by Amber Dane
Rourke lifted his mouth and she sighed with dismay once again. He kissed her mouth quickly. “In good time, hellion. In good time.” He went back to torturing her aching breasts.
She gasped. “Bastard.”
He stiffened for a beat, and then chuckled against her ribs as he continued a fiery path of blazing kisses down to her navel. Her body was near quivering out of control.
Gasping aloud now, Alexa was embarrassed by the sounds that were coming from her throat. She felt a moment of fear. What was he doing? Oh, she wished he would stop this torturous game and do his duty and leave her be. What he was doing was painful, but a good pain and very long. Camm had been wrong, the pain was not brief. She tried to throw him off and twisted this way and that now that her legs were free.
Rourke grasped her curved hips and held her still, inhaling her musky scent before lowering his head to slide his tongue between her softness to find her root of pleasure.
The flaming fires he’d stoked within her burst and chords of desire rippled through her and Alexa’s hips rose fully off the bed against his mouth, her thighs, wrapping around his shoulders on their own accord. Horrified, she wanted to pull away but his hands held her in place as he settled her legs over his shoulders and made passionate love to her with his mouth.
Alexa could not stop the throaty groans that spewed from her mouth and she no longer cared. Fire engulfed her and she heard herself screaming.
Something big was gathering inside her and he was the key to open the door to this new and frightening discovery. She knew not what it was, but she sought it still and the intensity of it was unbearable to the point that she shut her eyes tight. She was panting heavily between her short screams. She could not stop herself and ground her hips against his hot mouth all the while cursing herself as she begged for something she did not understand.
“Please. Pl-Please end it! Damn you! Please- Oh! Just end- Oh lord, end it. Oh my- ahhhh!” Her hoarse cry of pleasure filled the chamber as she came apart, her body shuddering with her intense fulfillment. She twisted and jerked her passion against his hungry mouth. She was out of breath and limp when he finally lowered her hips back to the bed and moved over her to cover her body with his. He began to prod her sensitive area, seeking entrance, with that large and hard organ of his.
Rourke almost exploded when she had found her release against his mouth. She was so hot. He had never experienced such raw passion before like hers. She had tried to fight it, but that had only made it more explosive for her. He had to have her and now. He slid into her only a little and he went easily, her honeyed cream easing the way. She was still limp, glorifying in her pleasure. Her tiny tremors coaxed him forward, deeper and Rourke knew a moment of unexpected and surprising regret as he slid into her.
She was not virgin after all.
Alexa felt him pushing into her and she hated him all the more for making her want this. Want him. His hardness was stretching her. She felt the ache along with that pleasure building and surfacing anew inside her. But, suddenly something pierced her sharply. Pain tore through her center, burning her and seemed to tear her asunder. Alexa cried out.
Rourke looked down at her in surprise, meeting her gaze of pain and shock. He saw that her amber eyes were wet bright with tears.
She tightened her body and tried to close her legs and throw his large body off again, but the pressure from his thighs halted that.
She raged at him and cried out. “St-stop! Please –stop.”
Rourke hated tears and was surprised as tough as she had been, that she was capable of shedding them. He reached down to cup her face, holding himself still above her; his shaft pulsed and grew even more inside her. He couldn’t stop now even if he wanted to. She was so tight and he had to have her.
His voice was low and husky. “I cannot. It must be done. The pain will cease.”
Her eyes told him she did not believe him and she shook her head in protest. Rourke shook above her with restraint and the unchecked desire like he’d never known coursing through him. He’d never wanted anything as badly as he wanted this woman. He wanted all of her and when he had come against her barrier, he wanted her all the more.
He knew what he had to do and he leaned down, covered her mouth with his and shoved his tongue in her mouth catching her cry of pain as he surged forth and buried himself inside her to the hilt. She quivered and shook beneath him even as he kissed her. He pulled out and she tried to throw him off once more. But he thrust again, achingly slow and deep over and over again until he felt her soften against him. Finally, her hot sheath clutched him, accepted him and he broke the kiss.
“It will be over soon enough. It is done.” Rourke said with a bit of gentleness in his tone and continued to kiss her tears away. He had not lied, but wished he had. It was going to be over too damn soon.
Alexa was amazed at how her body accepted him. He filled her. She didn’t know how or why, but something in her changed. Different, towards this man as he plunged in and out of her body with his hard and thick sword of pleasure and took her close to the edge of that blissful place. Teasing her, the abyss just out of her reach. He’d awakened something animal inside her that she craved as much as she was frightened of it.
She found that she welcomed each movement and soon met each of his thrusts with her own until she was nigh delirious with the sensations coursing through her. She grinded harder against him, frantic and seeking more as the pleasure ascended on a crescendo that made her skin scream for release again.
Rourke could hold back no longer and he felt the tremors in her as she pushed back against him. He knew he would take longer the next time, but right now, his seed boiled inside him and he thrust in and out of her with a few quick thrusts before he began to shake to his very core as his seed erupted from him along with his roar of shocked pleasure.
Alexa cried out her own pleasure into his neck as the long climax hit her, triggered by the spurt of his release into her sheath. Her lips pressed to his throat over the red mark, where she had cut him. She convulsed strongly around his hardness and reveled in the feelings tearing her apart. Rourke lay on top of her spent, totally exhausted.
When he was able to breathe yet again, he withdrew from her and lay next to her side. Alexa lay there overwrought. What they had shared had been beautiful as much as it had been brutal and hateful. Fresh angry tears poured nonstop from her eyes into her hair.
Neither of them spoke a word, both overcome with different emotions.
What Rourke did next he knew not why at the time, he would ask himself later, but he reached a muscled arm up to untie first one hand, then the other and as though they had not been tied, the hellion let out a deep anguished cry and rolled over against his chest with her hands balled into fists pressed between them. There, she wept quietly. The racking sobs shook her body and Rourke held her, saying nothing. Soon, her sobs quieted. When she relaxed against him, he knew that she slept. Rourke stayed awake for a short time after and before sleep claimed him, he put his legs over hers in a protective gesture and pulled her tighter against him.
~~~
The figure cloaked in a hooded dark robe moved through the darkness across the cold stone kitchen floor until it stood in front of the wine barrels stacked in the corner buttery room. The figure’s interest lay in what was behind the flasks lined on top of the table. It was the lord’s ewer. After glancing about once again to assure no one was about at this late hour, the figure smiled and reached into a hidden pocket of its tunic and withdrew a vial of liquid.
FOUR
The chill of the morning draft crawling up her spine woke Alexa from her deep sleep, slightly dazed. After a few moments, she gathered her bearings and a multitude of emotions hit her. It took but a second for the night before to come rushing back to her with vivid images. Her eyes shot quickly to where she expected to see Rourke. The Norman was gone. The flush covered her from head to toe and she kicked off the furs across her lower body. Her eyes fell on the rope and she
rubbed her wrists. She rose and moaned suddenly at the soreness that protested her sudden movement and taking a breath she moved slower and stood. She was still naked and rubbed her hand over her belly. Grabbing a fur, she wrapped it around her body and clutched it together at her breast.
She sucked in a breath when her eyes spied the droplets of blood on the bed linen. Her blood. He’d taken her only once last night. Once was all it took sometimes, Camm had said and he had spilled his seed. Sudden regret snaked up the back of Alexa’s neck and she felt the flush warm her cheeks. He had been part of her body and she could not deny it, it had felt good. Hell and damn, too good. That craving she felt last night stirred inside her as did renewed hatred and anger for it.
Alexa was drawn from her turbulent musings by a knock at the chamber door. She bid enter. In came Camm, fresh linen draped over one arm and in the other a tray to break her fast of bread, sweet meats and her favorite, sweet wafers.
Camm smiled. “Noon, mistress.”
Alexa wrapped the fur around her nakedness more snuggly, her eyes wide and gasped. “Noon? Surely, Camm, ‘tis not so.”
Camm, having laid the items in her hands down, was now stripping the linens from the bed quickly after spotting the proof of the night on them. Alexa reddened even more. Although she viewed her maid as more than a servant, despite their closeness Alexa found that she was embarrassed. This was different.
“Aye, mistress, ‘tis so. ‘Twould seem you survived the night. Appears it may have been quite taxing on you as well.” Camm covered her mouth at her words. She reached out and touched Alexa’s forearm. “Forgive me, mistress.”
Alexa gave her hand a comforting pat, her embarrassment dissolving. What had she been thinking? Camm had been like another sibling to her and Lisbeth and she still saw her that way. “’Tis alright, Camm. You did nothing wrong. You do tell the truth. It was not what I had expected.”
Camm noticed the puffiness around her mistress’s eyes and concern marred her features. She had feared the worst and the sight of her mistress’s face told her she had been right. The Normans were well known for their savagery. After all he had tied her down. “He didn’t hurt you much, did he, mistress?” Camm’s voice was full of concern.
Alexa shook her head. “Nay, Camm. It did hurt briefly as you said it would, but that was all. It also felt...” she stopped herself from saying good. Wiping back wisps of hair from her face, she gave her maid a tight smile. “I am fine. Thank you for asking, Camm.”
Camm’s expression was one of suspicion, but she did not press her for more and Alexa was glad when two of the other maids, including the redhead appeared in the doorway with the two guards behind them. Two male servants also entered carrying buckets of steaming water. They went over to the wooden tub and poured the water in over the linen covered tub. Another pair of new faces. They weren’t her servants. Alexa frowned. Was the Norman going to replace her entire household? Again she wondered at the number of people that had accompanied him here to take over her life and home.
The men set up the bath across the room in front of the hearth; steaming buckets in quick succession were carried in and poured in. The maids helped prepare for her bath and Alexa wanted them gone. She did not wish these strangers hands on her and she made it clear. She had not another chance to talk with Camm alone and briefly cursed herself for having wasted the time she had had on being bashful over her wedding night. When she should have been discussing what was going on below stairs, under her roof, and her strategy for escape. She would not stay here with this man. What they shared last night only made her reason to get away even more dire.
Alexa caught every look the redhead shot her way and again the maid was slow to recover by averting her gaze too late to cover it.
Alexa ignored the bold and rude servant. Was the woman not afraid that she could be cast out? Apparently not, she obviously felt secure in her position as her husband’s favorite wench and Alexa felt a spark of anger rise in her as she thought of him being intimate with the woman in the same way he’d been with her last night.
Nay, she would not think of it. He could have the red-haired wench. She didn’t want him. Something in her nagged at her on that and she ignored it. She had other things to focus on.
Camm was the last to leave with the guards still at her back.
Alexa spit fire when she learned the Norman had ordered that she was to stay in the chamber until he returned. The two young guards had looked at her as though she were the enemy and she did not miss the way their hands moved to their sword hilts as she glanced at the chamber door ready to bolt. Alexa let out a roar of rage and did not care if the blasted Dark Axe heard it wherever his bastard hide was.
Seated at the window, Alexa looked down upon the courtyard and tried to enjoy the light breeze of the afternoon but it was hard to do with her heart heavy over her confinement. All was a buzz down below. Barnett manor was always busy and was even busier now with the new lord taking over. Everyone seemed to be out and about below doing one task after another. From the stables, the farms and to the manor, a sea of unfamiliar faces filled the space as they moved about. With winter months approaching them the villiens and the manor servants were preparing to get the storerooms ready for the brutal cold months ahead.
She knew before she turned that he had come into the room, not because he’d made a sound, because he had not. ‘Twas the tingle of warmth creeping up her spine that caused her to know he was near. Alexa turned. He stood a few paces from her.
His golden windblown hair was loose and caressed those broad shoulders covered in a fine tunic. Those full lips were set hard and his emerald gaze locked on her. The handsome face of evil. Alexa forgot to breathe.
Rourke watched her for a long moment. Her hair was still wet and tumbled in loose waves down her curved back. Her big eyes gazed at him in warning and something else he cared not to see or name. He could smell the lingering scent of her bath, lavender and mint. Her clean smell stirred his loins.
“Noon.” His voice came out gruff.
Alexa flinched. His stare was so direct, as though he was looking right through her. “Noon,” she barked back.
He stared at her a moment longer, causing her to shift uncomfortably as her body reacted to his nearness. After a moment, a look of boredom crossed his beautiful face and he turned from her and walked over to the hearth. Moving his sword aside, he sat on a one of the two benches seated in front of it next to the tub. He waved an arm out for her to sit on the other across from him. Rourke looked her over for another long silent moment; the long tunic she wore was belted at the waist and hugged those curves that he had thought of all morning. He started before her bottom touched the seat.
“A few things I want to make clear to you of this union. As we start our first full day together as man and wife. My word still stands that you will remain confined to this chamber until you are with child. Henceforth,” he continued right over her cry of outrage, “you will be fed and well cared for ‘til that time arrives. But-“
“What?” Alexa’s words came out in a hiss as she gripped the bench seat to hold her body from leaping on him. His green eyes were cold steel as he kept an unwavering glare upon her. She was ready to throw something at him.
Rourke knew if it wasn’t so heavy that she probably would have picked up and thrown the bench at him. She was so readable, like an open book.
She continued, her narrowed eyes warring with his. “Kept locked away in my own chamber? I am not a child. This is my home- I will not be kept prisoner in my own home by you or anyone, Norman.”
So, she was back to that again, Rourke noticed. But, didn’t care or did he, because he had noticed. She was shouting at him. Her amber eyes shot the biting ice right back at him.
Alexa swallowed. This cold man was like night and day. Where was the man that had touched, and caressed her ever so tenderly last eve? Alexa let out a deep breath at the surprising thought when it popped in her head. The sting in her chest flamed.
“First, never interrupt me again or you will get a sound thrashing, hellion.” His eyes told her the threat was true and he stood to tower over her. “Second, you are wrong. This is my home now. My rules and you will obey whatever I tell you. Is that understood?”
Alexa leapt off the bench with her hands fisted at her sides to face him. She was furious and hurt and her eyes glinted with it when she hurled at him. “And I told you when we wed that I would not obey any man, least of all you! You threaten to beat me if I do not listen to you? You dare much, Norman bastard. I will ne- ”
His large hand strangled her throat and cut off her words. His very presence seemed to swallow her. She was so angry, more so at herself than at him. She had been a fool to let her guard down for a split second last night and today over that pleasurable dalliance. His face told her as much and the thought of that angered her to no extent, even more so than his threat to keep her confined. Being a woman sometimes was a curse, Alexa screamed inside.
Something had changed in her. But obviously not in him. He’d not forgotten the words they had spoken before they’d wed. His face was like stone, fierce and dark.
“I dare simply because I can and you can do or say naught to change it.” The fact that she had called him Norman bastard again raged through his veins. Her mouth was her downfall. And it made him want to strike back. “Did you think that little affection I showed you last night changed aught? It changed nothing. What we discussed before that still stands. As for being a prisoner, you would be one if I were to place you in one of those cold dungeon cells in the lower level,” he added with conviction.