The Dragon Healer (5 page)

He lifted his leg enough for her to get underneath. Removing the soaked toweling gave her more room to work, but the cut was high up on his thigh and every trip around the circumference of his thigh brought her in close proximity to his cock. Which was hardening with every revolution of the bandage.

Silla tried not to notice. Some men responded to a healer’s touch whether they wanted to or not. Somehow, though, she didn’t think Brodie was the kind of man to respond to just any woman’s touch. No, the hardness so poorly hidden by his tunic hem and trews was most likely just for her. Especially after that amazing kiss they’d shared in the yard that had left her shaken, stirred and altogether too aroused for her own comfort.

“I would say I was sorry, but I’m not.” He must have noticed the direction of her gaze. She felt heat flood her cheeks as her gaze shot to his. He was smiling, but this smile held an ocean of knowledge. A sea of desire.

Dare she dip her toes into the water?

“This sort of thing happens with male patients sometimes.” She tried to sound nonchalant, shrugging it off.

“I don’t think I like the sound of that.” His expression suddenly changed from amused to angry…and possessive? How could he feel possessive of her in so short a time?

“It is a hazard of my profession nonetheless.”

He made a sound in between a sigh and a growl that wasn’t hard to interpret. Amazingly, he was jealous.

She looked up at him, confused, oddly flattered and—she wasn’t too proud to admit—aroused. Again. Still. She wasn’t sure which.

Brodie was everything she’d dreamed of in a man and never really thought existed. He was a knight. A man of honor, without doubt. Only honorable men were chosen as knights. Dragons, it was said, were excellent judges of character.

He was also by far the most handsome man she had ever been near. And his attractiveness wasn’t just skin-deep. The obvious love he had for his dragon friend showed in his every action. He had been polite, kind, funny and welcoming. Sexy too, though not in a blatant way…until just now. Her eyes were drawn by the erection he did little to hide.

Admittedly, his tunic covered him, just barely. But judging by the impression in the fabric, he could not have easily hid his generous proportions even if he’d tried. Her mouth watered at the thought of touching him. There.

“What is this?” She was baffled by her own reactions. She met his gaze, knowing her flushed face and wide eyes showed her confusion and probably her arousal as well.

“Whatever you want it to be, milady.” His voice had turned seductive and low.

On one hand, she wanted him to grab her and take the decision out of her hands, but on the other, she knew he was not the kind of man to force a woman into intimacy—even if she was ultimately willing. No, Silla would have to be bold and make up her own mind. There was no easy way out for her here. She wanted him—a miracle in itself—and yet she was afraid.

“I am not accustomed to this kind of thing.” She looked down at her hands, knowing the heat in her cheeks only increased.

Brodie moved, turning so that both of his feet touched the floor and he was left sitting on the side of the bed, next to her. One of his large hands lifted to stroke her cheek, and she found herself leaning into his caress.

“Don’t you think I know that? You are a special woman, Silla. I recognized that from almost the first moment we met. I know this is fast, but such is the way with knights.”

He shrugged, and she wasn’t sure what he meant about knights being faster than others. Perhaps it was the danger of the lifestyle they led? Maybe they seized every moment because they were in such constant danger? The thought made her cringe inwardly. The idea that he put himself in harm’s way on a regular basis both frightened her and made her feel pride in him, in his calling.

He leaned closer, but made no move to claim her lips. She could feel the warmth of his breath against her skin, feel the heat of him along her side. She knew what he was doing. He was dangling temptation in her path and seeing if she would take that final step, bridge the small distance between them and take what she wanted. In that way, he would know it truly was what she wanted, not something he had persuaded. Silla was both glad of his care for her feelings and disturbed that she would have to make the move.

Dare she?

Oh, yes,
she thought as she joined her lips to his. She most definitely needed to dare this one time. She might come to regret her choice tomorrow, but for tonight, she would live a dream. She would suspend worry and doubt, and share her body with a man too good to be true. Too good to be hers for any longer than the space of a single, stolen night.

She pushed him back down onto the large bed and straddled his hard body. Now that she had made her decision, she had become the aggressor—a role she had never played before but found she enjoyed immensely. She was careful of his wound. It would not do to make him bleed again. Not now, when pleasure was on offer.

She kissed him deeply, plundering and allowing her mouth to be plundered in return. All the while, her fingers were busy with the ties of his tunic, loosening the maddening knots that kept her from her goal—his skin. The more she could touch him, the better.

After a battle with the stubborn fabric, she finally was able to push the tunic up and over his cooperative shoulders. He lifted, helping shift the cloth. Her focus had narrowed to this one man, this huge bed and her desire to join with him in every way she knew how. At least for this one blessed night, never to be repeated.

His chest was heavily muscled and scarred like his legs had been. His arms had taken the worst of the cuts over the years, but though many, few looked as if they had been severe when made. The extent of his injuries distracted her for only a moment, but it was long enough for him to turn the tables.

Brodie rolled, switching places so that she was under him. He’d hiked up the skirt of her simple dress in the process so that it rode around mid-thigh on her. He took quick advantage, planting his knees between hers, using one hand to push the fabric of her dress higher. She wore little beneath, but he was left only in his trews, so she supposed they should be even. Once he rid her of her dress, she would be left with only the thin covering of her pantaloons.

How she wished all the fabric that remained was gone already. She wanted nothing to come between them. Not now. She was too primed. Too ready. She wanted him, inside her, pumping into her waiting, receptive body.

She helped him remove her dress, gasping for air as his hands cupped her bare breasts. She thought she could not want him more. She’d been wrong. As he played with her sensitive nipples, then bent to lick them and suck them into his mouth one at a time, she learned the real meaning of yearning.

A shock of ecstasy made her gasp as pleasure rolled over her in a wave that took her by surprise. He sucked hard on one breast while pinching the other gently in a repetitive motion that made her moan. No man had elicited such responses from her. Not ever.

He pulled back and smiled, and she knew he understood what was going on in her body. His eyes held knowledge that she did not understand and secrets that made him happy for some reason. She didn’t question it, she only wanted more of the pleasure he had taught her greedy body. She had become a wanton, it seemed, and all it had taken was this man to bring it about.

“There are still too many clothes,” he complained with a smile, nipping at the soft skin of her belly as he stalked lower over her body. His hands untied the little bows of her pantaloons and pulled them down, his mouth following their path with small kisses.

She was shocked when his mouth stopped at the apex of her thighs and the fabric continued its downward slide until it was gone from her body. He spread her legs and then his tongue did the most amazing things to her clit. She’d been taught about anatomy, of course. Every good healer knew the parts of the body and their functions. But never had she fully understood the purpose of the clitoris until now.

Brodie taught her things about her own body that made her want to laugh, cry and scream in pleasure all at the same time. She came again—harder this time, though she would not have believed such a thing was possible—with his mouth on her pussy. Her body hummed and unbelievably, was ready for more when he sat up between her thighs and removed his trews.

And there he was. Magnificent. Large, erect, well-shaped and all for her. At least for tonight. That lovely cock would be the instrument of her pleasure, if the Lady blessed her with yet another new experience.

Silla had been bedded before, but never, it seemed, by such a skilled and caring lover. So far, this experience had been everything she had dreamed of. Everything she had never thought she would ever experience. Fairy tale stuff about which young women dreamed.

She reached for him, wanting to give him a taste of what he’d already given her, but he stopped her and moved out of range. Her gaze met his and found him smiling gently.

“This time is for you, my dear Silla. It is my time to prove to you what you are capable of. My time to try to convince you this should not be our only time. Maybe tomorrow I’ll let you play.” He shrugged, though the look in his eyes told her he was looking forward to letting her have her way with him.

“You want more than just this night?” she asked, dumbfounded by his words. Could he really want more than just this? She had not dared hope…

“I want you. Repeatedly. As much as you’ll allow and more.”

Could he be serious? He looked serious. She began to believe and a small flicker of hope took shape in her heart, a tiny ember that could either be nurtured into flame or left to die on the hearth. Only time would see which way it would go.

“I want you, Brodie. Will you come into me now?” She spoke in a soft voice, slightly embarrassed by the words, but wanting him to know how she felt.

The broadening of his smile was her answer as he moved back between her thighs, positioning himself between her slick folds. His tongue had prepared the way, it seemed, eliciting the response from her body that would allow easy passage for his large size.

She knew the theory of how their parts would fit and had experienced it several times, but never with such a big man and never when she was truly prepared. Never had she responded to any man the way she responded to Brodie.

He slid inside with only minimal difficulty and then just stayed there, filling her. His gaze sought hers and silent communication seemed to pass between them. His eyes asked if she was all right and seemed to find their answer in her expression.

She was more than fine, if truth be told. She was experiencing true desire for the first time in her life and enjoying the feel of him inside her, testing her limits, rubbing against hidden points that made her want to squirm.

It was delightful. And it only got more so when he began to move. A slow rhythm at first that built and built as he watched her every response. A catch in her breath earned her a growl of approval and an increase in the pleasurable assault on her every sense.

His manly scent enticed her. The sound of his grunts and growls made her passion rise higher. The sight of him rising over her, his body straining against hers, was a new dream come true. The feel of him inside her and against her gave her delicious goose bumps and his skin had an almost addictive, salty tang against her mouth.

She felt something monumental gathering inside her. Tension of the most delicious kind and much greater than anything she’d experienced before. Her pleasure increased along with his pace until he was ramming into her in short digs that made her keen on every stroke. She came with a cry wrenched from her soul as he tensed above her, his hot seed flooding her womb with his warmth.

She spoke his name like a prayer as she held on for dear life, her body spinning into the vortex of bliss she had never known. So this then, was what drove so many people. She thought she finally understood. And it had taken this special man to teach her. Brodie was dear to her. So dear.

She would have said she loved him, if she still believed in such things. But love meant pain in her experience and it never lasted. Still, she was immensely fond of Brodie and would willingly be his bed partner any time he crooked his little finger. She was already addicted to his touch. Addicted to the amazing pleasure only he had ever taken time to show her. Perhaps, she thought, only he could bring it.

A sobering thought.

Brodie withdrew after a long moment and reached over the side of the bed to her stack of clean cloths. Holding her gaze, he wiped between her thighs, cleaning her. It was an intimate act nobody had ever performed for her, and it had the odd effect of making her want him all over again.

Her body was buzzing anew with arousal when he slid his fingers inside her, rubbing up against a spot that made her moan. He captured the sound with his lips as he kissed her senseless.

And that was when she heard another man chuckle.

Chapter Five

“We fly here in the dead of night because we heard you were injured, and what do I find but your hand up a willing woman’s pussy.”

“Stars damn your hide, Geoff, you always had lousy timing,” Brodie groused, breaking away from Silla’s sweet kiss.

He kept her legs splayed and his fingers up her cunt for all to see on purpose, even though she tried to squirm away from him. If she was going to be their wife, she would have to get used to Geoff watching them fuck—and Brodie watching them fuck, for that matter. Better to see if she was up for it now, to avoid misunderstandings.