Shield's Lady

cloak.”
    “That’s not the point. It’s the principle of the thing. You’re my—” He broke off just before calling her his Shieldmate. “You can’t parade around in public wearing only a sleeping chemise and a traveling cloak. What if the wind catches the cloak? Sariana, it isn’t like you to be so unconcerned about such things.”
    She studied him from beneath her lashes. “You’re right. It isn’t like me. You have a strange effect on me at times, Gryph.”
    He heard the return of wariness in her voice and cursed himself for having come very close to ruining everything a second time. Like the trained hunter he was he moved quickly to recover his position. He could scold her later for such lapses. There would be plenty of time in the future to teach her that his sense of possessiveness did not permit such immodest behavior on her part.
    It was odd, Gryph thought fleetingly as he pulled her back against him. He had never been particularly concerned about a woman’s modesty or lack of it before in his life. He was learning quickly that a man felt differently about such things when the woman in question was his wife.
    He kissed her again, silently apologizing for the outburst. He seemed to be always apologizing to this woman. But it was worth it when he felt her begin to relax once more. Gryph held the kiss for a long while, luxuriating in the sweet, hot flavor of her. When the tip of her tongue touched his and followed it back into his own mouth Gryph stifled a groan and broke the kiss reluctantly. When she looked up at him with a thousand questions in her eyes he wrapped his arm around her. Without a word he led her toward the stairs that would take them down to their cabin. Sariana made no protest.
    The scarlet-toe raised its sleek head and watched silently as Gryph led Sariana into the cabin. Then, apparently satisfied that all was as it should be, it went back to sleep.
    Gryph ignored the small creature. His attention was centered on the woman in front of him. He was shaking with need and he hadn’t even gotten her out of the cloak. He sought for self-control with all the skill at his command, determined not to bungle things this time.
    Carefully be undid the fastenings of the cloak and eased it off Sariana’s shoulders. It fell into a pool at her feet and in the moonlight he could see the shadows and curves of her body beneath the soft chemise.
    He yanked impatiently at the laces of his shirt, flinging the garment heedlessly into the shadows. His fingers were on the buckle of his belt when he saw the direction of Sariana’s wary gaze. She was eyeing the prisma lock of the weapon kit.
    “Not this time, Sariana.” He left his belt undone and reached out to catch her chin between his thumb and forefinger. He dropped a short, reassuring kiss on her parted lips. “We don’t need it now. The link between us was forged that first time. We’ll never need the prisma again.”
    She tilted her head questioningly, her eyes shimmering. “I don’t understand.”
    “I know. It doesn’t matter.” He bit her very gently on her lower lip. “Just trust me, Sariana. This time it’s going to be very good for you. I swear it. There is so much passion waiting to be discovered in you. I would have to be completely inept not to be able to help you find it this time.”
    She sighed softly and stepped closer under the gentle urging of his hand, Gryph slipped the chemise over her head and stared at her slender, graceful body with hungry fascination. Next to her he felt large and heavy and awkward. She was so soft and tantalizing. His fingers grazed lightly over the peaks of her breasts and he was rewarded when her sensitive flesh responded to his touch.
    “You’re so strong and hard,” she breathed wonderingly as she spread her fingers across his chest. Her silver nails glimmered in the moonlight as she moved her hands to the broad curve of his shoulders.
    Gryph thought he would go out of his mind. He brought her closer, sliding his fingers down under the sensual weight of her buttocks. He lifted her up against him, letting her feel his rigid manhood. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him with a newfound boldness.
    Gryph felt the first stirrings of the mental and emotional link that would soon leap to life between them. An intriguingly alien excitement raced through him. He was already starting to pick up on Sariana’s sensations. Memories of that first night when he had experienced the shock