These fires were intentional, and her pulse thudded with the suspicious that Minrova was under attack. Oh, Galien…
She dressed in haste and slipped into her thickest hosen and dug out her brother’s boots from her trunk, wishing she still had her knife. Putting her ear to the door, she listened for sounds of distress, and hearing none she cracked the door and peeked out. A dark feminine figure moved through the dim halls and headed for Claire. It was her lady’s maid, and her relaxed expression left Claire perplexed. Hadn’t she seen the fires?
“Erwyn. Have you glanced outside this morning?”
“Milady,” the young girl said, performing a quick curtsey. “Milord Galien has sent word to the castle that a band of miscreants set two buildings ablaze in the village. Two of the men have been captured, and the rest have been killed.”
“Lord Galien is unharmed?”
“No harm came to Lord Galien or any of his brave men. Milord has asked that you remain in your chambers until he returns from questioning the captured villains.”
Sharp relief coursed through Claire. “Thank you, Erwyn.”
After another quick curtsey the girl turned and disappeared down the hall, and Claire retreated into her chambers to await Galien’s arrival. She stood at the window, gazing across the village beyond the castle walls. As the sunlight broke through the trees and over the mountains, the fires diminished into two trails of smoke rising from the blackened buildings. From this distance, she couldn’t ascertain what structures had suffered damage, whether they had been houses or storehouses, or perhaps one of the taverns. She hoped all those inside the buildings had escaped without injury.
The hours passed slowly and her impatience swelled as midday drew closer, and still Galien hadn’t returned. Erwyn came to help her dress properly with her bodice laced tight, and later the girl arrived with porridge and sweet bread, but Claire picked at her food and spent the rest of the time pacing from the door to the window, her restlessness and worry turning to anger. Why had Galien ordered her to remain in their chambers if the danger was over?
She glanced out at the village and saw no hint of the rising smoke from the fires, and people moved about in the streets, women chatted at the well, and children ran merrily about. The sky darkened though, and each time she returned to look out at the landscape, it grew more ominous still. A light snowfall began but soon turned to a complete whiteout, and she saw nothing from her view except a swirl of white against darkness.
Enough bloody waiting, she thought, and she bounded toward the door with purpose. She intended to find her husband, and after she hugged and kissed him and looked him over to ensure he wasn’t hurt, she planned to tell him exactly what she thought of being ordered to remain in her chambers for no good reason that she could discern.
Feeling especially cross, she flung the door open and prepared to exit her chambers, but a large man blocked her path. She gasped and looked into his dark brown eyes. Galien’s eyes.
“Going somewhere?” he asked, arching an eyebrow.
She gulped and backed into the chamber. He followed her and shut the door behind him, his gaze censuring and focused solely on her.
“Didn’t your lady’s maid relay my instructions to you?”
She nodded, too angry to speak.
“Then you were about to disobey. Is that the truth of it?” Something odd and distant flickered in his eyes, a coldness she had never glimpsed from him before. His body vibrated with rage, and his tone reflected a harsh fury she hadn’t known he possessed.
“I became impatient and I wished to find you, my lord. I am sorry.” She stared at her blue slippers, fear chasing away every bit of anger she’d been harboring.
“Sorry? You’re always sorry, Claire, especially after I give you thrashing you richly deserve, yet you continue to disavow my authority again and again. Perhaps I have punished you too lightly.”
A flash of terror swept over her. Who was this man standing before her and where had her husband gone? She peeked up and trembled to see Galien methodically taking his sword belt off, removing the scabbards, and folding the leather in half. Her insides clenched with dread, and she started shaking her head as she backed up into the wall, her livid husband following her with his sword belt dangling from his hand.
“I didn’t even make it out of my chambers, my lord, and you intend to whip me with that?” Her lip trembled and she wanted to scream out that it wasn’t fair, that even though she’d been about to disobey him, it wasn’t cause for such a harsh punishment. A spanking perhaps, just a quick reminder to teach her to heed his word, but nothing like this. Not the sword belt, please, not the sword belt…
She suspected he meant to wield it with more force than the last time he’d used it on her, the time he’d given her ten light strokes in the tent. Tears spilled from her eyes because she didn’t understand the rage taking over her husband.
“Remove your clothing, Claire, and bend over the bed.”
“My lord, please. Don’t do this.”
“Now, Claire, or this will go much worse for you.”
* * *
Galien gripped his sword belt and waited as Claire undressed. She fumbled a bit with the laces on her bodice, but she managed to strip off all her clothing and bend over the bed. Her hands shook and she grasped onto the blankets, shuddering breaths revealing the height of her fear. An urge to gather her up in his arms and soothe her worries built up, but he pushed the desire down. When danger visited the village or his keep, he expected all those under his command to obey his orders, including his wife.
Galien and his men had killed five of the marauders and captured two for questioning. The prisoners had been executed of course, but not until after they’d spilled all their secrets while begging for their lives at Galien’s feet. The cowards. After hours of interrogating the two captured men, one of whom bore the Hohenzollern crest, it had been revealed that several bands of Hohenzollern knights still roamed the countryside, men who hadn’t been at the castle during the siege. The lot of them had ridden over the hill during the siege at Hohenzollern and turned to flee before the conquering army spotted them.
Galien ground his teeth together, all the rage he’d felt during the fight returning. The prisoners claimed a camp of Hohenzollern knights was in the forest not far from Minrova, and a search of the woods had found an abandoned camp, but no sign of the remaining men. Tomorrow, after the storm calmed, they would set out again in search of the cowards and put an end to them once and for all. No one attacked Minrova or any of Galien’s holdings and got away with it. He took the safety and well-being of his subjects very seriously, and though he had disregarded much of what his father taught him growing up, this was the one lesson he had taken to heart, the one lesson he held dear, and he intended to honor the memory of his father by hunting the villains down.
Claire might have grown impatient waiting for him, but he had serious business to take care of, and he had wanted her to remain in their chambers, safe and protected within the walls of his keep, so when he’d finished dealing with the attack he knew exactly where to find his lady wife. He’d told her to wait. A simple command, and yet he’d caught her in the act of disregarding his orders.
His anger flared as he considered how frantically he’d be searching his keep at this very moment if Claire had succeeded in leaving their chambers, how worried he would have been that a sly Hohenzollern knight had infiltrated his home and harmed his sweet wife. Mayhap his imagination was running wild with worry, but the fact remained that she had disobeyed him, and for that he needed to punish her. To make her understand that she wasn’t allowed to pick and choose which orders to follow and which orders to ignore.
“Spread your legs, Claire.” He moved to her side and placed the sword belt on the bed directly in her line of vision. “Wider, wider. Good.”
She sniffled and her shoulders shook, but she kept her thighs open as he’d asked. The pinkness of her quim glistened up at him, and he placed one steadying h
and on her back and with his other hand reached between her legs to stroke her center, wanting to know exactly how wet she’d become. She always reacted to his discipline in this way, and he found this time was no exception. Though she appeared frightened, her womanly core dripped with copious amounts of her desire. As he prodded her slick entrance, her hips shifted and he caught sight of her secret puckering hole nestled so innocently between her bottom cheeks.
A dark thought crept into his mind, a new way to punish his naughty wife, to help her feel true submission and perhaps think twice before misbehaving again. He pumped two fingers in and out of her wet quim and moved his other hand down to part her arse cheeks. She tensed and tried to rear up, but he pushed her down and continued spreading her bottom to reveal her shy, untouched hole.
“Be still, wife. This is part of your punishment.”
“Wh-what are you going to do?” She looked over her shoulder, her wide eyes displaying her utter shock over this new treatment.
“I intend to punish your arsehole, Claire. Naughty wives deserve to be punished in naughty ways.” His reply came out stern, his displeasure over her planned disobedience burning hot. At least while he punished her bottom hole, he’d have some time to calm down and the lashes she received with the sword belt wouldn’t be fueled by his anger.
She turned her head and hid from him, burying her face in the blankets as her body tensed. “My lord,” she said, her voice muffled in the covers. “Please, I beg you, this is a most cruel punishment.”
“No,” he said with a firmness that made her start. “It’s not cruel, Claire. It is just. Cruel would be causing your husband undue worry when he didn’t find you where you were supposed to be, not long after an attack by a renegade band of Hohenzollern deserters. I ordered you to remain in our chambers for your safety, in case the threat against Minrova grew, and I also wished to easily find you afterward to hold you in my arms and breathe in your flowery scent and satisfy myself that all was well with my wife.”
“I-I am deeply sorry, my lord. I was worried about you and wished to find you first. I know I was supposed to wait, but—oh!” She gasped as he pressed two fingers into her arsehole, using moisture stolen from her quim to guide the way. “Oh, my lord. It hurts!”
He wasn’t even knuckle deep, yet she thrashed about on the bed and closed her legs, trying to rise up. He angled one leg in front of hers, preventing her escape and holding her down as he pushed in and out of her arse, delving knuckle deep before withdrawing and pushing inside again. Her hole was hot and tight, and his desire swelled at the thought of taking her snug entrance and giving her a good pounding with his cock.
She cried and kicked her feet to no avail, he didn’t ease up on her once, and he eventually pushed deeper, until both his prodding fingers were fully submerged in her tightness. Keeping them still for a few moments, he urged her legs apart again and smacked her thighs until she complied. Fresh sobs erupted from her throat, and she cried pitifully into the blankets.
As expected, his anger began to melt as he punished her, and by the time she stopped fighting him and lay limp over the bed while he plunged in and out of her backside, only a whisper of his irritation remained. He gave her three more deep thrusts before withdrawing from her tight hole. Giving her time to recover, he washed his hands in the water basin and returned to sit beside her while stroking her back, trailing a hand up and down her soft warm skin, thinking she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever known. The sweetest too, and he longed for her punishment to be over so he could hold her and stroke her hair while whispering words of comfort in her ear.
He removed her coif and combed her locks out with his fingers, wishing it were appropriate for ladies to wear their hair down at all times, because he liked the look of her with her hair spilling about her shoulders. She sighed and caught his gaze while wiping at her lingering tears.
“Are you still terribly angry with me, my lord?”
“No, sweet Claire. I have calmed down considerably, and I regret that I frightened you so. I do, however, mean to finish your punishment.”
“Must you use your sword belt? Couldn’t you just spank me with your hand?”
He gave a shake of his head and stroked her face, brushing away another tear as it trickled down her cheek. “You cannot talk your way out of a whipping, Claire. It’s going to hurt, but it will teach you to mind me, teach you to obey your lord husband. You took a vow before God to obey me, and I intend to help you honor that vow, because I want you to be your best, and because I want to ensure you’re always safe, and happy.”
“Will you hold me when it’s over?”
His heart contracted at her request. Of course he would. He always did. “Aye, Claire. I will hold you forever if you wish it.” He stood and picked up his sword belt, and it felt unusually heavy in his hand. Moving behind her, he pinned her wrists together, securing her hands at her lower back. “Twenty strokes,” he announced, raising the leather high and bringing it down with an echoing thwack.
Claire tensed and whimpered with each lash he rained down, and on the fifth stroke she lurched upward, desperate in her attempt to escape. He pushed her back into position and stuck her upper thighs, three blows in quick succession that made her cry out and beg for mercy. She shook under her sobs and uttered heartfelt apology after apology, and promises to obey him in the future. Despite her discomfort, he continued on and meted out the full punishment, even when the sound of her sobbing pained him, until the belt impacted across her bottom cheeks for the twentieth time. Then he dropped the belt and gathered her in his arms, just as he’d promised.
Chapter Eight
His loving embrace surrounded her, comforting her and reassuring her of his regard for her. If he despised her, surely he wouldn’t offer her such tender care after a punishment. In his arms, she felt the completeness of her love for him, a stark feeling of rightness. There was no doubt in her mind that she loved him, and she was certain he held similar affections for her. Perhaps he loved her as deeply as she loved him. Oh, how she hoped.
She shifted on his lap, her welted bottom sore, outside and inside. Shame heated her face as she recalled the reason for the tenderness in her private hole, and how exposed she’d felt when he spread her arse cheeks to punish her there, using the wetness from her quim to ease the passage of his fingers. The intrusion had burned and filled her up, and after he’d thrust in and out for a spell, her center had started to ache and throb. Moisture coated the insides of her thighs, evidence of her excitement even during a harsh chastisement.
Galien’s heart thumped a steady rhythm and lulled her into a peaceful state. His forgiveness washed over her, and she tightened her arms around his waist, wanting to be as close to him as possible. Her heart swelled with affection for this man who had stormed into her life, rescued her from certain misery with a foreign mercenary, and took his vows to her seriously even before he’d gotten to know her well.
“Are you all right, wife?”
“Aye, my lord. I am well.” She nuzzled his chest, inhaling his masculine scent and sighing into his tunic. The aching in her core pulsed harder, and she squirmed and detected the hardness of his manhood beneath her punished bottom. She tilted her face up and Galien captured her lips, pressing his mouth to hers and thrusting his tongue inside.
His rough manner stoked the flames of her desire to burn hotter and she moaned as he kissed her. He lifted her and arranged her legs to straddle him while she continued sitting on his lap, and this position allowed her to feel the brunt of his arousal through his leggings, the hard part of him that he used to conquer her and bring her to the heights of the clouds. No, the stars and the moon.
“Does my wife want a cock inside her?” He pulled back and cupped her face, and her cheeks burned with the coarseness of his speech.
“My lord,” she said in a hushed, scandalized voice.
He grinned and flipped her around, placing her atop the blankets on her back. She winced at the feel of her sore arse bru
shing against the covers, but she spread her legs in invitation, her pulse thudding as he stripped off his clothing. His cock jutted out, so long and so thick.
“My lady,” he said, mimicking her tone.
She giggled and sat up on her elbows, eager for him to advance on her.
He gripped his cock and a dark look crept over him as he situated himself atop her, aiming his length for her quim’s wet, aching opening. Rubbing the tip up and down, he teased her entrance with the softest touches, driving her into a fever of longing.
“Cup your breasts, my lady. Touch yourself.”
Her hesitation lasted but an instant, and his ardent look prompted her hands to her breasts. She cupped the mounds and squeezed, kneaded, and ran her fingertips over her hardened rosy peaks. He rewarded her obedience with a press of his thumb to her pulsating nub, and she lifted her hips to meet his firm caresses as he swirled moisture atop that sensitive spot.
Leaning over her, he trailed kisses up and down her neck and licked the soft hollow at the base of her ear. He moved lower, nibbling her flesh and grazing his teeth over her breasts. A hot spike of desire pierced her when he flicked her taut peak with his tongue, and she arched into him as he moved lower still, and lower, until…
She saw the stars approaching, felt the majestic night descend upon her in a haze as Galien lapped at her wet center, licking her folds over once before focusing his attentions on her throbbing nubbin, circling that swollen bit of flesh until the stars transpired and sparkled bright in the blackness that consumed her. She ground herself against his mouth and rode out the crashing waves, hearing the roar of the water in her ears, or perhaps it was the beating of her heart. She wasn’t sure. But she fell apart in his arms over and over again that night, spreading her legs as he pumped into her and spilled his seed, and even as she straddled him and rode his thick cock while he guided her movements.
The Conquered Brides Collection Page 44
