At one point, a buffoon named Tynan approached the main table and grabbed Asilinn’s hand. He pressed it to his drunken mouth for a slobbery kiss. Jared grasped the man's wrist and forced him to relinquish his grip on Asilinn. Tynan tripped and knocked Asilinn's wine onto the bodice of her ivory linen surcoat. It seeped across her chest like blood.
Asilinn sprung to her feet near tears waving her jewel-encrusted dirk at Tynan. Jared took her arm and retrieved the weapon from her shaking hand.
"'Tis my task to set this fool straight," he told her. Jared motioned Wynne over to the table and gave Asilinn a little push toward her maid.
"Take Lady Asilinn to my chamber and prepare her for me."
Jared nodded to Morven who guided Wynne and Asilinn from the hall. Morven stayed with them until they were safely back to the tower room and took up a post outside the door.
Stripping off her soiled surcoat, Asilinn tearfully handed it to Wynne. "'Twas lovely," she murmured.” I’m sorry I ruined it."
"It was not yer doin', lass," Wynne said. "Dinna cry now. Mayhaps the stain will come out."
Asilinn looked away from Wynne's stark perusal. Her light blue kirtle was saturated with the heady brew. "Give that to me as well," Wynne said, helping her.
"But I have nothing to wear," Asilinn protested.
Wynne moved to a trunk in the corner and withdrew a gossamer thin nightdress. "Laird Jared wishes you to wear this," she said.
"Is there no other choice?"
"I'm afraid not, lass," Wynne said. "Laird Jared was very specific."
Asilinn ripped off the thin shift that was her only remaining undergarment and slipped on the sheer wrapper. All of her charms were in full view, barely shielded by the see-through material. "I may as well be naked," she said indignantly. Wynne raised her hand over her mouth to hide her grin.
"I think that was the idea, lass."
"Find me something else," she demanded.
"I cannot." Wynne lowered her head. "Try not to be afraid, Lady Asilinn. I dinna think he means you any harm." She hurried out of the room leaving Asilinn to stare after her.
Asilinn paced the floor. This ridiculous outfit had one purpose—a man's pleasure. She went to the bed and pulled back the heavy curtains. She could cover up there. No! He would find her in bed and think her willing. Running to the trunk, she flung back the lid. It was empty. The foul bastard had not left her a scrap of material to cover herself. Retreating to the bed again, she ripped off one of the blankets and wrapped it over her, concealing her body from any prying eyes. She began pacing again.
Her eyes roamed to the tapestry. Why not? If she lingered here, she faced rape at the hands of the Dragon of Dunbocan. Had not her dream warned her? Throwing back the tapestry, she shoved open the door to the secret passage and stood face to face with Jared MacLean.
"Milady, dost thou seek to depart so soon?"
"Bastard," she railed, flying to the other entrance to their chamber. She flung it open and ran right into Morven's broad back. Her face flushed with rage. She pivoted and slammed the door when Morven turned to grin at her.
"There is no escape, Asilinn."
He advanced toward her until he stood less than a foot from her. She knew she should run, but her feet would not function. She froze in her spot. He gently lifted the blanket off her shoulders and let it fall to the floor. She felt his warm breath while she stood shivering under his scalding gaze.
Jared took a step back to admire the treasures he had unveiled. He was totally mesmerized by her ripe display. The gossamer white material coated her perfect breasts in a film of paleness enriched by her own skin tone. His breath was already shallow and he felt his need rising rapidly. Her rosy nipples shone at him through the meager covering, teasing him with their availability.
Unconsciously his hand moved to caress the treasure. A scream tore from Asilinn's throat when his palm brushed her full breast. She jumped back from his fondling trembling violently under his perusal.
His gaze traced downward to her flat stomach—to the tangle of golden curls at the crux of her womanhood. Asilinn covered herself with her hands and blushed crimson. God he wanted her. Could she be as innocent as she claimed?
"Dinna do this, Milord," she pleaded. "If you wilna cast me aside, please give me time to know you better before you take me."
Jared sucked in his breath and turned his back to her. He walked over to the desk and ran his finger over the hard wood. After what seemed like an eternity, he let himself look her way again. "I cannot grant you a reprieve. Even now, your father rides to Dunbocan with a force of two hundred men. You must be my wife in every sense of the word before I meet with him. Otherwise my plan has no chance of success."
A strangled whimper escaped from her. In desperation, she moved to his side. Asilinn was unaware of her affect on his body. "Please, I'll tell him of your generosity."
Jared encircled her in his arms and pulled her to his chest. "No, Asilinn," he whispered. "I canna wait."
Grasping her golden mane, he pulled her head back to meet his lips while he claimed her mouth.
Asilinn moaned; fear rose up to greet her. His tongue ravaged her lips until they parted admitting him to the dark recesses of her very soul. Terrified she beat his chest with her fists, but it was as if he could not feel her blows.
Aggressively he attacked her innocence with roving hands of fire and a swirling magic tongue that titillated her body to respond. Still she fought him, valiantly trying to stop the conflagration of emotions sweeping over her. She felt him lift her. Using one hand, he grasped her buttocks and pressed her close against the hardness of his loins. Asilinn gasped for air when his lips moved downward along her neck. It struck her—he was moving toward the bed.
"No," she screamed. He laid her down in the soft ticking. She was twisting now beneath his weight as he pinned her to the mattress. "No," she whimpered, tears wetting her cheeks. Her nightmare was becoming a reality.
He stopped abruptly and propped himself on his elbows looking down into her eyes. With one finger, he traced a tear along her nose.
"Leave off your struggle and I wilna harm you." Without waiting for her response, he found her lips with his and pressed his hard body between her legs.
Asilinn was overcome by sheer panic—a clear picture of her mother's struggle flashed before her eyes. She struck blindly at him and tore away from his kiss. "You wilna rape me without a fight," she choked, desperately trying to squirm from beneath him.
Jared grabbed her arms and pinned them above her head. The weight of his body was heavy between her thighs. "Zounds! I dinna want to rape you, Asilinn. You are my wife. If you stop fighting, it will not hurt."
"I'm afraid it will kill me sure," she whimpered. "I cannot. Have mercy."
"Sweetling, what am I to do with you?"
Lifting his weight from her, he left the bed and walked over to the leather chair by the desk. He flopped down in the seat as if he were exhausted by his effort. Asilinn sat up and watched him stare into the fire. It was a long time before he spoke.
"I dinna wish to take you by force, but it is clear in the eyes of the church it would not be rape. I am your husband."
"Mayhaps the church would see it different had they knowledge of my desire to go to the nunnery," she suggested, sure anything was better than the fate he had in mind for her.
He gave a shallow laugh. "A desire born of circumstance, to tell me otherwise would cast a sin upon your eternal soul."
How could he know the innermost workings of her mind? And even now he talked with her rather than doing the deed. "I dinna understand you, Milord."
"Nor I you, sweetling," he murmured. His gaze flew over her. He leaned his head down and rubbed his temple with his hand. "I only sought to end a war, not begin one."
Asilinn rose from the bed and walked over beside his chair. "Is that not an impossible dream?"
"I did not think so. I had not bargained for a spitfire wife who would have the courage to fight
me at every turn." His face suffused with a warm smile. "And now what do I do with my virgin bride? If I return you to your father untouched, he would not believe it. He will still consider your purity violated as will all your clansmen. If I keep you yet never make you mine, I'll surely go mad. And if we never have any children I hold little hope for the possibility of peace."
Asilinn knew he spoke the truth. Her father would never fathom the possibility of her having an unconsummated marriage with the Laird of Dunbocan. He would be more likely to accept her bearing Jared's child, a child who could be used against Jared in some foul plot. He would never believe Jared MacLean had wed her but not bedded her. And her reputation would be forever tarnished by her father's doubts even if they annulled the marriage.
"Tell me, wife. Am I so vile to look upon you canna bear to have me in your bed?"
"Milord, you are a MacLean, handsome though you be. But I cannot lay with my father's enemy."
He grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer to his chair. His eyes were luminescent in the firelight. "I am your husband, Asilinn. Why do you fear death by my hand in our marriage bed?"
Asilinn gasped feeling all the color drain from face. He was a dragon—a mind reader—a seer who could look into her heart and see her fear.
"Speak," he demanded. His jaw set in a taut line.
"I will fight you and your anger will rule your reason and thus I am a dead woman," she said in a raspy whisper.
"God's teeth, woman. Where did you get such a notion?"
"It happened before, Milord."
"What nonsense is this? You are alive and well."
Asilinn turned her head. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. "I saw it happen to my mother, Milord, at the hand of a MacLean. I was but a child."
He was so quiet she wondered if he had heard her. She looked back at him to find his glowing eyes studying her.
His grip loosened on her wrist and he ran his hand up her arm in a gentle caress. "Dinna fight me Asilinn and I wilna harm you. You have my word."
"My mother screamed and cried."
"Your mother was not with her husband. I am your husband. You will come to no harm in my bed."
"Give me but awhile, Milord."
"The waiting will not quell your fear." He sighed and dropped his arm back to the chair. "I ask you Asilinn as a husband to his wife. Will you give me my husband's rights and with them a chance for peace among our people?"
"And if I say nay?"
"You are still my wife and I will press you for this favor until you give in."
"But you would not rape me?"
"No, I wilna rape you." He smiled. "But I wilna leave your side till you say yes. We shall remain here in our tower."
"You call this a choice?"
"'Tis a choice of when," he replied. "More choice than most would grant thee."
It was true. If in some deep part of her, she could find a dram of courage she should act before he changed his mind and took her roughly. "Will there be much pain?"
Jared laughed when he reached over and pulled her into his lap. "I will do all in my power to make it as painless as possible," he whispered. "Will you do what I say and let me pleasure you first? The pain will not be great if your body is ready for mine."
Asilinn's eyes grew wide with fear. "Does it always hurt, Milord?"
"No, sweet Asilinn." He nuzzled her hair. "It only hurts a little the first time. Then there is only pleasure."
Asilinn drew a ragged breath blinking back a tear. If this was her one chance to escape her mother's fate, she must grasp it quickly before he lost his patience. "I will submit to you, Milord," she whispered. "Please dinna hurt me."
"Close your eyes," he instructed. His hushed voice was a seductive caress in the quiet chamber. "Let your body open to new sensations and pleasures. You are safe in my care."
She looked at him in a fleeting moment of indecision and then did what he asked. She closed her eyes. She could feel his soft lips on her eyelids, his tender nibbling on her lower lip.
His mouth covered hers in a leisurely version of his earlier kiss. It was so slow, almost endless. This time there was no urgency only a sense of being tutored by him. He fed upon her lips, lingering, teasing, and searching insistently for something.
She felt his hand move to cup her breast. The heat of his touch burned her tender flesh as he teased the tip to an excited peak. With his mouth still sealed to hers, he rose from the chair and carried her to the heavy-curtained bed.
Obediently she kept her eyes closed—she was overcome by the deep rush of feelings coursing through her. She felt more alive than she had ever thought she could be. Every fiber of her being awaited his next caress sealing her in a web of erotic confusion.
She was lying on the bed now. His lips released hers. She couldn't feel his weight on the ticking—she couldn't feel him anywhere. Confused she opened her eyes and gaped at him in wide-eyed amazement. He stood before her stark naked. His broad shoulders shone golden in the firelight. A thick mat of dark hair covered his powerful chest and trailed off to a fine line as it went downward. Her eyes followed the trail to the engorged rod springing from his muscular loins. "Oh," she gasped, clamping her eyes tightly closed and going rigid in fear.
She felt his weight next to her. His hand traveled down across her thinly clad bosom and rested gently on the crests of her firm breasts.
"Dinna be afraid, Asilinn. I will give you pleasure first."
With that dark promise, his lips again found hers. She could feel his hand rubbing insistently across her breasts, caressing, and stroking until it felt like his hand belonged there. She was not rigid anymore. He was coaxing her body to feel things it had never felt before. Her breasts ached for his every touch.
Asilinn felt his kiss grow more urgent. His hand traced a scorching trail downward coming to rest on the golden curls hiding her womanhood. His fingers began a feather light enticement through the thin cloth. A whimper escaped from deep in her throat as her desire flamed. His lips left hers and moved to her breasts, nipping playfully at first, and then suckling right through her gown. Asilinn's breath was coming in short gasps. Her body seemed to have a will of its own arching to give him better access.
Sensing her rising desire, he freed the flimsy gown from its clasps and removed it with one sweep of his hand. His head dropped immediately to capture her nipple and tease it with his hot tongue.
Asilinn cried out when his finger entered her most secret place. She felt his gentle probing—his thumb massaging the nub of her awareness. What madness was this? Her whole body was shaking—she craved his every touch. The feeling consumed her. He slowly eased her thighs apart—always stroking and kindling the fire in her she could not comprehend.
“You are so tight, Asilinn,” Jared whispered, easing two fingers into her. It felt like the membrane was still intact, but he would know soon enough. He would have a care with his explorations—he preferred another tool to take her virginity.
Asilinn’s body opened to accommodate him as he started a slow in and out massage—he probed and withdrew only to push into her again. The sensation grew more intense with each manipulation. Her hips moved with the in and out motion of his fingers and suddenly she was wet beneath his touch. “Sweet lady,” he murmured. Asilinn was filled with a raw need she did not understand—her hips seemed to find their own rhythm, faster, and more urgent.
With a tight laugh, he moved between her legs running his hands down her body while his head moved even lower to taste the heart of her. He worked his magic on her willing flesh. Breathless she opened her eyes. He glanced up at her and took her legs over his shoulders. He used his mouth to bring forth a shattering explosion of pure bliss that enveloped her whole body. Her hands grabbed the bedding in hard fists as wave after wave of erotic pleasure swept her. She called his name in a breathless whisper.
Her legs were trembling when he let them slide back to the bed and moved again to enjoy her breasts. She was shaken by the whole experience
.
He raised his head to look into her eyes. "Now that you are ready," he whispered. "It will not hurt very much."
Jared knew she was his now, slick and sweet from the pleasure he had just given her. He moved his body so his thick member waited at the entrance of her tight sheath.
His lips found hers probing and teasing, but his body could wait no longer. With one thrust, Jared pierced the only barrier to his coveted prize. She cried out in pain. He lay still, elated to know he was her first, her only.
Ever so slowly, he started to move inside her. She moaned at first, but her body contracted around him each time he moved deeper. Asilinn was wild-eyed—she tossed her head and grabbed the sheeting as she moved restlessly beneath him. He could feel her coming again—her fevered movement swept away all his control and he plunged into her hard, over and over, until her body matched his own fevered rhythm.
Asilinn was wild. She couldn't feel him deep enough within her to satisfy the power gripping her. Frantically she grabbed his waist and his buttocks holding him tight inside her. With one powerful drive, he burst inside her taking her with him over the edge of sanity to the paradise of fulfilled desire. She went limp breathlessly gasping for air. The weight of her husband was still wedged tight between her thighs.
After a few minutes, Jared rose on his elbows and gazed down at her passion-flushed face. He gave a soft, throaty laugh when he saw her expression. "'Twas not the hell you thought it to be?"
"Nay, Milord," Asilinn whispered in disbelief. With a grin, he rolled off of her and pulled her close. Asilinn was still breathing hard as he stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head. Nothing in her life had prepared her for this moment.
Still intertwined in the warmth of their union, she drifted off into an exhausted slumber.
Chapter Six
The dream came again dark and foreboding. Encased in some sort of box—a coffin, Asilinn struggled to breathe. And she wasn’t the only occupant of the tight space. There was a body—a man was in the box with her. He was dead, but she was not. They seemed to roll over the waves afloat in a skiff. There were voices outside the box—crude men were laughing and joking. None of it came to her clearly.
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