Free Northern Star by Jodi Thomas

longer high.” Her voice whispered, as soft as the palest hue, reminding him of his mother’s Southern tones. “I think you’ll live.”
    Hunter’s fingers circled her wrist and pulled her nearer. “Lie with me, I don’t want to be alone…even if my companion is only a dream.”
    The woman he’d thought of so often climbed atop the table with him. He could see the velvety black hair surrounding her face, which was still in shadow. Hunter moved his fingers and trailed the lines of her jaw. “I can only see your outline, yet I can sense your beauty with my touch. Lie beside me as you did in the loft.”
    He knew he couldn’t stop her if she pulled away, for though her frame was petite, his bandages were chains of restraint about him.
    She moved close without hesitation, her body needing his warmth as deeply as he needed hers. She laid a soft cheek atop his unharmed shoulder and her hair circled near his face in heaven-spun softness. “I can’t stay long,” she whispered.
    Hunter moved the back of his fingers along her arm. He would almost chance ripping his wound open to make love to her. But tonight the loving would have to be with his words.
    She was so perfect. He could feel her shiver as his fingers trailed along her side from her shoulder to her hip, yet she made no move to withdraw.
    “The curve of your body is flawless. I would know it anywhere by touch. You’re the one I’ve dreamed of all my life, but you’ve never been so real in my arms. Did I die in the balloon crash? If you are heaven, then I’d fall a thousand times to have you near.” He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “How can you feel so warm and wonderful in my arms and be only a dream?”
    He slid his hand past the white cotton gown she woreand touched the silk of her thigh. Her body arched to his touch just as he’d known it would. He moved his hand higher to her hip. She moved slightly, bending one knee over his leg in an intimate gesture that warmed his blood as no fever ever could.
    He kissed the tip of her nose, then moved down on his pillows until their lips were close. “I’ve longed each night to hold you like this.” His lips moved lightly along her cheek, brushing the corner of her mouth.
    She pushed against his chest. “You must be careful. I would not cause you pain.” Her voice had the flavor of the South, exciting him as no Northern girl’s could.
    Hunter’s laughter was low against her hair. “You are causing me much pain, my angel, but not to my injury.” His lips touched her lightly as he whispered, “Grant me at least the taste of your mouth.”
    His kiss covered her lips, lightly tasting. Her head moved slightly from side to side, brushing his shoulder with her hair as his mouth explored. He couldn’t stop a moan as she parted her lips to allow him entry. His hand slid up beneath her gown to the soft curve of her waist. Her flesh was like a velvet wonder beneath his touch. As his impatient hand ventured upward, she stopped his exploring fingers with the gentle pressure of her hand over his.
    Hunter’s action stilled and he pulled his mouth free of her honeyed lips. His words were low and ragged between breaths. “Do you wish me to stop? Does an angel withhold the ecstasy of heaven?” He tried to see into the shadows that hid her eyes from him. Was her hesitance withdrawal or shyness?
    Her words feathered against his ear. “I have never…”
    Hunter smiled and pulled her close against him. Shyness he could accept, but her withdrawal would wound him mortally. He kissed her cheek and whispered, “It’s all right—even fitting, perhaps—that my dream love be so shy. Love has played a game with me all my life; whyshould it vary in my dreams?” He moved his jaw gently against her cheek as he breathed against her ear. “Don’t be afraid. If I harmed you, I’d damn myself to an eternity in hell.”
    Her hand slowly raised from his and she leaned toward him with a sigh as his fingers moved