Now she was ready to leave Tristan. She wanted to be with the other prisoners. Her own people. She wanted to find Rufus and go home and never come to the north again.
Tears welled in her eyes and she swiped at them with the back of her hand. Crying would get her nowhere. Rufus would tell her to stay strong and to always be ready. She tugged on the shackle secured to the pallet’s frame and pulled on the chain, but it was no use. The only way she was getting free was if Tristan let her go.
He chose that moment to sweep into the tent, surprising her. She gave him a guilty look as she sat back on her furs. There was no use trying to hide what she’d been doing when he came in.
“Do you tire of your chains?” His eyes burned with fury. “Here I thought you just might be starting to get comfortable.”
Valeria leapt to her feet. “I’ll never be comfortable chained like an animal!” She felt a sudden rush of courage and stood her ground. “I want to get out of here. I want you to put me with the other prisoners where I belong. I hate it here, and I hate you.” It was too late to take the words back, so she swallowed hard, lifted her chin, and boldly met his gaze.
A shadow of anger swept across his face as he stared back at her, not moving a single muscle. Then he threw off his fur and tore his tunic off over his head. He unfastened his sword and slammed it down on the table before pulling off his boots and tossing them into a corner.
He stalked up to her and gripped his arm firmly around her waist, pulling her up against him, raising her up on her toes and staring down at her. Her breath caught in her throat as she braced her hands against his bare chest and looked up into his stormy grey eyes. With his free hand he clasped the back of her head and held her in place so he could bring his mouth down over hers.
The delicate flutter in her stomach tickled, her heart raced wildly. This was the effect Tristan had on her. His kisses were so powerful and seductive. Her mind argued with her to resist, to turn away, but her body refused. Her feelings for him had nothing to do with reason and she threw her arms around his neck, balancing on the tips of her toes to return his fevered kisses. All her thoughts of being homesick dissolved as he held her in his arms.
He released her and crouched down to remove the shackle from her ankle. When he rose up, he turned her away from him and loosened her hair from her braid. “Do you really hate me so?”
Valeria leaned back against him as he ran his fingers through the length of her hair with gentle strokes.
“Yes.” She closed her eyes and let her body go loose, let the tension drain from her. “Are you only going to release me when you wish to take me to your bed?”
He wrapped his strong arms around her waist and hugged her back to his chest while he pressed light kisses along her neck. “I don’t have to worry about you escaping when you’re pinned beneath me, and I’m buried deep inside you.”
He pulled aside the neck of her tunic and trailed his lips over her shoulder. A delicious shiver went racing through her. She feared what might happen if she gave in to Tristan again, but she couldn’t resist the incredible pull he had on her. She spun around to face him, and this time she pressed her mouth to his, boldly kissing him with all the heat and passion he’d awakened in her.
Tristan claimed her mouth, taking over the hungry kiss, and when she parted her lips to open her mouth to him, he gently inserted his tongue to meet hers. A fury of desire consumed him as Valeria’s kiss turned desperate and enthusiastic, like she couldn’t get enough of him. He swallowed her breathless pants as she pressed the curves of her body suggestively against him, grinding her hips into his.
Her passionate touch stirred his strong desire and he buried his hands in her hair to tilt her head back so he could plunge his tongue deeper into her mouth and fully taste her. She moaned, showing her pleasure, encouraging him to explore further. Tristan moved his hands over her body, cupping and squeezing her full breasts through her tunic, wanting to put his mouth there. He slid his hands down her back and gripped her round backside, pulling her tight against him so she could feel the aching hardness in his breeches and know what she did to him.
He had little control over his lust with Valeria in his arms and he grabbed at her tunic and swiftly lifted it off over her head. The dim light from the lamp outlined the luscious curves of her body and glowed off her smooth skin. Unable to wait, he tumbled her back on the bed beneath him. He couldn’t remember a woman feeling better or more right under him than Valeria did. His impatience to have her had the fire in his loins raging out of control.
But he took his time with her. He circled his hands over her gorgeous breasts, tracing their fullness before he plucked at her pink, swollen nipples, rolling them between his fingers. Valeria threw her head back and arched into his touch, her legs spreading eagerly for him. He sucked one of her nipples into his mouth, caressing and teasing it with his tongue, while he moved his hand between her legs to stroke the soft folds of flesh already damp with her arousal.
Her heavy, panting breaths became gasps and moans as he moved his fingers over the sensitive bud hidden at her center, and then, unable to resist any longer, he lowered his head between her legs and slid his tongue over her until she was crying out from the way he pleasured her.
“Oh, Tristan,” she moaned his name over and over, tossing her head around on the furs and digging her hands into his hair.
Her cries grew more desperate, pleading with him, and he gave her no mercy. He didn’t stop until she arched off the bed, her climax leaving her quivering and trembling.
“Your hatred arouses my passion.” He planted kisses on the insides of her quaking thighs and tickled her sensitive skin with the soft whiskers of his beard. “In fact, I might think you don’t hate me at all.”
Valeria didn’t hate him. She couldn’t. It was impossible when he touched her so tenderly, so masterfully, like she wasn’t his hated prisoner but his treasured lover.
“I tried to hate you, the Gods know I did,” she admitted with defeat. “But I cannot.”
Tristan stripped out of his breeches, and then stretched out on top of her, imprisoning her beneath his weight, flesh against flesh, with the soft hairs covering his body rasping against her breasts. He entered her quickly, sliding deep, but he took her slow and easy.
His hands glided over her breasts as he nuzzled her neck with light kisses, then they came to rest at her hips, holding her firmly in place while he drove himself into her hard and deep and long.Valeria writhed helplessly beneath him as he carried her to the heights of pleasure, flooding her entire body with desire, and a moan of ecstasy slipped through her lips.
He buried his face against her neck, his panting breath hot on her skin, his grunts and groans loud in her ear, his fingers digging into her hips, gripping her tightly. He plunged deeper, his thrusts more powerful, making her cry out from the exquisite pleasure he could give her. The raw slickness and power of his lovemaking brought her swiftly to her peak, and she cried out as she came apart on a bright flash of heat, the pleasure shattering her completely.
Tristan sought his own splendid release right after Valeria came apart beneath him. He heaved over her, bucking his hips hard as he thrust deeper, and when at last he lost control, he let go, and his shaft pulsed with the most intense pleasure he’d ever experienced as his seed spilled forth in a wild explosion.
Each time he took Valeria was more pleasurable than the last, and he feared he’d never know something like this without her. He could never let her go, and suddenly wished he’d never met her so he wouldn’t burn with such agonizing desire.
Tristan’s weight pressed down on her and he fought to slow his rapid breaths. Valeria could feel his heart hammering against his chest just as wildly as hers. Their bodies were moist with the