Beneath the cloak was the warmth of his flesh, the beat of his heart accelerating as her fingertips moved over his chest, an exploration and a question. What a strange thing, to want a man so badly. To want him to want her. To see that he wanted this, and be glad.

She sensed his intention to reach for her, so she leaned back from him to prevent it. Immediately, she felt the intention fade. It was...different, unexpected, a relief. This was new to her, how he did not impose his will in any way, ceding everything to her. All she had known of coupling beyond the hated groping of strange men was what her husband had done to her. And though he had been careful and kind, her only role for those few nights they had been together was to lay pliant beneath him until it was finished.

That was not what she wanted with the Welshman. She wanted things she could not name. She wanted his kisses and his touch, but she did not want her desire to be drowned by his.

Her hand slid over the rapid pulse at the base of his neck and then under the linen, over his heart. She marveled at the feel of the soft hair against her fingers as she put her lips to his. It was as she remembered it – better than the memory, the way his mouth opened hot and inviting, the way her tongue knew now how to taste him while her hands moved over him. The same liquid excitement ran through her as before, the same prick of pleasure at the tips of her breasts, the same urgent need to press her body against him.

Now his hands drifted up to untie her cloak and move into her hair, pulling the strands of her braid free as she let her cloak fall away. It left only the thin layers of linen between them, a realization that was at once exhilarating and unnerving. She deepened the kiss, reveling in the harshness of his breath against her cheek, the feel of his hands in her hair, his body laid out beneath her.

He did naught but touch her hair, her cheek, and kiss her. All the while, she let her hands move over him. The hollows caused by hunger were gone, leaving only lean muscle. Never would she have thought to take pleasure in a man’s body like this, to touch it and explore, to learn the curves and lines of his flesh while he lay still. It made her want the soft and hidden places of him. She tugged his linen tunic upward, then pulled loose the ties of his braies and smoothed a palm over his bared hip.