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As she felt herself falling steadily into the leaden, replenishing sleep, Rhiannon felt the hard length of his thigh beneath her head
For once, she had no desire to seduce him In fact, she felt closer to Roland than she ever had, and he hadn&039;t so e turn of events, since she knew full well her feelings for him were only physical in nature
Still, it was nice, this closeness, this sharing It felt right, in some way
It also troubled her She&039;d been determined to demonstrate to him that she was as worthy as any male on the planet She&039;d been ready to show hi
She&039;d wanted to be certain he could no longer reject her on grounds siood enough
Now, knowing of his un stinting courage and ferocity in battle, even as a boy, she would have to try harder than ever A man of such valor would not be easily impressed A man who, as a mere boy, had thrown himself upon a wolf to save a babethis was pure heroism, whatever he chose to call it This would require so
Before the cloak of blackness settled completely over herher face, his fingers tracing its shape She smiled"and then she slept
Roland studied her as she rested, but he couldn&039;t see well enough from his present position He slid hi beside the bed, he could gaze down at her face to his heart&039;s content God, but she was a beauty
Every delicate bone beneath her satin skin delineated and shaped her face to sheer perfection
He was suddenly, overwheled all at once for a brush in his hand, and the smooth &039;feel of oils as he spread the was a olden rays and caressing warmth It was not the pastime of un-dead, restless souls
What was it about her that brought out such urges? By the gods, he&039;d actually stood in a crowded stadiuht! He&039;d dressed in denims and a sweatshirt, and he&039;d placed hi about
When was the last ti so foolish?
He shook his head She did have a way of reducing aservant Even him
He knew it beyond any doubt, when, a few seconds later, he gripped her shoulders and rolled her from her side onto her back She was so perfect
He had to see her, just see her Though he had no intention of indulging hie on canvas, he could at least appreciate as here before him
He reached for the shirtfront, and hesitated Was it wrong to look at her this way, as she rested, helpless to object?
He closed his eyes No Rhiannon wouldn&039;t object in the least He released the buttons, the few she&039;d bothered to fasten Slowly, very slowly, he parted the garh was involuntary, and indicative of how aze traced her arching, graceful neck to the delicately etched collarbones Lower, to her small, proud breasts, perfectly round and lily-white Their centers were the subtle color of the meat of a sweet melon Their nipples pouted He wouldn&039;t paint her that way, though If he were intending to capture her ie, he&039;d tease the a man&039;s lips to touch them
The way he was tempted now Just to capture one soft bud between his lips, to suckle it until it becaue
He sed hard against the onslaught of desire, and resuaze entle swell of her belly, the dark hollow of her navel, the narrow curve of her waist with the painful wound on one side, the soft flare of her hips The triangle of sable curls
God, it gleamed like satin He wanted to touch it, to see if it could truly be as soft as it looked
Before he could tell hiers settled themselves into the silken nest Yes It was as soft as it appeared Softer And though he knew he should not, heinto her When he felt the answering roaned aloud He sunk onto the bed, leaning nearer Her subtle scent reached hiers deeper, then slowly drew them back Her body trembled, and he looked up quickly
She lay exactly as she had, perfectly still But her nipples stood stiff and aroused now He brought his fingers to his lips, his eyes closing involuntarily as he sucked the taste of her from their tips He wanted her
More than wanted her, he had to have her
If not physically, then at least Roland stepped away froaze remained He had to capture her on canvas There was no other way to rid hi lust True, he hadn&039;t painted in a very long time He&039;d lost the desire, or perhaps the ability to pour his soul onto a rectangle of canvas Suddenly, now, that desire returned He&039;d never thought to feel it again
Today, this once, he would put brush to canvas And when his little bird took wing, he&039;d have a bit of her here, with hihtly drawn draperies and beneath a cobweb-draped ceiling, Roland worked with o been packed away in trunks The oils were newer He&039;d been unable to resist buying the new, modern paints whenever he&039;d seen the they were at hand, and wondering if he&039;d ever feel moved to use them Now, the s, and his brush flew over the canvas as an extension of his soul
He didn&039;t sketch her first He didn&039;t need to do so He needed only to look at her, stretched upon the bed like an offering to the gods, and allow his ie of her to transfer itself from his eyes to hishimself utterly in the act of creation in a way he had not done in years His handsher skin
And then, almost before he&039;d been aware a minute had passed, he sensed movement in the castle Ja their way down to the great hall, and then off to the lower east wing, where the kitchens awaited theive up so soon He&039;d forgotten the delight he could feel in such a simple act He&039;d accomplished so little The shapes and colors on the canvas were not recognizable
But he knew they&039;d take forradually, over the next several days
He reluctantly cleaned his brushes and put his paints away The canvas, he left, to allow it to dry He&039;d be sure it was stored safely long before Rhiannon stirred tonight Not that he thought she wouldher nude forht the idea would please her
Lastly, he went to the bed, gazing once s enticed hies of those shapely liainst him
He was aroused Painfully so He realized that he had been the entire ti He closed his eyes and tried not to think that he could strip off his clothing and slip into the bed with her
He could fondle her, touch her, taste her to his heart&039;s content, and she would never know He could bury himself inside her He could find release in her succulent moistness, and she&039;d never be the wiser
He bent over, blowing a cool breath of air across her breasts, to see the nipples stand hard onceher to cli--no,To elicit the ultimate response froht, he could remain as resistant to her charms as he wished By day, she could be his to pleasure 5i The terip on histo take over To use Rhiannon in such a ould be rape Whether he knew she wouldn&039;t object or not was not the issue To take her without her consent would be unforgivable Was this the way he would repay her for the sheer joy she&039;d given hihts Yes Joy hat he&039;d felt for those brief hours thisAnd earlier, when he&039;d watched Jaht his way to victory in the soccer ht
He hadn&039;t thought his anymore
He looked at her face, and shook his head Who&039;d have thought a reckless, out of control, renegade vaate the return of pleasure in his life?
He pulled the shirt together, and fastened the buttons He tugged the comforter over her, then bent low, and pressed his lips to hers They were ue inside herwhen he felt ulf him
"Thank you, Rhianikki, princess of the Nile"
Roland was nowhere about when she rose But she wrinkled her nose at the very slight scent in the air She sniffed again, and frowned It smelled a little like paint
Unable to positively identify the lingering odor, she rolled out of the bed before she gave the wound at her waist a thought She stiffened as she re to be puh, and when she parted the shirt she wore, she saw that the wound was gone without a trace Only the tiny stitches reot to her feet and strolled about the cha into closets in search of so, but decided not to let it da hiht, she&039;d co frouilt complex But since he&039;d opened up that painful wound and allowed her to see a little of what caused it, he ht her pleasure
She hated to see hi past It was a waste of his ti both on her It would be a farexercise
The door opened and he entered then, bringing with him a heavy decanter made of lead crystal and filled with crilass beside it
She frowned
"What is this?"
"Nourishht"
"What I need is warht from some innocent throat, Roland"
"Rhiannon, that isto believe the worst ofin a way he could not fail to notice
"I never murder them I only taste A sip here, a sip there
It isn&039;tin it as she always did
His gaze seemed drawn to the swell of her breasts the shirt revealed, so she stepped closer, and bent low to reach for the decanter
"But if they remember"-- "I take from men as they sleep, Roland Most of thehtened again, and brought it to her lips
"And the marks you leave on their throats?"
"It isn&039;t necessary to mark the throats Blood can be taken from any number of places, some that are difficult to exalass and set it down, licking her lips
"Would you like aze, she hoped, to hide a sudden surge of passion
"No, Rhiannon, I wouldn&039;t And I would strongly suggest that you feed as we do, from our own supply here It will not do to rouse undue suspicion with so many DPI operatives in L&039;Oernails up the coluht of aze and held it for adream as I rested"
He quickly looked away
"Did you?"
"Mmm It isn&039;t often I dream, you know The sleep is too deep But this tied
"It was very brief A touch, an incredibly intimate touch And later, a delicious kiss"
He turned frohts
"Very strange, indeed"
"Perhaps it is only that I so long for such things"She walked up behind him, so when she spoke, her breatl: would fan the back of his neck
"If only you would oblige id
"I&039;m sorry, Rhiannon I don&039;t think it would be wise"
She sniffed He still wasn&039;t iht her unworthy of his attention She stepped around in front of hi Will you at least assist me with that?"
His brows bunched with immediate worry, and when she strode away, toward the bed, he followed on her heels"What is it, Rhiannon?
Hasn&039;t it healed yet? "
She sat on the bed&039;s edge, then leaned back, flipping the shirt open to reveal her waist, her hip, and the lower edge of one breast
"It&039;s healed, but I wish you would snip away the threads They itch"
Roland closed his eyes briefly When he opened theain, he seemed to have become a mannequin No emotion showed in his eyes
"Of course"He located the scissors on the nightstand, and pulled up a stool, sitting so his head was more or less level with the mattress
His hand touched the spot on her waist, and stilled Slowly, he stroked his fingers over the area
She closed her eyes