“No, they haven’t,” Karre said, stopping him. “The maids told me stories and I… It’s silly. I think I scared myself and I just had to see the countryside for myself to make sure they weren’t out there.”
He looked at her again with piercing intensity and she lost her breath. Her eyes traveled down over his form—moving over his broad chest to his waist. Seeing the knife hanging near his hip, her eyes moved back up.
“I couldn’t sleep,” she finished, patting the blade hidden by her skirts.
At that, he relaxed. “There is no reason to be scared. Every man here would lay down his life to protect you, my lady.”
And if they fail?
Vidar reached to cup her cheek. “You look worried.”
“Sleepy,” she mumbled. An awkward moment passed between them. He withdrew his hand and averted his eyes to the entrance behind her. The breeze shifted and she smell the dried perspiration on his body, mingled with horse and dirt. “Should we go in?”
Vidar nodded. Karre looked at the wall, thinking of how close she’d come to escaping this place. But with Vidar there, the urge to run dissipated, replaced by the need to touch him, hear him, taste him. When he touched her, she felt safe, as if that brief contact could melt away all her worry.
“Will you wake a servant to bring me a bath?” he asked, falling into step beside her.
“Yes.” Her breathing deepened. Vidar in a bath, naked, wet.
“Thank you, my lady. I am weary from the ride.” He reached to take her satchel. “Let me take this to your chamber for you.”
Karre snatched it back in surprise. The goblets banged together. Vidar stopped walking and arched a brow. Panicking, she dropped the bag and lifted her arms around his neck, kissing him hard. His lips tensed and he gasped in surprise, but her insistent tongue to his mouth forced him to relax.
She let her body mold to his, feeling a tingling pressure where they touched. Karre moaned, momentarily forgetting herself. Vidar placed his hands on her hips and pushed her firmly back. “Let us go inside.”
Karre grabbed her bag and used his words as an excuse to carry it herself. “I’ll see to your bath.”
* * * * *
After waking a servant and putting her stolen goblets back on the table, Karre hurried back to the chambers she shared with Vidar. Her heart beat fast, with both the idea of almost being caught and the promise of Vidar’s seduction. By the time she reached his bedchamber door, she was breathing heavily.
Without knocking, she went inside. To her surprise, she found Bratene leaning over Vidar in the metal tub, scrubbing his naked back. Vidar moaned, a low, throaty sound of pleasure.
Karre skidded to a stop, her mouth opening. For a long moment, she didn’t say anything as she waited for them to notice her. The servant lifted his arm, washing his side. Karre crossed her arms over chest, still waiting to be noticed. Bratene’s hands dipped beneath the water, following the indent of his spine down, down, down…
“Stop right there,” Karre demanded loudly.
Bratene gasped and jerked away from Vidar. The maid’s eyes were wide when she turned to Karre. Vidar glanced back, his movements slow. She expected remorse or guilt, instead he just looked.
“Out,” she ordered Bratene.
“But I have not finished,” the maid protested.
“Out,” Karre repeated with more force. “Now.”
Vidar’s brows lowered over his gorgeous eyes.
“My lady,” Bratene mumbled, rushing out of the door.
When it slammed closed, Vidar said, “She wasn’t finished.”
“What? Washing you?” Karre stormed across the room to her door, going into her chambers to hide her bag before coming back to face him. “I thought men of Staria did not sleep with other women once they were married.”
“What are you talking about?” Vidar frowned.
“Perhaps the word sleep was too vague,” she answered, pacing past his tub only to turn around and pace back so she could face him. Hands on hips, she continued, “You said that your gods smile upon your marriages and that you do not seek to fuck other women because you have to be faithful or warlike or disciplined. War, marriage…” She slashed her hand at him, not even coming close to touching him.
“We stay faithful because the gods demand discipline,” he corrected. “Just as war demands discipline. It is our way.”
“Whatever,” she grumbled.
“You are angry?” He made no move to get out of the bath and the firelight reflection on the glistening water that beaded on his soap-trailed flesh made her mouth go dry.
“What do I care if the maid tries to…” She gestured at his chest. A thought whispered in the back of her mind that she needed to stop talking, needed to walk away, needed to rethink what she was doing. This conversation wasn’t calculated or planned and it definitely was not advantageous. “I mean, you’ve been gone. You…” She hesitated at his piercing look. “You didn’t tell me you were going.”
The argument seemed silly now that it was said.
“You are upset because I left without speaking with you first?” He straightened. “I told you I had duties to attend to and I sent word with Sir Oskar.”
Oh, yes, the mumbling Sir Oskar. How did the knight put it? “My lady, Sir Vidar sends his respect. He is detained at the marshland encampment. Have you a message for him?”
“I was not told you needed me while I was away,” he added.
Why was he looking at her like that?
“What do I care if you leave? You don’t owe me an explanation. We only knew each other a few days before you left.” Karre frowned. And that was it. The truth of it. The whole of their relationship. A few short days, a ceremony and a small trip. She had no reason to say the things coming out of her mouth. She had no reason to be jealous of Bratene.
Oh, but she was jealous. Her entire body seethed with it. The emotion struck her hard, forcing her to act without thought. And it was not only jealousy, but anger and frustration that he left her, his bride, alone in a strange fortress threatened by cannibals. She didn’t ask to marry him, didn’t plan to stay married to him, for such a thing would never work, but he didn’t know that.
“Then you are jealous that Bratene bathed me? There is no reason. It is a servant’s job to bathe—”
“Well, I made some changes while you were gone,” Karre interrupted, well aware of how she sounded but unable to stop. “I can work, too, you know.”
He smiled and there was a definite challenge in his gold-flecked gaze. “Changes to bathing?”
“Yes. No. I mean we still bathe. Of course there will still be bathing. But maids don’t bathe married men.” Karre knelt by the tub and reached her hand behind him. Finding the washcloth the maid had dropped, she pushed it onto his back. The warm heat radiating off him and the subtle smell of Starian soap caused her to inhale deeply. “I can bathe you and, if I’m not around, you can do it yourself.”
“But servants—”
“Yourself.” Karre pushed at his back. Bathing servants weren’t unheard of in her travels, but neither were the “happy endings” they included with the deal. “No maids are to be massaging any part or you while I’m around.”
“Very well, my lady, it will be as you wish.”
“Good.” She nodded, moving to methodically scrub his back. “I’m glad we understand each other.”
Chapter Seven
Because right now, in this moment, she didn’t want to think.
Karre massaged Vidar’s neck, having discarded the washcloth to use her hands. Soap made her fingers glide over the solid ridge of muscles and she took full advantage of his wet, naked state. She explored every inch under the guise of washing him. Her thighs tightened and her pussy ached to be filled as moisture gathered along the soft folds.
She pulled, urging him to lean back in the metal tub. Small protests erupted in her mind, but she willfully refused to heed them because right now, in this moment, she didn’t want to think. Karr
e rubbed his chest, pressing her hands firmly in the center and massaging them outward. She skimmed his nipples and his breath caught.
She kept exploring, moving leisurely down until her hands dipped beneath the water. The tight hold of her green corset pulled tight to her chest, forcing her breasts up and together to create deep cleavage. Vidar stared at her breasts as she leaned over him and gripped the edge of the tub.
She found his navel and the back of her hand brushed his solid cock. Vidar groaned. Wet fingertips found her breasts and thrust between them. She wrapped her massaging fingers around his erection, gliding down to his balls, then up.
“Take off your gown,” he ordered.
Karre made no move to obey. She twisted her hands on his cock, lacing her fingers as she worked her hands over him beneath the blue water.
“I wish to take you now,” he said, not as commanding as before. “Lift your skirts and climb on top of me.”
Karre ignored the request. She pumped harder, gripping him tighter. “No, I’m bathing you.”
Water splashed on her sleeves and shoulders. She thrust one hand down to grab his balls and the root of his shaft while the other continued to move along the smooth arousal. The hand between her breasts tried to tug the mounds from the corset, but without loosening the laces, they were bound too tightly.
Vidar tensed, his body jerking beautifully as he came beneath the water. She kept pumping, milking his cock of every last drop. When his head fell back, she stopped, grinning. Running a finger down the center of his chest, she said, “There’s a good warrior.”
“Yea,” Vidar breathed, his limp body hers to command. He didn’t know why the maid’s presence had upset her, as it was common for servants to attend a leader’s bath, but he found he liked the spark of jealousy he saw in her. Besides, no maid had ever given him a bath like the one he’d just had.
Lids fell heavy over his eyes as he watched Karre stand. She began pulling at her corset and he licked his lips in eager anticipation. Glorious breasts spilled forward and the bodice dropped to the ground. The underdress had been cut low in the front, open to her waist. She pushed the wet sleeves aside, unveiling her naked form.
Vidar pushed up from the bath, stepping out. He’d missed the feel of her body. Even as his cock lay limp and satisfied, he knew it would easily be roused to go again.
Instead of dropping her gown, she walked to him, holding it before her. She used it to dry him off. He couldn’t resist cupping a breast as it came within reach. He groaned, squeezing it.
Karre covered his hand with hers and pulled him with her toward his bed. She sat on the end and spread her thighs. “Kneel, warrior.”
He did as she commanded, kneeling between her legs. The pink folds were parted, showcasing the hidden bud of her clit surrounded by the glistening cream of her body. Her pussy welcomed his mouth and he moaned as her taste filled him. He thrust his tongue into her before licking up her slit. She squirmed, thrusting into him. He gripped her thighs.
His cock lifted, jealous of his mouth’s pleasure. He reached to pump the shaft, helping it to full capacity. Feeling how wet she was, how open, he surged to his feet. She looked at him in surprise, but he didn’t wait. Bringing his arousal to her pussy, he thrust hard, pulling her body into his so they slammed together. He had to bend his knees to make their position work, but he ignored the burn in his thighs and calves as he propelled his hips back and forth.
“Oh, oh, oh,” Karre gasped over and over, punctuating his thrusts with the feminine sounds. Her large breasts bobbed as she reached her hands over her head to grab the fur coverlet on his bed. He fucked her harder, just to watch them move. Oh, how he wanted to bury his face between them. How he wanted to lick them, bite them, fuck them until they were covered in his cum.
He knew he had missed being with her, but he hadn’t realized how much until this moment. Her pussy trembled around his erection and her back arched off the bed. Vidar couldn’t resist her body’s call as she came. He jerked, meeting his climax as her muscles clamped down. With a great sigh, he collapsed to his knees and rested his head on the edge of the mattress. Her legs were still open, unmoving against his arms.
When he regained his strength, he crawled up onto the bed and lay down next to her. “Would you like me to carry you to your chamber?”
Karre gave a soft laugh. “I heard that Starian men and women don’t sleep in the same bed.” She pulled her legs up over the side and inched higher so their faces were close. Stroking his cheek, she said, “That’s another change I’m going to make. There’s no reason to sleep in separate beds. You can carry me back to my room, but only if you plan on staying there with me.”
* * * * *
What had she been thinking? Sleep in the same room? The Starian setup had been perfect, affording her privacy. Even as she knew her staunch control was slipping, she couldn’t help snuggling closer to Vidar’s side. The man was a machine in bed, going for hours, and incredibly enthusiastic.
After carrying her to her bed, he’d taken his time exploring her breasts—nipping, kissing, licking, fucking. He pulled her on top of him to straddle his face as he lay on his back. He’d buried his mouth and chin in her sex, only turning her around as she began to climax so she could ride his cock to completion. He bent her on her hands and knees and took her from behind, pounding into her until sweat slicked their bodies and she couldn’t breathe from the sheer pleasure of it. He then turned in the bed and lay on his side, leisurely licking her pussy as she sucked his marvelous cock.
Karre believed he would have kept going had she not protested and begged to sleep. Now, as morning light streamed into the room, she felt his hard cock nudging her naked thigh. She lay on her stomach, her head turned from him. Vidar lifted her hair before brushing his lips along the back of her neck.
“I will have to thank Sir Jacque for his words. I find I enjoyed implementing his advice.” Vidar nipped at her flesh while his hand skimmed over her naked ass.
Karre chuckled. “Who’s he?”
“A solider from the marsh encampment. I felt how you enjoyed such things.” Fingers followed down the cleft, nearing her pussy. “There are more positions that I would like to try.”
“Haven’t you had enough?” She moaned in protest, only partially meaning it. Her muscles ached with the dull fatigue only a night of sex could bring.
“Of you? Not even close, my lady.” Vidar pressed his hips into her. “I wish to finish you again before going to break our fast.”
“Do you have to leave again?” She turned her face into the bed.
Vidar’s finger wiggled its way to her clit. “Only when word from the marshland encampment calls me away.”
“Why would they call you?” She parted her legs slightly to ease his way.
“I do not wish—” he began.
“How is it you wanted to take me?” She turned to him, eyeing him through her lashes.
Instantly, he pushed up. “Sit on my lap.”
Karre did, straddling his legs. She smiled when his eyes instantly went to her breasts. “You were saying? Why would they call you away?”
“I do—” Vidar gasped as she pushed her breasts into his face only to withdraw. “I interrogated Magda’s spies while I was there.” Karre did it again, twisting so her nipple hit his mouth. He sucked it into his mouth and groaned. She pulled back and the nipple slipped from his grasp with a loud smack.
“What did you find out?” Karre reached between them and took hold of his shaft, intent on carrying out her own interrogation. She rubbed the tip along her folds.
Vidar closed his eyes. “Sorceress Magda plans to lead her minions against Spearhead. I’ve discovered her plot and alerted the king. He sends us reinforcements.”
Karre hesitated at the news.
“Mm.” He pulled her hips down, managing to get the tip of his cock inside her before she caught herself. “It will be a glorious battle.”
Glorious? She hesitated again.
Vidar
pulled her down on his cock and she gasped as he filled her, stretching her sore muscles. “I will bring you much honor, my lady.” He lifted her up. “You will find much pride in my sword.” He jerked her onto his shaft.
Karre lost her train of thought. Vidar pushed his hand up between her breasts, urging her to lean back while on his cock. She braced her weight on her hands. The position put pressure along the sweet spot in her pussy. They thrust in a leisured rhythm and when her release washed over her it was perfect.
Vidar took her upper arm and pulled her to his chest. He groaned, stiffening as he came. He kept her impaled on him as he adjusted himself on the bed to lie down. He held her to his chest, rubbing along the small of her back.
“Perhaps it is too early to dine. We should stay right here,” he whispered moments before his chest rose and fell in even breaths.
* * * * *
Karre’s arrival at Spearhead couldn’t have had worse timing. Apparently, they had gone decades without an attack on the fortress, but by Vidar’s own words, a siege was imminent. She saw the evidence of his concern on the faces of the knights, in the way their rigid security became even more so. They drank less, brooded more and the number of guards patrolling the wall doubled.
Escape would not be easy, but how could she stay, knowing what she did?
“Who are you?”
Karre blinked, so lost in thought she didn’t hear Vidar’s approach. “What do you mean?”
Did Divinity say something to you?
In the last few days, cast under the rapturous spell of Vidar’s touch, she had almost let herself forget that the corporation was out there. How could she think of evil deeds when his touch was so heavenly? An easy rapport developed, making for lighthearted banter but never serious conversation. It wasn’t a perfect marriage, but it was the best relationship she’d ever been in. Well, to be honest, it was pretty much the only real relationship she’d ever been in.
Taking Karre (Divinity Warriors 4) Page 10
