Her eyes widened startled that he had noticed and that it had disturbed him enough to ask her about it.
“You are surprised that I noticed.” He reached up and stroked her cheek with his finger, then ran it faintly across her lips. “I notice everything about you.”
The tingles emerged in a gentle throb between her legs.
“Your dark eyes glow with lust every time I touch you and it makes me want to touch you even more, but first… what upset you?”
That he cared enough to pursue an answer warmed her heart but she could never tell him that it hurt her to know that another would share his new home with him and that she would be left on her own, alone.
He slipped his finger under her chin and forced her head up. She hadn’t even realized that her head had drooped or that her shoulders had sagged with the weight of her problem.
“Tell me,” he whispered and leaned down and brushed a soft kiss across her lips.
She couldn’t tell him; he would think her a fool. She was his mistress, nothing more and only for however long he desired her. And right now he desired her, his lust potent in his eyes. Instead of answering his question; she responded to his passion.
She changed the gentle kiss from soft to eager, as she moved closer, her arms going around his neck and her body pressing intimately against his.
He tore his mouth off hers. “You will not distract me; I’ll have an answer.”
He left her lips pulsing for his and instinctively her tongue slipped out of her mouth to slowly stroke her aching lips.
His groin tightened like never before and he thought he’d come right there and then as he watched her slim tongue play across her already moist lips. His hands shot out grabbing her face. “Damn it, Dawn,” he said though it sounded more like a feral growl, and then his mouth clamped down on hers.
They were both eager and hungry for each other and his hands were soon at her backside urging her against him.
“I want you; here, now, hard and fast,” he said having released her mouth with more reluctance than he had ever known. And he wished, oh how he wished she could tell him that she wanted him.
She smiled and her hand slipped down and under his tunic to squeeze the hard length of him.
He gave a brief, rough laugh and rested his brow to hers. “I love when you speak to me so clearly.” And he titled his head to kiss her again when an arrow sped past just missing the top of Dawn’s head.
Chapter Twenty-six
It took all but a second for Cree’s arm to go around her waist, shove her to the ground and shield her body with his. A second arrow grazed his leather tunic at the shoulder and he let out a blood-curdling roar.
His men arrived in a flash and before they could surround him he yelled, “Two stay and the others go find the bastard!”
Cree was furious. His heart pounded in his chest and every muscle in his body turned rigid with anger. He silently berated himself for not having a larger contingent of warriors with him and he was even more of a fool for walking off with Dawn alone when danger still existed. Until the culprit could be found he intended to see her well-guarded and that damn window boarded.
He moved off her and asked, “Are you all right?” he didn’t need an answer, she had lost all color in her face and she shivered slightly. He was about to take her in his arms when an all clear signal sounded from one of his men.
He reached out and with his hands around her waist eased her to stand along with him. He kept his arm firmly around her, not trusting her to stand on her own. All but two men returned and the news did not please him.
One of the warriors informed him that they had picked up a trail and that two of the men were following it, though it did appear as if the archer was headed back toward Dowell.
“We return now,” Cree ordered and with his arm remaining firm around Dawn, he hurried her to his horse.
In minutes they were on their way, Dawn once again sitting across the front of his lap as he sped through the countryside. He wanted back to the village where he could keep her safe and then…
The person responsible for this would live only long enough to tell him what he needed to know, and then he’d beg to die. And Cree would be the one to deliver the final blow.
Dawn kept her head tucked in the crook of his arm and her face pressed firmly against his chest. She couldn’t stop shivering. It wasn’t that she was cold, it was more from fear. Had someone truly targeted her for death? And if so why?