“Awful.”
He chuckled. “I’ll add liar to your list of sins.”
She bristled. “I don’t have a list. I would like to point out that I’m the innocent party here—in more ways than one.”
“Prove it,” he said and settled his mouth on hers.
Prove she was innocent while he was kissing her? What was she supposed to do?
Sabrina was still trying to figure out what he’d meant when she became aware of him moving back and forth, his lips rubbing lightly against hers. It was not the contact she’d expected. She’d thought he would be rough as he took, attacking and acting like a macho jerk. Instead Kardal was almost tender.
Despite the stories in the papers, she’d had remarkably few boyfriends. She’d been determined not to be like her mother, so she’d waited until someone really engaged her heart before she went out with him. Unfortunately she’d told two of her boyfriends the truth about her parents, especially her father, and the fact that it was a big deal for her to have sex before she was married. They’d been so terrified of what her father would do to them, they’d dumped her. Her third significant boyfriend had turned out to be a two-timing jerk. So they’d never gotten as far as the “why I can’t have sex” conversation.
Despite being twenty-three, she hadn’t had much experience at all. It was humiliating. It also made her nervous about Kardal’s kiss.
Fortunately he wasn’t moving very fast. He kept one hand on her waist while the other continued to touch her face. He traced the shape of her jaw and tickled her ear, which was actually pretty nice. His lips were firm, but not pushy. She found herself enjoying the light contact. When he drew back, she sort of leaned forward because, well, it seemed the thing to do.
“Sabrina,” he breathed against her mouth.
The sound of her name in that husky voice did odd things to her stomach. Her chest felt tight and there was a faint pressure between her legs. Nothing sexual, she assured herself. Probably just some issues with her lunch.
He tilted his head and kissed her again. This time his tongue swept against her lower lip. She jumped slightly but didn’t pull back. Her fingers curled into her palms. She felt stupid, standing there with her hands at her sides. When he moved his hand from her waist to her shoulder, she lightly pressed her right hand against his side.
His tongue continued to stroke her lip. Sabrina understood this part. He wanted to deepen the kiss. Which was all right with her. She’d never found that particular act especially exciting but it wasn’t too awful, either. She opened her mouth slightly. He slipped inside, teasing the inside of her lip before touching the tip of her tongue with his.
A jolt of electricity shot through her. She jumped, not sure what had just happened. Her bare toes curled toward the floor and she rested her left hand on his chest. Kardal cupped her face in his strong hand and swept his tongue over hers.
The reaction in her body startled her into forgetting to breathe. It was like being on fire, but in a really good way. Heat filled her. Heat and pressure. She ached all over and the tightness in her chest increased until it wouldn’t have mattered if she’d remembered to breathe because she couldn’t physically do it anymore. She was going to die right here in Kardal’s arms and she found she didn’t really mind. Not if he kept on kissing her.
She shifted so that she could wrap her arms around him and hold him close. When he retreated, she followed him, liking the feel of him, the heat and the taste. He pulled her to him so that they touched intimately. Her br**sts flattened against his chest. His thighs pressed against hers. She wanted…The exact “what” wasn’t clear, but there was a hunger in her she’d never experienced before.
He broke the kiss so that he could press his mouth against her neck. The contact both tickled and made her cling to him. He licked her ear, then bit the lobe. Breath returned as she gasped.
Hesitantly she opened her eyes and found him staring down at her. She saw bright fire in his dark irises. Tension tightened the lines of his face.
“Do you still want to fly away, my desert bird?” he asked, his voice sounding husky.
Yes, of course, she thought, but wasn’t able to form the words. Her plan of kicking and running suddenly didn’t seem so necessary. Not if he was going to kiss her again.
He rested his hands on her shoulders, then moved them lower. Still dazed from his passionate kisses, she wasn’t prepared for him to cup her br**sts. His thumbs swept against her suddenly tight ni**les.
Desire poured through her but with it, icy shock. Sanity returned. She pushed his hands away and shoved until he took a step back.
“You can’t do that,” she told him, barely able to catch her breath. “It’s one thing to kidnap me, but it’s quite another to defile me. My father may not care about me, but he will kill any man who touches me. As will the troll prince. He’s expecting a virgin.”
She braced herself for his laughter. “defile” was a pretty old-fashioned word. Besides, Kardal didn’t seem to have much respect for her or her family.
But he wasn’t smiling. Instead he frowned at her, as if she’d just become a puzzle he couldn’t solve.
“It is not possible,” he said more to himself than her. “A virgin?”
She grabbed him by the front of his shirt. “Have you been listening to me?” she demanded, speaking loudly and directly into his face. She wanted to shake him but he was about as unmovable as a mountain.