She tied the last knot and double-checked to make sure the foal was still feeding as she mounted up. From the vantage point of her horse’s back, she spotted Kestrel heading straight for her. He wasn’t alone.
What was Gideon doing out here? Surely he wouldn’t be riding at such a breakneck speed over such rough ground for no reason.
She knew the instant he saw her. If anything, Kestrel sped up. They were almost within shouting distance. She knew that was true, because Gideon was definitely bellowing something at her. Although he was still too far away for her to understand his words, his dark mood was all too clear. What had happened now?
A few seconds later, he reached the small rise where she sat waiting. Before Kestrel had even come to a complete stop, Gideon was on the ground and running straight for her. He reached up to drag her down out of the saddle, his handsome face contorted in raw fury. His big hands held her prisoner, his breath a hot wind on her skin.
“What were you thinking? Riding off alone with no escort?”
Is that what this was about?
She nodded in the direction of the foal and his mother. “That sorrel mare was in distress. If I hadn’t come when I did, she would have died. Her foal was breech.”
He didn’t even glance at the mother and her foal. “I don’t give a damn about them, Merewen. It was you the gods sent me to protect! I can’t do my job, not if you fight me every inch of the way. You will not do such a stupid thing again—do you hear me?”
This was getting out of hand.
“I will tell you the same thing I told my uncle and his captain, Gideon. When the horses call, I answer. Nothing—and no one—is going to change that.”
She put her hands on his broad chest and shoved with all her might, not that it budged him at all. When that didn’t work, she punched him in the arm. “I didn’t exchange one jailer for another, Gideon. You might be my lover, but you’re not my keeper!”
He flinched as if her words had bruised him where her fist had not. His face went stone cold, his voice even colder. “I never once said you shouldn’t tend your horses, Lady Merewen. I ask only that you allow me to carry out the duty that my gods have ordained. I would also remind you yet again that the very souls of my friends depend on my ability to carry out that obligation.”
The complete lack of emotion in his words proved how deeply she had wounded him.
“I told the guard where I was going, Gideon. Did he not relay the message?”
“That simpleton? No, he didn’t. Not until I asked him, and by then, you’d already been gone for hours. If Kestrel didn’t have the ability to find you quickly, I would have emptied the keep of every able man to send out search parties.”
She blanched. “But that would have left my home unguarded.”
“That is not my concern, Lady Merewen. You are.”
The air around them grew chilly. “That’s not true, Captain Gideon. I called you and your men from the river to save my home and people from my uncle and his men. That is your true mission.”
“No, it is not. You said it yourself, Lady Merewen. Without you and your gift, the horses that run free on these grasslands would simply scatter. Without you, your people have nothing.”
He drew a ragged breath. “If you die, I will have failed. You have no idea what that will mean to me, to you, and to the four who chose to follow me. My men have already suffered far too much because of me.”
He released her and stepped back. “I betrayed them all, Merewen, out of selfishness and by neglecting my duty.”
She wasn’t sure if she wanted to know what he could have done to condemn himself and the others to such a hellish existence. But if he wanted her to hear his truth, she would listen. She owed him that much.
“What happened, Gideon?”
He stared past her, his face stark in its pain, as he lost himself in the past. “The five of us had ridden together for years, even young Averel, whom we took on as our squire before he earned his spurs. I assisted Murdoch’s escape from the violent bastard he had been fostered with. Kane was shunned because of the mage mark he bears. Duncan’s father hated his son’s scholarly bent. I never owned anything that I didn’t earn with my sword. The five of us became closer than most brothers.”
When he didn’t say more, Merewen prodded him again. “You can tell me anything, Gideon.”
Another few seconds passed before he spoke again. “A local nobleman hired us to hunt down a band of brigands. They’d been robbing the trade caravans passing through Agathia, although it was known by a different name then.”
Merewen sidled closer, taking his hand in hers. She gave it a soft squeeze when he glanced down at her before continuing on with his tale.
“He ordered us to ride with a caravan carrying supplies to the troops protecting the northern border, but I soon grew weary of the endless hours of eating the dust of slow-moving wagons. We had scoured the area, looking for any sign of the brigands to no avail. I was convinced the hunt was a waste of our time, that my men and I were too good to be used as simple guards. We belonged wherever real fighting was taking place.
“However, I didn’t dare abandon my duties completely. One day the merchant in charge told me to send a couple of guards into a nearby town to buy fresh bread and whatever vegetables were available for purchase. Rather than send the caravan guards, I decided we deserved a night off.”
After a brief silence, he whispered, “Just one night.”
She feared for what came next in the tale, but there was no stopping Gideon now. The words poured out of him as if a dam had broken.
“We had a great time eating, drinking, wenching.” His strange eyes stared out at the horizon, lost in his past. “Until I met you, that was my last pleasant memory.”
He shot her an embarrassed look at that last confession, but she understood. He’d been a young man in the prime of life out looking for adventure of all kinds. She leaned her head against his shoulder to show she did not judge him for something that happened in a world that no longer existed.
“Go on, Gideon.”
“When we returned to the caravan, all of the guards had been slaughtered. The merchants were dead as well, their heads severed and mounted on pikes. The stench of foul magic and death hung in the air thick as wood smoke.”
He shuddered as if the stench had followed after him all these centuries, his voice sounding dead. “It was obvious the men had put up no fight at all. Most had been killed right where they slept. All of the women were taken.”
His pale eyes burned with remembered pain and fury. “It took us three days to track down the brigands and their prisoners at their camp near the river. The women were alive, but we didn’t arrive in time to prevent—”
He stopped again, but the horror in his expression painted a clear enough picture. “Kane, Murdoch, and I attacked the brigands while Duncan and Averel circled around to lead the survivors out through the back of the camp. Even with the help of Hob and Shadow, we stood little chance against their superior numbers, especially with a mage fighting on their side. However, our honor demanded we fight to the death. I hoped, too, that the scholar and the youngest of us would survive. They weren’t like the rest of us.”
“But they didn’t, did they?”
He shook his head. “Duncan and Averel sent the prisoners on ahead and returned to fight out of loyalty to me. Kane faced off against the mage, distracting him long enough for me to get close enough to kill the bastard with my sword. Once he was dead, we managed to destroy that nest of vipers, but all of us received grave wounds. I took one last blow to prevent Kane from being killed by the leader of the brigands, who had only pretended to be dead.”
Gideon smiled briefly. “I’m not sure Kane has ever forgiven me for dying in his place.”
At those words, Merewen needed to reassure herself that her lover was alive. She wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled against his chest, taking comfort from the steady beat of his heart.
“As I l
ay dying, I prayed to the gods to save my men and the prisoners, pleading that no one else should suffer for my foolishness.
“The gods were listening. The Lady of the River appeared before me and offered me the chance to redeem my honor. If I would pledge my soul to the gods, to fight for them for as long as they commanded it, they would ease the wounds caused by my selfishness. I didn’t hesitate. The women were healed and returned to their homes. Beyond that, I know not what became of them.”
His chin came to rest on the top of her head. “My friends chose to join me as avatars of the gods, to become the Damned. I argued against it, but none would leave me. The Lady of the River accepted their decision and allowed our animal friends to fight at our side. I sometimes fear my friends will never know peace because of me. If I disappoint the gods, we will all suffer until the last of the ages pass away. I cannot afford the luxury of failing, not even once.”
That confession had clearly cost him, so much so that her heart ached for him and the men who served him still. “Gideon, you have to believe that I never meant to worry you. Next time I am called, I will tell you or at least one of your men, and I promise I will not ride out again unescorted. But know this much, too. I will do what I must to protect the welfare of the horses.”
He looked only slightly happier. “We need to return to the keep. Kane senses the great evil at work in this land is growing in strength, and the danger now moves toward us.”
They’d known the peace of the past few days wouldn’t last. “Do you think it is Fagan?”
“If it were only him, I’m not sure Kane would sense his presence. Yet we all know your uncle will attempt to retake the keep. Fagan’s pride will demand that much of him. But there’s something more—a dark magic that stirs Kane’s mage mark. It calls to him.”
“Does this dark magic have the power to harm Kane?”
Gideon’s eyes narrowed. “Why don’t you ask what you really want to know?”
He was already angry, so she did. “If this magic calls too strongly to him, will he answer?”
“No.”
“But—”
Gideon stopped her by putting his fingers across her lips. “You’ve known Kane for only a short time. He has been not only my ally but my friend for centuries, and at a terrible cost to himself. That he bears the mark of dark magic was not of his choosing. He is the strongest man I’ve ever known, and his honor defines him. There is no one I trust more at my side when the fighting starts—no one. What’s more, if I were to fall, I would trust him to keep you safe. If this magic is powerful enough to destroy Kane, then none of us will withstand its power.”
His mouth was but a straight slash when he repeated, “None of us.”
The impact of his words left her shivering in the late-afternoon sun. She was overwhelmed with the need to get back to the shelter of the palisade. Out on the open grasslands they were both too exposed—vulnerable.
Gideon seemed to be waiting for an answer, although he hadn’t asked a question. He was right. Her heart knew that Kane would not betray them. “I apologize. This is no excuse, but everything that’s happening is so frightening, and I let my fear talk. I have faith in your honor and in that of your friends.”
He looked mollified. “Let me give you a boost back up in the saddle. Time runs short.”
“I know, but there is still time for this.”
She captured his worried face in her hands and tugged him down for a kiss. His arms snapped tight around her, pulling her in close to his body.
She’d meant it as a peace offering, a reminder of what they shared when they were alone in her room, the door shutting out the world. But then his tongue swept past her lips, flavored with the hot spice of a claiming that promised far more than a simple kiss. Her body had already learned how to respond to his touch and craved the way they fit together with a sweet heat that was theirs alone.
His hands found their way down past the curve of her waist to cup her bottom, lifting her higher with a not-so-gentle squeeze. She could feel the bulge of his manhood against her belly. Oh gods, yes. Her inner core softened and dampened, wanting more than this press of bodies with far too many layers of clothing between them. She moaned and wrapped her leg around his, rocking against the hard ridge that strained against his trews.
“Merewen!”
His voice was little better than a deep growl, more suited to Hob. She loved it.
“If you don’t stop me, Merewen, I’m going to take you right here in the grass. We need to return before they come hunting for us.”
He punctuated each statement with a kiss. There was nothing in the way he held her that hinted that he’d let her go even if she wanted him to. She was not that foolish.
“We don’t have time for this,” he murmured.
She tangled her fingers in his dark hair. “Can we not make time?”
This was pure madness. He’d always been known for his focus and determination, but with one kiss this woman had stripped him of all control and rational thought. His body was on fire, demanding to be on her, in her, and staking his claim in a wave of pulsing heat.
But where?
“We can’t, not out here in the open.”
Merewen pointed down the hillside toward a stand of bushes. “There’s a small clearing inside. We’ll be out of sight.”
Still clutching her in his arms, Gideon carried her down the slope and through the thicket. There he sank to his knees in the soft grass with Merewen straddling his thighs.
She deserved a gentle touch, a soft bed, not to mention a man who could stay in her life. But right now she wanted him, and he wouldn’t disappoint. Shifting his hold on her, he pressed Merewen back onto the ground, the bright green of the grass contrasting with the dark red highlights in her hair.
He wouldn’t have been surprised if the heat they were generating set the grasslands afire. He loosened the ties on her trousers and worked them down her legs. The scent of her desire perfumed the air as he tossed her clothes to the side. She smiled up at him, watching as he cursed the stubborn laces on his own trews.
Finally, his fumbling fingers managed the simple task, and he shoved them down just far enough to free himself from their confines. Merewen’s eyes widened at the sight of him looming over her. How did he look at the moment with this craving, this compulsion, driving him so hard? Then she smiled and held out her arms in welcome.
There was so much he should tell her, so many ways he should show her that she mattered. Right now, the need to mate with her left him without words and without gentleness. He would apologize later. Right now, all he could do was take her hard and fast.
He rocked against her honey-slick folds several times, fanning the flames and frustrating them both at the same time.
Merewen glowered up at him. “Now, Gideon!”
A man should never argue with a woman, especially when she was right. Her hips arched up and her hand gently wrapped around his shaft to guide him home.
“Hold on, my lady,” he warned her just before he plunged into her welcoming heat.
When he was seated deep and tight, he withdrew partway and waited for her to look up at him. “Do you want this?”
She licked her lower lip and nodded. That was all the encouragement he needed. He lifted her legs up over his thighs and drove deep again, his hips working hard and fast. Just that quickly, Merewen crooned her approval with each stroke.
It wasn’t going to take long, not with the storm building in his flesh and bones as his lover’s body grew tight. Still he drove them both on. Finally, the first ripple of her pleasure gripped him, slowing his pace only slightly. He slipped his hand between them, parting her folds to caress the swollen nub hidden there with the pad of his thumb.
A few soft circles were all it took to have her keening out her release in the warm afternoon sunshine. As she shuddered in his arms, his own body reached its limits, and he lost what little control he’d had. On and on he went. At last he roared as his own pleasure p
ulsated deep within her body, stealing away the last of his strength. He collapsed with his face buried in the side of her neck, drawing in deep breaths of Merewen-scented air.
When the world slowly righted itself, he kissed her, gently this time. She encircled his neck with her arms, their legs still tangled, their bodies joined, and their hearts pounding hard.
He’d never given way to such desperation with a woman and had to ask, “Did I hurt you?”
Her smile warmed his heart and soothed away his worry even as she brushed his hair back from his face. “I’m fine, but I think you mentioned something about needing to hurry.”
She was right even if he hated it. He rolled to the side and reached for Merewen’s clothes. “This wasn’t the smartest thing we could have done, love, but I can’t find it within me to regret it.”
“Nor I. But as you said, we should go. I’d hate for anyone else to worry enough to come looking for us, especially right now.”
She eyed his still-unfastened ties with an impish smile. If Kane or one of the others had taken it upon themselves to come help him search, he’d never live this down. He quickly righted his clothes and then gave Merewen the boost back up into her saddle that he’d promised earlier.
She waited until he caught Kestrel and swung up into the saddle. Then as one, they set off for the keep at a slow gallop. The sun now hovered a short distance above the horizon, but with luck they’d reach the gates before dark.
The thought of night’s approach had him urging Kestrel into a faster pace. Just as Gideon and his men were at their strongest under the cover of darkness, that was likely also true of the evil approaching. It wouldn’t do to be caught out on the plains once the sun set.
If Merewen wondered about his rush, she didn’t ask. But one look at the worry on her face, and he knew she was feeling the same way. With a heartfelt prayer to the gods for her safety, he rode with one eye on the horizon and a hand on his sword.
Chapter 25
My Lady Mage: A Warriors of the Mist Novel Page 26