Obsessed by Cheyenne McCray Read Free Book Online Page A

grin at the sight of her enraged pixie face.
    Splashing, she struggled to stand and then moved closer to him, where the water was to her waist. Her skin pebbled with gooseflesh and her nipples hardened from the cold water. “No, an irani is too good for you.” Her pale tresses hung in wet ropes around her face. She clenched her jaw, her eyes spitting fury. “You are no better than the dung of that hateful beast!”
    Aric couldn’t help a chuckle. Mirth rose within him until he was laughing so hard that his sides ached.
    “You—you—” She marched up to him, her hands clenched.
    The thought of her tiny fists attempting to hurt him, made him laugh all the harder.
    And then she flattened her palms against his chest and shoved with all her might.
    Caught unawares, Aric stumbled back in the water. One foot slipped on a moss-covered stone—he lost his balance and toppled over.
    He flailed, and the next thing he knew he was beneath the icy surface, his nose and mouth filling with water. He sprang to his feet, coughing and choking, ready to teach the Tanzinite maid another lesson—
    Only to see her giggling.
    Her sea green eyes were bright with laughter, making her beyond beautiful. All he wanted to do then was kiss her.
    One kiss.
    “Come here, woman,” he demanded.
    She shook her head, a smile still on her lips. “No.”
    In one long stride he reached her. He grabbed her, pinning her arms to her sides. Her laughter died and her pupils dilated as he pulled her soft form against his muscled body. His cock hardened despite the water’s chill, and he pressed it tight to her belly.
    She gasped and her lips parted, and he couldn’t restrain himself any longer. He swooped down, taking possession of her mouth. Slowly he moved his lips over hers, then slid his tongue into the warm recesses. Liana moaned into his mouth, her tongue gently mating with his, until the kiss became frantic, their mutual need building and building.
    “Sweet zjenni,” he murmured as sensations whirled through him. The taste of her, the feel of her nipples against his chest, her womanly scent mixed with the heady perfume of the jensai…it was too much.
    Just as Aric broke the kiss and grasped Liana around the waist to raise her up, ready to drive his cock into her—he came to his senses.
    He froze, for a moment unable to move, fearing that he would take her and damn the consequences.
    Gods, no.
    His people. How could he forget them? How could he betray them?
    “No,” he roared and pushed her away from him, toward the center of the pool. She stumbled back in the water and stared up at him, her features etched with confusion—and hurt.
    In that instant he could see the pain and humiliation in her expression. After being abandoned by her own people, after a lifetime of being scorned and maligned, she thought that he, too, was rejecting her.
    She raised her chin and crossed her arms over her chest, and turned her back on him.
    His heart twisted and he moved so close that there was but a hair’s breadth between them. “Zjenni,” he murmured.
    “Leave.” The word sounded low and sorrowful coming from her lips, and he heard the ache in her voice as she continued, “I will bathe as you wish. Just leave me be.”
    “It is not as you think.” He placed his hands on her small shoulders and his gut clenched when he felt her flinch. “Do you think I do not want you?” He pressed his throbbing erection against her buttocks and groaned. “I want you more than any woman I have ever known.”
    Liana sniffed, and he feared she was crying. “Why then did you push me away?”
    “I—” He paused, unsure of how much to tell her. “It is not to be.”
    “Because of who I am.” Her voice was mocking. “The Tanzinite woman who was discarded by her own kind for her imperfections.”
    “No, zjenni.” He grasped her shoulders and spun her around. Her eyes widened as he held her tight against him. “I watched you in Fiorn for far longer than you know. I