"You will—" James started to speak, but Charity couldn't wait to repeat another promise — whatever it was, she would do it. She pulled forward on her knees before bucking her body back towards his. His cock slid inside her and he cried out in pleasure. He gave another thrust. His fingers were still at her clitoris, which he rubbed as the pleasure of her orgasm washed against her body like a wave against the shore. Through her bliss she was aware of him climaxing inside her before collapsing against her back. He lifted his body off of hers and pulled her towards him. He draped a strong arm around her while cupping his body to hers.
"This time, I won't let you leave to think it over," he said through gasps.
Charity lay quietly in his arms. She wanted to hold onto the glow of satisfaction rather than ruin it with the problem of reality, but perhaps it wouldn't hurt as bad now that she was sated and fulfilled. "Elizabeth saw us," she whispered.
"And?" He spoke in the same way, with the same smirk as before. Charity shied away from him. "Stop," he commanded.
She stopped moving, but couldn't hold back her words. "James, I can't think straight around you. When I'm in your arms, I forget all about my fears, my uncertain future. I only want to stay with you. But you don't want that and I can’t just be your plaything."
James was touching her as she spoke, but then his hand stilled against her breast. "Do you doubt my feelings that much?" There was a dangerous edge to his question that made her hesitate.
"I never assumed there were feelings," she said, slowly.
James jolted upwards, drawing her onto his lap so that her limbs draped across him. He held her tightly. "And when you mentioned conceiving, and the next day…" He pulled her back just far enough so that she could look into his face. "Please don't tell me you ran off and agreed to marry that hideous man because you thought I didn't love you."
Charity bit her lip and nodded. She could feel his cock stir against her bottom as she did.
"Oh Charity, you are going to be punished for that."
RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
By Jill Glass
Kinnon’s head hit the dirt. The pain was ringing between his ears, drowning out the noise of the battle around him. Any strength he had left to grip his weapon disappeared. The last thing he felt was the grass on his cheek before his vision went black and he slipped into unconsciousness.
The memory of that grass against his skin was replaced by the feeling of someone’s hand slapping his face.
“C’mon, you brute. Wake up!”
The urge to fall asleep again almost sucked Kinnon back down until another slap woke him up again. He grunted, turning his head slightly, if only to dodge another slap before it happened.
“That’s it, open your eyes. You’ve been out for days.”
Kinnon frowned but tried to force his eyes to open, if only to find who was hitting him and make their life extremely short. The hazy blur he saw was enough to make him shut them tight again as his stomach lurched.
“Keep still. You got a nasty crack on your head and you need to rest.”
That much Kinnon understood. He’d seen plenty of head wounds in the past, so he knew the normal instructions for handling such things. But who had found him? He tried to remember and found the details fuzzy, making him struggle with them. There had been a battle. He’d been wounded and had fallen on the field. But there weren’t any settlements near the battlefield, were there?
Kinnon opened his eyes again and saw the outline of a woman, busying herself with what looked like a basket of bandages. This was no abandoned field. Instead, he was laying on a bed in a small dwelling of some sort. His instincts told him to get up and fight, but his head told him he’d be flat on his back in seconds. He settled for the next best option and grabbed the woman’s wrist. “Where am I?”
The woman turned to him and he felt the muscles tighten in her arm but she didn’t pull away. “You’re in my home. I found you in the fields on my way back here.”
“Who are you?”
“My name is Vanora.”
Kinnon blinked as the blurring in his vision started to clear. Sky-blue eyes looked back at him, just wide enough to tell him he’d given her a start. When he didn’t move again, those same eyes narrowed and she jerked her wrist away suddenly. “You’re in no shape to try anything so don’t bother. Now, let me do my work — if you’re lucky, you might get that big arse of yours out of my bed soon. I’m certainly not dragging you around again.”
Vanora turned back to the basket, her honey-colored hair tinged with red as it fell across one shoulder. He watched her for several silent moments until she glanced out of the corner of her eye at him.
“I was wondering if you’d ever wake up,” she said.
“What happened?”
“Only you’d be knowin' that. I just saw the leftovers in the field, including you.”
“There was no one else?”
“Just the scavengers picking over what was left. Whoever you were with was long gone.”
Kinnon nodded and immediately regretted it. Her cool hand was at his cheek though, distracting him from the pain shooting behind his eyes.
“Don’t be tryin’ to move your head,” she told him in a firm voice. “You’ll find no sympathy from me if you don’t listen.” The bite in her tone soon faded as her voice grew softer. “Sleep for now. I’ll wake you for food in a bit.”
Too tired to argue, or ask anything else, Kinnon did as she said.
When Kinnon awoke later, Vanora was bent over a large pot hanging above a fire pit near the corner, the smoke rising through the hole in the roof. He looked around, careful not to move his head. It was a small hut, containing little more than a bed, a small table and chairs and some baskets of various fruit and food. The hut itself was of no interest for him, as he’d seen it’s like many times before.
As for Vanora, now she was a wonder. She wore plain, brown colored skirts that did nothing to show off the rest of her. The blouse she wore, on the other hand, did show off her curves. He followed the line of the cloth with his eyes. It tightened in all the right areas, over the swell of her breasts and in at her waist, just barely showing the curve of her hips and ass. Had he been well, Kinnon would have gotten up right that moment and tested the waters with a well-placed hand. As it was, he could only admire from afar.
A thought occurred to him though and he glanced about the room again. There was no sign of anyone else living there. A young, pretty woman living on her own was unheard of, not to mention dangerous.
“You alone here, girl?”
Vanora started and turned around, her eyes giving him that same wide-eyed look as when he’d asked her name. She recovered quickly though and smoothed down her clothes. “Of course not! That would be daft, a single woman staying out in the wilds on her own. My father’s out on his yearly hunting trip is all. He should be bringing home the winter meat soon.”
“And he left you alone here for all this time?”
Her hands went to her hips and that familiar attitude was back. “It hasn’t been that long and I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, I’ll have you know. I did just fine a job taking care of your overgrown self.”
Kinnon fought the smile that came to his lips, but nodded. “Yes, yes you have. And thank you for that.”
His tone disarmed her and she lowered her arms, the attitude failing as well and she nodded. “Food will be ready in a moment. Rest up.”
****
It was a week before the strangers appeared. Kinnon’s head wound hadn’t yet healed, but the dizzy spells and blurred vision had lessened. He’d even started walking the grounds near Vanora’s home. She insisted on giving him a litany of rules about when he should or shouldn’t go wandering about, which he normally would follow. But he threw those rules out the window when he caught sight of a pair of scouts from an enemy tribe coming towards Vanora’s isolated house.
“Look,” Kinnon said, “if they catch me here, you’re going to have more trouble th
an you need. I’ll just go into the woods for a while and when they leave, I’ll be back.”
“No! You are not going out there now. It’s harvest time and the nights are freezing cold. I didn’t heal you up to have you go catch your death outside. They’ve never given me any trouble before. I’ll tell them I’m ill and to come back another time.”
Kinnon could tell she was fighting not to raise her voice and be heard by the soldiers outside, but they would get impatient soon enough and might barge in. He didn’t want to risk that. While they might be nothing for him to handle, for her they were more than a match.
“Fine, go do what you think you can do. Pray I’m not right.”
Vanora gave him one last glare before taking a deep breath and stepping outside, shutting the flimsy door behind her.
Kinnon heard nothing for a moment before he heard Vanora speak, but couldn’t make out the words. She was talking faster than she usually did and the soldiers’ voices were barking and sharp. Then came the crack of skin hitting skin and her small cry.
In seconds he was out of bed, his sword in his hand. If he was right, they’d storm the house and take what they wished — including the girl. If he was wrong … well, Kinnon thought to himself as he tested his shoulder and head. If he was wrong, they shouldn’t have laid a hand on the girl. The end result would be the same.
Kinnon leaned his shoulder against the wall beside the door and waited. Sure enough, a minute later the pair of scouts came through. The first one popped his head in, looking around and was caught with a hand around the back of his neck. Kinnon pulled him in and down, his sword thrust up under his ribcage, running him through and dropping him to the floor. The second man, in his confusion, rushed in to check on his companion and had his own sword at the ready, but it was too late. Kinnon lashed out and threw him to one side before finishing him with one clean strike.
Not sparing either of the men a second glance, he went to the door where Vanora was holding her cheek. He gently pulled her hand away, tilting her chin up to the sunlight. Nothing more than a good bruise had started and for that he was thankful. As for her argument with the dead men, he was furious. “Have I not listened to every order you gave while I rested? Did I not do exactly as you’d said, trusting that you knew better than I?”
As his voice rose it occurred to Kinnon why he was so upset with her. She had endangered them both, but more than that, she'd endangered herself for him. The very thought of what his enemy could have done to her chilled his blood and enraged him at the same time. That chill brought him back to reality and he stared into her tear-filled blue eyes, the same blue eyes that had watched over him while he was sick and hurt. Vanora had taken a stranger into her home despite not knowing anything about him, and there she sat beside him, crying because of him and his anger. His fury eased at the thought and he set a hand down, covering both of hers.
“You could have been hurt — killed even — or maybe worse. What then? Why would you risk that? What did you think you were going to do?”
Her eyes dropped and her voice was soft and shaking. “I don’t know.”
“You are out here alone, aren’t you?”
She nodded, refusing to look at him. “My mother passed after birthing me, my father died three winters ago.”
Kinnon made up his mind then and took her arm, dragging her back to the bed, away from the now still bodies that he kicked out of her door. As scared as she was, Vanora went without hesitation. Or she did until he threw her across his lap.
“What are you doing?!” Vanora screeched in protest, her hands fumbling at his legs, trying to find purchase to get up.
Kinnon flipped her skirts up and over her back, revealing her only partially covered pure white cheeks. He ran his hand over them, soft and slow. “Teaching you to listen when I say something important.”
One hand came down in a sudden, sharp slap, landing on her pale skin. Immediately a rosy blush bloomed there and she cried out, more from the shock than the sting. Her body jumped and her hands flailed, going straight for her bottom, trying to cover herself from his hand. Kinnon let her flail for a moment while the sting died down, waiting until he felt her muscles relax. In that moment, he caught her wrists and held them both in one meaty paw in the small of her back.
“Wait! No more!” She struggled again and started to kick.
“Hey!” He tugged on her arms suddenly, shocking her out of her struggle. “Settle down.”
“No! What are you doing?!”
“I told you what I was doing,” he said, his voice even and calm in spite of his anger with her.
“But why?” She whimpered, not understanding as she went limp across his lap.
“Who had to go clean up the mess, Vanora? After I told you not to go out there.”
She sniffled and reluctantly answered. “You.”
“Have I hurt you since I’ve been here?”
Again the reluctant answer and sniffle came. “No.”
“Then you should have listened, shouldn’t you have?” He swatted her ass again, the blush coming back with a warm glow.
“Ow! Yes, I should have listened!”
“Are you going to lie still then?” Kinnon raised his hand again and waited for her answer.
“Do I have a choice?” she said, her sniffling gone for a moment.
Kinnon felt her tense up as she expected him to swat her again, but he didn’t. “Yes. You can lay here and learn something or you can get up and I can never bother to tell you what to do again.”
“You’d never tell me what to do again?” she asked, turning her head a little.
“No, why would I if you aren’t going to listen anyway?” Kinnon could almost hear her pouting. “So what’s it going to be?”
Vanora’s voice came out in a whisper as her arms went slack in grip. “Alright.”
“Alright what?” When she was silent again, he brought his hand down on her soft skin, brightening it one more time. “I asked you a question.”
“Alright! I’ll lay still!”
His hand landed again. “What else?”
“I’ll learn to listen,” she said with a whimper.
Kinnon ran his calloused hand across the pink glow of her bottom. “Good girl.”
Vanora wiggled against him, trying to ease the ache and growing warmth that spread across her skin as he brought his hand down again and again. Sometime between the last few slaps of his hand, the sting was replaced by a warmth that made her cries become less sharp and more drawn out, more moaning than yelling.
Kinnon used her wrists to pull her up, settling her stinging bottom in his lap. “Are you going to listen from now on?” he asked, his hand again rubbing across her skin. The spanking had made her skin oversensitive, tingling and warm and she moaned again as he touched her softly.
“Yes,” she said, her body moving against his hand.
“Spread your legs then.”
The shock of his order almost brought Vanora out of the heat he’d sparked in her, but she bit her lip and did what he said, bracing her toes on the floor to keep them spread. He slipped one finger between her thighs and into her folds, the sheer wetness betraying just how much of the burning had turned to pleasure. The moan she gave was followed by her entire body writhing against his lap.
“Not so bad when you actually listen, is it?” he whispered, leaning over her shoulder, his lips pressed against her neck. When Kinnon saw her start to answer, he pushed that same finger deep inside of her again, making whatever words she was about to say come out in one strained gasp. “I think we both know the answer to that.” He reached up and wrapped his hand around the back of her neck, pulling her to his chest.
Vanora came without argument, huddling against him as he stroked her back and held her tight. Her hair fell across his face and Kinnon closed his eyes, relaxing the tension in his shoulders. The relief that she was safe wiped the anger and frustration away until he realized there was something else replacing it. He wanted her.
/> Tilting her chin up, Kinnon met her eyes and saw a lust that echoed his own. He pressed his lips against hers, his hand moving to her hair and tightening as he held her close. Vanora gasped against his mouth, her hands tightening around his arms as he pushed his tongue into her mouth. She relaxed only for a second before pressing against him, hungry for the kiss.
Kinnon’s free hand roamed across her body, starting at her throat and making his way down, his fingers feather-light on the outside of her clothes. She was already writhing against him, but when he found the pinpoints of her nipples under the cloth, she moaned and arched again. He shifted from one to the other, leaning her back over his lap and the bed, using his nails to tease them to hard buds, so much so that she broke the kiss and panted, arching up even more. He tugged her hair, pulling her back to him and she moaned deep, relaxing back into his arms. He moved his hand further, down her ribs and over the flat of her stomach, spreading his hand there.
Vanora was so warm and when he imagined just how warm she’d be inside, the thought brought a low sound to his mouth and he broke the kiss himself, tearing his mouth away from hers and moving down to her throat, licking at her pulse. Her hands went around his neck and she held tight to him as he lowered his hand, spreading her thighs as he ran his palm over her very wet center. Her moans grew to whimpers with just the cloth between him and her skin. She curled her fingers in his hair, pleading with him. “Please…”
“Soon enough,” Kinnon said, looking up for only a second before diving back to her throat, his mouth closing around her soft skin and gently biting as he rubbed harder against her slit, knowing the cloth between them was teasing her to a fevered pitch.
Vanora groaned and almost pulled out of his lap but for his hand in her hair. Kinnon picked her up and, quick as a breath, he switched places as she squeaked in surprise, laying her on the bed under him. He knelt above her, straddling her waist and pulling at the ties along the front of her dress. He loosened them enough to pull it down in one go, leaving her in just the flimsy cloth of her shift.
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