Hot Blooded

that energy."
    "I can't." She attacked again, mostly for the sensual enjoyment of watching
those powerful thighs bunch as he leaped back.
    This is stupid
, a small voice whispered as she charged recklessly
after him. She ignored it.
    Â 
    DAMN, he didn't think he'd ever seen anything more delicious than Grace
wearing nothing but three bits of leather and thigh-high boots. Her hair had
worked free of that French braid, long, blonde wisps floating around her lovely
face. A sheen of sweat gleamed on her thighs and the full curves of breasts
quivered with every attack and parry. God, there was something about a mock
brawl with a beautiful woman that got his blood pumping. For one thing, there
was the tantalizing prospect of what he'd do for his victory celebration.
    Lance hadn't expected to take this much time getting to that. He'd intended
no more than a couple of exchanges, just enough to get past her wary
self-control, then a quick disarm and a segue into seduction.
    He had to admit, this was much more fun. He wanted to pin her down and
redirect all that hot passion toward doing something besides taking his head
off. Though judging from the way she kept stealing glances at the massive
erection behind his loincloth, she was already headed in that direction as it
was.
    Then her recklessness provided him with the chance he was wailing for. When
he blocked one of her wild hacks at his head, she kept trying to bull past his
guard until she slammed chest to chest with him. Her eyes glittered as she tried
to force aside his sword.
    "Come on, Grace, you know better than that," he said, and hooked a foot
around one of her ankles. She tumbled. He pounced, locking one hand around her
sword wrist and pinning her on the ground.
    Snarling a curse that made his eyebrows rise, she twisted under him, slim and
wild as an infuriated cat. His cock hardened even more as his fangs slid to full
extension in his mouth. Still holding her sword arm, he used his free hand to
hook one cup of her leather top and tug it down. A sweet, pink nipple popped
free.
    It was, he saw as his hunger spiraled, almost as hard and eager as he was. He
bent his head to feast.
    Â 
    GRACE gasped at the sensation of Lance's wet mouth claiming her breast. At
the same time, his free hand roamed down her body to cup her sex through her
bikini bottom. One long, strong finger slid under the leather, eased between her
lips, stroked deliciously. She caught her breath and let her head fall back,
arching her body under his. He felt so damn big. so damn good. Rock hard and
sweaty and strong. And when he touched her, tasted her, the bitterness of the
night fell away.
    Stop him before it's too late
, the voice of sanity whispered.
    But it had been too late since the moment she'd watched him swagger in
wearing only a loincloth and a fine layer of oil.
    Besides, she'd only had him once. And she wanted him again.
    She fisted her free hand in his dark hair as he devoured her breasts. His
middle finger was buried deep in her sex, while his thumb strummed her clit.
Pleasure curled and snaked through her veins.
    Something wild escaped the tight control she'd kept on it. She slid a hand up
and jabbed a thumb hard into a nerve bundle in his chest. He jerked away with a
gasp. Grace used his momentum to shove him over on his back and straddle his
thighs. Spotting a glint of silver in the top of his boot, she reached back to
snatch it free.
    It was a dagger. And unlike their swords, it was stiletto sharp. She grinned.

----
Chapter 5
    Â« ^ »
    SUCKING in a breath, Lance looked up to see her crouching across his hips
with his knife in her hand.
    "Oooh," she purred. "I wonder what you were gonna use
this
for?"
    He lifted a brow. "Surely you don't think I'll tell you?"
    "You don't have to." A wild-thing smile curled her lips. "I know exactly what
you had in mind. Something like…" She slid the knife's sharp blade between the
leather cord of his loincloth and his skin. "This." A flick of her wrist cut the
cord as she flipped the cloth aside with her other hand, revealing his cock
straining toward his navel.
    "Actually, it wasn't
my
clothes I planned to cut off." That wicked
smile widened. "Oh. You mean…" She reached down and cut the cord around her own
waist at one hip. "This." The triangle of leather drooped even as a second flick
of the knife cut the cord on the other side. She whipped the bottoms off. With
the same breathtaking