Defying Destiny (21 page)

She could at least help him with that.

She removed her shirt and pants and

climbed beneath the bearskin behind him.

She found more wounds on his back. She

shifted away from him to retrieve the

towel to clean these wounds as well. He

caught her hand before she had managed to

move very far.

“Leave them,” he said drowsily. “I

need your warmth more.”

“You need a doctor.”

“No. I promise I’ll heal on my own.

Warm me.”

He was still shivering. Maralee

cuddled up against his back, careful not to

disturb any of the deep gouges at the back

of his neck. She lay behind him for long

hours, listening to the sound of his

breathing, reveling in the feel of his steady

heartbeat beneath her fingertips, vowing to

never take him for granted again.

Maralee wasn’t sure what had pulled her

from sleep, but something didn’t feel right.

Nash sighed contentedly in front of her

and she lifted her head to look down at his

sleeping face. She sat up abruptly when

she found they were not alone on the

bearskin rug. A stunning, female stranger

looked up at Maralee. The woman was

licking the wounds on Nash’s chest. She

had the golden eyes shared by all of

Nash’s people and tawny brown hair.

“What are you doing?” Maralee cried,

startling Nash awake.

His hand went instinctively to the back

of the woman’s head and Maralee’s

nostrils flared.

“It’s the least I can do for him,” the

woman said, returning her attention to

Nash’s many wounds.

Maralee tried to push her away. “I’ll

do it.”

The woman looked up at her and

shook her head. “Your mouth is filthy,”

she said. “I’ll take care of it. Why don’t

you find him something to eat, woman?”

Nash sighed with undisguised pleasure

and Maralee struck him in the shoulder as

hard as she could. “Nash!”

“I am hungry,” he murmured, seeming

unaffected by her angry blow. The woman

was lapping at his throat now and seemed

to be enjoying it as much as he was. “I

guess this means you forgive me,” Nash

said to the woman, as if Maralee had left

the room.

“It’s hard to stay mad at you.”

Maralee begged to differ. “Get away

from him!”

She chuckled. “I think she’s jealous.”

“I don’t know why,” he murmured

drowsily. “There’s plenty of me to go

around.”

Maralee did not think his teasing was

funny. She stood abruptly, emitting a

sound of fury.

“Rella, could you work on my back

next?” Nash asked.

“What about your arm?”

“I can take care of that.”

Rella climbed over his body and took

the place Maralee had recently vacated.

She began her tongue bath once again and

it was more than Maralee could stand. She

stormed out of the room. How could he?

She shut herself in the tiny water

closet, with its single cabinet, sink and

water pump. She jacked the pump handle

and splashed frigid water on her face. It

did little to calm her fury or lessen her

devastation. She grew chilled, standing in

the unheated room in nothing but her

panties and bustier, but she’d be damned

if she’s go retrieve her clothes from the

living area. She’d allow her skin to turn

blue first. She was almost in that state

when she heard Nash calling through the

house.

“Maralee, where did you go?”

She didn’t answer him. A few minutes

later, he opened the door to the water

closet. She noticed he’d at least had the

decency to put on a pair of pants. He

smiled when he saw her.

“There you are. I thought you were

going to fix breakfast,” he said.

Her eyes widened with incredulity.

Breakfast?

Nash’s gaze traveled over her

partially exposed flesh. He seemed totally

unaware of her anger as he drank in the

sight of her curves and exposed skin.

“What are you doing in here?” he

asked, eyes settling on hers at last. His

smile faded. “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?” she bellowed.

“What’s
wrong
?”

He

took

a

step

backwards,

overwhelmed by her fury.

“I can’t believe you! It would be bad

enough for you to take her as a lover, but

for you to flaunt it right in front of me.”

She moved forward, pushing him aside

with both hands as she fled the water

closet. He caught her arm in the hallway,

and, though she slapped at him angrily, he

didn’t release her. “How did you find

out?”

She had expected him to deny it—had

wanted him to deny it. She stared at him

open-mouthed,

so

overwhelmed

by

feelings of hurt and betrayal she couldn’t

react. “She’s your lover?”

“No,” he denied at once. “She wanted

me to mount her last night, but I didn’t.”

Her mouth dropped open several more

inches

and

she

blinked

at

him

incredulously. “She wanted you to…to

mount
her?”

“Maralee?” He seemed to realize she

was about to explode.

“You are the most despicable person I

have ever met.”

“I’m sorry. I told you to tell me when

I’m being uncouth.”

“Allowing another woman to lick you

is uncouth,” she yelled.

“Okay. What else?”

“Mentioning mounting another woman

is unforgivable.”

“I didn’t.”

“Why should I believe you? You seem

friendly enough with her.”

“She’s my sister-in-law, Carsha’s

mother.”

Maralee

was

horrified.

“Being

friendly with your brother’s widow is

absolutely appalling.”

“I agree. That’s why I refused to breed

her last night.”

That
was why? Maralee covered her

heart with her free hand, expecting to find

a dagger or other sharp object protruding

from her chest. She jerked away from him

and rushed to the living area, gathering her

clothes. If she hadn’t been half-naked, she

would have already been out the door.

“What did I say now?” he asked,

following her.

“I’m leaving,” she said, struggling into

her pants. “How could I have thought this

would work?”

He took her by both arms and forced

her to sit down on the sofa. “Look at me.”

“Let go!”

“Look at me, Maralee,” he said in a

more gentle tone. She couldn’t help but

look at him. Their eyes locked and she

could not look away, even though he could

surely see the tears filling her eyes.

“Explain to me why you are so angry,” he

said. She didn’t think she could have

refused his request if she’d tried.

“Yesterday you said you love me.”

“I do. I do love you,” he said, giving

her a slight shake as if to force the words

into her.

“That should be the reason you don’t

want another woman,” she said, dismayed

by her own blatant honesty. “Any other

woman.”

He closed his eyes and let out a long

breath. Now that her gaze wasn’t locked

with his, she began to struggle against his

hold again. He opened his eyes and caught

her gaze again. She calmed immediately.

“That
is
the reason why I don’t want

any other woman. Now that I see how

much it would hurt you, I could never do

such a thing.”

“I don’t want that to be the reason

either.” God, why couldn’t she stop

spouting the deepest secrets of her heart?

“Then why, Maralee? Tell me.”

“I want you to want only me,” she

murmured, wanting to duck her head out of

embarrassment, but she couldn’t. She

could only gaze into his golden eyes and

spill her guts. “I want you to think only of

me. When you look at another woman, I

want you to compare her to me and find

her completely lacking.”

He chuckled and touched her cheek.

“How did you know?”

“How did I know what?”

“Exactly how I feel about you.”

“Don’t tease me.”

“I’m not. Now that you know how I

feel about you, I want you to tell me how

you feel about me.”

“You confuse me,” she blurted.

“How touching,” he said and grinned.

“I love you,” she said slowly.

“That’s what I wanted to hear,” he

murmured and broke his hold on her gaze

by leaning forward to kiss her. She didn’t

want to flee from him anymore. She

wanted him to kiss her forever. To her

extreme disappointment, he stopped after

a few gentle brushes of his lips against

hers.

“How are your wounds?” she asked

him as her gaze locked on the damaged

flesh of his throat, which she had to admit

looked much better after Rella’s attention.

“Sore.”

“I

guess

you’re

hungry,”

she

murmured.

“Are you staying then?”

“I shouldn’t.”

“But you will?”

“Do you want me to?” She looked up.

He touched her cheek and she would

have had to have been blind not to see his

feelings for her shining in his remarkable

golden eyes. “Always,” he whispered.

“I’ll stay on one condition.”

He grinned suggestively. “What’s

that?”

“That you’ll remember to lock the

door at night.” She preferred not to find

strange women in bed with her.

He chuckled. “That’s a deal.”

“Nash?” Now that she was revealing

her secrets, she had one more thing she

wanted to know.

“Yes?”

“Why don’t you ever
mount
me?” It

was an unsavory word, but she had no

other to put in its place.

He surprised her by blushing and

lowering his eyes.

“Don’t you want to?”

“You know I do,” he whispered.

No, she didn’t know. He always held

back. He’d penetrated her with his fingers,

his tongue, but never the thick shaft she

really craved. “Then why?”

“I don’t want to hurt you.” He looked

up at her from where he was kneeling

between her legs and touched her cheek.

“Our

bodies

don’t

seem

to

be

compatible.”

She puzzled over his words for a

moment. Perhaps things between them

weren’t as fantastic as she had believed.

“I’m sorry. I thought you were receiving

as much pleasure as I was,” she said. “I

guess I still don’t know what I’m doing.

I’ll try harder to please you.”

He emitted a breathy laugh. “Don’t kid

yourself, Maralee. You give me more

pleasure than I have ever known.”

Relief loosened the tension in her

chest. “Then we are compatible.”

“You misunderstand,” he said. He took

her hands and looked into her eyes, as if

he were explaining something far less

personal than their sex life. “You are very

small inside and I am much too large for

your body to accommodate.”

“There’s something wrong with me?”

“No, love,” he said. “I think it’s the

other way around.”

She was not afraid of him hurting her,

frankly could not imagine finding anything

but ecstasy in his arms. “I want you to try

it anyway.”

He leaned away from her. “No.”

“It won’t hurt
you
, will it?” she asked

him, her hands tightening around his so he

wouldn’t move away until she was

finished talking to him.

He laughed hollowly as if her words

pained him. “I’m sure I would find it most

enjoyable, but it will undoubtedly hurt

you.”

“Then why won’t you try it? I will be

the one to feel the pain and I want you to.”

“Maralee, I won’t do it and that’s

final.”

“Then maybe I won’t let you touch me

at all.”

“If that’s what you want.”

“I won’t touch you anymore either.”

“Fine!”

“And you can sleep on the sofa,” she

added.

“It’s my bed. You sleep on the sofa.”

“Fine!” she said, shoving him away

from her and standing up.

She was still without her shirt and she