Captured by Melinda Barron Read Free Book Online

in wonder. He supposed what she felt mirrored what he’d experienced when the food had appeared on his first day in his prison. He’d been suspicious then, too. Hopefully she would know he didn’t mean to hurt her.
    He watched as she examined the bread, lifting it to her nose to sniff. When she finally put a piece in her mouth, he felt as if they’d jumped a huge gap. He nodded in approval, then took a huge bite of his own food, watching her as he chewed.
    The fact she watched him right back quickened his blood. It had been so long since he’d tasted a woman, and here one was, a gift from the gods, standing in front of him, wearing his clothes. It wouldn’t take much to pull that tunic from her and bury himself in her soft warmth.
    The need was almost overwhelming, and he wasn’t sure exactly how he kept himself from throwing down the bread and tumbling her to the floor. Her gasp alerted him that something was wrong.
    He looked down to see the bread, squished between his fingers, hanging out both sides of his fists. He let the ruined food drop to the floor and brushed the crumbs from his clothing. Touching the material was a painful reminder that his cock still pounded underneath it, the feel of the fabric increasing the arousal he felt.
    She lowered her eyes demurely as if she knew exactly what he was thinking, then she walked to the wall where he’d arranged an array of weapons, some of them he’d made and some of them gifts from his invisible benefactor.
    They helped when it came time to face his yearly challenge, although every year it was getting harder to defeat the beast.
    She touched a sword, then let her fingers trail over the various arrows and swords, finally closing over a bow and taking it down. She didn’t grasp the quiver of arrows next to it, though. She simply turned the bow this way and that, looking over it as if she were trying to figure out how it was made.
    When she put it back on the wall, she went to the table against the far wall. Her cry of delight was like music to his ears.
    “ Hneftafl .”
    “ Ya. ” He hurried to her and picked up the king. He’d carved this board and its pieces over the years, trying to alleviate his boredom as the years crept by.
    She pointed to the middle, the pointed to the edge square and he knew she understood the game.
    “ Ya. ”
    Before he knew what was happening she’d put her food next to the board, dragging a chair up to the table. There had only been one there before, since he’d never had anyone to play the game with him. She sat down, then pointed to the empty chair, the one he usually sat in when he tried to amuse himself each night.
    Tears stung his eyes as she set up her part of the game. For the first time in forever, he was going to play hneftafl with another person, and it made him feel as if the sun had moved into the room and would never leave.
    As he drew closer to her, he wished they could communicate, verbally anyway. His body did a lot of communicating for him, since his cock was still hard, painfully so. If he stood up and thrust his hips back and forth, would she understand him?
    Oh yes, he had no doubt that she would. Sex was a universal language. But that didn’t mean it was one they needed to converse in right now, although his body had other ideas. If his cock had its way, he would throw the table aside, then get her down on all fours, mount her and ride her until they both screamed in ecstasy, which wouldn’t take long for him.
    He sat down in the chair and put his hand in his lap, stroking himself gently through the material. Maybe he should go to the other room and once again take care of the problem before they started the game.
    That wouldn’t help, though. He’d be hard the minute he came back in the room and saw her again. Best just to stay here and ignore the throbbing between his legs, as if that could happen.
     
    Venise stared at the board, wondering what she should do next. In theory, she knew how to play this