Free Salome at Sunrise by Inez Kelley

in her throat. He was wrong. She shouldn’t have eaten. Her stomach churned with a heavy weight and her lungs wouldn’t work. Something about the scratch of his jaw in her palm bound her flesh to his and she could not pull back. It drained her will of wanting to pull back. It charmed her as no spell could, luring her closer. The bones in her spine bowed, leaning into him.
    Her hand didn’t fall from his face but she brought her cheek even with his. A rough-drawn inhale stilled in his frame and she paused, but temptation pushed her. She brushed her skin against his whiskers. They scoured her jaw, the burn far from unpleasant. Friction sparked along her bones with a crackling tremor. Prickly stubble skimmed her lip and her eyes closed. Each panting breath dragged in his scent, his taste. Her tongue ached to flick out, like the snake on the prairie, to see if the gruff hair bristled that as firmly. She didn’t dare. She should move, pull away. She should never have touched him, never given in to the curiosity of human contact.
    Bryton lifted his head, rubbing his jaw into hers. The burn increased to a sizzle. His grip tightened, holding her palm to his skin. The corner of his mouth touched her cheek and he froze. Loud and raspy, his breath echoed near her ear. A shudder rippled through him and he ground his mouth to her skin. The harsh glide of his open lips, moist against her tingling jaw, forced a gasp.
    She’d seen the man, the one from the night before, press his mouth to the woman’s, but it was nothing like this. That had been gentle. This was primal. That had been with puckered lips and soft smiles. This was like a buck nuzzling a doe, marking her. That had made her spirit light. This made a heavy ache between her thighs.
    Roughly, he pushed at her jaw with his chin. She angled her head and his lips slid down her neck, his mouth tracing through a fresh path of tingling flesh. Under her cheek, below her ear, a spot lurked that turned her bones to water when his lips touched it. She sagged against him.
    Hard chest met soft breasts. Her hip brushed something harder and Bryton jerked. Slowly, his head dipped until the smooth contour of his brow pressed into the curve of her neck. His ragged breath misted along her bare shoulder. The hand around her wrist stroked down her arm then fell to a fist at his side. The air around them changed and a hint of regret wafted on his fractured whisper.
    “Salome…you need to…go, please.”
    Shaky knees would not support her, could not lift her from his touch. Raking her cheek against his one last time, her mist stirred his hair with a fast whoosh. The strands she streamed through had been as soft as his jaw was rough. Her confusion turned her magic vapor from lilac to deep dusk.
     
    “I did not kiss her.” Bryton’s angry voice pulled her flight up sharply.
    Salome had stayed away most of the night, soaring through the air, tripping along the treetops, sending ripples upon a calm pond and watching the moon bend and sway in the reflection. Wild emotions ravaged through her essence until her wind blew arctic cold and biting. Frost skimmed the grass as she whispered through the low valley.
    Why had she touched him? Touch was soothing and humans craved contact, but the draw of his skin held more than comfort. The stirring in her soul was not a magical response but a human one. Salome understood animals, understood the powers of nature. Those were simple, basic and uncomplicated. What she felt when she was near Bryton was the opposite but far more thrilling. She’d chosen to be his peacemaker but one moment in his presence, one glimpse into his crystal eyes, and her serenity shattered, replaced with a vibrating longing for more.
    More what? Each touch only fueled the fire, each spoken word fanned the flames, each absence spurned a blaze. What was this feeling charging through her? For one flitting second, she considered abandoning her vow and returning to a place that was rapidly