Page 63 of Shadow Queen
“They told me you weren’t here,” he said.
“I had just returned and was cleaning up when I heard that Northmen had arrived. I knew it was you.”
“I didn’t think I would see you.”
She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as her smile widened. “Did that disappoint you?”
“It did,” he answered honestly.
“I worry about you, Northman,” she said with a sly smirk, moving inside and closing the door behind her.
He gave a jesting frown. “Do you?”
She raised her brows and nodded. “Kharav’s not a place for a man like you.”
“Well, I don’t draw attention. I’m fortunate enough to be… insignificant.”
Tahla stepped closer. “You’re anything but insignificant.” She lifted her chin and looked up at him. “And I believe you owe me a kiss.”
Owe. He almost chuckled. One kiss from this woman would leave him forever inherdebt. He reached up and brushed a lock of hair from her shoulder, something he had done before and had played over and over again in his head. He let his fingers linger on her shoulder. Never had he touched a woman with want, but everything about her seized him. He dropped his head lower; his lips were so close to hers. Tahla put her hand over his, and she smiled as she guided it to her breast.
Her nipple hardened through the cloth, and Caspian paused. He drew in a breath, calling back his senses, and dropped his hand as he took a step back. “Forgive me.”
Her brows drew together in amusement. “What’s there to forgive?”
He didn’t respond, and her eyes widened.
“Have you never been with a woman before?” she asked.
The directness of her question caught him off guard, and his mind stumbled. Finally, he managed, “I’ve never been married.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
He drew in a quick breath. This woman. “Where I’m from, intimacy comes only with marriage.”
“Just because a kingdom claims values doesn’t mean men follow them.”
“I believe in Mercia’s values.”
Tahla looked at him curiously. “And if I don’t share these values?”
Was she looking for his acceptance of the difference? Or was she testing if he would pass judgment? He wasn’t sure, and he didn’t answer.
Her eyes narrowed. She stepped closer again. “What if I’ve taken men to my bed?”
“I wouldn’t like it,” he admitted.
“Would you think me ruined?” she asked, her voice sharper.
The fire in her eyes could warm him in a winter storm. “Of course not,” he said. A woman like Tahla could never be ruined. “But I don’t like thinking of you taking pleasure with another man.”
The hint of a smile came to her eyes. “Would you rather I take my pleasure with you?”
Caspian shifted, unable to hide his discomfort.
“Do you think about me?” she asked, seeming to enjoy his uneasiness. “My body?”
She had no restraint. It excited him and scared him at the same time. “Do you not know the answer?”
