by Ashlee Price
She wasn’t sure what the old woman was talking about and she stood there for a few minutes. “Well then who was it that I saw?”
“That is what we don’t talk about. He is the one I had told you about. Just make sure you never say anything in front of the lady. She will not take kindly to it and one of her moods is inevitable.”
Sarah agreed that she would keep her mouth shut. It was strange to have been so privy to the information. It was wrong of her to think about it, but she could see why she had strayed. The man had been very good looking and he had seemed rather pleasant. Sarah wasn’t sure if she was just missing the past, but she was thinking about her own brush with romance and how badly it had ended. Instead of sneaking around in beds, Sarah was shipped away, never to know what it was really like to be touched in such a way.
“Don’t get too comfortable down here, Sarah. You have to be back upstairs in a little while and my lady does not like to be kept waiting.”
Sarah nodded. She had gotten that from the few minutes that she had been around her before. The place was starting to feel a little stranger as she learned more. Nothing was as it seemed, but Darlee was right, her ladyship was very temperamental and she seemed to keep finding new ways to make her upset the longer she was there. After the first week, Sarah was starting to wonder if she would be sent away. Sarah wasn’t sure if that would be a bad thing or not.
Chapter 3
“Lars, I want another one. That servant is not what I am looking for. She is mouthy and I can’t take it anymore.”
Lars smiled back at his wife and for some reason it was finally a real one. The idea that a young girl servant was upsetting her was enough to put him in a good mood. She was always so vile to everyone that no one said a word to her. It was about time that someone stood up to the venomous woman that he was attached to.
“I do not see why you are getting so worked up. It is just a servant. I will find something else for her to do if you like.”
Mila brightened. “Yes please. Find something to do with her. Maybe she would be good for the kitchen, strong back and all.”
Lars wasn’t sure what the comment meant, but he was more than happy to meet the one that could bend her out of shape so well, if for no other reason than to thank her. Lars didn’t know what he would do with her or where she could go, but the kitchens always needed more people.
“I will make sure to take care of that before I leave.”
“You are leaving again, so soon?”
He nodded and then took a drink from the cup in front of him.
“For how long?”
“Why does it matter? I know that you have someone here to keep your bed warm at night.”
She had the decency to get a little pink cheeked when he said it. Though she had never tried too hard to hide her contempt for him or her lover, it was something else to hear him finally say it out loud. There was no sense in trying to reason with him. There was no reasoning with Lars and she just shrugged. “I just wanted to know. You of course don’t have to tell me.”
He didn’t seem to be too bothered by her lover. He never had been. There had been a time that she had wished he would stop it, proclaim his love for her and promise to never let her go again. But it had never happened. Mila knew that Lars had never loved her.
“I will be back in a fortnight. The clans are grouping up and it is going to be another battle soon enough. I need to be there.”
“Can’t you send someone else? Why does it always have to be you?”
Lars got up and walked towards his own bed chambers. Every conversation was about what he should or shouldn’t be doing and bringing up her lover had put him in an ill mood. He shouldn’t have said anything to her about it and it had made him wish he hadn’t said a word.
Instead of going to his bed and worrying about what the next clan battles were going to be. He didn’t want to go, but in the same way, he didn’t want to stay, so instead he was always first to volunteer. That part was right, but it had come like second nature as he tried to spend as much time as he could away from his wife. It was becoming time for her to go to the countryside and give him some space. Lars didn’t care if she took her lover with her, as long as she was gone when he got back. He decided that he was going to make sure that she left soon.
Strolling outside of the castle, just outside of the outer walls, he took his time and tried to think of anything else. His eyes took in the moon that seemed to be just out of reach over the cliffs to the east. There was never time to enjoy the views anymore. He stopped there and leaned against the stone wall, closing his eyes for a moment.
He only opened them when he heard a noise coming from behind him. He jerked up and opened his eyes. It was then that he saw the dark woman that his wife hated so much. It was the first time that he had seen her and she was not at all what she had expected. He had been expecting a waif-thin girl, but the servant named Sarah was all woman. She had curves in all of the right places, and even though it was dark, the moonlight made the white in her dress shine brighter and gave him the view that he needed.
“What are you doing out so late?”
Sarah jumped when she heard the voice, not really seeing where it was coming from. When she finally saw who it was, Lars coming out of the shadows, she bowed immediately. “I am sorry, my lord. I didn’t see you there.”
Lars urged her face upwards with his fingers on her chin. “So you are the one that drives my wife so crazy?”
She nodded. “I do not mean to, my lord, but I seem to upset her at every turn. My apologies.”
It didn’t feel sincere and he chuckled a little. “She wants you away from her.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Sarah figured that she would have to leave, a proposition that she was not looking forward to. Sarah found that in a strange way, she actually liked to be there. When he stopped her with a hand on her arm, she looked back at him confused.
“My lord?”
“Where are you going?”
“I am going to leave, my lord.”
“I did not mean that you would leave, Sarah. I meant that you would have to be given something else to do.”
Sarah was more stunned that he knew her name than anything else. Why did it mean so much to her that she hadn’t been invisible to him the whole time? She had passed him in the hallways, never meeting his dark gaze, but there was something about the man that had caught and held her attention. It was just surprising to know that she had maybe caught his attention as well.
She tried to make it seem as if she was not happy to get another assignment, anything really had to be better than waking up his wife and waiting on her all of the time. “Yes, my lord.”
“What do you want to do?”
Sarah met his eyes finally and she could see the glint in them as he looked at her. “I don’t understand, my lord.”
His hand came out and his fingers were pushing the hair out of his face. How did she not understand? “It is a simple question. What would you like to do?”
Lars knew what he would have liked her to do, the attraction to the dark woman swift and surprising. He wasn’t usually attracted to the girls in the castle, but it was harder to deny the one with those almond-shaped eyes looking up at him.
She still hadn’t answered him, not sure what he was talking about, but there was no way that she could think with his hands on her.
“Whatever you want me to do, my lord.”
A fire leapt in his eyes that made her gasp. He moved closer to her and for a moment, she thought he was going to kiss her, but instead pulled away and looked down. “I will put you in the kitchens. Darlee will make sure that you know what your duties are.”
“Yes, my lord.”
He started to walk away, but he then turned around. “Be careful out here, Sarah. A girl like you could bring the devil out of any man.”
She watched him walk away and his words made her shiver inside. She finally took a deep breath when she felt like she could
. Why did she feel so out of sorts around him and what did he mean? Sarah wasn’t sure, but she was sure of the fact that she was better off in the kitchens. Ever since she had been sent there and had had to wait on Mila hand and foot, she was done being the woman’s servant. She was rude and too temperamental for Sarah. The idea of getting away from her made her smile, yet it was her body remembering the touch from Lord Lars that made her tremble slightly on the inside.
Chapter 4
“You are going to be late, Sarah. You know how she is.”
Sarah just smiled and asked Darlee what it was that she needed done.
“Are you asking for trouble? I know you like to get a rise out of her, but she is not someone that you want to cross.”
“I have been pulled off of her duties and sent to the kitchens. So I am here to do whatever you need done.”
“What do you mean? Who did this?”
“My lord told me just last night. It seems that his wife is not very happy with the way I am doing things, so now I am here with you.”
Darlee just shook her head. “I would not want to be down here if I could go up there and sit all day.”
“It is not as nice as it sounds. It is boring and you have to listen to her complain all day. I can see why my lord is always gone. I would want to be as far away from her as possible.”
“Watch your tongue child. You just make sure that they don’t hear you saying that sort of thing about them. I know that she can be hard to deal with, but believe me when I tell you that I have worked under far worse. My lord isn’t so bad, but his wife is a bit harder to deal with. Just remember that you are home now. I don’t want you to be sent away.”
“I am not trying to go anywhere. It is better here than it ever was at home. Besides, I thought you would be happy that I was down here with you.”
Darlee softened. “I am. Now get to work or I will send you to the stables next.”
That made Sarah scurry off to start the many loaves of bread. There was supposed to be a sort of celebration before the Lord of the house left for another fight in the upper clans. There was to be a lot of people there that night and it was up to the kitchen to make sure that everything went well. Sarah was running around most of the day and even though she was exhausted by the time the meal was finally served, there was nowhere else she would have rather been. Even though the work was harder, the rooms were hotter, it was still better than having to serve Mila. The woman had a bad temper and she was much happier working with the more level headed cook.
***
The celebration was not for the servants, but it gave them all some time once it started. Sarah found herself drinking a little and laughing with several of the other women that worked in the kitchens. She was sent to find another bottle in the cellar down two flights of stairs, but there were so many to choose from. Sarah didn’t know much about the drink, but she knew that she liked the way it made her feel. It was no wonder that everyone was always so happy when they were drinking, she thought to herself. If she would have known it was so good, she would have tried it a long time ago. Sarah had had a drink with Finn a few times, but never that much. She felt giddy and even though the walls were closing in on her and the coolness of the cellar did nothing for the burning throughout her body.
When she finally got down there, Sarah didn’t know which one to pick and she was finding her vision blurred and everything a bit hard to see. When she heard his voice again behind her, she startled and then turned around to answer his question.
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 anothe
r 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.”