Hilda knew her son would not want a claim who couldn’t run the household. What man would? Her son hadn’t sent Tara packing yet, and that was a good sign. Granted he seemed busier than normal lately, but the Lord of Gothman needed a claim, and Hilda felt the two of them would do just fine together, if she could just get Tara to fine-tune some of her skills. And as long as she made sure Tara’s little adventures occurred when her older son wasn’t home, then no harm should come of it.
Hilda also noticed how happy her youngest son was with Tara in the house. The boy would run home eagerly each day, throw down his books, and call for Tara until he’d located her in one of the rooms of the large house.
* * * * *
“Remember you said we could hike along the creek today.” Torgo leaned against the doorway, watching Tara put fresh sheets on his brother’s bed.
“I remember.” Tara grabbed the large comforter from the floor and threw it on to the bed. She couldn’t help but wonder how many women the lord had brought to this bed. Her stomach tightened at the thought and she turned her attention to Torgo. “If I suggest something, could you keep it a secret?”
Torgo’s gray eyes grew wide and he grinned. “Of course I can keep a secret. What is it?”
Tara glanced into the hallway. No one else appeared to be upstairs.
Torgo turned his attention there briefly before focusing again on Tara.
“It would be a lot easier to take a hike along the creek if I could wear some pants. Your mama is resting, and your brother isn’t here. If you have a pair I could borrow, it would also keep my dress from getting dirty.”
Torgo almost leapt for the hallway, and then grabbed the doorframe as he turned to face Tara. “I’m sure I have pants for you, I am,” he whispered. “And you’re right about your dress, you are. Mama would have a fit if you got all messy. We can’t have that.”
“No, we can’t.” Tara grinned as the boy hurried down the hall to his bedroom.
The pants Torgo offered fit her well enough with a belt. She observed herself for only a moment in the mirror in her bedroom, before joining Torgo in the hall. Halfway down the stairs however, Tara stopped and Torgo ran into her backside.
Darius stood talking to two of his guards in the living room.
Tara mentally chastised herself for not hearing them enter the house. She motioned with her hand and the two of them backed up the stairs. Tara cringed with every noisy footstep Torgo made. “Let’s try the other staircase,” Tara whispered and pointed toward the back of the house where the servant’s staircase led to the kitchen.
They made it to the kitchen, and Tara reached for the doorknob on the back door, when a sound alerted her already electrified senses. Winters of training had her pushing Torgo behind her, as she turned and faced one of Lord Darius’ guards.
“My Lord,” the guard called, and at the same time pulled his oversized Gothman bang stick on Tara.
“What are you doing, man?” Darius frowned as he pushed past the guard and spotted Tara and Torgo. “Put that away, I say.”
“But Milord, we have her in pants now. I daresay that says a lot.”
“It tells me nothing,” Darius’ voice boomed. “Out with you and your man. I will meet with you in a moment.”
He watched the man leave the kitchen.
Tara heard the front door open and close, but kept her gaze pinned on Darius’ large backside. Muscles twitched under his shirt, which stretched over his broad shoulders. Large and dangerous. Her heart fluttered, missing a beat while she worked to keep her expression relaxed.
Darius turned and cocked his head as he studied Tara. “I do believe I like you better in dresses.”
Tara focused on his eyes, once again forgetting to be submissive in his presence. His eyes were darker than a storm-filled sky.
Tara had no answer. She felt the room grow warmer as she quit looking at his face to take in the rest of him. The excitement she had felt moments before about hiking along the creek disappeared. Now she wanted to stay here and give this man all of her attention. Enemy or not, she wanted him. And she wanted him now.
“The pants are mine, Darius.” Torgo stepped around Tara. “She didn’t want to upset Mama by messing up her dress.”
Tara rested a hand on Torgo’s shoulder and smiled. She could feel the tension in the young boy. “It’s okay, Torgo. We’ve done nothing wrong.”
“I’m thinking I will be the judge of that,” Darius scolded.
She gave him her full attention.
“Where is it that you are going dressed like this?”
“Torgo and I are going hiking along the creek.” Tara worked to focus her thoughts on something other than the virile man standing in front of her. She risked suspicion and needed to put any questions to rest. “I thought it would be nice to give Hilda some peace and quiet so she could rest.”
“I see.” Darius sighed and waved a hand.
Torgo took that as a dismissal and pulled the door open before his plans were cancelled.
Tara turned to follow the boy who already ran across the backyard.
Darius grabbed her jaw before she could turn from him. He cupped the top of her neck and turned her to face him. Without a word, his mouth covered hers.
She gasped at the heat from his lips as her mouth opened to return the kiss. Her fingers eagerly slid under his leather jacket and traced the strong chest muscles under his shirt. The heat between her legs made her knees quiver, and she felt herself getting wet. She grabbed his shirt in her hands and held on.
“Be back within the hour, or I will be looking for you myself,” Darius whispered.
Tara wanted to make him hunt for her, but she would be with Torgo, so she pushed that fantasy to the side.
He released her jaw, and let his hand slide to the nape of her neck.
She let go of his shirt and released a jagged sigh, before turning to leave.
“Be careful now, my lady.”
Tara hurried to catch up with Torgo, but turned to give him a delighted smile. “You have nothing to worry about. We will be fine,” she called.
* * * * *
Tara scrubbed windows the following morning as she watched Lord Darius secure a leather bag to the side of his bike. She still ached from waiting for him to seek her out the day before, but realized that the Lord of Gothman had many other responsibilities besides hunting her down. He hadn’t returned until the early morning hours of this day, and Tara wondered what task kept him from her arms.
She watched the muscles in his shoulders work as he hunched over with his back to her. Finally, she had all she could take of cleaning and threw her rag to the floor. She stood, straightened her dress, and marched through the house to the back door. After their kiss the day before, she knew he was still interested. And she saw no problem with saying hello. Unfortunately, Hilda came down the stairs at that moment.
“I must say, you do make my old house sparkle.” She smiled at Tara. “Have you cleaned most of the windows?”
“No, my lady, I’ve gotten as far as the living room and dining room.” Tara stopped and leaned back to inspect her work. She hadn’t cleaned many windows in her life, but this was the second time in almost a cycle that she’d cleaned these windows. They didn’t look like they needed any more cleaning to her. “I’m glad my work pleases you.”
“You’re still here and that pleases me more than your work. But, I’ll be needing you to take a break for now. I have a list of things I need from the grocery. These can wait ‘til you get back.” Hilda handed the list to Tara along with the keys to her car. “I’d go myself but my head hurts this morning. Be sure and get all the news from Thelga.”
Tara returned the cleaning supplies to the pantry and paused to look longingly out the back door at Lord Darius. Several of his guards joined him and she watched them for a moment. They seemed to be in a rather serious discussion, and she wondered what they could be talking about. Unfortunately, Hilda’s car was parked out front, and Tara had no re
ason to leave through the back door so she could hear their conversation.
Their voices grew louder, and the guard who had attacked Tara was telling the rest of them something. Whatever he said upset Lord Darius, and he lunged at the man. The man backed down but continued to growl. Tara simply couldn’t make out what they were saying, even when she went to the back door and put her ear to it. She finally turned away and headed out the front door to the car.
The argument between Darius and his guards proved a good distraction, so no one noticed Tara teach herself how to drive Hilda’s vehicle. Tara had read about cars, and she felt confident in her mechanical knowledge of them, but driving one proved a small challenge. The car lunged forward, and then the engine stopped with her first attempt. Tara killed the motor several more times before she was able to make the small contraption move slowly along the road.
The village was lively, with people going in and out of different shops. Children and dogs ran up and down the sidewalk, and the women and older girls gathered here and there catching up on the latest gossip. Tara parked the car in front of the grocery and smiled politely at four women standing outside the store. They smiled back and then returned to their conversation with more excitement than ever. She heard them say her name but didn’t bother trying to overhear what they said. She could only imagine what gossip was being spread about her now that she was living in Lord Darius’ house.
“Ah, good morning to you, girl.” Thelga smiled broadly as Tara entered the store.
“And a good morning to you.” Tara smiled in return and picked up a basket from the door.
“It’s quite an honor you have done your old aunt, being claimed by his lordship, and all.” Thelga clucked. “And you only being in our town for such a short time.”
Tara grabbed her basket with her other hand to keep from dropping it. She looked at the old lady, quite stunned. “What are you saying?” Tara couldn’t do more than whisper. “I have not been claimed by anyone.”
“Oh, do you say, maybe you haven’t been told. I’m sure I’m right, to be certain. It was my claim told me. He heard from the lord’s guards, he did.” Thelga leaned on the counter and her eyes twinkled, knowing she got to be the first to share the news. “It happened this way to my granddaughter, it did. She was claimed, and the menfolk had such a merry party over it they forgot to tell her.” Thelga laughed at the thought. “I know for a fact there isn’t a prettier girl in town than you. I’m sure the lord wouldn’t have anyone else to take the likes of you.” Thelga saw the look of shock on Tara’s face and was trying to be reassuring. She reached over the counter and squeezed Tara’s arm with her rough fingers. “There isn’t a life a girl could ask for as nice as the one you’ll have. Your sons’ll be lords.”
Tara was so surprised by what she’d just heard that she turned to walk back out of the store.
“Ah, my Lady, your list?”
“Oh, yes…here it is.” Tara handed the list to Thelga and then just stood about. She wanted to give Thelga the third degree and find out every bit of information she knew about this claiming. A guard had told her claim? When had Thelga heard this? How long had she known? Tara kept her mouth closed however and stood awkwardly in the middle of the store while a young errand boy took the list and ran through the store gathering the items.
Two young women not much older than Tara entered the store and smiled politely at her. They moved over to the produce, and Tara could hear their conversation easily.
“My mama took a pie to her aunt the other day. The old lady said it was what they’d planned all along.”
“I daresay she wasn’t in town but a day when his Lordship claimed her. Imagine the likes, all of us having our hopes so high for so long. She comes along so merrily like, and he claims her right off, he does.”
“Yeah, and I heard she can’t cook, you know. It’s her pleasures that sold her, that’s for sure.” The two girls laughed at this comment, and then realizing Tara could hear them, they started whispering.
Tara’s blood started to boil. All of this was simply too much. Hearing that Reena had planned her claiming all along put Tara into a rage. Was it true Darius had claimed her before she’d even gone to live in the house? The only time he’d seen her prior to that was in the alley when she’d kept Torgo out of that fight. Did Reena know at that point and Hilda, too? The entire town seemed to know this casual bit of information and somehow had overlooked sharing it with her.
The young errand boy brought the basket to the counter with the items from the list. Thelga arranged the items in a brown paper sack and then smiled at Tara.
“Don’t you worry yourself none about the comments of girls such as those.” Thelga didn’t move her lips much, trying to speak quietly. “They’ve all tried for his Lordship and failed. They’re jealous, they are. You hold your head high. You should be proud, you should.”
Tara thanked her and quickly walked out of the store and to the car. Her eyes burned with tears of anger, and her hands shook as she drove back to Lord Darius’ house. Hilda’s vehicle died so many times that Tara wanted to pull the circular handlebar from the inside of the car and hurl it out the window.
Darius had asked her about being claimed when they’d driven into the hills together. Had he already claimed her publicly by then? Could that be why she’d been brought to the house?
Tara remembered watching him ride toward his house from her bedroom window, remembered how quickly he’d driven through the hills. That had to be the reason why he had hurried home that morning almost a cycle ago. She had been made to believe she was hired help, yet the whole thing was a façade.
She drove the car up the hill to the house with such a vengeance that the tires skidded on the gravel road. Grabbing the groceries, Tara nearly ran into the house. Darius was in the living room with his guards, and she stormed past them into the kitchen.
“I don’t see why you don’t listen to reason, my Lord,” the large guard who’d attacked her growled loud enough for her to hear.
“Judo, the reasoning isn’t sound, it isn’t. I’ll not hear of it.” Darius’ growl chilled her blood.
“What’s wrong with you? You won’t even listen to reason when it comes to that girl there.” Mikel, Lord Darius’ younger brother, shouted.
“We won’t be talking of that today.” Darius had a tone in his voice Tara hadn’t heard before. There was complete control mixed with anger. His baritone sounded very dangerous.
“Your brain isn’t doing your thinking for you, my lord, it isn’t. We found the bike, and you yourself have commented on her abilities. Her thighs are wrapped around you so tightly you can’t see the truth. She’s your Runner! You’ve let her into this house, and now she’ll bring down your kingdom, she will.”
Mikel, Tara had noticed, was a smaller build than his older brother, but that didn’t appear to intimidate him in the slightest. “Our Papa would be disgraced if he knew what you were doing.”
“That’s enough!” Darius yelled so loudly that Tara actually jumped.
She quickly started to put away the groceries although her hands were trembling from her anger. She wasn’t trying to bring down any kingdom and she sure wasn’t going to be anyone’s claim.
Tara fought to clear her thoughts. Darius’ men knew her true identity. And, from the sound of it, wanted her taken down. Yet Darius hesitated. Her heart skipped a beat at the thought that he hesitated because of a mutual attraction. But her mind told her that the man ruled a very powerful nation. His hesitation could be for other reasons, and Tara needed a clear head to determine his thoughts.
How many men were in the living room? Three or four? Could she take them all on and escape the house to her bike?
The front door slammed, and the house grew silent.
Had they all left? Tara knew she couldn’t possibly return to washing the windows right now. She needed time to think. In the past, when her temper threatened to get the best of her she’d usually taken off on her motorcycle and dri
ven until the anger left. When that wasn’t possible, she’d pick a fight with one of the others in her clan until she’d released all her anger on her poor victim.
The house still remained quiet, and Tara wandered cautiously out of the kitchen.
The living room was empty so she went upstairs. Hilda must have been asleep in her room, or at least resting. Tara couldn’t imagine anyone being able to sleep through the tirade that had just occurred in the living room. Was the woman fearful that she had a Runner in her home?
Tara shuddered. She didn’t have time to worry about that right now.
She wandered past the closed doors to her bedroom. The balcony seemed an appealing place to sort through all the thoughts she was having at the moment.
Tara had a compelling urge to leave Gothman and put as much distance between her and this nation as she could. Oddly enough, something just as strong was telling her to stay.
“Tara, you’re back. Will you come down? I’ve waited for you forever, I have.”
Tara looked down to see Torgo standing in the yard looking up to her.
He smiled and waved. “Hurry, I have a surprise. Oh, do hurry. Put on a pair of my pants if you will. But do hurry.”
“Alright, boy. Calm down. I’ll come down to you, I will.” Tara went to the boy’s room and quickly changed into a pair of his pants. She didn’t care if any of the guards saw her like this. It would serve Darius right.
If he had indeed gone and claimed her after she said she wanted the claim to be mutual, then he could suffer the consequences. Or, worse, if he had claimed her before and then mentioned that he could claim her just to tease her, he had insulted her intelligence. She fumed as she ran down the stairs.
The blue pullover shirt and tight dark pants she borrowed from Torgo fit snugly, and Tara guessed she probably showed a bit more of her figure through the clinging material than she planned. But she could move easily in the outfit and that mattered more to her than appearance.
Nuworld: The Saga Begins Page 9