Queen of Lost Stars (Dragonblade Series/House of St. Hever) by Kathryn Le Veque Read Free Book Online Page B

the mattress. She shifted around, uncomfortably, trying to find a good position to do what needed to be done as Dolwyd stood over her and watched most attentively. But his attention was quite embarrassing to Madelayne, given what she had been asked to do.
    “I will not do this with you watching,” she said flatly, unlacing the top of her shift. “If you want me to do this, then you will give me privacy to do it. I’ll not have you watch.”
    Dolwyd snorted. “I would say your modesty at this point is misplaced.”
    She turned to glare at him. “Look away or I’ll not do this.”
    He sighed heavily. “When I had my hands betwixt your legs delivering your child, you said naught about it. And one breast looks like all the rest.”
    She continued to scowl at him, so much so that he eventually turned away in a huff of annoyance. But the truth was that he understood somewhat; he was viewing the situation from a completely clinical standpoint but she was viewing it as something rather intimate. Since he wanted her to tend St. Hèver very much, he didn’t want to agitate her. He would give her some privacy.
    So he returned to his table and focused on his medicaments as Madelayne returned her attention to the knight breathing heavily beside her. St. Hèver . She’d never had much thought about the man other than the fact he was very cold, very serious, and very handsome. All of the women thought so. But his manners were so icy that it precluded any manner of attraction any female might have for him. Some would even say he was terribly unpleasant, but Madelayne didn’t give the man much thought one way or the other. She never really had.
    Until now – now, she was looking at this cold, serious soldier who was very badly wounded and needed her help. Truth be told, she began to feel some pity for him, injured as he was. She supposed that it was, indeed, her duty to help him however she could, as Cairn’s friend, and if her milk could not do her child any good, then perhaps it could help St. Hèver. Looking down into his pale and stubbled face, she was a bit more apt to try now than she had been before.
    With a faint sigh, because she was still rather embarrassed to be offering the man her breast, she finished unlacing the top of her shift and she pulled it aside, off of her right shoulder, to expose an engorged right breast. He was flat on the mattress next to her, his face turned in her direction, and she shifted so she could put a nipple by his half-open mouth. Since he wasn’t conscious, she wondered if it would even work, if he would sense the nipple by his mouth, so she sought to help him along.
    Gently, she rubbed her nipple against his lower lip, hoping he would get a feel for it or at least sense that she was there. When that didn’t work, she squeezed her breast slightly and allowed drops of milk to fall into his mouth. She did it a few times before he reacted, licking his lips, tasting the sweet milk on his tongue. She did it again, creating a bit of a stream into his mouth, and this time he reacted faster. He licked his lips again and it seemed to her that he was trying to wake up a bit. She lowered the nipple into his mouth and put her hand on his cheek, as one would do when trying to coax an infant into suckling.
    “Drink,” she whispered, tickling his cheek. “Drink and regain your strength, St. Hèver. Take what I can offer.”
    The stimulation to his cheek and mouth brought him around and without even opening his eyes, he latched on to her nipple with surprising strength and suckled so hard that he brought pricks of pain shooting through her breast. Madelayne gasped at the force of it, yelping softly when he suddenly grabbed at her and pulled her against him. She was sore and stiff, and St. Hèver might have been on death’s door, but he was still quite strong in moving her towards him. He suckled her hungrily, his hands moving from her torso, where he had grasped her to pull her against him, to her