Born

Though she commanded him like a dog, he couldn’t help but obey. Actual fresh bread, spiced with some kind of herb, and a thick slab of meat beckoned to him. It took all his will not to stuff it all in his mouth at once. Instead he picked up the fork she’d placed beside the dish and used it to separate a small bit of the meat from the bone. Stabbing the red chunk, he brought it to his lips, inhaling the scent until his mouth watered for the first taste.

Unable to resist a moment longer, he opened his mouth and inserted the fork. His taste buds exploded with pleasure and he moaned aloud. “This is unbelievable.”

“You act as though you’ve never had meat before.”

He met her gaze. “I haven’t.”

Her eyes went wide. “But as a field laborer you are entitled to high end protein—

“I never ate it.” He didn’t wish to talk about this and it would be a crime to let such a meal grow cold.

He cut off another bite, and hauled her into his lap.

Soft, warm curves pressed up against him. Raising the fork to her lips he asked, “Share this with me?”

She shook her head. “No, I’ve had my fill, you should eat.”

How to make her understand? “Please? It is…important to me to share this with you.”

With such a limited time he wanted to share everything he possibly could with her.

And only her.

She searched his features then parted her lips, taking the morsel of food. He watched her chew it slowly, enjoying each flicker of emotion, taking a mental picture of how she looked as she savored it.

Swallowing, she licked her lips. “Satisfied?”

The scent of her hair, the touch of her body, the dulcet cadence of her voice, the look of playful teasing on her beautiful face. More than I’ve ever been in my entire life. “Not by a long shot.”

7

The way he looks at me. Allora had to remind herself to breathe, to blink, for it was so easy to get lost inside Cormack’s penetrating stare. She felt as though she had no secrets left, was more exposed than when she’d been naked.

“Finish it,” she gestured toward the plate, made a move to get up.

His arm held her in place. “Only if you stay right where you are.”

Nodding her head, she studied him while he ate with manners better than most Borns. She’d expected him to wolf the meal down, but he savored each bite chewing slowly, eyelids low but still watching her.

This close, she could tell he carried not an extra ounce of fat on his lean frame and his ribs pressed into her side where he held her close. She wanted to ask why he had never eaten the meat his hard labor earned him. Any other man would have without thinking twice, taking what he saw as his due, whether Bred or Born.

His hard shaft prodded her, a reminder that he had come here to finish what they’d started in the barn. But the dynamic between them had changed.

Soon, she would no longer be a task mistress. Should she tell him she’d been stripped of rank?

What if he no longer wanted her? Perhaps part of the appeal for him was commanding one of those who ordered him about. His pride was one of the first traits she’d noticed in him and he’d risked everything to come after her, when other, more experienced women waited in the barracks. She had lashed him with her whip, what if he was only trying to get her into a compromising position before exacting his revenge?

No, she couldn’t believe that. Cormack knew the score, had not harmed her in the barn. In fact, she’d stake her life that he’d enjoyed touching as much as she’d loved being touched. Need unfurled in her belly, a flower blooming for him and him alone. She pressed her aching breasts more fully against him.

His tongue darted out, much the same way as he had before opening the box, as though anticipating all the possibilities. The cupid’s bow of his lips entranced her, his lips masculine and so very different from her own. She shivered, imaging what he might taste like, how it would feel to explore his mouth, to give her hands the freedom to roam over his body. Will he kiss me now?

Setting the plate aside, he shifted her on his lap, so her legs splayed over his rock hard thighs. Her shift rode up to just above her sex and his fingers clamped down on her backside, pushing her exposed nether bits against his jutting shaft. They both gasped at the contact. Allora arched her back, grinding her pelvis more fully against him, letting her hair spill over his hands, reveling in the heat of the moment.

His tongue traced up her neck. “My sweet Task Mistress,” he breathed in her ear. “I have never wanted anything the way I want you.” One hand slid over her leg to explore her nest of curls. She jerked in his lap when he pinched the swollen bud, desire pooling within.

“Then take me, show me what it is to love.” She panted, straightening her spine so she could look him in the eye as he continued to pet her. Nothing had ever felt as intimate as conversing while he stroked her and she ground against his cock.