Page 29 of Ensnaring the Dove

“You must keep warm,” he explained patiently, “and this fire isn’t enough … I’ll use my body to prevent your chill from worsening. Your betrothed won’t be happy if you turn up at Onnum sick, will he?”

Her throat bobbed, and she shook her head. “Very well,” she said huskily. “That makes sense.”

It did, although now that Aedan had suggested it, he wished he hadn’t. He’d just spent the afternoon wrestling with himself. He’d already recognized he was strongly attracted to this woman. Was it wise to go to sleep with her in his arms?

Cursing himself, Aedan tore his gaze from hers. “Right then,” he said, forcing briskness into his voice. “Let’s try and make ourselves comfortable on this stony ground.”

Aedan stretched out along the wall and drew Colombia against him so that the curve of her back molded into his chest and belly. He covered them both with her woolen shawl. It was still slightly damp, although the fire had done a good enough job of removing most of the moisture. Meanwhile, Aedan’s wet clothing felt cold and clammy against his skin. He too needed to keep warm, or he’d sicken.

But the moment he pulled Colombia’s supple body against his, Aedan knew for certain his protective gesture had been a mistake.

Unlike the thick, loose fabric of her old clothing, the tunic was much thinner. The furnace of her burning skin indeed soaked into his chilled body. Holding Colombia in his arms overnight would certainly keep the cold and damp at bay. However, he tensed at the feel of her gentle curves molded against his body. Her backside pressed against his groin.

It was distracting.

And to make matters worse, despite her earlier reluctance to sleep in his arms, Colombia gave a soft, shuddering sigh and sank against him. She then wriggled her bottom, as if trying to burrow deeper against his body.

Aedan went rigid, his groin hardening in response. He tried to pull away, to flatten himself up against the wall behind him—but there was nowhere to go.

Colombia’s hair, which was drying in heavy waves, tickled his nose, and the sweet, musky smell of her skin enveloped him.

The Reaper take him, how was he supposed to sleep like this?

Colombia heaved another sigh and sank even deeper into Aedan’s embrace. The moment he’d put his arms around her, all the tension seeped from her body. Even her shivering eased a little.

She shouldn’t enjoy physical contact with him as much as she did—yet she didn’t have the will this evening to fight the pull between them.

When Aedan had suggested they sleep like this earlier, she’d been shocked.

Despite that they’d shared a bed at Enid’s, they hadn’t actually touched.

She and Linus had kissed a couple of times before his departure—sweet, romantic moments she’d cherished—but he hadn’t pulled her into his arms. She could feel the lean, hard length of Aedan’s body pressed along hers—and despite that she was overly warm, the contact with him made her feel better.

However, when she wriggled her backside into him—an instinctive act—his body stiffened against hers. And then she felt something else—something hard and hot—pressing into the cleft between her buttocks.

Colombia’s breathing grew shallow.

She was still a virgin and had lived in a cocoon of privilege until the past few days, but she knew what that hardness against her backside was.

She’d seen animals mate and had overheard the whispers of servants and slaves over the years. She hadn’t grown up under a rock; she knew what a man did with the appendage between his legs.

If she was honest, she’d spent many a night lying abed, wondering what Linus would look like naked. What would his manhood be like? Would it be large? Would it be straight or curved? One of the servants in her uncle’s household had whispered to the cooks that her man’s ‘mentula’ was shaped like a wheat scythe.

But now, treacherously, her betrothed and his shaft were far from her mind—instead, she found herself thinking about Aedan. Her movement had brought her hard against him and left no doubt in her imagination about the size and girth of his manhood.

Her mouth went dry, and her already fevered body grew hotter still. A moment later, a strange, needy ache started to pulse between her thighs.

Minerva, I must move away from him.

She shifted her hips—intending to slide forward—but Aedan’s voice halted her.

“For the love of the Gods,” he choked out. “Stop wriggling, will you?”

Colombia froze. There was a strangled edge to his voice. Of course, every time she moved, she caused more friction between their bodies.

His shaft was an iron brand now, burning into her.

Colombia’s pulse quickened. Lying together like this wasn’t a good idea. She wasn’t sure she could sleep withthatpressing into her.