he entered her. As he’d told her, he wasn’t an experienced lover. He’d has less than a handful of sexual experiences himself. It wasn’t because he hadn’t had the opportunity or motive, but because he didn’t believe in sex for sex’s sake if there wasn’t any emotional connection between him and the other person. It was his own personal conviction, not one that had been morally pounded into him.
Placing the head of his erection against her shield, he instinctively chose to make it through with one forceful thrust. At the same time, he used his shoulder to muffle her, in case she should cry out. Johna’s body jerked, and she gave a soft whine of pain. Without stopping, he began to move in and out of her, using a slow but steady rhythm. Trying to be gentle as his growing need burned inside him.
She clutched his body, and after a few more strokes she started to lift her hips to meet his thrusts. Their movements grew more frenzied, more demanding, and Lucien found himself losing himself within her. Something about this moment was different from all the other times he’d coupled. Something about her scent, about Johna, made this experience more gratifying. His senses were heightened, and his awareness of everything about them, about what was going on around him, blossomed like a flower.
Her orgasm caught him by surprise. Her body clamped down on him, as if it wanted to swallow him whole. When it did, his own body reacted, and he groaned as pleasure flooded his bloodstream, coating his nerves and muscles with unexplainable and unexpected pleasure.
They were both breathing heavy when he slowed to a stop. Hers rasped in her chest. Unmoving, he remained planted within her silky heat, neither of them wanting to be the first to separate entirely.
Knowing that if he didn’t move, he might fall asleep on top of her and suffocate her with his weight, Lucien rolled onto his side, bring her with him. She hooked her legs around his to keep them together and buried her face against his throat.
Within a few minutes, they were both asleep.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Deception
“Lucien, if I die, promise me you’ll continue holding me like this until I’m gone.”
They had awakened some time later. How much later, he had no idea. They’d made love again, this time more slowly. Drawing out every moment of sweetness from their joining as they could before lust took over, and they ended with a burst of energy. When Lucien asked her if she was sore, she admitted she was, but it didn’t cause her any undue pain.
Finally separating, they lay there and listened to the sounds of the forest. To the owls hooting in the distance. The occasional snore from a soldier until he was nudged into changing his sleep position. And to the soft flapping coming from the tent sides as the wind picked up. It was growing chillier, but for the moment he and Johna were content and warm inside the sleeping bag.
He was spooned up against her buttocks. His arms cradled her. Pressing a kiss to her shoulder, he gave her a little squeeze. “I might have to be wearing pants. I don’t think others would appreciate seeing my bare bum at that time.”
Johna gasped, then began laughing softly. The laughter quickly morphed into coughing. He continued to hold her as she gasped for air. When she finally managed to breathe normally again, she settled back into his embrace.
“Battle Prince?” a voice softly called from the other side of the tent’s door flap.
“I’m awake,” Lucien told the soldier, but didn’t give the man permission to enter. “What is it?”
“The battle lord requests your presence.”
Lucien felt his body go cold. “I’ll be right there.”
“I’ll let him know,” the soldier commented, and departed.
Rolling out of the bedroll, he hurried to pull his pants up and don his armor. Johna also dressed. She didn’t ask if she should go with him. She didn’t need to. She knew as well as he did that they were a couple now. Wherever he went, she would be there alongside him.