A Wanton's Thief

by Titania Ladley

  “I need to go home or at least send a note that I am alive and well. My brother worries over my safety.”

  “Your brother prays for your death.”

  “My brother prays for my death?” she gasped, clapping a hand over her mouth. “How dare you say such a thing of Sheldon? He would never think of doing such a thing.”

  “Loving? I do not think so.”

  “Oh, so you speak of this death plot again. And it is now your firm opinion that my own brother plans my permanent demise?”

  Falcon sighed with a warning tone. “Salena, there is no sense in us going into that again. It is obvious you will never believe it. Unless…”

  “Unless?”

  Unless I get hold of that letter.

  “Never mind. What matters is that you will stay here with me for as long as I wish it. Even if I did not know your heart accepts it, I would still demand it of you.”

  “I do not want to stay here and be used as a plaything by you and your men—or to deal with Grizella’s spiteful jealousies. I need to go home. This…this cannot continue.”

  Home? Never. To her he said, “You are not a plaything. You’ve given both John and I an honorable gift. You will always be held in the highest respect by both the two of us, and by my clan. And if you do not wish, you will not ever have to make love that way again—except with me.”

  “Oh, well, thank you very much. I feel so much cleaner now.”

  “Salena, you enjoyed it immensely. Do not play coy or indignant with me when I know better. Admit what is in your heart.”

  She sat up and slapped her thigh. “Oh, all right. I admit it. I am a harlot. Your harlot, John’s harlot. Whoever the bloody hell wants me can have me!”

  Visions of what she spat at him seemed to slap him in the face. He shot up onto one elbow. “No one but me—and John if you so wish—will ever have you, do you hear me?”

  Tears of relief sparkled in her eyes. “Do you promise me?”

  His lungs ached in his chest. He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Oh, aye, you have my word on it, forever and eternity.”

  She let out a long breath. “And truly, if I choose not to allow John to join us again, you will not be disappointed in me or seek another?”

  “I promise you I will not seek another.”

  She drew up her legs and wrapped her arms around them. With her chin planted on her knees, she whispered, “B-but what if you both need…need the energy or whatever. I thought you were to make love together with one woman to achieve it.”

  He chuckled and cupped her jaw, rubbing his thumb over her cheek. “We gain soul-reviving energy with a single mate as well. It is just not nearly as long-lasting and strong as when we couple together with one woman.”

  Her lips curved ever-so slightly at the corners. “So one of you must mate many times with a single woman to attain the same effect as you get together with one woman?”

  He nodded. “And I do not think I’ll be lacking in energy where you and I are concerned.”

  “But what of John? Will he seek a mate like…like—”

  “Like my insatiable Ice Princess?”

  She grinned wickedly and he fell in love a small measure more. He continued to caress her face, marveling at the satin texture of her skin. “Aye, like your Ice Princess.”

  “John will find his way. He is not hard on the eyes, thus I’m sure he will have no trouble finding a wanton—” he winked, “—woman such as yourself to energize his soul.”

  She lowered her lids and spoke softly. “Well, if he does not, I suppose I could oblige on a minimum basis until he finds his woman. But please,” she said huskily, her eyes moving back to his, “I only want you, my thief of desire. No one, not even John, captures my eye like you do. I will do it for you…and because I feel a friendly connection to John—as your soul-brother—and do not wish him to suffer.”

  “Salena…” His heart flipped in his chest. Her words had been as close to a profession of love as he could ever hope for. Falcon wrapped her in his arms and drew in her heady aroma. “Thank you, my love. And I’m sure John thanks you, as well.”

  He lowered her to the bed and tucked the bearskin around her. Crawling to the bundle he’d left near the door earlier, he snatched it up and brought it back to her. “Hungry?”

  She nodded eagerly, her eyes lighting with an almost impish gleam. “Famished.”

  “Here.” He tossed the leather pouch to her. “Some of the roast hog, a container of water and an apple. Eat.”

  She sat up and tore into the contents of the pack. Around bites, she asked, “Did you pilfer this from some poor farmer?”

  He grinned, unable to resist her humor. “Nay, from your betrothed.”

  Salena gasped, laughing against her will. “You are incorrigible. He will hunt you down.”

  His grin faded. “If he has half his wits about him, the only thing he should come after me for is you.” He clenched his jaw. “But he will never have you. Ever.”

  “You intend to keep me forever, do you?” She tipped her head back and took a long sip of water from the small flagon.

  “Forever.”

  Her eyes scanned the cave. She took a crunchy bite from the apple. “And this will be our castle?”

  “Nay, I have a small estate north of here. If you do not wish to go on these raids with me, you will be free to stay behind. In fact, I insist that you do. It will be safer.”

  Her chin rose in defiance. “I can defend myself—as long as it is not some outlaw casting an unfair spell of paralyzation upon me.”

  Falcon threw his head back and roared. Ah, but she was a delight to have around. “I do so look forward to having you in my company—forever.”

  Her mischievous smile faded. “You promise it will be only me forever?”

  “I promise on my immortal heart.” He made an X over his chest.

  “Not Grizella?”

  “Never Grizella, ever again.”

  She tied the bundle back up and tossed it aside. Patting the bed, she whispered, “Then come here, thief, and hold me. Rest with me until you must depart on your mysterious journey into the night.”

  He wanted to do nothing but what she asked. And he did, climbing beneath the fur with her. Her small naked body emitted warmth and energy. He closed his eyes, soaking in the aura of her. Yes, he loved her with all his heart, and it seemed with each passing moment, the emotion intensified tenfold.

  Salina sighed and wiggled her ass against his soft cock, her back to him as they lay spoon-fashion within the bed gazing at the waning fire.

  He combed his hand through her hair. “Sleep now. When you’re off in slumber land, I will slip away and be on my way. Already, I cannot wait to see you again.”

  “And I you,” she rasped, her body relaxing into his. “Falcon Montague…” Salena let out a long yawn. “If this is due to some…spell you’ve cast on me…please, do not reverse it.”

  “Eh,” he murmured in her ear. “You are the one who has cast a spell upon me, love.”

  She didn’t reply. He lay there for a long while listening to her even breathing. Sure that she had truly dropped off into a deep sleep, he finally rose and slipped from the cave.

  The snow had stopped, leaving behind a six-inch white blanket that glowed a soft blue in the moonlight…like her eyes. His heart swelled. All he wished to do was race to Wyngate Hall and get his hands on that document as soon as possible. If only his abilities included that of disappearance and high speeds of travel like John’s. He could be there and back within an hour, and right back in her arms with the proof he needed to keep her safe once and for all.

  But it was not so. And he could not ask it of John. Accepting of the facts, Falcon sought out his friend.

  “I depart now.”

  John lounged beneath a leather tarp strung between four wooden posts. He was stretched out on a bear’s pelt thrown over the snow. The bonfire was close enough to afford him enough warmth to keep him dry and comfortable for the n
ight until time to venture out on the excursion. He had his arms folded beneath his head and his ankles crossed. And he appeared to be a man much sated.

  His ice-blue gaze flitted to Falcon. “Godspeed. Are you sure you do not wish me to travel with you or go in your stead?”

  “Nay. I thank you, though. I’d prefer you stay and keep a close eye on her. She is not tazired, and I wish not to do so at this point. But I do not think she will attempt to leave. Things have much improved between us…”

  “She is quite a lady. You are a lucky man.” Over Falcon’s shoulder, John stared up at the starless sky, his voice thoughtful, almost serene.

  “I’ve come to discover I love her, if you can believe such a thing.” Falcon chuckled, securing his longbow and arrows across his back.

  John’s calm gaze slid back to Falcon. “Aye, I can believe it. It shows in your eyes and in everything about you. Grizella is beside herself.”

  Falcon grinned. “Somehow, I trust you will be able to rectify that in no time.”

  “That I’m sure of. As you know, Griz is loyal, but she is vulnerable to sexual wiles—which I am not deficient in.”

  Falcon roared with laughter. “That I am aware. As now is Salena.”

  John sat up resting his brawny forearms on his up-drawn knees. “Yet I sense she does not wish to repeat the process.”

  “Nay,” Falcon said softly. “She claims if you’re in desperate need of re-energizing yourself, she will oblige, but does not desire it to be a way of life. Oh, she definitely enjoyed your talents, but she is apparently a one-man woman.”

  John nodded. “I can understand that. It is the normal wish of a woman in love to have only one man’s touch.”

  “In love?”

  “Aye, though she does not accept it yet, I believe her to be in love with you, brother. And I envy you to no end.”

  Falcon’s heart swelled. He could easily invade her thoughts to confirm it, but no. He wished to wait and hope for those words to cross that sharp tongue and plump lips. If only it were true! Yes, Salena was definitely addicted to his lovemaking, but that did not equate with love. But someday, she would love him, and that he vowed to make his sole purpose—after this journey commenced.

  “Your time will come, John. Lorcan, no doubt, knows all about it.”

  “Eh.” He waved a hand. “Lorcan is nothing but a daft old wizard. His rants and babbling raves are a waste of time.”

  “One day, friend,” Falcon said as he started to walk away, “you will learn otherwise.”

  “Have a safe journey, Montague. I shall look after your woman’s welfare.”

  “Much thanks, Little John.” Falcon waved and went in search of Warrior.

  Distracted by his plans, he barely registered the sight of Grizella standing on the edge of camp in a deep conversation with Lathrop, the injured man brought back with them from Sheldon Tremayne’s party.

  Chapter Nine

  Salena awoke with a start. Through the cave opening, she could see the black of the sky. The clouds had cleared and pinpoint stars scattered over its expanse like slivers of shattered crystal. She could see a copse of gnarled, leafless, snow-sprinkled trees against the full yellow moon. Inside the cave’s space, the fire had long since died out. It was so cold that she could see her breath coming out in puffs against the moonlight. Though her body was nice and toasty warm beneath the pelt, her head was chilled to the skull. She burrowed deeper in the fur and tried to go back to sleep. The more she slept, she thought, the sooner it would seem that Falcon would return.

  She had just slipped back into the blissful rim of sleep when she heard the voice.

  “Milady?” came the gruff whisper.

  She bolted upright dragging the fur with her. Clutching the bearskin to her naked breasts, she screeched, “Who’s there? What do you want?”

  “‘Tis Lathrop, yer brother’s footman.”

  He moved closer and her heart leapt into a frantic rhythm. “If you do not leave me this instant, I shall scream!”

  “Do not be frightened, Lady Tremayne. I am here to help you escape back to Wyngate Hall.” He moved into the lunar beams and she did, indeed, see that it was Lathrop. She’d never spoken but polite greetings to him in the past, so his voice did not sound familiar to her. But his mousy-brown, scraggly hair and thin body structure could not be mistaken.

  His words sank in. Back home? She finally had an opportunity, unattended by Falcon, to escape? Did she want to?

  “B-but…”

  “Thanks to a sympathizer in the thief’s band of men, I’ve a small wagon tethered to a mule a ways up the path,” he murmured gruffly. “You can hide in the straw beneath the tarp until we get nearer the keep on the morrow.”

  I’m finally free to go. So why did she feel this utter sense of loss and sadness at the prospect? All she could do was stare at Lathrop’s thin silhouette against the moonlight. Her teeth began to chatter yet perspiration pooled between her breasts.

  “But the m-master of this—”

  He snorted. “Aye, that ruthless Robin Hood. I saw him before he tore out of here hours ago, cavorting with that Grizella woman. Shameless bastard he be, and so soon after forcing himself upon you, milady.”

  “Cavorting?” Suddenly, she felt ill, completely nauseated.

  “Oh, you can bet, cavorting. The damn scalawag dipped his cock between her legs, right after he came from your—” She heard him gulp. “Ah, pardon me for subjecting you to such nasty language. Forgive me, Lady Tremayne.”

  The bile rose and threatened to hurl onto the man. Falcon made love with that jealous she-cat? And right after leaving her bed and telling her she was his forever? Tears stung her eyes even as the anger simmered deep in her chest. She’d given wholly of herself. She’d even given more than any woman ever expected to give by offering herself to Falcon and John at the same time. And all so they could energize their immortal souls? And because she—no! Don’t say it, Salena. Don’t even think it. Never, ever again would she allow herself to be duped by any man.

  The bastard!

  “Lady Tremayne?”

  “It’s…it’s all right, Lathrop. I’m just…thinking.”

  “Of course.” She heard him shift as if he struggled to remain patient.

  All the while, her heart ached, her pulse pounded with anger and she could not stop the silent tears. They poured over her cheeks in droplets of cold moisture. Grateful for the dim moonlight to hide her torrid emotions, she choked out, “You say there’s a mule nearby with a cart?”

  “Aye. We must leave posthaste, before those left behind alert that bunch of hooligans who went on that scavenger raid earlier in the night. That Little John fellow is still here—we mustn’t go crossing that giant—but he sleeps at the moment. Now is the time, miss. We must leave now, else forego our chances indefinitely.”

  “I-I must…gather my things, get…dressed.”

  He nodded vigorously. “Of course. I’ll be waiting outside the cave. But hurry, milady. We must hurry.”

  “I—yes, I will go as quickly as I can.”

  He slipped from the cave leaving her to stare in shocked loneliness.

  “Falcon, how could you?” she whispered.

  But she knew precisely how. He was a lying, cheating bastard of a wizard. He no doubt used his dark magic on all women in much the same way he had her. Poor, unsuspecting ladies who think they’ve got themselves a charming, attentive man only to find out they’ve been made to be a fool.

  Never again, Salena Tremayne, never! She’d return home, throw herself upon Sheldon’s mercy and pray he found her a match who would accept her soiled body and offer her a home for the remaining days of her dull life to come.

  And she would make it her life’s mission, she thought as she fumbled in the dark and found her garments, to forget that scheming scoundrel. That is, once she saw that he’s hunted down and made to pay for breaking her gullible heart!

  She righted her undergarments and pulled her gown over her head. Nex
t, she donned her boots and laced them up.

  “Milady…”

  “I’m coming, I’m coming. I’ve just to find my cloak. Ah, here it is.” She crawled from the cave and emerged eager to put miles between her and this lair of his. It made her skin shiver with gooseflesh just thinking of all the carnal things that had happened there. No, never again.

  “This way.” Lathrop led her through the snow toward a denser part of the woods. He held up his finger indicating that she was to remain silent as they passed by John’s lean-to shelter. He appeared to be in a very deep sleep. She could hear the faint sounds of snores. A quick glance about told her everyone left behind in the camp seemed to have over-imbibed on too much spirits perhaps. Or mayhap they’d merely overextended their body’s physical capabilities by living this harsh lifestyle?

  Her heart did a little flutter when her thoughts turned back to what she’d experienced with John and Falcon. Even now, her pussy throbbed and warm juices leaked from her passage at the memories of it. But she forced the carnal, forbidden thoughts to the far recesses of her mind when she saw Grizella lying there in bed with him, her eyes peeping over John’s thick chest. She was wide awake and those eyes gleamed in the stray light of the moon. Salena’s heart lurched for she expected the woman to rise and sound an alarm. But instead, she watched Salena and Lathrop like a hawk as they passed by, as if she yearned for them to get out of her sight as soon as possible.

  Of course! Salena concluded. The woman wanted Falcon and John to herself. And allowing Salena to escape was her solution to that problem of another woman intruding upon her territory.

  So, it was all over. Falcon and John had used her like a common harlot and then tossed her aside at the first pretty face that happened upon them. The she-devil in man’s clothing had won the short-lived war without even trying.

  And what did that say for Salena’s abilities to keep a man? Well, she no longer cared. Salena marched past the shelter and followed Lathrop through the woods. He led her to a hitched cart just as he’d promised.

  “Get in,” he ordered, flipping the leather tarp aside. She obeyed, climbing into the cart. After one wistful glance through the trees at the cave she’d shared with him, she lay down upon the thick pile of straw and closed her eyes.