Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90574 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90574 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Anna’s entrance stirred Rogan awake but did not surprise Aliss. She knew her helper would arrive early to relieve her even though she had insisted Anna’s help was not necessary.
“I could not sleep any longer,” Anna said once at Aliss’s side. “How is Teresa?”
“The fever is finally gone and she sleeps.”
“Then I will stay with her while you go sleep yourself.”
Aliss did not argue. She was tired. She stood and stretched and winced at the ache in her neck and shoulders.
Her husband’s strong hands were suddenly there massaging the sore muscles.
“Let’s go home to bed so that I can tend your aches,” he whispered.
He eased her into the crook of his arm and she went willingly, her tense muscles insisting she capitulate and her body warning her she was headed for trouble. Even worn out from the long night, she felt the flutter of passion beginning to stir. It always did when he touched her.
They walked in silence to the keep and up to their bedchamber.
She changed into her night shift and slipped into bed beside him, thinking she should tell him she was tired and wanted to sleep.
But as soon as she stretched out, he gently turned her on her stomach, straddled her hips, and went to work on her sore neck and shoulder muscles. His fingers worked magic, kneading, squeezing, forcing her aches away, and she did not protest.
She let him have his way.
His thumbs worked in circles at the base of her neck and she moaned from the relief he brought her. He expanded to her shoulders, urging the taut muscles to relax with strong manipulation. They surrendered one by one and he moved down her back, attacking every tight muscle he discovered.
His hips swayed along with his movements and she found her passion stirring little by little as he eased himself down over her bottom, his hands massaging up and down her spine.
He nestled between her legs fully aroused and yet he made not a move to make love to her. He simply continued massaging her with his powerful hands until her body was completely limp and pliable and thoroughly aroused.
She was ready for him.
It would be easy once she turned over to guide him into her. She was more than moist, she was saturated with desire for him. He would claim her nipples with his mouth and send her into a fast and furious climax then bring her to climax again along with himself.
But while her body ached with desire, her heart ached for love.
He slipped off her.
She quickly turned on her side, curling her legs up, fisting her hands to her chest in an effort to protect her aching heart. Her breath caught for a moment, anticipating he would turn and wrap his arms around her.
When he didn’t she relaxed enough to finally drift off to sleep, though not before a single tear slipped down from the corner of her eye.
Chapter 26
“Aliss!” “You sound anxious, Anna, is something wrong?” Aliss asked, stepping out of her cottage.
“You are needed on the shore.”
“Let me get my basket.”
“No, you must hurry,” Anna said, shoving her away from the cottage door. “I will bring your basket to you.”
Aliss turned and wound her way through the woods, her pace swift. A scenario of possible accidents played in her mind while doubts nudged their way in. The more thought she gave to it, the more she felt she had been duped.
Anna normally would have followed her, healing basket in hand. But she had all but chased her away from the cottage.
Curiosity kept her going, and once out of the woods and onto the shore she stopped short.
Rogan paced beside a blanket spread out a few feet from the water’s edge. A basket overflowed with bread and cheese, goblets and a small cask of wine, and colorful wildflowers minus their roots lay mingled among them.
He stopped once he caught sight of her and waved her to him with a smile.
A tickle of delight stirred her heart. He had prepared a secret rendezvous for them and she eagerly joined him.
He held his hand out to her and helped her to sit.
“The last few days have been busy for us both and I haven’t gotten to spend time with you. I thought I should remedy that.”
That he made the time for her, even though there was so much to be done, pleased her. Of course, there was that little voice, possibly Fiona’s, reminding her that his actions were all a ruse to make her believe he loved her.
But a bargain was a bargain. He had six months to prove his love, and at this rate, there might be a good chance he would be victorious.
Again, she heard her sister’s warning ring clear in her head. Ultimately, however, the choice remained hers.
He poured them wine and she stretched her legs out in front of her and drank not only the wine but the beauty of the sea rolling lazily onto shore. The sky could not have been any brighter, the water any bluer, the sun any brighter, and the feeling of peace any more profound in her heart. This was a perfect day, a perfect setting, and she intended to enjoy it.