CHAPTER FIFTEEN

      CLOSING HER EYES, Jazz reached out. At first her touch was tentative. Tyr was so firm and warm and vital, but this was the first time she had ever touched a man’s naked skin, and it took a little time to gain enough confidence to explore him more thoroughly.

      When she did, he was a revelation. Tyr was so packed full of energy, her fingertips tingled. He was so toned and fit, his slightest movement allowed her to feel the shift of muscle beneath her hands. Drawing in a shaking breath, she dipped her head to brush her lips across his chest, where his distinctive clean man scent filled her senses.

      Her feelings for Tyr were so strong, she was desperate to please him, but was concerned she might do something he wouldn’t like. Should she trace his scars, or ignore them? She kissed them, regretting each terrible and unimaginable incident that had carved them into his bronzed skin. Tyr and she were different in so many ways and she only wished she could put the guilt instilled in her by centuries of tradition aside. Intimacy between a man and a woman was often discussed in a community divided by gender, but never in front of an unmarried girl, so the little Jazz had learned, she knew from eavesdropping and reading, and from various media sources, but nothing could have prepared her for a titan like Tyr Skavanga in the flesh.

      Instinct told her that what Tyr needed even more than sex right now was tenderness. It was time to forget her hang-ups and think about him. Tyr was still a prisoner in his mind without an outlet for his feelings. Maybe she could help him with that. Reaching her arms around him, she rested her head against his powerful chest and hugged him tight. Tyr instantly grew tense, and for a few moments she thought she’d done the wrong thing, but then tremors racked him and like a dam breaking he clung to her and she clung to him as if her life depended on it. There was only one thing missing, and that was to tell Tyr it would be all right now, but a trite response was no good to him. Only time would heal his wounds.

      ‘You don’t have to tell me anything right now,’ she whispered with her mouth against his chest. ‘I just want you to know I’m always here for you.’

      ‘Just so long as you keep on hugging me.’

      She thrilled to hear Tyr’s voice so warm and wry. ‘It’s a deal.’

      Removing the robe she’d thrown over her shoulders, he tossed it aside. ‘Relax, Jazz. Move down in the bed so you’re more comfortable. You can even steal the covers, if you like.’

      ‘It can get bitterly cold in the desert at night,’ she agreed.

      She laughed softly when they both glanced at the braziers surrounding them at the same time. These had been lit as soon as the sun went down to keep the pavilion pleasantly warm.

      ‘I know you’ve led a sheltered life,’ Tyr murmured as he toyed with a lock of her hair.

      ‘What are you saying?’

      ‘Why don’t we find out?’

      The look in Tyr’s eyes was everything she’d hoped for. And they were husband and wife, Jazz reminded herself, so nothing was forbidden. It wasn’t so bad feeling small and vulnerable when you felt so safe. Safe and with every nerve ending on super-high alert. Her thigh only had to touch Tyr’s to start trembling, while her shoulder quivered when it brushed his arm.

      Where to look?

      If she looked straight at Tyr, that was like an invitation, while staring straight ahead seemed absurdly prim. So she looked down as she made a big performance of arranging the covers over her.

      ‘You won’t need those,’ Tyr assured her, pushing them back.

      ‘But you said—’

      ‘I know what I said. I just don’t want you getting overheated.’

      Her eyes widened as Tyr released her hands from their death grip on the fabric. ‘You’re in my bed so I can keep you warm. Remember telling me that?’

      Was that really her suggestion? ‘I’m not very good at this, Tyr. I mean...’

      ‘I know what you mean, Jazz,’ Tyr assured her softly. ‘You’ve already told me you’re a virgin.’

      ‘Well, I can hardly pretend to have run rampage through all the eligible youths in Kareshi.’

      Tyr’s hard mouth curved in a smile as he stared down at her. ‘There isn’t much I don’t know about you, Jazz Kareshi, or that I can’t read in your eyes, and I don’t want you to be frightened of me, ever.’

      ‘I’m not frightened of you.’ She gasped as Tyr’s hands encircled her waist as he drew her down beside him.

      ‘Really?’ Tyr’s mouth tugged up in a wicked smile as he soothed her with an embrace that was both light and warm. His touch was so light, she could have broken away at any time, but did she want to?

      ‘Calm down,’ he whispered when her breathing quickened. ‘I don’t bite.’ That wicked smile again. ‘At least, not yet.’

      She laughed. Tyr made everything so easy for her. Smiling against his lips, she closed her eyes. Breathing the same air, she kissed him. Every part of her was firing at once, while Tyr’s kisses were gentle and teasing as he held her back. She was still basking in delicious sensation when he drew her nightgown over her head.

      ‘What—?’

      ‘You’re overdressed,’ he reprimanded her.

      Drawing the coverlet up to her chin, she lay trembling and acutely sensitive. How could she become so responsive suddenly? Just the lightest pass of Tyr’s fingers on her naked skin was enough to make her tremble with desire for him.

      ‘What are you staring at?’ she asked suspiciously when he pulled the covers back.

      ‘You. I’m staring at you, Jazz.’

      As the familiar smile carved a crease in his cheek, she turned her face away from him and closed her eyes. No one had seen her naked since she was a child in the nursery. What did Tyr think of her? How would she compare to all the other women he must have known? She didn’t dare open her eyes to find out.

      ‘Look at me, Jazz. Open your eyes and look at me,’ Tyr commanded.

      Cupping her face in his hands, he kissed her so gently, her heart welled with love for him.

      ‘That’s better,’ he said when she searched his eyes. ‘You can trust me, and you can make me stop any time you want to.’

      She smiled nervously. Tyr was so much bigger than she was. How was she supposed to do that?

      ‘You ask me to stop whenever you want,’ he said, reading