Page 102 of Queen of the Shadow

“Sentanta,” she spoke his name softly. When his eyes found her, they were unfocused. She squeezed his hand. “Talk to me.”

He blinked several times, his gaze finally focusing on her. “I’m sorry.”

She caressed his cheek. “You have nothing to apologize for. Tell me how I can help.”

He ran a hand through his thick hair. He and his words trembled as he spoke. “W-when I woke. I was n-naked. Legs and arms splayed. I was tied to a bed.”

She nodded. Her thumb traced circles over the back of his hand.

“I think it would help if I undressed myself and you were not on top of me.” His lips lifted in a hesitant smile. “At least not on top of meyet.”

Scáthach smiled and released his hand. “Please do undress.”

He stood and pulled off his tunic before taking off his boots. He unlaced his breeches and slid them down his body. When he stepped out of them, she allowed her gaze to travel slowly up and down his body.

“Sunlight skin, / Hair of flame.” Her gaze went to his lips as she continued reciting the poem she’d composed. “Your lips, your touch / Burn me—again, again.”

He knelt before her. Tears turned his amber eyes topaz. “You leave me breathless.”

“I’d prefer not to leave you at all,” she said.

“May I undress you?”

“Yes.”

Cuchulainn took off her tunic and then his gaze went to the laces on the front of her soft leather breeches. He laughed.

“What?” she asked.

“It’s just that I’ve never undressed a woman wearing breeches before now.”

She quirked a brow up. “So your women always wear dresses.”

His smile faded. On his knees beside her, Cuchulainn cupped her face between his hands. “None of them were mine. I never wanted more from them than a quenching of lust.”

“And now?” she asked.

“Now I want anything, everything—allthat you will give me.” He kissed her deeply.

“Then you should probably take off the rest of my non-dress. Unless you need my help doing so.”

He smiled and his fingers went to the laces of her breeches. “I think I can figure it out.” When she was finally naked, he remained kneeling beside her as she reclined before him, propped on her elbow, her only covering her thick mane of hair. “I want to touch you,” he said a little breathlessly.

“That’s fortunate because I would very much like you to touch me,” she said.

Cuchulainn began at her feet. He caressed their arches with his thumbs, and she moaned, her eyelids fluttering. “That is... so good,” she murmured.

From there his caresses moved in a slow exploratory path up her legs. He shifted his body so that he knelt between her thighs. Cuchulainn waited until she opened her eyes and then, holding her gaze, he bent and kissed her knee. His lips followed the softness of her inner thighs. She held his gaze as he reached her center. Then, slowly, she allowed her legs to part, opening herself completely to him.

He did not look away from her gaze. “I’ve thought about tasting you. So often that it’s become a distraction.”

“And I’ve imagined you between my legs. So often that it’s become a distraction.”

“Then let me sate us both.”

Scáthach’s head dropped back as his tongue found her clit. He licked it, teasing and tasting and sucking gently. Her hips lifted as she gasped in pleasure, guiding him to learn her rhythm. Her hands cupped her breasts, rolling her nipples between her thumbs and forefingers as one of his hands slipped under her and held her ass, lifting her more firmly against his mouth. His other hand played gently with the back of her thigh, stroking and caressing, his fingers lifting to slide into her and then out again to continue the caress. His tongue flicked against her. Scáthach’s orgasm came so fast and hard that she shouted his name in surprise, clutching his shoulders.

Cuchulainn kissed the soft mound between her legs gently and then continued up her body, his lips and tongue exploring the expanse of her stomach to her breasts. She sank her fingers into his hair as he sucked and nipped gently at her taut nipples, sending shivers of renewed desire cascading through her body.