Storm Trilogy

by Ria Cantrell

  She was not afraid he would hurt her. In fact, it was not fear at all that made her gasp, but the way her body thrummed with new awakening feelings that had long been hidden and untried. The feel of his strong hand on her was both soothing and unnerving. He kissed her again, taking her bottom lip gently between his teeth. She tasted sweet, like honey and he guessed she had laced her nightly brew with it before she had retired. Her little tongue flitted into his mouth and he sucked it less gently. She moaned against his lips and he felt her arms tangle about his neck. His hand pressed into her stomach, softly kneading the feminine swell of her beneath his fingers. As her mouth sought his, his same hand came up and moved over the breast he had almost touched. She arched up, thrusting her breast into the palm of his hand, so that he could feel her nipple pearl beneath the fine fabric of her nightrail. She moaned again, and Erik was undone by the innocently sexy sound. He kissed her while his hand rotated slowly over her breast. Rhianna was awash in sensation and she wanted more but she knew she should stop it. It was wrong for them to do this before their wedding night, but before she could protest, Erik’s fingers found their way inside her nightrail and when the contact of them on her bare breast was made, Rhianna forgot all of her reservations. Erik groaned softly and he said, “You are so beautiful.”

  Despite the rising ardor between them, Rhianna giggled and said, “Much more to your liking than Andarra?”

  “Drew should not have told you that.”

  “Well, maybe he should not have, but still I am glad that you would rather wed me than Andarra.”

  “Yes, even with your sharp tongue, I find you most….”

  “What,” Rhianna asked; her eyes imploring his, in the dark of the room.

  “Desirable,” he answered, taking her mouth with his and settling his hand inside her shift. When his hand made contact with her breast again, Rhianna moaned a little louder. She did not realize it was going to become more intense until his mouth left hers. He moved the nightrail down, exposing that precious breast completely and his lips closed over the hardened little nipple. She keened, “Erik, please,” but did not really seek an answer from him nor did she know what she was asking of him.

  He spoke, low, like a sound from deep within his throat and he said, “I want you so much right now, Rhianna.”

  Rhianna’s eyes grew so wide at his statement, that Erik stopped what he was doing.

  “Oh, my God, Rhianna. I am so sorry. I have forgotten myself and my promise to not dishonor you. I need to go.”

  Rhianna said honestly, “I wish you wouldn’t.”

  “You don’t know what you are asking.”

  “Erik, I may be innocent, but I do know what I am asking.”

  Erik kissed her and he teased, “Innocent? I thought you were going to meet a lover early tonight.”

  Rhianna bit his lip playfully and she said, “You know I was lying about that.”

  “I didn’t really, but I hoped you were.”

  Then more seriously she said, “Please stay.”

  Shaking his head, Erik said, “You make it hard for me to uphold my vow of honor, but I cannot. Not tonight.”

  He pulled her nightrail back into place and covered her up. Kissing her deeply again, he said, “There, the nightmares have been banished. I will see you in the morning.”

  “Wait, please don’t go. You said you wanted to talk to me. What did you want to talk about?”

  “Uhm, I wanted to offer a truce of sorts.”

  “Well, in a manner of speaking, I guess you just did. I wanted to apologize to you, as well.”

  “You just did, Sweetheart,” he responded with a rakish wink.

  Erik swung his legs over the side of the bed and he put his boots back on. He leaned over her one last time and kissed her goodnight.

  “May the terrors of your dreams no longer plague you this night.”

  And just like that, he left her, shutting the door quietly behind him.

  Rhianna felt all sorts of new sensations. Her body felt alive but as taught as a drawn bowstring. She wanted more; needed more. Erik had made her feel things she had never experienced in her life. Her breasts seemed to strain against the fabric of her nightclothes. And there was something else. Moist heat had formed between her thighs and she fairly ached inside for something to fill her…for Erik to fill her. He had said he wanted her and by all that was holy, she suddenly knew what it meant to want him, too. She was certain she would not have any more bad dreams this night because she was also certain she would not be able to sleep a wink. That fevered feeling was back and she felt hot inside and out. She had half a mind to sneak into his bed, as he had done and finish what they had started; only she was not as brave as she had once believed herself to be.

  ~~~~~

  Erik leaned against her door after he had shut it. His heart was pounding and it took every ounce of his will to not race back into her arms and into her bed. God’s teeth, he was hard! In all his eight and twenty years, he had never been so aroused in his entire life. He wanted Rhianna. There was no denying it. She wanted him, too. For all her bluster and abuse of him, she succumbed to his kisses and touches and responded so easily to him. Erik loved her uninhibited response to him. Knowing that she wanted him and that she was willing to be with him made him want her all the more. It also made him want to uphold his promise to not compromise her. He knew he needed to go slowly. She admitted her innocence and he did not want to forfeit her trust in that. He would do what he could to take his time with her and when the time was right, even if he had to wait until their wedding night, he fully intended to make love to her; in every way imaginable.

  Right now, what he needed was to take a plunge into the cold stream beyond the keep. He was on fire from being with her and he had to do something. He supposed he could take care of things himself, but the heat that fired through his blood needed the shock of a quick and frigid swim.

  He made his way through the darkened corridors and he headed out of the main hall. There were sentries on duty and they wondered at his leaving, but let him pass. He nodded to them and he just said he would be back after he had gone for a bath in the stream outside the castle walls. They shrugged in confusion to one another but opened the portcullis to let him through.

  Erik’s eye sight was sharp even in the dark early morning hours before dawn. He found the stream easily enough and he peeled his clothes off hastily. He was grateful to release himself from his once again too tight trews. His cock throbbed for relief, and it sprang from his trews, erect and aching. Gripping it, he squeezed and moaned. He knew he would not get any rest until he cooled himself down and so he waded into the frosty stream and swam out to its deepest part. The temperature seeped into him rapidly; cooling his blood and his lust.

  That did the trick! The cold water had sufficiently staunched his desire and he suddenly felt tired. After one final plunge under the water, Erik dried himself with his tunic and put his clothes on over his wet body. By the time he got back to his chambers, his teeth were fairly chattering from the chill and he stripped down and climbed into bed. He thought sleep would come quickly, but it did not. He could not put thoughts of Rhianna from his mind and he could tell it was going to be a long night after all.

  ~Chapter Twenty~

  Each day for the next few weeks, Erik had risen early. He had met with Tristan and they had made plans to fortify the keep against any invaders. As he promised, he rode out to the village and offered the keep as a safe haven to the village folk. He said that it was through Rhianna’s wishes that they seek out their safety and to make haste to come. They would keep the castle gates open until darkness fell and after that they would have to wait until morning if anyone still wanted to seek refuge within the castle walls. Rhianna was so grateful that Erik had wanted to help her people. After he had come to comfort her a few nights past, she now could not wait to see him and she needed to kiss him again, but there was much to be done to prepare the keep to receive as many people as possible. In the day
s following that stimulating night, Rhianna and Erik were kept apart by the duties that were at hand. If they got glimpses of each other, it was fleeting and by the end of the day, both were too tired to do aught but fall into their respective beds.

  Erik and Drew took their men to the village that had been attacked to see what they could learn about the perpetrators of the violence. They would offer whatever assistance they could and then they would try to help transport those people who would not be able to walk easily to the keep.

  Rhianna busied herself with setting up areas that could be used to house some of the villagers. Already, tents were set up in the bailey and behind the castle walls, toward her garden. Many of the local folk would need places to sleep and so she had readied as many linens that could be found to help those who wished to stay inside. She knew that many of the villagers would not want to leave their homes and so, Erik was going to have guards set in place throughout the village to protect those people who would not seek refuge inside the keep’s fortified walls.

  Despite the dire threat, Rhianna felt happier than she had in weeks. Erik was helping her and working with her. His compassion and his natural ability to lead and take charge were indeed comforting to her. She believed that she needed this man more than she had thought and she felt safe for the first time in months since Randall had disappeared. She had not realized just how vulnerable she had felt until this moment, but that was all changed now, with Erik and his men present within her walls. She tried not to think too much on how safe she would feel with Erik present in her bed, for those thoughts were too wicked and they caused her to be distracted from her pressing work. Still, she could not wait to see him, but knew he would not be back until it was quite late in the night. Her eyes scanned the endless sea of faces of people who were permitted to enter the keep, just suddenly aching to have a quick glimpse of him.

  She had seen him briefly at breakfast, but he was quite focused on the task at hand. He was once again a warrior first and foremost. He had given her the biggest smile while he was eating with his men and before he left the hall, he stole behind her to give her a quick kiss. He winked at her and told her she was beautiful. He also told her briefly what his plans were. He had seen what keeping her apart from the decisions concerning her people had done to her, so he tried to give her a brief over-view of what they had decided to do. She nodded at the wise course of action and then he kissed her again. All too quickly, he was gone.

  As Rhianna tried to concentrate on the tasks she was needed to perform, she tried not to think of the wonderful way that parts of her body still felt sensitive from his kisses. His beard had tickled and scraped her flesh in places that she could still feel, perhaps in memory, but she would have sworn the sensations remained this morn. It was not unpleasant and she blushed remembering just where his lips had been.

  ~~~~~~

  Standing on the high cliff above the back road leading to Morcar Keep, Aaron could see the dark shadow of an approaching band of riders, winding back toward the keep. They would, no doubt, be the raiders he had sent on a terror mission. Aaron Jasper could not wait to greet the raiding party sent to instill fear to the locals. He hoped that his plan had been successful. As the riding party drew nearer, Aaron could see that some of them were still covered in the gore from their folly. With an evil grin, he knew that sufficient damage must have been done just by the look of them.

  He was certain that word of their little outing would have reached the high and mighty Rhianna du Montefort by now. He would let their defenses be raised, while he plotted his next course. He knew that she had an unnatural softness when it came to her local villagers and he wanted her to feel helpless in defending them sufficiently. Her keep was not large enough to house them all but Aaron knew she would try. Those left behind would be his for the taking, if he so chose.

  The leader of the riding raiders slowed his mount and jumped off to report to Morcar’s lord. He bowed almost mockingly before Aaron Jasper and he said, “The raid was a success.”

  “Nothing pilfered?”

  “Nay, m’lord. My men just took...hmmm, shall we say, their pleasure with some of the villagers. I assured them they would be paid handsomely.”

  “Casualties?”

  With a sinister laugh, the man answered, “Enough.”

  “And has word been spread of the destruction?”

  The man scratched some dried blood off his face and said, “Bells were rung from the town church. We had thought to burn it to the ground too, but then thought the warning bells would be more suited to your purpose.”

  Aaron nodded in agreement. “Excellent. Have your men wait while you and I discuss the finer points of your mission.”

  “They seek their payment.”

  “Aye, and they will be paid after you and I speak.”

  The man stared into the one good eye of Aaron Jasper and said, “Truly, you do not think me or my men fool enough to wait like sheep. We will be paid as promised, first.”

  Aaron smiled evilly, his lips baring the jagged points of his remaining teeth.

  “Very well. I had underestimated your intelligence.”

  Pulling a pouch out from under his tunic, he put several coins into the palms of the men still on horseback. He handed the remainder of the pouch to the leader and he said, “Now, come inside. We shall have a drink and I will learn the full extent of the raid.”

  The man nodded to his men and he handed off the reins of his horse to his companion. He followed Aaron into the keep. Aaron then had his steward bring tankards of ale to the men, while he led the leader of the raid into his hall. Taking a flagon off the table, he offered a sip to the man.

  “After you,” he said, for clearly he did not trust his patron. Men like him could not afford to trust the men who chose to do business with his kind. After Aaron had taken a gulp and wiped his hand across the back of his mouth, he offered the vessel to his henchman. The man also took a swig from the bottle and he sat down to discuss what had taken place per the instructions of Aaron Jasper.

  Aaron learned that many of the sheep had been butchered and left to rot in the fields. Several cottages had been burned to the ground and wheat fields had been razed. At least half a dozen people had been maimed and killed. Those that were violated were just the icing on the cake for Aaron Jasper.

  As the drink flowed, the man’s tongue loosed. Aaron sat back, satisfied that enough terror had been stricken into the hearts of those he sought to destroy, first and foremost the inhabitants of du Montefort. The leader of the purchased raiders began to slur his words. It was subtle at first, but it soon turned into almost indiscernible ramblings. Fingering his scarred cheek, Aaron Jasper leaned closer and he said, “You thought to be clever with me. You will learn that you cannot outthink me. Your men are already taken to the pits below and soon you will join them there…if you live…for even I do not know how the poison reacts.”

  The man began to panic as Aaron’s words registered into his foggy mind. “Poithhbbb?”

  “Well, more like a dosing, but I suppose, if you die, it may as well be poison.” Aaron Jasper plucked the purse of coins from the still clasping fingers of the man before him. He called, “Guards, take him to join his friends in the pits.”

  As two large men grasped hold of each arm, they dragged the now babbling man to the chambers of hell in the bowels beneath the castle. Aaron’s laughter could be heard throughout the crumbling black walls of the place as screams of torture wafted up from the pits below.

  ~Chapter Twenty-One~

  With each passing day, he felt himself getting stronger. He still did not know his true name, but Janelle’s name of Monty, became almost like a term of endearment to him. And there was something else; he had no doubt that he was completely in love with this woman. He had been with her for weeks now and although he could not remember his past, he now remembered everything that had transpired since he arrived at Janelle’s doorstep. He remembered every smile and every moment she sat beside him. He
remembered what it felt like to be a man. He no longer had the plague of illness stilling his hand and he had begun to do things around her dwelling that she needed him to help her with. He no longer tired easily and he was convinced that his recovery came at the hands of this beautiful, gentle and kind woman.

  They had shared many things in the hours between his arrival and his healing. There was still something that she would not tell him; something that she kept locked in her heart; something that the mere mention of caused sadness to fill her eyes and pain to blot out her smile. He knew it would only be a matter of time ‘til she opened up and bared the secret to him. She had confessed that she had fallen in love with him as well. They had shared their first kiss days ago, admitting their love and hoping for a future where the past would not matter, for either of them.

  Of course he could not be certain, because his memories were so scattered, but he felt like he had never truly been in love before. He knew there was someone he loved, but it did not feel like a wife and it did not feel like a lover. He vowed to make Janelle his wife, once he was certain that no wife waited for him. She agreed and said she would do everything in her power to find someone who knew who he was. She was reluctant to do it not so much because she was afraid he was already married, but more because it was clear he had not injured himself. She was afraid that the danger came from his past. Janelle did not want to put him back into the peril that had left him in the state he currently found himself to be in.