A Gypsy's Thief

by Titania Ladley

  “Of course it does.” Salena’s voice came out in a soothing English accent that made Catriona think of a royal, gracious princess. “‘Tis a sign of a caring woman.”

  “Ye think so? Then why have ye accused me of not bein’ able to see things for meself? Eh? Well, ye might be interested to hear,” she barreled on, not waiting for a reply, “despite the king’s crusade to have me head on a platter, I only see and do what I have to to mend the healin’ between the livin’ and the dead.” Her voice rose almost hysterically. But instead of losing control, she snorted, swirling her cloak around her body. “I see it all, but I choose when to act upon it! Do ye ken what I say?”

  “I…I’m sorry,” Salena murmured on a sigh, stepping up close enough to press a warm palm to Catriona’s cheek. The woman was small compared to Catriona. She had to look down into the delicate, upturned face, into those mesmerizing, ocean-blue eyes. It somehow calmed her, made her anger dwindle to a mere simmer, as if she had had a tirade in front of an innocent child and knew she had made a fool of herself.

  Salena went on, her hand caressing Catriona’s cheek. Reluctantly, Catriona allowed the warmth to permeate her skin and calm her nerves—just for a bit.

  “Please, you must understand John—nor any of us—means you no harm ‘tall, in any way. Did he not save your life twice? You must understand I speak of what I see as only a woman can comprehend, as a woman who has been in your very position before. So you see, ‘tis those magnetic looks he casts your way…and you him, that I speak of.”

  Catriona jerked her face from the tender palm. “Aye, he saved me life on two separate occasions, that I’ll be ownin’ up to. But still, it does not mean—I do not ken what ye speak of. ‘Tis ridiculous.”

  She did not know why, but Catriona allowed Salena to hook her arm around her waist and lead her to the settee positioned at the foot of the bed. They sat together, and Salena angled toward Catriona so that their knees touched. Strangely, it gave her a kindred and tender feeling, despite the antipathy that had burst within her chest moments ago. As a result, she welcomed the calm and took a deep breath, silently vowing to hear this woman out.

  “You will understand soon enough, Catriona. You will, I assure you. But for now, may I ask that you please stay?”

  She shook her head vehemently. “Nae. I must be on me way to—”

  “You are safe here, I promise you. They do not know where you are. Do you not know already of John’s strengths? He has informed us of how he whisked you here by his amazing invisilation powers a score of miles away from the location where you last were preyed upon—and nearly killed—by the Scottish king’s men. You are much safer here within the English border and behind the impenetrable walls of John’s keep than wondering afoot in the wild where at any moment, they could happen upon you.”

  “Aye…his powers. I do thank him for healin’ me and givin’ me me life back, to be sure. But…”

  Salena’s eyes sparkled as her mouth curved into a sunny smile. “Ah, then ‘tis settled! You will stay with us for as long as you like.”

  Her flippant words struck a note of caution with Catriona. “Us?”

  “Mmm, us…did not John explain we visit now and then because of his need for energy derived from intimacy?”

  “Aye—well, nae, but—”

  A single auburn eyebrow dipped in thought. “Uh, mayhap I should leave this up to our John to explain.”

  Our John? “Nae! Don’t ye dare leave me in suspense. I demand to ken this instant what ye allude to.”

  “Very well,” Salena sighed. “You see, he needs the energy, as does Falcon, though John’s powers deplete much sooner. I have—we have—been assisting him with that replenishment on occasion for decades now.”

  “Ye what?”

  “Shh, hear me out. Falcon, too, needs to be refueled on a regular basis, but as soul-brother to John, they derive huge, longer-sustaining powers when they couple as a trio.”

  “Ye…come to think on it, this is what Falcon jested about down in the hot spring. So they wish to make it a quad instead—to multiply their powers further?”

  “Ah, now the lady’s got it!” Salena grinned, but her face swam before Catriona’s vision. Despite the shock her ears were even now struggling to decipher, Catriona’s clitoris began to throb. It was mortifying, it was taboo at its worst…it was making her heart race. Wetness poured out onto the crotch of her braies.

  “Why, that is—nae. How can ye claim to love Falcon if—”

  Something almost volatile snapped in Salena’s eyes. “I love Falcon with all of my heart, soul, body and life. ‘Tis why I urged him to speak with Marian, and why I gift him with infrequent triads with John. I love John dearly too, but not in the same way I love my husband. ‘Tis the least I can do to gift both men I love with life-sustaining energy. Oh, yes, I most likely derive more pleasure out of our couplings than the two of them do combined. But nonetheless, I do it first and foremost out of love for my husband, and secondly, out of loyalty, friendship, and yes, a different sort of love and affection for John.”

  “Nae…” She pressed her hands to her ears. To hear the intimate details of this bizarre triangle made Catriona feel much like an outsider. Was that jealousy eating away at her innards? Nae! How preposterous. Oh, but the carnal, forbidden pictures that kept flashing in her mind seemed to taunt her, made her womb feel heavy and achingly warm.

  “I know you have feelings for him.”

  The outrageous words had Catriona snapping her gaze up in shock. She leapt to her feet. “I will not say it again. Nae!”

  Salena reached for her hand, drew it to her own face and rubbed Catriona’s palm against her silky cheek. “Oh, aye. ‘Tis as plain as the birth of spring. But you do not have to surrender your heart so soon. Your body…’tis another matter altogether. Please, just think about it very carefully, Catriona. It would be a most special gift of powers we could give them both. Besides…”

  She planted a feather-soft kiss on Catriona’s palm. It made her breath shudder, her pulse leap.

  “Besides? Besides what, melady?” Though she longed to keep her hand within Salena’s, she ripped it out, ignoring the cold disappointment it left within her breast. “Please do go on, and then begone with ye.”

  Salena rose. She stood before Catriona, her ripe breasts nearly pressing just under the swell of Catriona’s bosom. Catriona inhaled catching the floral, rosy scent of woman. Strangely so, it pleased her, made her relax a small measure and be glad to once again have female companionship, just as she had had with the Gypsy caravan as far back as she could recall.

  Oh, but this bit of respite would not last long. Soon, she would be on her way, leaving behind all this calm and tempting grandeur. It made her stomach lurch with dread, but she pushed it aside, drawing on her bravery and fortitude of the past months. She pushed it aside too, in order to address the delicate matter at hand.

  “You see, I have never experienced the touch of another woman,” Salena said almost cheerily, despite Catriona’s harsh tone. “Now that I am secure in my relationship with Falcon—especially with Marian resolved—I can only guess that it would add positively to the mix, and most likely increase his stores of power more so than with the three of us. I cannot promise to instinctively know how to bring you pleasure. But I beg of you, do this thing—just once, at least—for John, the man I adore, for the one I am certain you will grow to love. And most importantly to me, at least, I want my husband to go on living into eternity—as I do John. I want John to be happy with a woman for once. And I think you just might be the one to do that for him.”

  Her head spun making her collapse back onto the settee out of necessity. This forward woman had a knack for barreling right into things, going from one shocking topic to the next. It was all Catriona could do to keep up with her.

  Confused, Catriona croaked, “And how, I ask, do ye ken I would be ‘the’ one?”

  “Why, your eyes, of course…” Salena whispered, bending to press a gen
tle kiss to Catriona’s stunned mouth. “They match John’s Scorpian—exactly. And the Scorpian, it dictates John’s future just as the Centaurus—” she lifted the medallion from its place nestled within her cleavage, “ruled Falcon’s.”

  With that, Salena turned and sashayed from the room, leaving Catriona’s head in a whirl, her lips tingling and her pussy embarrassingly soaked. And uppermost, she wondered…just what in bloody hell was a Scorpian?

  Chapter Four

  “A blizzard currently rages outside the keep. You will stay until it passes—and that is an order.”

  Despite Salena’s enticing request to consider remaining longer and joining in their taboo practices, Catriona had bundled herself up to depart. She was just opening John’s chamber door when he appeared before her outlined by the portal, his massive width and height filling its space.

  With her hand on the ornate knob, she shot back, “I answer to no one. And no one orders me about.”

  He stepped inside bearing down on her in such a foreboding manner she had no choice but to let go of the doorknob. Too late she realized it to be a mistake, for he kicked the door shut behind him caging her in.

  “Nae! Ye stay away from me, ye bloody brute.” Catriona backed two steps to his every one. But to her distress, she soon learned his stride proved far longer than her own.

  His hand snaked out and fastened around her forearm. In a flash, he slammed her against his chest, his arms closing around her like heavy chains in a dungeon. The wild scent of anger, and yes, arousal, filled her nostrils.

  Those eyes frosted over. “You will stay.”

  “Oh, ye are infuriating!” She attempted to lift her fists to pound them on his chest, but her arms were held captive by his iron-hard grip. The movement only succeeded in making her wiggle against his rising erection. Despite the lust that washed through her, she spat, “I hate you.”

  A single dark eyebrow winged up. “You hate the gallant gentleman who has done naught but bring you pleasure and save your life—and twice at that?”

  Very well. Perhaps she did not hate him, but she despised the sardonic tone in his voice.

  “I-I…ye be no gentlemon if ye insist on holdin’ me against me will.” She twisted with a grunt. “Unhand me at once!”

  He ducked his head and buried his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling her scent. The resonance of his blissful sigh made her eyelids go limp sending a wave of delicious gooseflesh down her body.

  “Please, my Cat, do not force me to lock you in my chamber. Stay with me just this eve. On the morrow, we shall see about getting you on your way.”

  She moaned when he drew her earlobe into his mouth and flicked his tongue over it. Shimmering flames scattered through her system, settling in her womb so that she could swear she heard the sizzle of hot coals showering her moist pussy.

  “Time,” she panted, gripping the braies at his hips in defense. As if to mock her feeble resistance, a log shifted in the hearth across the room. An omen, perhaps, of what would come? she wondered. “I do not have time to dally. The bastards hunt me as we speak, and will not give up until they have me tied to the stake and burnin’ in hell.”

  “Aye, is it not obvious I should be somewhat aware of that, given the fact I rescued you from those very bastards? So you wish to go to London then?” he asked, grinding her pelvis against his hard cock while his free hand rose to entangle the hair at the back of her head. He nipped a trail across her jaw, and drew her up so her lips brushed his.

  Gods alive, she had truly met her match with this wizard! With one touch, one smoldering look, he could have her pussy wet and throbbing, and her knees buckling beneath her trembling body. “Mmm, ye know I do.” She slid her hands up and hooked them behind his neck.

  “Then there is a simple solution. I shall invisilate you to your destination—as I did to get you here in the first place—as soon as the storm passes. It will take but a few moments to get you there, much, much faster than by foot.”

  “Invisilate me, ye say?”

  “Aye, invisilate. Now shush, my stunning young maiden, and let us enjoy this time we have together.”

  “But—”

  He hitched her up so she straddled him. Turning, he stumbled forward. Her back slammed against the heavy wood door making her suck in a breath. Catriona recovered quickly when she realized she liked being overpowered and ravished. The urgency to depart John’s manor now a vague need, she locked her ankles behind him. In the process, his thick shaft crashed into her clothed vee. Somewhere in the whirl of things, she understood what he offered her. It was the perfect solution. She could remain here and dabble a bit more in his seductions, and yet still be far ahead of the king’s army and lost in the crowd by the time they arrived in London through the conduit of his black magical powers. A heavy weight lifted off her shoulders and left her in a state of manic glee. Aye, his offer was far too alluring for her to pass up.

  “Ye are a wicked wizard, ye are, enticing me so.” She dragged her lips over his as she spoke, and let out a quivering whimper when he cupped her breast through the shirt. “Ye tempt me beyond reason.”

  He rolled her taut nipple between his fingers, the rough fabric of her shirt increasing the sparks he lavished upon her. “Does that mean you will stay?”

  “Do I have a choice? Not only have ye threatened to lock me up, but ye’ve cast yer spell of seduction upon me once again. How can a lady resist such debauchery?”

  “If you felt half the passion I do at the moment, you would know there is not resistance, but complete surrender.” Levering her against the door, he slid his hands around to her ass. His fingers brushed her cunt through the fabric of her braies. “Ah, my gorgeous Gypsy, you are so wet, your honey soaks through your britches as we speak.”

  Her heart thundered, pumping the lust through her system at an overwhelming rate. She had to get these cumbersome clothes off. Now. “Let me down,” she panted, squirming against him. “Let me down now so I can get the bloody britches off.”

  “No need,” he rasped, raining kisses over her cheek and down her neck, making her shiver in anticipation. She had gone mad, Lord help her, but all she wanted, all she needed, was his big cock filling her cunt.

  Even as he continued his devastating seduction, he swept one hand from her shoulder to her leg. “Garments begone.” Prickles of heat arced through her entire body, like hot water splashing her from head to toe. She gasped when her clothing disappeared and cool air assaulted her flesh. But it did not take long for the heat of his big body to envelop her. And when his naked manhood pressed against her clit making her groan, she realized his garb had also vanished.

  “John…” She threw her head back. It thunked into the door. But the stars she now saw swimming before her vision, had burst forth when he entered her. “Oh yes.”

  His huge rod filled her to the depths of insanity. She constricted her legs around his waist and held tight to his neck. Waves of sharp pleasure rushed through her pussy making her hot slickness tighten about his shaft. Her breasts bounced and her nipples brushed his when he drew back and thrust his penis into her once again. His hard pebbles scraped her rigid areolas, and Catriona thought she had never felt a more naughty sensation in her life.

  “Ah, so tight, so moist.” His shoulder muscles flexed beneath her forearms as he palmed her backside, kneading her ass cheeks, stretching her anus open. Warm, wet lips hovered at the corner of her mouth, his hot breath fanning her cheek as he spoke in that deep, raspy tone. She pulled back, stared into his handsome face and saw the look of a man on the brink of losing control. It thrilled and empowered her beyond description, validating her womanhood.

  “What you do to me, Cat. You make me daft, utterly mad with passion, like no other woman ever has in my long, immortal life.”

  Catriona sucked in a breath. The exclusivity of his words shocked her, and coupled with the glow in his eyes it made her pulse leap in alarm. In them, she saw a deep affection that gave her pause, affection much more int
ense than any she had ever experienced in her past. She did not know how to label it, but despite her unease, her own emotions mirrored his. It boggled her mind and distracted her from the pleasure at hand.

  Nae, whatever this is, ye cannot allow it, Catriona. Take yer pleasure and move on. Ye must always remember yer life is at stake here and ye cannot involve others.

  “Shh,” she whispered. “Do not speak. Just take me, John. Fuck me hard and fast, and make me never forget ye and yer lovely cock.”

  “Oh, God, Cat, how can any man deny that sweet, sinful request?” His mouth slammed into hers. She tasted ale and blistering, urgent need as she feasted on the silky fullness of his lips. Their tongues mated, dueled, as did their sexes. John drove into her with demanding force, his big cock fulfilling yearnings she never knew could exist. Her bare back crashed and scraped the door, but she didn’t care. It gave her the support and strength she needed to fight back, to give back. She levered her hips up and down, taking him in, releasing him, but never letting him go. Frissons of fire raced behind every move and motion. It built like the flames in the hearth, power catching to fuel, fire combusting into an inferno. He rocked harder, faster, just as she had requested. His fingers dug into the globes of her ass as he developed a rhythm, lifting, slamming, lifting, slamming. Each propulsion increased the momentum so that her pussy became engulfed in a constant firing of pleasure.

  Bliss loomed near. Her cunt juices poured out onto his groin. He grunted, his body suddenly stiffening. Catriona cried out, the climax rippling through her at the very moment he closed his mouth over her nipple.

  “John…” Pleasure such as she had never felt before, took her senses by surprise and made her toes curl. Hot and cold, sweet and bitter, so many things bombarded her she almost knew a need to escape the overwhelming bliss.

  But he was not through with her. He sucked the sensitive nub into his mouth and plunged his cock one last time into her canal. Her upper body slammed against the door. His body spasmed, and she let out another wave of moans when his hot seed filled her womb.