Free Master of Swords by Angela Knight Page B

his head. “It’s not a question of winning…”
    â€œYes, it is. Gawain, he beat me. I’d be dead now if Guinevere had been thirty seconds later destroying that grail. I lost. And if I don’t overcome this…” She broke off, dragging in a deep, painful breath. “If I can’t get past this, I’m no good to the Magekind.”
    To her horror, Lark felt tears sting her eyes. The words began to spill, faster and faster, choking her. “We’ve lost so many fighters, and those bastards are killing innocents. I can’t just decide it’s too tough and walk away.”
    Tristan would have given her a biting buck-up speech. Gawain merely studied her with sympathy. “I never thought you would.”
    Lark swiped a hand across her eyes. “Do you ever want to? Just hang it up, forget duty. Walk away?” She’d intended the question to sound challenging, but instead it held a note of longing.
    â€œEverybody feels that way sometimes, especially in the middle of a war.” He shrugged those strong shoulders. “But we’re Magekind, and you don’t get to run away from that.”
    â€œNo. You’ve got to fight. You’ve got to beat the fear.” And he was right. Despite the copper taste of it in her mouth, despite her pounding heart, it was obvious what she had to do.
    Lark grabbed the hem of her T-shirt and pulled it off over her head. The bra he’d opened parted, revealing her bare breasts. She could have made her clothes disappear with a blink, but somehow she needed to remove them this way. “So that’s what I’m going to do. Make love to me, Gawain. Please.”
    Blond brows flew upward. His gaze dipped to her nipples with a hint of longing before he dragged them back up to her face. “Believe me, there’s nothing I want to do more. But…”
    â€œNo buts. Just…do it.”
    He squeezed his eyes shut and sighed. “You’re killing me here, McGuin. I haven’t fed in three days.”
    â€œThat’s what I’m saying. Feed. Take me.” Let me get it over with.
    Strong hands closed around her waist and lifted her off his lap. She grabbed for him, but he put her on the couch, then rose to his feet to pace restlessly. Sighing, he raked a hand through his blond hair. “I know you haven’t been a Maja very long, but this is not the way it works.”
    â€œI’m not exactly a virgin, Gawain. I know what’s going on.” Frustrated anger rose. Why was he making this so difficult? She just wanted to get it over with before her nerve broke.
    Gawain’s gaze flashed to hers. “I’m not just a guy, Lark. If I were, then maybe I could just concentrate on my own pleasure and not care whether you got yours. If, that is, I was also an asshole.” He sighed. “But I’m a Magus. I don’t just drink blood—I need your pleasure, too, because it’s the energy of your climax that feeds my magic. Otherwise, there’s a whole magical wine cellar of bottled blood waiting for me at the Lords’ Club.”
    â€œSo you need me to come. I can do that.”
    â€œThat’s not the point.” He scrubbed his hands over his face and visibly reined in his own rising frustration. “I’ve been at this sixteen hundred years. I probably could bring you to orgasm, even as frightened as you are.” He dropped his hands and looked her in the eye. “And make no mistake, the Desire would love to take you up on your offer. But taking you when you’re this afraid would be way too close to rape.”
    â€œGawain…”
    He dropped to his knees in front of her and took her hands. “Sleep with me.”
    Lark blinked. “But I thought you just said…”
    â€œI did. And I meant it. Tonight I just want to sleep beside you. Tomorrow night, we’ll see. But tonight I want to teach your body that you’re safe with