A Wanton's Thief

by Titania Ladley

  But that was the farthest thing from the truth. Her entire insides combusted with a hot need she couldn’t quite slake, couldn’t quite quench.

  “I-I…please, Falcon. Show me how. I…I need to feel it again.”

  He groaned as if he were about to die and rose up, turning her so that she now lay on her back. Poised above her, his long, pale hair glistening in the firelight, he brought to mind a fierce and mighty Viking warrior, a man of deadly intent prepared to pillage and cast mayhem on all in his path. Her heart did a quick skip then a surging, painful beat. Ah, but he simply took her breath away!

  “My lady, my Salena, I must have you. Forgive me, but there is no way about it. No way for me to turn back now.” He forced her legs apart with one muscular thigh and moved until his hips settled there instead. The naughty sensation of it made her reach up and around so that she clung to his shoulders. Now desperate to experience that delicious sensation once again, she spread her legs wider.

  “Nor for me. Show me. Now.” She raced her hands down over the tense and corded muscles of his back. “Gift me with that delicious bliss once again. Just this once…”

  His mouth covered hers, so tender and gentle compared to the fierce aggression that glittered in his eyes. She tasted of him, arching her back when his hand found her wetness. He pushed a finger through the curls of her apex, finding the treasure of her womanhood. Her clit now swollen and aching with need, seemed to cry out its own demands. Falcon flickered his thumb over its hardness, swirling around the small mass until she screamed into his mouth. His tongue dipped between her lips at the precise moment he sank a finger in her pussy. Slowly, almost lovingly, he buried the finger to the tops of his knuckles, and Salena heard a rush of blood in her ears. Honey poured onto his hand. One by one, he added another finger, then another.

  “Ah, I believe you’re quite ready now.” His hoarse voice captivated her, made her hunger for that mouth on hers again.

  She reached up and held his face in her hands, careful not to further injure the slashing wound. It was at that moment when she looked deep into the gems of his eyes, that she knew her world had changed forever. How, she couldn’t quite put into words, but there was no denying it. The sight of him just now, his hair all askew, his lips swollen and moist, his eyes burning with an unknown, disturbing emotion…it all foretold of danger and life-altering events down an entirely different path than she’d planned for herself.

  Plans of only hours ago.

  The realization almost brought her to her feet, almost forced her to flee out into the dark of night as far from this wicked bandit as possible. But it seemed she paused a split second too long. He reached for her hands, drew them up next to her ears and held them down against the pallet. And he pushed his enormous cock into her depths.

  * * * * *

  Falcon saw what he thought was a brief flicker of panic in her eyes. It quickly turned to a glazed, lustful look. But there was no way he could stop himself, no way he could take the time to further explore it. He just could not deny either of them the pleasure to come any longer.

  The tightness of her pussy made him sigh yet he paused, holding firm to rigid restraint in order to allow her time to adjust to his size. She gasped and stiffened, but when he gentled his movements, she relaxed a small measure and he felt her legs slacken and widen further.

  Ah, but she was so very snug, so hot and sticky inside!

  “Oh…” she rasped, her chest rising and falling in rapid succession against his own. “It-it hurt a bit at first b-but it feels so good now. I feel it, I feel that delicious sensation again, just out of reach.”

  Her body lay small and feminine beneath his, begging for the dominance of man, of a firm hand. He stretched her arms further above her head holding her captive by the wrists, forcing her breasts upward until the jewels of her nipples puckered enticingly.

  “Salena, love…” He kissed her tasting wild abandon and needy desire. Her lips were warm and sweet against his, but there was nothing innocent about the way she began to gently buck her hips upward. “You will be the death of me, to be sure.”

  “Yes, you will die for this, for abducting me, for taking me captive. The king will see to that. But for now…just kiss me and give me that feeling again. Please.” She said those last contradictory words with a pleading, hoarse tone. Combined with her thorny words, the song of her sexy voice made him wild with the need to reach an end.

  “If it comforts you to think so, Lady Tremayne, then so be it.” And with that, he rammed himself into her until his balls slapped against her ass. She screamed, and if not for the enthusiastic rise of her own hips to meet his, he would have thought he’d hurt her. In a wild frenzy, she yanked her arms free and raked her nails down his back. The pleasant pain of it intensified his own longing. His cock surged with an aching rush, the sac swelled, nearly bursting each time it came into contact with the round mounds of her rear.

  She moaned and groaned, tossing her head from side to side. “Yes, oh, yes! I’m almost there again!”

  Falcon had never experienced such surrender, such tight silk wrapped about his cock. True, this was his very first inexperienced woman, but no one could compare to her, no matter the depth of talent. Salena’s pussy drove him to an abyss of madness he feared he’d never crawl out of. Her rosy scent mixed with the smells of sex and perspiration wafted up to tempt him. He rocked his pelvis, driving himself into her slick canal time and time again. With each penetration, she moaned louder, clutching at him, her legs wrapping around his waist. Finally, he had no choice but to silence her. Fear of being heard by passersby or patrons of the inn forced him to slam his mouth against hers and drink of her vocal growls.

  Her tongue darted between his lips forcing his clamped teeth apart. She sucked his tongue into her mouth, swirling, drinking, dancing in a seductive move that left him breathless. The sensation of it moved in a ferocious, tingly wave straight from his tongue to his tortured shaft.

  God, but I must have release soon!

  As if the thought made it so for both of them, she tore her mouth from his and stilled her movements. He looked down into her glazed eyes, almost navy by the light of the fire. The pupils were dilated as if she’d been given a massive dose of opium. Her mouth fell open and she sucked in a gasp at the exact moment he spilled his seed into her. Ecstasy washed through him and he groaned, but he forced himself to keep his eyes open so he could watch her. She jerked, her eyelids fluttered and her pussy muscles spasmed around his still-spewing cock. Salena milked him of more cum, drawing out the climax. The feel of it coupled with the beautiful, surprised expression, the limpid cat eyes…it stole his heart from his very chest.

  “Falcon…” she whimpered. “Falcon.”

  “Yes, I know, Salena. I know.” He sighed and gathered her close until her body relaxed. For a long moment, they held one another, their breathing slowing, their hearts calming.

  Exhaustion began to overtake him, and he slowly slipped from her passage, hissing at the sudden rush of cold air against his wet cock. Salena lay still staring up at the ceiling. If not for the rise and fall of her chest, he’d have thought her dead.

  “Get some sleep, princess,” he whispered, nipping at her lobe.

  She shrugged him away and turned her back to him, but not before he saw the lone tear in one eye. He clamped his eyes tight against the sudden guilt that washed over him. No, Falcon, he thought. It was inevitable. And she wanted it just as much as you did. She’d given in of her own free will without the use of your powers.

  He tucked the blankets around them and gathered her close, ignoring the stiffening of her limbs, the gradual vibration of one stifling the wrath of tears. It was to the feel of her warm, regretful body tucked into the curve of his own that he drifted off to sleep.

  Until the sharp rap on the door brought him out of sweet dreams of a sable-haired, passionate maiden and into a nightmare.

  Chapter Five

  Cradled in the clutches of slumber, Salena heard
the soft yet insistent pounding from afar. It turned into the dreamy clip-clop of a horse’s gait upon hard ground. She drifted in a mist the very color of his eyes. At every turn, the masked bandit was there, grabbing at her, snatching her up and onto his sleek black Friesian stallion. Sitting astride the beast and at Falcon’s back, she clung to his strong torso as he whirled Warrior about, facing her angry brother.

  Sheldon circled them, perched proud upon his own mount. She gasped at the murderous gleam in his dark eyes. His shoulder-length, red hair blew about his sharp-featured face. From across the distance, she could almost smell the acrid odor of his ire mixed with the scent of coming rain.

  “Salena, come home,” he roared, his voice echoing in her head as he spurred his horse closer. “You harlot! The Duke of Oxford will never marry you now. Come home, Salena…”

  She saw the sword in his hand too late. With a heinous cackle, Sheldon darted forward, his rapier aimed for Falcon’s chest. Salena looked down in horror, screaming when the blade missed its intended target and plunged into her abdomen. She gasped as the sharp pain of it pierced her, plunging through her body and exiting near her spine. Blood spewed forth. She was suddenly cold, so very cold.

  Falcon cursed. All she could see and hear was Falcon as he gripped her shoulders and kept her from falling off the horse. There was so much blood…

  “Salena.” He shook her. Slumber ebbed from her groggy mind. “Salena! You must awaken.”

  She gulped in air, certain a lung had been penetrated. “Oh, God, help me.” Her throat was dry and scratchy. She forced her eyelids open. “Falcon?”

  He came into focus, the small stable room they’d bedded down in surrounding him. Ah, thank the Lord, she’d been dreaming. Salena sighed, steadying her rapid pulse. She pressed a shaky hand to her belly, only now calming. The imagined pain inflicted by her brother now drifted back into the realm of sleep where it belonged. The frightening experience had been nothing more than a dream. Cold horror faded and she embraced the chill of the room, a space that now felt safe…like a haven from the outside world.

  “Yes, it’s your one and only brigand. Now, you must rise and get dressed. ‘Tis time to flee to safety.”

  “Get dressed? Flee to safety? B-but—”

  “Woman, there is no time for arguments. Your life depends upon your haste.” He dragged her from the bed, a blanket wrapped about her body. “Don your garments this instant!”

  Across the small distance in the room, only embers remained in the hearth. And Lance stood at the door pale-faced. His eyes bulged at the sight of her being snatched from her bed…naked.

  Embarrassment took second place to satisfying her curiosity. “What’s going on?” Her stare settled on Falcon who’d already turned to busy himself with their departure. “I demand to know this instant what has caused you to awaken me from a much-needed rest and command me to rise before I’m ready.” Neither Lance nor Falcon seemed to put forth rationalizations for this abrupt activity, therefore, she would demand them before moving even one inch—brutish rogue or not.

  “Master Sheldon has arrived. He is in a foul mood,” Lance finally offered.

  She whipped her head around to snare Lance with her hungry gaze. Her eyes flared. Hope bloomed in her chest…along with a curious undertone of disappointment she didn’t care to examine. “My brother has come for me?”

  “He may have come for you,” Falcon said as he hurriedly gathered up their belongings and shoved them into his bag. “But he’s not going to get you.” His glittering green eyes fell upon her, making her shiver with trepidation and something altogether volatile that she didn’t care to examine.

  “I’ll decide if I’d like to go home with my brother or not!”

  “Lance, leave us and ready my mount, boy.” His voice came out low, ominous. Salena shivered when he reached into the bag, drew out a silver coin and tossed it to the boy, all without taking those glaring eyes from her. “And not a word, you hear?”

  Lance snatched the coin in midair and grinned. “Aye, sir.” And he was gone.

  “Bribery. You can add that to your list of offenses to be hanged for.” She crossed her arms tight over her midriff, holding the quilt in place.

  But apparently, it was too late. He had her enthralled. The beams from his eyes zapped her so fast she didn’t even have time to blink.

  “You will get dressed now with these.” He reached into the bag and drew out one of her gardening gowns and underthings. “And quickly. Next you will don your boots and your cloak—with the hood over your head and face. Quietly, without making one sound or alerting Sheldon or any of his consorts in any manner, you will follow me posthaste to where Lance has Warrior awaiting us. We will mount and leave without so much as a footprint left behind. Do you understand me?”

  Her body leapt into obedience mode, but even as her limbs did his bidding, her mouth protested. “Oh, yes, I understand that I hate you. You cannot do this to me!” She drew the undergarments and fresh gown over her head and settled them into place. “My own loving brother has come to rescue me—he must be worried sick by now! And yet you’re still bent on continuing with this murder-plot farce? Well, I ask you, who better to turn me safely over to than my own brother? Falcon, I’m speaking to you!”

  When he remained silent and continued readying their belongings, she knew that very farce to be nothing more than an excuse to abduct a wealthy lady—and to have his way with her. Why else would he not hand her over to her own flesh and blood?

  She went on, determined to have her say before he stole her voice from her. “Well, you may have taken advantage of me that one regrettable time, thief, and it’s unfortunate for me that you have obvious and unfair possession of my body at your own selfish will. But be forewarned. You can order my body about all you want, but you can never have my heart, mind or soul. I will fight you to the bitter end.”

  He snatched up the mask where it still lay near the pallet. Jamming it down over his head, he stared at her once again through the slits. The lover with the tender, magic touch of last night had disappeared and in his place, the cruel marauder had returned.

  “Taken advantage of?” He snorted. “I think not. You eagerly surrendered of your own volition, Lady Salena. And you say loving brother, eh? Well, we shall see about that. And we shall see about that icy heart, mind and soul of yours, as well.”

  “Oh!” Salena longed to cover her ears. Lord help her, but she didn’t wish to hear his cruel reminder of her shocking behavior. She plopped down upon the mattress and watched as her own hands submissively placed her boots on her feet. With the task swift and complete, she rose and donned her cloak, tossing the hood over her head as ordered. “You are an insufferable—”

  “Pompous ass,” he finished. She shivered when his eyes snared her with further power. He settled the bag and longbow across his back. “Milady, you will not speak another word until I give you permission. You will accompany me as I’ve already ordered. Do what you may to keep yourself warm and such, but you will stay with me and not flee or alert anyone of our whereabouts. Now, we must depart.”

  With the prudence of a practiced criminal, he slowly opened the door and peered out into the early morning darkness of the open stable. From afar she could hear the neighing of horses, the alarming tone of men’s shouts carrying upon the damp dawn air. Mixed in with the bark of orders and the whistle of the wind, she heard Sheldon’s voice.

  Guilt clutched at her stomach. He’d obviously been running the search party all night, worried sick over her welfare, frantic and scared of what may have come of her. And all the while she’d been bedding the enemy. Nausea spiraled through her system. Harlot!

  “Nay, not a harlot. Hardly that,” Falcon added under his breath. And he reached for her hand. Closing his big one over hers, heat suffused up her fingers and into her arm. He tugged her along, ducking behind straw piles and stalls. They slipped out a rear door to where Lance waited with Warrior.

  The sky above remained dark and
starless, the storm having left behind a gray cloud of gloom. But the horizon was just beginning to alight with deep pink and orange streaks, teasing but not promising a respite. The rain had stopped, yet the atmosphere felt bathed with its cool humidity, while the scent of more coming rain hovered drearily about. A chill wrought the air, making Salena draw her cloak tighter against her body.

  She darted her eyes all around, starving for the sight of Sheldon. Her body continued to follow dutifully behind Falcon, but her mind screamed for her brother to happen upon them and rescue her from this bizarre and shameful kidnapping. True, Sheldon’s plans for her to marry were now ruined. Word would get out that she’d been abducted by the infamous rogue Robin Hood…which, by the sheer nature of his reputation, meant she’d already been torn down from society’s pedestal.

  And by mere association, it went unsaid that she’d been deflowered—whether she had or not.

  But her dear brother would not reject her. He’d see that her reputation was restored. He’d find her a suitable match if the duke refused to take her to wife. If only she could fight this spell and shout to alert him. Or command her legs to carry her right into the safety of her brother’s caring embrace. Only she knew it wasn’t to be, not at least, at the moment. Sheldon would find her eventually, she thought as Falcon lifted her up onto the steed’s back. No amount of magic could keep her from returning to the safety of her beloved home.

  Lance waved and disappeared through the stable door without a word.

  Falcon swung up onto the horse behind her, drawing her body against the wall of his chest. “We ride now,” he whispered, sending a shiver through her chilled body. “What I’ll do with you when we get there, however, is beyond me.”