I could hardly pass up the opportunity for some wretchedly purple prose. May I present...
Silken SurrenderChapter 5: An Unexpected Visitor
Her list of excuses grew by the minute – her best tunic, bloodied that afternoon, was still wet from the
wash; nobody was about and there was no real harm in it; it wasn’t smart or particularly ladylike to wander around the house in nothing but smalls. Besides, hadn’t her mother always warned her that wearing damp shirts would earn her a nasty cold?
The real reason gnawed at her guilty conscience, chewing on her like a teething mabari. But Marian Hawke was a master of her own emotions and slid the soft, worn shirt on anyway, shoving aside all feelings of doubt and guilt. It was just a shirt. It didn’t mean anything. She wandered from the kitchen, wear the she had first glimpsed the fine tunic drying near the dwindling fire. It was as bright as the flames, as bright as a raw wound. Impossible to ignore. Her bare feet slapped the stone floor as she padded from the kitchen and its cozy heat to the chilly hall and then her bed chamber. Anders was right. She was looking ragged. She needed more rest to regain her strength and weather the coming battles.
Marian curled up in her bed, the fire in the nearby hearth roaring away, making covers redundant and stuffy. She hardly knew when it happened, but before long, in the half-haze of a dozy slumber, she smelled something intensely masculine. Spiced… Warm… Like heated, mulled cider on a wintry day. It was irresistible and all around her, emanating from the very furs and blankets of the bed. She tossed, sleep becoming impossible as the heady, strong perfume overwhelmed her senses.
Vaguely, she began to recognize the scent. It came back to her like the licking tendrils of a lost and misremembered dream. Sweat and ash, sword polish and new leather… Marian shivered, clutching suddenly at the shirt and, mistakenly, her own bosom. Her skin seemed to come alive, awash with prickling excitement… It was forbidden even to think of him – her comrade, her friend, but there was no denying the result of simply smelling his tunic. The dark sensuality of his presence seemed to be woven into the very fabric of the shirt, glittering there like the fine golden threads worked into the collar and hem.
In the shadowy twilight, Marian whispered his name, and as if that one word held all the power in the world, she lifted her eyelashes to find a shadow falling over the bed.
“Stones below, that’s a sight I never fancied I see.” His low, purring rasp sent another shiver cascading down her spine.
"How did you get in here?!"
One thick brow lifted in inquiry. "Oh you know..." He shrugged, wiggling his fingers. "Deft hands, I suppose."
“I didn’t… I thought everyone went to the tavern!” Marian sat up and gasped, humiliated, clutching at the scandalous plunge of the neckline, which happened to be exactly where the dwarf’s eyes lingered.
He laughed, amused, and put one heavy hand on the tick.
“Surprise,” he murmured, his lips curling into a knowing smile.
Modifié par madsabroo, 18 février 2011 - 11:11 .