Spark (Clan of Dragons Book 1)

by Badger, Nancy Lee

  “Wed you! Why?”

  Vika’s cheeks burned, and she was sure Orin could tell she was embarrassed. “He and I were alone many times. He didn’t…bed me…but what will the villagers say, especially if Toal appears, and spreads his lies?”

  Orin spit into the hearth, then sprinkled water on the remaining coals. “Do not fash yourself, Vika. I be headed into the village now, to gather up as many of the villagers as I can. Once they hear of our troubles caused by that so-called lord, they will come and show their support. Join us at the tavern. We need to make sure we fill the council chamber with villagers in case Toal arrives with his goons.”

  “Alright, I shall ride Spark to town. How should I dress?”

  Orin scratched his chin as he looked at the ruined day dress hanging on a peg. It was torn and crusted with sea salt and sand from yesterday’s adventure. “It might sway the older men on the council if you appear in a gown.”

  “I would feel more comfortable in breeches, but I agree with your thinking. ‘Tis not me best, but that gown be serviceable.” She glanced down at the dark blue skirt and long sleeves draped over a chair. She rarely wore it. The laces along the bodice pulled it low, exposing a bit too much flesh for her taste. “Oh, I apologize. I forgot to ask about the lass we found.”

  “Maeve? I shall visit with her after I gather the villagers. She was sleeping soundly under the care of Mistress MacFingan, last I saw her.”

  At the grin filling Orin’s face, Vika smiled. Her brother liked the mysterious stranger, but Vika suspected she was more than she appeared.

  “You will be fine, even with dragons about?” Orin laughed, grabbed his crossbow, and headed out the door.

  “I can protect meself, but what about Maeve? What young woman travels alone in the forest where we found her? She must have people looking for her.”

  Orin didn’t answer.

  Vika followed, barefooted, and stood near the barn. Spark walked past her into the yard. The weather had cleared, and the sun shone, but ice still coated nearby trees. Where was Evan?

  Orin patted Spark on the rump. “Take care of her, you ugly beast.”

  Spark reared up, and Vika laughed at his human-like reaction to her brother’s demand. Orin waved, and headed into the forest. As he passed by the barn, she realized how tall he’d grown. He was even taller than the rustic fence of brambles that protected the meadow.

  “He’s grown taller than me!” Vika closed the cottage door, and glanced at her best gown. She loved the dark shade of blue, but she rarely had an opportunity to wear something so fine. However, if it helped to sway the council, should Toal spew his poison, she would wear it to town.

  She threw the blanket back on her bed. She’d washed her hair early this morning, when she knew sleep would not come. Untangling the braid, the rolls of twisted curls tumbled down her back and over one shoulder. She gazed at her bed, her very lonely bed, and sighed.

  Will I ever find a man to share it with?

  Without the fire burning in the hearth, the air in the cottage stole her breath. Her nipples tightened, and she rubbed her cold hands up and down her arms. After her brief sojourn outside, her feet were cold and dusty. Bending over, she wiped the dust away with the hem of her nightdress. When she felt someone’s eyes upon her, she searched the cottage only to spy Spark’s head at the small window.

  The animal’s amber eyes reminded her of Evan’s, but she shouldn’t feel shy dressing in front of a horse. What if Evan was at the window? Would she scream, cover herself, or ask him in?

  “I shall never know. ‘Tis only the horse. Evan be not here.”

  A knock at the door heralded a visitor. She had neglected to bolt the door after Orin had left, and she watched in shock as Evan walked in, as if conjured out of thin air.

  “By the expression on your face, I be less than welcome.”

  She shook her head, grabbed her dress from the chair, and held it to her chest. “Nay, only surprised. After Toal and his men, I should know better than to leave a door unlocked. You, however, be always welcome.”

  He smiled, and her breath lodged in her throat. Shivers ran down her back, and she couldn’t blame the cottage’s cool environment. She was barely dressed, yet she warmed from the top of her head to her toes.

  “I could not wait to see you again. So much has happened, these past few days, and I have come to care for you.”

  “And I you,” she answered. Did he see the desire in her eyes? Were her cheeks as red as they felt? What would he do next? She hoped it began with another kiss.

  “Vika, when you struggled with Toal, you were injured. How do you fare?”

  His concern was admirable, but he acted as if she was simply a friend. “Me ribs feel bruised. I had a restless night, but have not had a moment to check them, so…”

  He smiled. “May I?”

  Before Vika could think up a witty answer, he was beside her, and she smelled the sunshine on his skin. She dropped the dress she’d held in front of her like a shield. Disarmed, yet fearless, she reached up and touched his shoulders. Nervousness had flown away like a dragon, yet she wished to end the sudden silence between them. She wished to know his hopes and dreams. She could start a conversation with something neutral.

  Although she had walked outside to bid Orin good travels, if he had traveled during last night’s storm, how could his skin and plaide be dry? A simple question popped into her head.

  “The weather. ‘Tis better?” What a silly question! I was just outside with Orin!

  “Aye, blue skies, and the sun be rising fast.” His face lowered.

  Her body trembled with anticipation. When she could sleep last night, her dreams had filled with images of his mouth on hers, and his hands roaming over her hips, breasts, and heart. Her dreams were about to come to life, but when he leaned closer, he didn’t kiss her mouth or slip his tongue between her lips. Instead, he sniffed her.

  “What…?”

  “You remind me of the sea. Must be the salt on your skin from your recent dip in the ocean.” He licked her bare shoulder.

  Vika couldn’t move. How could he know about her latest adventure? “Have you been following me? There was no one but Orin, pirates, and a dragon on the beach.”

  His hands gripped her upper arms tightly, then a smile on his lips warmed her, and she wanted nothing more than to taste him. When he tugged her nightdress up her body, she squeaked.

  “I beg your pardon, but I asked if I could inspect your injuries.” He kept pulling until the garment was off, and she stood in front of him, naked. She didn’t move, not when his eyes roamed her body, but when his hand caressed her left abdomen, she shivered.

  “The bruise looks nasty, but I feel no broken bones.”

  “Oh, right. Nay, I feel no pain today. ‘Tis blue, I suspect.”

  He smiled. His teeth glistened, and his tongue slipped out to moisten his lips. “Actually, ‘tis a lovely shade of purple. Me favorite color. I be pleased with what I see. You be so small.”

  “Compared to all the other women you have seen naked?”

  His eyes rose to her face, and he growled. “I have never seen a naked female. ‘Tis amazing that you be so much smaller than me, and I pray what next I do does not frighten you away.” He reached for his belt, and loosened it. His plaide and belt fell away.

  He was magnificent! Tan and with muscles as sharp as the peaks of the Cuillin Hills, His amber eyes darkened with desire, and his breathing was quick and uneven. Discovering that she affected him physically was a powerful feeling, and she found she was more intrigued, than fearful. “I have never seen a naked man, either.”

  Would he approve of her innocence, or stop because she was untried? Yet, how could she be the first woman he’d ever seen, unless…

  “Evan, be you a virgin?”

  He shrugged. “I can honestly say I have never bedded a woman. Does that lower your opinion of me?”

  Evan’s body was telling another story. He was erect, and nearly as large
as a stallion, and she itched to reach out and stroke the purplish flesh. A mark on his left thigh caught her attention until he turned away from her. “Evan, I want you more than I can say. I be unsure how this works, but I’ve watched me animals, and I think I would like to try.”

  His arms gathered around her, and the heat of his naked flesh against her breasts was another shock. He was a large man and his sculpted muscles were hard, yet welcome. She felt small and safe in his embrace.

  “Kiss me, sweet Vika.”

  It wasn’t exactly a demand, not with the softness of his voice, and trembles surged through her body. If she believed his earlier words, he had never lain with a woman. Should she even do this? Unlike the higher-ranking families on the mainland, virginity was not a condition required for marriage in the village of Morbhan. Would she ever marry? Would she ever get a chance to feel loved and safe?

  If Toal has his way, I shall find meself chained to a bed, and raped.

  Toal might be dead, and Evan might not want to wed her, but her body was ripe and willing. Suddenly, his hands were everywhere, stroking and touching her. She rubbed her breasts against his chest, and his moan was her reward.

  She slipped a hand down between them and over his belly, and squeezed the velvety flesh of his stone-hard erection. His reaction was swift and violent, and she found herself flat on her back on her bed.

  “Evan?”

  He hesitated. “Do not fear me, lass. I wish to taste every inch of you, as I learn the secrets of your human flesh.”

  “Human flesh?” He used the oddest words at times, and he didn’t answer her query. He couldn’t because his mouth was trailing soft wet licks along her bruised ribs.

  “I wish I had been there to protect you.”

  “Do not fash yourself, Evan. You saved me. ‘Tis all that matters, aye?”

  He nodded, then his mouth was covering her breast, and he suckled her. She arched her back, and felt the moisture gathering between her legs. When his fingers rubbed the curls at her most intimate juncture, she wept with joy.

  This was what love should be. Not rape and pain. She was right to try to kill herself, rather than spend an entire voyage under Toal’s wrath. Was he dead? Had the pirates taken out their anger on him?

  “Why the frown? Have I done something wrong?”

  Shocked at where her thoughts had strayed, she pushed up on her elbows. “Nay! I was thinking of the horror, had Toal gotten me into his bed. Please, do not fear. You be exactly where I want you.” She pressed a quick kiss on his lips.

  He slid his finger inside her most private channel. When his thumb circled the tiny hardened pearl of her desire, she sighed.

  “Evan, please!”

  His smile was roguish, and he lifted his much larger body over her, and pressed her into the soft blankets on her bed. He was better than a warm, wool blanket, and the hard pike he settled between her legs was hotter than her hearth’s iron poker. “Do you plan to put that inside me?”

  “I was thinking about how to do that. You seem very small, and I do not wish to hurt you.”

  “Evan, I want you so deep inside me that we become one flesh, one body.”

  “As you wish.” He leaned slightly sideways, fisted his erection, and slowly found the center of her damp folds.

  He was hard and very large, and she did all she could to relax, and let him in. Her maidenhead tore, but the tiny pinprick of pain was replaced by the sheer sensation of his flesh filling her. When he reached the entrance to her womb, he stopped. She nearly asked if that was all there was to the act, but wanted nothing to keep Evan from continuing. She yearned to reach for something.

  “Be you well, love?” he whispered, pulling out slightly.

  She nodded into his shoulder, wrapped her ankles around his thighs, and tilted her hips. He pushed forward another inch, and groaned. He pulled back and kissed the sensitive skin behind her ear, then slammed forward again.

  She cried out.

  “Vika, I--”

  “Nay, I be fine, just a bit surprised. You feel good, and I want you to move!”

  He moved.

  All her senses went into high alert. The sounds of flesh slapping against flesh, and the scent of sex filling the air, was an aphrodisiac. All her senses were alive, adding to the warm ecstasy of their joined bodies. Smell, taste, touch, and even hearing the soft words he muttered into her ear set her heart to melting.

  There was no need for words from her. She showed him how she felt by tightening her legs and arms around him, and peppering his shoulder with dainty kisses. The sudden urge to bite his damp flesh surprised her. Acting like a hungry dragon was so unlike her. Instead, her body opened to him, and a spiral of heated pleasure rose from the juncture of her thighs. His thrusts were long and deep, and the pleasure was unlike anything she’d ever experienced. As her head fell back, and her mouth opened in a silent scream, she reached a pinnacle of sharp, sweet delight, and shattered.

  As she fell to earth, she sensed a hot splash hitting her womb. His muscles tightened, and he groaned above her. When the euphoria drifted away, and his weight pressed her tightly into the blankets, she gently shoved his chest. He untangled their legs and arms, and rolled off her onto his back. He released a deep sigh, and turned on his side.

  When she began to breathe evenly again, she turned onto her side to face him. She brushed his coppery hair from his face, and gazed into his eyes. When he smiled and kissed her on the mouth, joy swept through her. “Can we do that again?”

  He groaned and sat up, swinging his legs off the side of the bed. “I do not think I survived what just happened. Me heart be pounding, and I feel weak as a newborn foal.”

  She started to laugh, but it froze in her throat. She bolted to a sitting position and stared at his naked back. The marking she had seen in the distance, the night he had bolted over their fence, was within reach. She reached out to touch it, but her fingers froze in midair.

  “That mark. ‘Tis…the same mark…me horse carries. What does this mean?”

  He stood and gathered his discarded clothing. “I can explain, but I need to go.”

  He headed out the door. As it slammed shut behind him, Vika pulled the blanket around her and rushed to the door. As she threw it open, a brilliant light blinded her. Where Evan stood a moment earlier exploded with sparks. He disappeared, and as the light faded, her horse appeared. For a moment, she wasn’t sure of what she’d just seen. Evan was gone.

  He was right there. Right where Sparks be standing! Could he…? Was he…?

  “I be glad Spark be no longer in danger from that smelly Toal MacMorgan. If he also be Evan Brown, he has some explaining to do.” She shook off such a thought, and blamed it on an afternoon of bliss that must have rattled her brain as well as her womb. “I must hurry along, and give testament to that despicable man’s treatment of Spark and me.”

  Vika shook off feelings of pleasure and abandonment, and returned to her bed beneath the loft. Dressing quickly, she tied the laces of her blue gown, and brushed her hair. Gathering a few items that Maeve might make use of, she filled a shoulder pouch, then slipped on boots. The leather was warm and pliable, and the combination with her wool stockings should keep her warm until she could sit by the hearth in the tavern.

  Slipping the small dagger Orin had returned to her last night into the top of her boot, she smoothed down her gown. Collecting the cloak from the peg near the door, she slipped it on, then gathered the shoulder bag. Heading across the kitchen, she snatched an apple for Spark, and walked into the yard.

  She bolted the door, and turned to confront her horse…or, Evan. “Dear Lord, this be a mess. Can you be Evan?” Spark looked at her, then bent his head to nip at a pile of wool. She gathered it from the ground. A bit of leather and a long piece of purple and black plaide?

  This be Evan’s clothing.

  Clutching the soft wool to her face, she smelled Evan’s scent. With the clothing in one arm, she grabbed Spark’s halter and led him to the bar
n. “A blanket and a saddle will make the journey more comfortable.”

  Spark snorted, and tossed his head.

  “You silly beast. We must get to the village. Stand still while I prepare you, and chew this.” She slipped the apple between his velvety lips, and laughed. He really was a precious beastie, and she was glad he had returned unscathed. If there was a chance he was also Evan, she and he had some talking to do. She stuffed the plaide and leather strip into the pouch.

  She rubbed her hand along the spiraling dragon on his back, nearly the exact design she’d seen along Evan’s spine. The wound on Spark’s rump drew all attention next. The fur was still red and the skin beneath looked swollen. They had washed the wound as best they could, but she worried infection had set in.

  The mark on the horse’s rump, now marred by the wound left by the lash, was so odd, but the unusual design along his back could not be ignored. “I swear this looks a little like the dragon I recently met. Strange. I also fear that somehow you and Evan be one in the same.”

  She’d dwell on the strange happenings later. Traveling to town and getting this business over with was paramount. With Spark saddled, and her pouch hooked onto the saddle, she led the animal out into the morning sunshine, and slid to a stop. Spark snorted, and shoved her aside, and stomped in front of her.

  Six men stood outside the barn, as if waiting for her. The smart horse, or Evan, sensed they were up to no good. On her tip-toes, she glared at them over the horse’s back, and wished she’d grabbed her bow, or the sword. Slowly, she lifted the hem of her gown and pulled the small dagger from her boot top. After her skirt dropped back down, she walked out from behind Spark, and let them see she was far from helpless.

  “Be you looking for me?” she asked.

  The tallest man stepped forward. “Aye, lass.”

  She recognized him as the leader of the pirates, their captain, the man who had argued loudly with Toal. Their argument had given her the opportunity to jump overboard. She looked behind the man, but only other pirates had accompanied the captain.