Mr. Always & Forever

by Ashlee Price

  Lars looked as though he had had enough to drink as well. His dark eyes were almost black and he was standing so close to Sarah suddenly.

  “What are you doing down here?”

  “I’m…” Sarah couldn’t think and she wondered why she suddenly couldn’t think of anything to say. He had a way about him and his hands were touching her shoulder, then her face and she felt the stone behind her as he pinned her body closer to his.

  His eyes were stuck to her lips and when he moved down to give her a kiss, she melted in against him. Sarah had never kissed another man besides Finn. It was never something that she had experienced and kissing Lars was unlike anything she had ever felt. There was no chaste kiss and then a whisper in the ear. With Lars he was overwhelming her and in need. The other man didn’t have the need that Lars did from years of no satisfaction, the ache for something more.

  He tasted like wine, the taste so strong that it was starting to make her feel even drunker. She felt hands on her hips, pushing her back into the wall, his fingers biting into her soft flesh. Sarah whimpered and then moaned as he cupped her backside, pressing her against him so she could feel his own hard need against her core. Sarah had never felt such a rush of desire and her arms moved around his neck, wanting more of what he had to offer.

  Never once did her mind even think for him to stop. She wanted more, needed all that he had to give. Lars pulled away and looked down at her dilated eyes. His hand had found the way up her skirt and his biting nails dug into her thigh as he moved upwards. Sarah’s eyes closed, her head leaning back slightly as he first found her wetness. The feel of the sticky heat was enough to push him forward, starting to push inside of her before he realized there is something blocking his way.

  That fact sobered him up a little and he moved his touch higher to the small nub of pleasure that was swollen with her need. Sarah felt the change from slight painful pressure, to a pleasure so shocking it made her jerk with each pass of his hand. Lars hadn’t known, but the idea of her untouched made him want to change it.

  But not there, not like that.

  Sarah was someone that he had to savor, take his time with. But first, he wanted nothing more than to hear and feel her release. He needed that as much as the man needed his next breath.

  As his touch increased, so did the small sounds of pleasure that came from her mouth. She was driving him crazy and it wasn’t long before he was forgetting why he couldn’t have her right then. As the first wave of pleasure went over her, Sarah clung to him.

  “Oh my Lord!”

  She repeated it over and over again, holding on to his neck in a death grip. It was more than she could have hoped for or needed. He was too much and as his mouth moved to her neck, she was losing herself again. Everything inside of her felt tight and then it was all released to nothingness.

  “When I make you come, Sarah, I want to hear you call out my name.”

  Her head nodded, but her eyes were still closed. She felt his lips against hers and Sarah swayed towards him, her knees still too weak. She would do anything he wanted, anything at all. All he had to do was ask. When she opened her eyes and finally met his dark ones, he knew that he had her. Sarah was going to be his.

  There was a sound that brought them out of their thoughts and Darlee stopped when she saw the two in the cellar.

  “My apologies, my lord. I didn’t know you were down here.”

  He smiled at Darlee and then started to walk away. His mind was no longer on boos, but getting his wife out of the castle. The girl would have to be kept a secret, and though Mila had her own lover, she would not be so understanding of him having one. She had one because he didn’t want her. It was as simple as that. Lars still didn’t want her, but he was sick of putting his own needs to the side. He wanted the ebony beauty that’s need still covered his hand.

  Chapter 5

  “Are you okay, Sarah?”

  Sarah looked over at Darlee, trying her best to stand on the legs that felt like rubber suddenly. It was all she could do not to fall. Darlee came to help her and Sarah was thankful for it. She had always wondered what happened between a man and a woman, knew logistically how it worked, but never had she thought it would end with a feeling like that. It was almost too much to handle, her body still shaking from the side effects of it.

  “Yea I am…”

  Darlee was shocked to see that Lars had taken a liking to her. He never messed with the helpers and never once had she seen him there with another woman. Why was Sarah so different?

  “We need to get you to your room. You do not want this to be known, Sarah. If she gets an inkling that her husband is with someone else, you will be sent away.”

  Her words were not quite connecting. “What do you mean?”

  “If she find outs that her husband fancies you, there will be hell to pay.”

  “But I thought that they aren’t together and she has a lover?”

  Darlee looked around like there was someone there that would hear them and report back to her with that very information.

  “She does have all of those things, but the rich are strange and she will not take kindly to a woman like you stealing away her husband’s affections. Whether she has them or not is no matter to her. She doesn’t want him to be happy ever.”

  Sarah seemed to understand, but it just made her feel worse for the man that was so kind to her and made her feel better than anyone else in her life had. How could something that felt so good, be wrong? She was sure that it couldn’t be wrong, but the way Darlee was looking at her, made her nervous. She was nervous because Sarah didn’t like the idea of being sent away. Not when she felt like she was really close to finding out what it was that she had been missing all that time.

  “I will make sure to keep my distance from her.”

  “Be sure that you do, Sarah. I like having you around and I don’t want something to make you have to leave.”

  Sarah nodded agreeing one hundred percent with the sentiment. She didn’t want to go back to her home in even more shame then when she had left. She didn’t want to go back to working from dawn to dusk in the fields and selling the wares in the small villages. Sarah wanted to stay there and find out what more there was. All she knew was that what she had been living wasn’t life and there was no way that Sarah ever wanted to go back to that.

  “I will make sure that I don’t do anything to make that happen. I really don’t know what happened. One minute I was looking for a bottle and the next minute he was kissing me and it was like my brain completely stopped working.”

  Darlee agreed with a smile. There was more than once that she had felt the exact same way. She was no stranger to the soft caresses of a lord. Many visiting there would visit her in the kitchen as well. It was something that she missed from her days in her youth, but there was still a couple that still liked their women a little aged. Darlee was more than happy to give them what they wanted, but Sarah aimed too high and picked the wrong man. Mila was dangerous if she was crossed and Darlee didn’t want Sarah to get involved.

  She took her up to her room and Sarah was quickly in bed. She wondered what it was that Lord Lars wanted with her, but she knew that it was unusual for him to take an interest in someone from the castle. It hadn’t happened that she knew of and she knew of everything that went on there. It made her smile to herself, wondering why she hadn’t seen it before. It made sense now. They both deserved a little happiness.

  ***

  “I don’t want to go to the countryside Lars! I don’t care what your reasons are. It is boring there, even worse than here.”

  Lars was trying to be diplomatic, but he wanted her gone and Lars always got what he wanted. While she liked to pretend that what she said matters, when he did put his foot down, he meant it. “You will go by morning. I have told you why and I will not repeat myself.”

  “Just because it is dangerous? I do not want to leave you. I want to be by your side.”

  He looked at her and almost want
ed to laugh. She was being dramatic and it didn’t suit her well. She could have cared less about any of it and he wondered why she didn’t want to stay all of a sudden. Surely there was more of a reason then she didn’t want to leave? He was sure it had something to do with her lover.

  “I have said my piece wife. You will leave for your own protection while the clans work it out. I do not want anything to happen to you. I still would like to get an heir out of you yet. It was the reason we got married after all.”

  “You would have to come to my bed once and a while, my lord, for that to ever happen.”

  He grimaced at her. “I suppose you would have to be in it more yourself. You are always off running to him in the middle of the night. You don’t think that everyone knows what you do and who you do it with?”

  She just smiled and it was one of those ones that he had seen before. He knew that she was never going to be easy to manage. The grin never made it to her eyes that were as cold as they had always been.

  “Well I have to get some sort of attention or have you forgotten your duties?”

  He moved towards her suddenly and kissed her, his body pushing up against hers. She was compliant almost immediately, and the rougher his hands pulled her to him, the more she seemed to like it. He was trying to prove his point, that she didn’t want him, but she seemed to like the treatment and when she moaned against him, he pushed her back.

  “What is wrong with you? Is that what I have to do to make you a decent wife?”

  It took her a minute to open her eyes, her body still buzzing with his touch. When she did open them her jade-colored eyes flashed at him before she finally turned away. She didn’t know why she liked it in such a way, her lover knew what she liked and when she had tried to rile Lars up to get it before, it had never ended well. She needed more than just talented fingers and tongue. She wanted to feel taken and Lars had never been one to give her what she wanted.

  “I want to be taken by a man, Lars. Why is that so hard to understand?”

  He shook his head and sighed. “Be gone by morning and take him with you. Just get out of my sight for a while.”

  Chapter 6

  Lars was ready for his reward. It had been a couple of days since he had run into Sarah down in the cellar. He had thought of nothing else and though she seemed to be avoiding him, he knew that as soon as their lips touched, she would be his again.

  He went down into the kitchens the back way. He had waited until Mila was safely away from the castle. Though he was lord, she had been known to get rid of girls that she deemed too pretty in the past. He knew that it was to keep him from doing anything with them, but he would not be put off from Sarah and as long as she didn’t know about it, it would be one less thing that Mila could find fault in. Just thinking about her threatened to spoil his mood and he refused to let her ruin his day with her gone. Mila had become quite good at that.

  Looking for Darlee, he spotted her and urged her over with a nod. She stopped chopping the vegetables in front of her and went to see what it was that he wanted. Darlee very rarely saw him in there and she had a good idea what he was there for.

  “Yes, my lord?”

  “Where is Sarah?”

  “She went to pick some herbs for the chicken this evening, my lord. Would you like me to go get her?”

  He nodded that he didn’t. It wasn’t the place and time. He needed to get himself ready for her, as well as take care of a few things. If he saw her right then, he was going to want her right then. There was no way around it and instead of risking him blowing the rest of his day in between her thighs, he told Darlee to make sure that Sarah was there to serve him that night.

  “Of course, my lord.”

  She didn’t say anything else, Darlee didn’t really have to. She had been there too long and knew him too well to ever think that saying something about any of it would be a good idea. A small smile went to her face as he walked away. It was clear then that he had more than just a passing liking for Sarah.

  ***

  Sarah was unaware of her new duties. She was in the gardens just outside of the main walls. It had been a couple of days since she had been outside that much and even though she was happy to be out from underneath Mila’s thumb, she was even more revived by the sun. It was warm, beating on her face and arms as she picked the pointed leaves that looked much like pine needles and added so much flavor when cooked. Sarah wasn’t paying attention to what was going on around her. She didn’t hear or see anything out of the ordinary, until she heard something behind her.

  “I have been looking for you, Sarah.”

  She knew the voice instantly. It had been the voice that she had woken up with hearing in her mind at night. It was from the man that she had spent so much time thinking of, but now she didn’t feel the same shiver of want that she used to feel. It wasn’t that she didn’t miss Finn, but she had learned that though everything was great with him, there was more out there. Or there could be more if she really tried.

  “Finn?” She turned around. “What are you doing here?”

  He frowned for a moment, expecting her to rush into his arms. Finn had been expecting a kiss, not questions.

  “I came here for you. I thought you would be happy.”

  “I would be, I mean, I am. I just didn’t expect you, is all.”

  “I see you are getting used to your surroundings. I haven’t heard you hum like that in a long time. Reminds me how much I miss you.”

  Sarah looked down, not able to meet his eyes. It was what she had always dreamed about, him coming to rescue her, but now she didn’t know if she wanted to be saved. There was much more that was calling her to stay where she was with Lars.

  “I have missed you too. I just can’t believe you are here. I always figured that you would forget about me. There were many women vying for your heart.”

  He moved closer and her heart started to beat a little harder. But it wasn’t because she was in need, more afraid that he was about to kiss her. Before she would have welcomed it, welcomed almost anything that he had to offer, but it had all changed. There was nothing more that she could do, but take a step back and put her hands up to stop his advancing. “Wait, I can’t.”

  Finn wasn’t going to take no for an answer, not sure if she was just saying that to play hard to get. It wouldn’t be the first time that she had refused him, but after everything that he had done to find her and be there, she was now his.

  “Yes you can.”

  He silenced any more issues she had with his actions with his mouth and she was left trying to break away from the kiss. It just felt wrong and finally she had to bring her knee up sharply to make the man understand that she was not going to do anything he wanted. He cursed as she made contact with his excitement and he raised his hand back to hit her. Sarah flinched, waiting for his hit.

  She had closed her eyes, not wanting to see what was coming next. She heard a thud though and it made her open her eyes. Sarah gasped when she saw Lars standing over her and Finn was on the ground.

  “Who is this man?”

  Sarah looked down in shame, not wanting to tell him why she was really there and who he really was. All it was, all it did, was made her feel even worse about what she had done to get sent away in the first place.

  “He is someone that I knew from my home village.”

  “Why is he trying to kiss you?”

  “We used to see each other.”

  Lars knew that they hadn’t done much more than that, but he didn’t like the idea of another man kissing her, no matter how long ago it was and no matter if it was happening again. “Did you know that he was going to come here?”

  She shook her head that she did not. There was a fear to see into his eyes and she was afraid of what she would find. Would he not want her anymore?

  Chapter 7

  Lars was trying to get the image of Sarah and the man out of his mind. He had let the man go, not caring who he was, but warning him of what would happen i
f he put his hands on Sarah again. Nothing was going the way he had wanted it to go and even though he had done what he was supposed to do, he was still brooding over another man’s hands on Sarah, his Sarah. Lars wasn’t sure when he started thinking about her in that way, but there was nothing else he could do then.

  She had told him about Finn and the trouble he had caused her. It was impossible for Lars not to see the irony in it all. She was sent away for the very reason of him. A man like him would ruin her chances of marriage. It wasn’t something that he thought of that often, but even with his mind mad at her, Lars still couldn’t think of doing that to her. He didn’t want something he had done to cause her any kind of pain. Maybe it was best to just leave her alone. There were plenty of women that he could have. The only problem was that he didn’t want someone else, he wanted Sarah. He wanted to be her first and only.

  He pulled his attention outwards as she walked in. Her hair was pulled back from her face and plaited down her back. Lars took in the look in her eyes when she finally got the courage to meet his glance. She was not looking at him as if she was afraid, but that she was in need. Sarah had long since forgotten about Finn. He wasn’t of consequence anymore.

  All she could think about was Lars and now that she knew that his wife was gone, she was hoping for an invitation to his bed. When he didn’t say anything to her, she finally remembered herself and started to serve him his dinner.

  Her hand shook as she poured the wine out of the pitcher, but he didn’t seem to notice. As she snuck a glance at him though, it was clear that he had her in his sights. She shivered at the attention he paid her and tried not to let it bother her.

  Sarah turned to leave when she heard his voice. “Where are you going, Sarah?”

  She shrugged. “If there is nothing else that you want, my lord, I was going to retire for the night.”

  “I think you know that there is more that I want.”