Viking Ecstasy by Robin Gideon Read Free Book Online

heart. She could feel, too, the fearful, frantic beating of her own heart and the scratchy texture of the thick shirt against the erect tips of her breasts. Inhaling, she caught the faint, distinct scent of Tabor and found it disturbingly pleasing. Only moments earlier she had been chilled, her feet actually cold, but now she felt almost overheated from head to toe. Never before had an embrace offered comfort. Tabor stroked his palm down her hair and over her shoulders, sending an unprecedented sensation shimmering through her.
    "Tanaka . . ." Tabor whispered.
    It was the first time he had spoken her name, and Tanaka thought the sound coming from Tabor was wildly arousing. She tilted her head back to look up into his face, and he cupped her chin in his palm.
    Tabor bent low until his lips were just inches from hers, and he purred, "Do not fear me."
    "I must," Tanaka replied a moment before Tabor's mouth dropped down to cover hers, claiming her lips in a possessive kiss that took her breath away.
    After being captured by Ingmar, Tanaka had sworn to herself that she would never close her eyes, no matter how horrifying the world became. But now, with Tabor's warm lips pressing firmly against her own, his arms like bands of iron encircling her, closing her eyes was the most natural thing in the world to do. Sighing, aware simultaneously both of Tabor's great strength and great tenderness, Tanaka tried to pretend —at least to herself—that the kiss did not affect her. She had been kissed before, and the kisses had left her feeling defiled; Tabor's kisses were no different.
    Liar ! her body shouted, refusing her even the small comfort of self-delusion.
    Each passing second heightened Tanaka's passion, weakening her resolve to feel nothing at all in Tabor's embrace. Her full breasts, held tautly against Tabor's body, felt painfully compressed, the nipples hard and aching, roughly tantalized by the coarse texture of the shirt she wore and by the heat of Tabor's powerful body.
    Time lost meaning, and she did not know how long the kiss lasted. When she felt the tip of Tabor's tongue against her lips, she willingly opened her mouth to accept his deeper exploration. A deep, rumbling groan of pleasure rumbled from Tabor, the sound reverberating through Tanaka, almost drowning her own throaty moan of excitement.
    His hands roamed from her shoulders down her back, forcing her to arch backward, demanding that her body mold to his. Everything that Tanaka thought she believed grew faint and indistinct as she feasted on Tabor's mouth, dancing her tongue against his. When she felt Tabor's hand sliding lower, rounding the curve of her buttocks then moving back upward only to slide beneath the shirttail to feel her silken nakedness, she knew that she should protest.
    But to what good? She could no more stop Tabor than she could stop the sun from rising on the morrow.
    Telling herself that she had no choice in the matter helped salve Tanaka's conscience when Tabor's hand cupped her more firmly against him, forcing the strangely moist petals of her femininity to press intimately—pleasantly—against the hard-muscled surface of his thigh.
    When at last the kiss ended, Tanaka felt as though some unseen force had mysteriously stolen all the strength from her body. Her heart raced in her chest; and, though she still held her hands passively at her sides, she longed to have the courage to reach out and explore Tabor's body precisely as he now explored hers, running his powerful hands over the backs of her thighs and the smooth curve of her buttocks.
    "Tanaka . . . Tanaka . . ." Tabor whispered, his lips caressing the velvety arch of her neck.
    Tanaka tilted her head to the side, giving Tabor more room. It was surely madness, she told herself, that she assist him in his decidedly unwelcome — though erotic —quest. The tip of his tongue, moist and pink, traced the outline of her ear, sending hot waves and cold chills racing through her. His hands