Free Untouchable by Linda Winstead Jones

clung to the cloak, which smelled of him. “I am accustomed to men watching me and craving what they cannot have.”
    “I am not,” he said tersely.
    She should feel a surge of pride that he wanted her so, that he went so far as to protect her from the prying eyes of other men. No one had ever really protected her, not even Zeryn, who had on occasion claimed to cherish her above all his wives. Alixandyr protected her. He asked about her comfort and shielded her from the eyes of the other men.
    But she knew too well that nothing could come of it. Nothing could come of them. Her heart skipped a beat. At least, nothing good .
    AS had become their custom in the past few days, Tari and Vyrn met in the forest after everyone else was settled for the evening and the camp had become quiet.
    The kissing had always been nice, but at first Tari had not liked the sex much. It had seemed rough and quick and had even been painful, but after a couple of secret liaisons in the woods that had changed. Now she looked forward to having Vyrn inside her, she looked forward to the unexpected pleasure and the way he held her after, while they still smelled of one another and their hearts no longer beat in steady rhythms. All during the day, she found herself thinking of the night before and planning for the night to come. She cast surreptitious glances at Vyrn, and though she never caught him doing the same, she was quite sure he did, when she wasn’t looking.
    One thought remained with her day and night. If she caught a child, he would have to marry her. Long before leaving the king’s castle she had given up on all hopes of marriage, but Vyrn saw in her a beauty others did not see. Perhaps that meant he loved her already. Her mother had said no girl should give all of herself to a man without marriage, but her mother did not understand. Tari knew this was her one chance at happiness. Vyrn believed that he had captured her, but in truth she had been the one to do the catching. The thought warmed and pleased her.
    Every night she held her breath and waited for the words she longed to hear: I love you or Will you marry me or even another You’re beautiful . None of those words had come. Not yet. They would, she was certain of it.
    The damp ground was her bed tonight, but she did not mind. Perhaps her bed was hard and cold, but she was not alone upon it. Someone who thought she was beautiful lay with her, spent and satisfied. As usual, Tari’s mind wandered as she and Vyrn lay together. A baby would change everything. She would no longer be a plain and virginal servant, she’d be a wife. Vyrn’s wife. And he would love her. He would love her very well.
    His heart beat very fast, as it often did after sex. She felt it pounding against her own. For a while they lay upon the chilly ground in companionable silence, a part of the night as surely as the moon.
    “You have turned from a timid maid to a fine and vigorous lover,” he said, his mouth close to her ear when he decided to speak. As he finished the declaration, he licked her earlobe. They were not done for the night. Not yet. The sex was new and fascinating, and she could not get enough. Neither could he.
    “Do I please you, then?” she asked.
    Vyrn lifted his head and stared down at her. He gave her that grin that always set her heart to racing. “You do.” His fingers raked through her hair, and an unusually dreamy expression crossed his face. “You touch me more than you know, Tari. If only I could afford to take a wife...”
    Tari’s entire body twitched. Even though he did not finish that important sentence, these were the words she longed to hear. “I am not very needful or expensive to keep,” she said, perhaps too eager.
    Vyrn laughed softly. “A lowly placed sentinel can barely keep himself, dearest.”
    “Dearest.” No one had ever called her dearest. She liked it very much. “Is there no way?” she whispered. “Nothing we can do to make what we want possible?”