A Gypsy's Thief

by Titania Ladley

  * * * * *

  When Catriona came to awareness, she instantly knew she was cradled by the soothing coolness of snow. She sighed as she stirred and stretched, savoring the last bits of sleep with her eyes still closed. But it did not take long for her to remember…the unbearable pain and excruciating heat of fire, a fire that had apparently ebbed. Had she died at Duncan’s cruel hand and gone to heaven? It must be so, she mused as she wiggled her foot, for her broken leg no longer throbbed, and her skin felt soft, cold and free of pain. She pulled in a long breath of air, testing her lungs. Ah, and they no longer burned from the thick smoke!

  “Catriona…”

  Her eyes flew open at the familiar voice. The pitch black of the night sky outlined Salena’s beautiful form, her auburn hair fluttering in the wind like an archangel. As she knelt at Catriona’s side, the dying coals of the fire near the camp Duncan had set flickered on the angles and smooth planes of Salena’s face. Her stark blue eyes glistened with tears, and she released her frown to display a trembling, relieved smile.

  “Oh, Catriona, you live!” Salena breathed, running her cool hands over Catriona’s face and arms.

  Her gaze flicked to the red mark at Salena’s neck. “Hinny, h-how did ye get that nasty cut on yer neck?”

  Salena slapped her hand across the wound and glanced to her side where Catriona now spotted Falcon. “‘Tis not important. Catriona, love, are you well enough to rise?”

  “Rise? But how did ye both get here to—” She lifted her head and twisted her body until she caught sight of the pale form lying motionless in a pool of blood near the campsite. She sucked in a sharp breath. “Is that…”

  “Aye, ‘tis Duncan,” Falcon offered, pacing back and forth through the snow. To Salena, he urged, “We must hurry, love.”

  “W-what’s goin’ on here? Is Duncan d-dead?”

  Salena took Catriona’s cold hands in hers. “Do you not recall? Duncan tied you to that tree,” she said hurriedly, indicating the smoking, charred yew tree nearby. “He burned you…almost to death. We found you just in time.”

  The whole incident swam through her mind making her dizzy. Renewed anger at her deceptive husband boiled up within her soul. She clenched her hands into fists and thought of his crazed abuse and attempted murder of her. The past execution of her innocent mother by his zealous command fed Catriona’s ire further. One by one, her mind ticked all his known transgressions off in an explosion of startling truths. Fraser’s declaration of his own death by Duncan’s orders came to the forefront of her thoughts as well. Every cruel confession Duncan had made since abducting her caused her heart to thump with fury and a need for vengeance. Her gaze shot to Duncan’s lifeless form. But it looked as if she already had her revenge. She had never wanted to see him dead, and had deeply grieved his “death” almost one year ago. But he certainly had asked for what destiny had finally befallen him.

  Finally, she rejoiced in true widowhood.

  “Aye, I recall now, and God forgive me, but I am glad to see him dead.”

  “Very much understood. Now,” Falcon said, his voice rushed, “we must make haste and depart this place.”

  “Depart? But…” She lifted her hands, sat bolt upright in the snow and patted her bare arms, her legs. “I-I am nude, and…och! I am not burned ‘tall!” She sniffed, glancing down to see her long tresses now singed up to the level of her nipples. “With the exception of me hair.”

  “Aye, that was not his priority. He did not quite get to that.”

  “He?” Her eyes widened. Heedless of the cold against her completely naked body, Catriona leapt to her bare feet. “John—where is John? I say, do ye refer to John?”

  Falcon turned and pointed to a group of steeds tethered at a nearby tree. John’s unconscious body slumped over the bare back of one of the horses. “Aye, he is there. During the few minutes of your comatose recovery, I ran to fetch our mounts left behind just around the gully’s bend. Seems John’s powers were wholly spent after invisilating to your location and healing your extensive burns and battered body. In the many centuries of our acquaintance, I have never seen John so weary after use of his powers. He had to be carried and placed upon the stallion’s back, and I…I fear for his welfare.”

  She remembered now, but knew if she had not been reminded, the event would have been lost to her foggy memories forever. The trauma of near-death had had her thinking she had hallucinated and imagined John, as if he had come to her as her savior, her angel shortly before all went black. But visions swam back to her of him spinning around her, dousing the fire with showering drifts of snow, even as excruciating agony engulfed her. She could remember the extreme relief of the icy cold numbing her blistered skin.

  But Catriona would give her life up to that fire again if it meant John’s restored health. She despaired at seeing him so vulnerable, and never wished to be the root of his distress and lethargy again!

  “We do not have time for further exchange. We must be on our way posthaste. John requires our energizing services at once.” Falcon raced to the group of horses, Salena close on his heels. He reached into two separate saddlebags and pulled out a pair of braies, a man’s shirt, boots and a fur-lined cloak. He thrust the wad toward Salena. “Darling, assist her to dress quickly. Hurry, before she freezes…and before we lose John.”

  Catriona’s heart galloped with fear. “Lose him? B-but he is immortal, he…” She stood stiff with alarm as Salena darted to her, held out the braies and helped Catriona to don them. Just hearing the verbal confirmation of her silent fears made it all the more real and frightening.

  “Shh, Cat, please hasten at once! We must find shelter quickly. Kiss him as we travel to sustain him. But he needs our love and our full sexual energy very soon…or he could die.”

  Die? Her stomach pitched with anguish. “Nae!” she returned with conviction, her voice cracking as she struggled to suppress the tears. “He will not die! I will not allow it!” She snatched the boots from Salena and hurriedly slipped her feet into them. Without so much as a split-second pause, she jammed on the shirt and swirled the cloak around her body. Catriona took off in a sprint and hurdled up onto the horse behind John. Gathering him close, she shouted, “Come! We ride straightaway.”

  Salena and Falcon raced to their horses, propelling their bodies into the saddles. Catriona whirled the great stallion about, clamping her legs around John’s hips, and took off in a thundering gallop behind Falcon and Salena.

  Chapter Nine

  “Shelter!” Falcon murmured with a sigh, spurring his destrier onward.

  The abandoned stable came into view at just the right moment. It was all Catriona could do to hold onto John’s slumping form. Though Falcon had insisted as they traveled that he should ride with John, Catriona had adamantly refused, loath to release her lover despite her waning strength at keeping him mounted.

  John moaned and twitched now and then. All she could do was stroke and soothe him, and urge her mount closer to a blessed haven. Twice during the half-hour-long ride, she had managed to coax him to sit up so she could give him an energizing kiss as they neared their destination. It had seemed to slightly sustain him, but even now as Falcon led them into the open doorway of the decrepit structure, John appeared once again to be fading back into that deep, dangerous chasm of delirium.

  When they approached, Catriona slid off her horse. Following behind Falcon and Salena, she led her steed toward the gaping doorway. The moon broke through a brief break in the clouds at that very moment, and it was then she took note of John’s pasty complexion. Drenched in sweat and listless, he appeared to be all but dead.

  “Hurry, please hurry,” Catriona cried, stepping inside as she took John’s limp hand in hers.

  Falcon had, by now, dismounted and was securing the door shut against the whistling winds. “If I but had John’s powers of speed, believe me, I would be using them to their utmost degree,” Falcon mumbled.

  Near the door, Salena already had located and lit a
lantern, and currently corralled her and Falcon’s horses into a wide stall. On a steadfast mission, she crossed to a dilapidated strongbox at the rear of the barn and rooted through its contents. “Ah, perfect,” she breathed, dragging piles of wool horse blankets, bed quilts and one huge bear fur from the coffer.

  While Falcon strode to John’s side and hauled him from the horse’s back, Salena hung the lantern and set up a broad, cozy bed in a separate stall surrounded by heaps of clean straw. Catriona followed Falcon into the small fenced area, kneeling on the makeshift bed and wringing her hands in impatient worry.

  “Oh, John, John…”

  As soon as Falcon had John lying down on the fur, Catriona bent and closed her mouth over his. He groaned, his eyelids fluttering. At first, his lower body lay flaccid and unresponsive. Her mouth moved against his dry lips, her cheek abraded across his perspiring, whisker-roughened upper lip.

  Now she could sense the slow and sure drawing of energy he took from her. An overpowering joy wrapped by relief leapt into her heart. He now barely moved his lips under hers, and she sighed into his mouth when his tongue flickered upward to stroke hers. It was when she felt the trembling expanse of his hand behind her head that she tore her lips from his and stared down into those crystal, mesmerizing orbs.

  “John, ye are awake! Oh, darlin’, I am so verra sorry I ran away and caused ye all this trouble.” Unshed tears stung her eyes, threatening to spill over. She pressed one hand to his shadowed, stubbly cheek, reveling in the rough yet tingly sensation. “‘Twas just that I never wished to be a burden or to impose any of me dangers upon ye or yer people.”

  “Shh, my love, I understand,” he replied in a weak whisper, puffs of condensation rolling from his mouth and nose. “You must believe you have not caused a thing. ‘Twas my smitten heart and destiny that are to blame.”

  “Damn yer blasted destiny!” she cried, hot tears raining down her cheeks. She slammed her mouth into his, imparting more strength into his soul. As she showered his face and lips with wet kisses, she murmured, “I would fight yer supposed fate tooth and blade to have ye as me mate, so it does not matter one wee whit who or what is to blame.”

  “Ah, ye have got me as yer mate, lass, do ye nae see?” He mimicked her Scottish burr, delighting her to no end. Reprieve washed through her in one cleansing, revitalizing sweep.

  “Do ye nae ken I’ll be holdin’ ye to that proclamation, mon? And come to think on it, I’ve two who’ll be bearin’ witness to that fact.” She jerked her gaze to Falcon and Salena whom at that very moment were engaged in a bit of lewd petting of their own near John’s feet.

  Still not completely rejuvenated, John slowly lifted his gaze until he located them. “Many humble thanks to you all.”

  “Mmm,” Salena purred, leaning back into Falcon as he slid a hand into the bodice of her gown. “Your kind welcomes always go unsaid and without necessity. Now quit your chattering and let us get down to the matter at hand…restoring your energy with swift surety by a delicious foursome encounter.”

  “Hmm, seems you have turned into quite the harlot over the years, my love,” Falcon growled as he nipped at her ear. “Oh, but I do love it!”

  Catriona’s heart raced with thoughts of the coming event. She did not know how she had become so lucky to have ended up as part of this glorious, carnal quadrangle. This amazing man had fast become the focus in her life, and the most important link in this concordant, breathtaking arrangement. She would gladly spend the rest of her life providing him the powers he needed to sustain his immortality whether by one-on-one lovemaking, or with Falcon and Salena included in their embrace for that compounded boost.

  Now that the danger seemed to have subsided somewhat, she relaxed and allowed herself to study his sprawled form. Just one sweeping gaze sent her blood pumping all through her body, settling in an almost painful throb in her groin.

  “I want ye somethin’ fierce,” she whispered as she trailed a hand over his thick chest. Her fingers brushed one of his nipples through his shirt.

  The move promptly elicited a hiss from him.

  “I want ye, me bandit, however I can get ye. I wish to gift ye with as much of those needed powers as I can muster. And I am verra willin’ to include Falcon and Salena as needed to boost yer energy tenfold. Oh, John…” She choked it out, the tears flowing faster, harder. “I never want to see ye that close to death again!”

  He yanked her down on his chest squeezing her tight, stroking her back so that shivers of delight shimmied up her spine. “Aye, I never wish to be in that situation again, either. But I would do it for you, Catriona. I would do it over and over just to keep you safe.” John lifted her face, cupping it so that she was forced to look upon his impassioned expression. “I would die for you.”

  No one had ever said such a kind, loving thing to her before this profound moment! “Thank ye so verra much,” she rasped, her cheeks wet against his palms. “Thank ye for comin’ after me and savin’ me from that vile man.” She shuddered. “Ah, the pain, the horror he put so many people through…”

  “Shh,” John said, pressing a kiss to the tip of her nose. “‘Tis over. Do not think of it or him ever again. You are safe now with me, and I wish to be energized by your bewitching charms.”

  “Oh, me chivalrous knight, yer every wish is me every decree!” She kissed him again, reaching down to unfasten his braies as she did so. Catriona was shocked and wantonly delighted to find that his cock already had filled to the point of half-erection. She pushed the garment down far enough to release the spongy tool from its prison, and closed her hand around its inviting girth. John let out an animal sound of pleasure, his eyelids fluttering with languid appreciation.

  The stable had warmed somewhat due to the securing of the door, the piles of straw surrounding them, the many warm bodies in such close proximity and the fur and blankets for insulation. But due to the remaining chill in the air, Catriona knew this would be a haphazard, partially clothed lovemaking session. It did not disappoint her, though. Something about the almost spontaneous, hurried nature of it made her all the more excited. She glanced up to see Falcon releasing one of Salena’s breasts from the bodice of her gown while keeping it on her for added warmth. He had her skirts lifted and currently plunged his fingers into her wet quim. Eager and hungry, she moaned and thrust her pelvis into his hand.

  Catriona was aware and very pleased that the four of them would be connected in the moments to come. But for now, she wanted to taste John, to devour him and have him all to herself. She walked on her knees sidling up closer near his hip. Taking the silky rod in her hand, she studied its veiny surface, its thickness and long length that she knew very soon, would grow even larger. Toward the tip, the veins became less apparent, and it smoothed upward until it all came together at that one moistened slit. She tightened her grip, loving the deep, sexy sounds she wrought from him. Stroking once, twice, she marveled at how quickly it filled with blood and grew harder in her hand. Catriona licked her lips, hungry and greedy to taste his shaft. She bent and flicked her tongue around the tip.

  “Jesus!” John hissed and tensed, but did not move away.

  “I want to take ye in me mouth, John. Can I impart energy to ye in this manner, eat ye up and swallow ye whole?”

  “I’m counting on it, baby,” he said with rapid breaths, his thick hard chest rising and falling.

  She did not engage him in any further conversation. Instead, she wrapped one hand around the base and opened her mouth, reaching up with her other hand to tweak his nipples through his shirt. His cock slid in past teeth, past tongue, right into her throat. She relaxed her throat muscles, taking him as deep as she could without gagging. Salty sweet flavors burst in her mouth. It felt much like sucking on a candy-coated, tubular stone. It made her thirsty and starved all at once. Ravenous now, she swirled her tongue around and around the head, sucking, licking, withdrawing, plunging back down again.

  John held his breath, released it, held it again, cried o
ut. “Ah, Cat, you sweet little harlot, you! Mmm, aye, just like that, darling, just like that.”

  With each kiss she had given him, and now each wave of pleasure he experienced, she knew his energies were building. Knowing she had such control, to be able to provide him with forces to sustain his immortal powers, it was the ultimate aphrodisiac to her. It made her pussy clench, throb and swell, and a damp trickle soaked the crotch of her braies.

  After pleasuring him for several minutes while Falcon and Salena dropped to the fur beside John, Catriona released John’s cock and stood.

  John let out a groan of disappointment. “What are you doing? Please do not leave me like this, you minx.”

  Blood now warming her body to that of an inferno, she pushed her braies down and kicked them aside, welcoming the cool rush of air on her ass and wet lips. “I’m goin’ to ride ye fast and hard, like I’ve never ridden anythin’ before.”

  “Holy…” was all John could muster as he gazed up at her half-naked body framed by the cloak she still wore.

  “Mmm-hmm, that sounds like an excellent idea.” Salena maneuvered Falcon so that he lay parallel to John, so close their thick male arms touched. She lifted her skirts and straddled her husband, dragging her soaking cunt up and down over his huge cock jutting from the unfastened gap of his braies.

  “Wife, you sure do know how to carry out your duties, that is for damn sure.”

  Salena giggled, lifted a coaxing hand and waved it at Catriona. “Come now, take John into your heart and let us give these outlaws a taste of their own mayhem.”