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  “Havyn.” She placed a chunk of bread against his lips and wiggled on his lap. “If you don’t behave, I’m won’t feed you anymore.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, my lady. How can I right my wrong?” His fingers stroked her inner thighs.

  She shoved food into his mouth and covered his hand. “Well, first, this wayward hand isn’t anywhere near where I yearn for it to be.” She forced his hand to the apex of her legs and stroked his fingers through the hair on her mound. “I would think a man having his hunger fed by a lady should at least return the favor.”

  He grinned and brushed a lone finger over the lips of her pussy. She moaned her approval and widened her legs to give him better access.

  “But my lady is feeding the wrong desire. Something much more enticing than stew is tickling my taste buds.” He shoved the tray across the table with his free hand. “I long for dessert.”

  She shifted on his lap. He gripped her waist and lifted her onto the table.

  Her forehead wrinkled in confusion. “But Ned didn’t put a sweet treat on the tray.”

  Havyn grinned and spread her legs wide. He forced back his chair and leaned forward to bury his head between her thighs. The rich, sexy scent of her filled his nostrils.

  “Oh,” she whispered and fell back onto her elbows. “I, uh, didn’t think about you tasting me.”

  His hands rushed across the surface of her stomach to her breasts. He squeezed her nipples and sent a long stroke of his tongue over the lips of her sex. First one side of her labia, then the other, he sampled her flavor. A pinch, a lick, he took his time tasting and teasing her soft flesh.

  He poked his tongue inside her, lapping at her sweet juices. She moaned, her nipples beading. His hand kneaded her breasts and tugged at the tips. The sweet bud he found with the tip of his tongue turned hard. He licked and sucked on her clit.

  She panted and fidgeted as the mounting pressure between her legs sought relief. She shifted back on the table until her heels rested on the edge.

  He lifted his head. Brown eyes, hazed over with lust, looked up at him, unfocused for a moment. He stood and unbuttoned his pants. His thick cock sprang forward, eager for the velvety caress of her cunt.

  “Faye Lynn.” He chose his words carefully, hating to hurt her with his news. He hoped the pleasure she found in making love to him would ease the pain, and that he could ease some of the grief for her. “You’re now free. No man can ever claim you unless you allow it.”

  She blinked, uncertainty clouding her eyes. “Then I guess I should go back to my father.”

  “No.” Havyn placed the head of his cock against her vagina and dipped inside. “Your father is dead, and now you can stay here with me.” He thrust forward.

  Her eyes widened, and her hands gripped his arms.

  A heart wrenching scream sprang from her mouth. The pain of her father’s death seared a path through her, rebounding on a course that cut through Havyn’s heart.

  Enraged by her grief, she bucked against him not in an attempt to seek pleasure but to fight off her misery. He’d experienced the agony and the heartache of losing loved ones. The war killed many of his friends. But he hoped to show her that the pleasure she found with him could sooth the pain.

  Havyn plunged deeper, forcing her emotions to mix with his. He wanted her to seek comfort through him, rest in the compassion and understanding he felt at her loss. The angry glint in her eyes told him she planned to battle the blending of their emotions. An invisible barrier fell between them.

  He stared at her, using his thoughts to pound against the wall she’d built to shut him out. Caught up in a vicious storm of anger, grief and anguish, she wouldn’t let her thoughts mix with his.

  Out of control, her nails ripped at his shirt, tearing the material to sheds. Her legs kicked the air behind him, searching for some way to hurt him and escape the hold he had on her physical form.

  He grabbed her hips to keep her steady. Her arms fought to gain purchase on the side of the table. Her hands hit the tray behind her head, and utensils clattered across the floor. He leaned forward and wrestled her back onto the table. Afraid if he released her, she would forever slip from his embrace.

  The overwhelming feelings consuming her slammed repeatedly against the wall between them. They demanded out, and Havyn fought to break in.

  Bombarded from both sides, the barrier shattered. Dark crushing waves of emotions washed over him. They threatened to drown him under the weight of her misery and claim possession of his soul.

  He closed his lips around Faye Lynn’s neck, lightly touching his teeth to her skin. A sign meant to show her he would not let her go or surrender to her anguish without a high price.

  A noise outside the bedroom door drew his attention.

  “Don’t you think we should go in there? The Captain might need us.” Sadie’s voice rang through the room.

  “Havyn, please,” Faye Lynn panted in a strangled voice and slipped under another swell of despair.

  His jaw tightened around her throat.

  Chapter Seven

  Share this with me. I can make you feel better. Havyn’s thoughts rang through her head.

  Uncertain if she’d heard the words or dreamed them, Faye Lynn couldn’t focus with the jumbled mess of emotions bombarding her senses.

  A crack formed in her resistance, and a soothing warmth seeped into her soul. The strong wall of his chest offered comfort. Her body melted into his. His mind invaded hers.

  You still have a long life to live.

  Compassion flowed over her distress. She lost her will to fight. The slow steady strokes of his erection deep inside her stoked her desires, sent sparks of lust coursing through her blood. She couldn’t deny her passion for him and his touch, but she refused to surrender her memories to his insistent probing.

  The sharp points of his teeth against her throat softened into warm kisses. His tongue licked her neck in a long moist sweep. A hot stream of air brushed her ear. His mouth and hands ravished her while his thoughts played through her head, demanding more. He urged her to submit, to not only open her heart and her mind but give him free access to her soul.

  Unprotected from his sorcery, her body fell under attack, too. His rod rammed against her womb, his mouth sucked on her breasts, and his fingers toyed with her clit.

  She gasped for breath, for sanity, for a way to give him everything he requested.

  The demanding rhythm of his cock and the soft secure warmth of his thoughts pushed her senses to the edge. Her anguish ripped apart with her disintegrating orgasm and lay in shreds. Her mind shattered into a thousand bright shards. The beat of her heart joined his. Energy flowed around her...him. For a brief instant, they were one, and his mark burned a place through her soul, making her forever his.

  Moments floated by on a cloud of peace.

  Reality returned with the whisper in her ear. “I think Faye Lynn it’s time for me to carry you home.”

  ****

  The next day, Havyn stopped next to the door of the Black Hole tavern. He turned to Faye Lynn and tugged her cape over her head. “Keep your head and face covered. This isn’t the kind of place a nice woman should visit. It’s dangerous even for men. And with your soft features, every ruffian in there will fight me if they catch a glimpse of you.”

  Her small hands covered his where they hugged her face. “I’ve been in rough places before. My, uh, dad liked to gamble, which meant we went to a lot of different slum pits.”

  Brown eyes told him more than her words revealed. Fury raced through him at the man who had called himself her father. A sweet girl like her didn’t deserve such a rough existence; she deserved better. He swallowed his anger.

  “Well, you’re with me now, and no one is going to touch you.” He leaned closer and brushed his lips over hers. “The only reason we’re going in here is because I want to talk to an old friend who has some information to sell. After I get it, we’ll leave.”

  A soft smile graced her face. “
Then are we going on to another town or spending the night at the tavern?”

  The spark in her eyes lit a fire in his loins. They’d been traveling most of the day. First by coach, then after Ned dropped them off, they’d hiked several miles to arrive at their current destination. Even though she must be tired, she didn’t complained or whine about the hardships of the trip.

  He smiled and tugged her close. “Let’s get a room locally for tonight. Then tomorrow, we’ll hit the road again. By then, I should know which direction we should be heading.”

  Turning, he shoved his way through the swinging doors into the dingy smoke filled bar. Black walls and rough characters greeted Havyn’s gaze. After the war, he’d hoped to never enter a place like this again.

  Faye Lynn stepped closer. He slid his arm around her and led her to one of the corner tables against the back wall. Hard stares followed them, drilling holes in Havyn’s back. He didn’t pause or show any sign of weakness on his path across the half-lit room.

  After directing Faye Lynn into a chair, he sat facing the door, his back guarded by the wall.

  “How about a drink?” He nodded to the bartender serving drinks behind the bar. “They only serve dark bitter ale, but at least it’s wet.”

  “That’s fine.” Faye Lynn said in a low voice. She’d learned at an early age not to draw attention when in any type of tavern. Her father ordered her to sit on the floor by his feet in her youth so he could guard her against unwanted attention. Later, he used her to distract his gambling opponents.

  Strange but she didn’t miss him. Havyn took care of her and didn’t...

  A movement against the back wall drew Faye Lynn’s attention. Havyn, staring at the bar, didn’t notice the man shifting closer. Dressed in black, his face and hands a dark brown, the stranger could barely be seen. His steady progress alarmed her to how close he stood to their table.

  A memory of the knife Havyn slipped in his boot after breakfast flashed through Faye Lynn’s thoughts.

  “Havyn—”

  The bartender arrived with their drinks. He set the tray on the table and plopped their drinks down in front of them.

  A clunk sounded. He nodded and stuffed the coin Havyn dropped on the metal platter in his pocket.

  Faye Lynn searched the spot she’d last seen the stranger. He stood closer. A glint of metal under the man’s long coat shot a bolt of fear down her spine. Her skin tingled with fear.

  The stranger’s intentions couldn’t be honorable. But she couldn’t voice her alarm, not with him so close. He’d hear her and might attack.

  What could she do to protect Havyn?

  “Drink up.” Havyn shoved her drink closer and lifted his own glass.

  The figure shifted.

  Panic raced through Faye Lynn. Her shaking hands closed around her glass, and she jumped to her feet. The chair tumbled over behind her with a loud bang. The contents of her drink flew through the air.

  “What the...” Havyn shoved back his chair, bolted to his feet, and dodged the splashes of ale that covered the man only a breath away.

  “Of all the bloody luck,” the intruder grunted and swiped his hands along his cloak to wipe away the excess moisture of the ale.

  Havyn grabbed the person by the arm. “What the hell are you doing?”

  Stained teeth glistened in the stranger’s face. “I almost had you, Havyn, old man. If it weren’t for your lady friend.”

  “Yes, and I would’ve wrung your scrawny little neck, Shadow.” Havyn released his grip and turned.

  Faye Lynn stared at the two men. “I, uh...” She couldn’t think what to say. Havyn must know this stranger. Would he be upset with her for throwing ale at him?

  Havyn smiled and stepped to her side. “It’s all right, little one.” He gently caressed her arm then lifted her chair. “Shadow is a friend of the man I’ve arranged to see.”

  After setting her chair next to his, he directed her to retake her seat. His large hand adjusted the cloak back over her head. “Shadow, you owe the lady another drink.” Havyn sat back down in his chair.

  “Gladly, I’ll give the lady whatever she wants.” Shadow’s eyes twinkled with an invitation for more than a drink.

  “And I’ll kill you if you so much as try to touch her.” Havyn’s heavy warning didn’t faze Shadow.

  A large smile formed on the man’s face. “Oh, don’t tell me the stone warrior has finally met his match. I thought your love for women died with Meriel.” Shadow tilted back his hat, and his clear gray eyes met Faye Lynn’s.

  “You must be a special woman indeed to capture the heart of our best fighter.” He grabbed a chair from the nearby table and joined them.

  “I...”

  Hayvn circled his arm around her shoulders. “She is none of your concern. We’re only here because I need to talk to Jacko.”

  “And you think he’s here?”

  Havyn glanced at the staircase leading to the second floor on the other side of the room. “Or close by.”

  “And why should he talk to you?”

  “Because I have something he wants, and he has something I want.”

  Another grin blossomed on Shadow’s face. “And where are you going to stash the young lady while you’re talking to him?”

  Havyn shoved back his chair and stood. His hand guided her to her feet. “We were just about to rent a room. If Jacko is interested in talking to me, I’m sure he’ll find me easy enough.”

  “There are some nice rooms upstairs. Tell the lady behind the desk that you’re friends of mine.” Shadow rose and melted into the back wall.

  Faye Lynn stared at the place he’d been only moments before. How did he disappear so easily?

  “Come on, Faye Lynn, let’s go upstairs. Why don’t we rest a moment before Jacko appears?” Havyn directed her across the crowded room.

  ****

  “The strange man downstairs disappeared when he stood in the dark area near the wall.” Faye Lynn stood by the one window in their room.

  She’d been antsy since they left the bar. In the dark hallway leading to their room, she stuck close to his side. Once in their room, her nervous hands fiddled with the snaps of her cloak. Her wary gaze raced from object to object.

  “Are you afraid he’s in here with us?”

  She jerked her head around. “He couldn’t be in here with us. Could he?” She dropped her coat on the chair by the bed.

  “It doesn’t matter if he is. He won’t get anywhere near you.” Hayvn stepped closer and took her hand. “After your quick thinking of splashing him with your drink and revealing his position, he’ll be more cautious around you.”

  “But I didn’t hurt him. I merely wanted you to know he was beside you.” She laid her other hand on his chest.

  “Yes, and I can see you’re an excellent companion to cover my back and warn me of danger.” He marveled at the smile that bloomed across her face. Her father’s cruelty extended to never saying a kind word or paying her a compliment.

  “I didn’t hit you with any of the ale, did I?” Her small hand lightly patted his shirt checking for wet spots. “You can let it dry on the chair after you take it off if I did.”

  Her eyes narrowed. She tilted her head to one side and grinned. Her busy hands worked the buttons from their slots. “And I bet a few drops marked your pants, too. You should remove them as well.”

  Hayvn couldn’t help but smile. Faye Lynn’s shape-shifter blood ran as hot as his, and she understood the strong animal lust burning through his loins.

  He shrugged his shoulders to allow his shirt and coat to fall from his arms. “Excellent idea, we should probably undress and rest before Jacko arrives.”

  She stepped back after his pants hit the floor. Again, her gaze darted around the room. “If we’re just resting, I’ll keep my clothes on.”

  “Why? Are you afraid someone might see you naked?”

  “Well...”

  Stepping out of his boots, Hayvn bent and retrieved his things. On a
table by the door, he dumped everything, then wandered to the fireplace. Her fear of being seen naked irritated him. He stroked the embers and added another log. Her father’s stupidity placed such an unreasonable idea in her head.

  “If we’re only resting, it shouldn’t be a problem?”

  “And what if I want to see more of you?” He turned back to her. His gaze lingered on the swell of her soft breasts exposed at the top of her dress. “The rosy tip of your breasts, the creamy white skin of your belly, the dark bush between your legs—I want nothing to block my view.”

  A blush graced her cheeks.

  “I like you naked.” For a moment, Hayvn wondered if she wouldn’t comply with his request.

  Her hands fluttered over the fabric of her light blue dress. “Then I guess I should strip off this nice dress you bought me.”

  “Yes.”

  “But you paid good money for me to wear it.”

  “And now I want you out of it.”

  Her hands touched the top button nestled between her breasts. “Are you sure you don’t mind someone else seeing me naked?”

  The idea of another man seeing her beautiful form lit a fire in Hayvn’s loins. “If anyone else should see you, he’ll only be jealous of my ability to touch you where he’ll be forever denied the pleasure.”

  The first round disk slipped from its mooring, then another. Her hands worked each button free. The thin cotton slip under her dress slowly appeared in a peep show that sped blood from his brain to his cock.

  Her dress open to the waist, she slipped the fabric off her shoulders and onto the floor. “I could rest in my cotton under-dressing.”

  His throat clogged with lust. He shook his head to answer her question.