Page 111 of Fate's Wicked Oath

“I don’t usually disrobe all the way.” Embarrassed, I glanced toward the window, our packs—anywhere but his face. “More bare skin means more sensation, and…”

“Do you keep your clothes on for you, or because previous partners haven’t deserved you?”

I gave him an arch look. “Do you think you deserve me?”

He gave my thighs a sensual squeeze. “I want to.”

He was soprettybeneath me, with his ruffled hair and flushed cheeks. The bed did sound more comfortable. And as overwhelming as being naked could be, I wanted to be naked with him.

Abruptly, I stood, bringing a few pillows with me. Faren was quick to follow, removing the furs from the mattress and replacing them with one of the blankets we’d been using on the floor. Once the bed was remade to our liking—the two of us still standing at its foot—I pointed at Faren’s pants.

“Off,” I said.

He did as I asked, working his buttons with swift fingers.

He paused when I flung off my shirt. “Fuck, Mariana,” he breathed. “Your tits might be even more perfect than your ass.”

I scowled playfully at him, even as my pulse thrummed. “You know, for a Mighty Knight, have quite the dirty mouth.”

“Chastise me all you want, sweetheart, but I know you like it.” With a smirk, Faren removed his trousers.

My mouth went dry at the sight of him. “On the topic of perfect body parts…well done.”

“Oh, don’t tell me that,” he warned. “It’s too good.”

“So youdolike praise,” I teased, echoing our long-ago conversation in Yar.

“From you? Absolutely.”

This time, it was my turn to ask, “May I?”

“You can touch any part of my body, anytime you want,” Faren said, moving closer, until the backs of my knees met the mattress.

I took him in my hand, circling my fingers around his cock. I gave him a few reveling strokes. His eyes were closed, fists respectfully at his sides. With my unoccupied hand, I grasped his wrist, bringing his hand to my breast. His eyes opened, and he smiled, cupping me more firmly, rolling his thumb over my nipple in that decadent way he had before. I arched up, nipping at that freckle under his chin—the only thing I could reach with our height difference. Faren bent to kiss me properly, all tongue and teeth and urgency.

When at last we had to break for air, he inclined one eyebrow at the remaining clothing between us: my pants. I gave him a faint nod, releasing his cock from my grasp, and he began undoing my buttons one by one. We both watched his hands work, nimble but not rushed. I shimmied out of my trousers and undergarments, casting the rough fabric to the floor.

I had a brief and soaring sensation of liberation, followed by the acute awareness that I was fully bare—with another person. And now that Faren knew about my magical defect, I felt particularly exposed.

I held my breath as he took in the faint remnants of my bruising, the scars that crisscrossed my arms, shoulders, and legs. He traced a particularly gnarly old gash on my bicep, then lifted my arm to kiss the puckered line of healed tissue.

“Exquisite,” he whispered.

“Hardly.” I glanced down at a trio of pale claw marks on my right thigh. “My body is a war zone.”

He cradled my arm higher, pressing a kiss into crook of my elbow, my inner wrist. “Your body is strength and beauty incarnate. You should be proud of it.”

Despite the warm temperature of the room and the fire in my veins, my skin pebbled. He continued his slow perusal, discovering more injuries to lavish with adoration. His thumb swept the underside of one breast, finding the ridge of a rib that had cracked and re-healed. His mouth discovered a series of thin nicks where my collarbone met my shoulder. A big hand gripped my waist, then my ass, locating a thin scar on the back of my leg. He kept his pressure firm and steady—just as I liked—drawing pleasure from places that only remembered pain.

“Tell me to stop at any point,” Faren said, “and I’ll stop. Got it?”

I eased out of his hold, crawling backward onto the bed. “Same goes to you.”

Faren climbed after me. “Remember what I said about wanting you more than I want the sun to come up tomorrow? I’m hoping it doesn’t, so we can continue this in perpetuity.”

“Pretty words,” I quipped, lying back against the pillows. “The dirty mouth has range. What else are you thinking?”

“That I want to fuck you senseless, but you’re so cunning, I’m not sure it’s possible.”