By My Side ... (A Valentine's Day Story) by Christine Blackthorn Page A

it
was he was offering her, had merely opened her lips to receive it,
in the secure knowledge that whatever he would provide, she would
take. How far was she falling? How fast?
    The savoury, pastry-wrapped
bite hovered before her lips, the succulent smell making her mouth
water and still she hesitated. She could not take it. His eyes had
lost their sleepiness, were large and sharp, holding her in place,
demanding compliance. Gone was the relaxation, supplanted by a
predatory tension focused on her mouth. Just as had been the case
throughout the travel the simple act of feeding her held a by far
deeper meaning to him. He would not allow her to deny him that
importance. His fingers touched her lips as he stroked the piece of
food over her mouth, leaving behind the taste of cinnamon and
clover -- and underneath that, the spice of him.
    The tip of her tongue snaked
out to wet her lips and found his finger. Heat coiling in her, met
its mirror in his eyes. Images, sense-memories rose. His lips on
hers, the taste of him invading her core, subsuming all sensations
under its power. This quickly she was reminded of their kiss, his
touch an addictive temptation beckoning to her. Her mouth fell open
before she had made the decision to give into the call of his
touch. When her lips closed around the offering, she barely noticed
the taste of the food under the sensation of his fingers
withdrawing, their touch almost abrasive over the sensitised skin
of her lips.
    Somehow, Elena became
mesmerised by the curve of his lips, as if the act of feeding her
had somehow created a link between them. There was a tingling
sensation, an electric prickling along the inside of her lower lip,
where his fingers had touched her. Each breath she took
aggravating, her own heartbeat pulsing through that spot she could
still feel his touch. It was near painful, the pulsing heat
spreading through her, sizzling along her skin.
    She felt goose bumps rise along
her arms, the small muscles along her spine tensing with each
breath. When she swallowed, she had no idea what she had eaten, but
her whole body was primed, yearning for the next bite, his next
touch. Her hands had fisted on her thighs, the temptation to stroke
over her own skin, to alleviate the tingling need for stimulation,
overwhelming. But she knew her own touch would not be enough.
    Elena was transfixed, with him
the focus of her whole being. When his tongue wet those generous
lips, the sheen of moisture darkening the inhuman paleness of his
skin, she wanted to lean in, felt the movement as a shadow on her
own lips. She groaned, the sound low and almost inaudible. Her mind
had no awareness of the second bite of food she had eaten. He
chuckled.
    "Close your eyes, little
one."
    The command, and the
expectation of obedience behind it, broke her preoccupation. Her
eyes jumped to his in alarm, her question out before she could
censor it.
    "Why?"
    Elena cringed, the expectation
of punishment an electric current waking all her instincts. Was she
allowed to speak without invitation? Had he ever said anything on
those lines? She could not remember. She needed to remember the
rules. Confusion and a strange sense of loss swamped her.
    Before, at the court, her
position of submission would have meant punishment for any word she
spoke uninvited. Here, it was different, it felt different. He was
subtly changing the rules, changing what she had come to rely upon.
She froze in her uncertainty, torn between the expectation of pain
or an answer to her question. When his hand rose she jerked away,
adrenalin too high for her to control the automatic reaction. Her
head turned aside, its angle designed so that a blow would miss her
nose or eye, do the least amount of damage. Elena hated the lack of
depth perception when her eye was swollen closed.
    His knuckles grazed her left
cheekbone, a caress not a blow, his skin cool against the heat of
hers.
    "I like it when you speak,
Elena. There will not be any repercussions for