Malachi just held her for a little while longer, then he started kissing her again. "I want you again." She blushed and nodded.
Afterward, Malachi held her tightly against him. She considered what she was doing. She was starting to think that Malachi was a far more dangerous man than Edmund ever had been. Malachi not only expected more of his people, but demanded it. She considered for a long time. Aye, Malachi was definitely more dangerous and definitely not a man to cross. She ran her hand up his chest. She liked the feel of it. She liked the feel of him. She had to bite her cheek not to giggle as her hand strayed near his cock. She blamed Roberta for wanting to giggle. Roberta had once made a particularly scathing remark about Edmund's cock, or more accurately, it was about Edmund's shortcomings in that department. She wished she could remember exactly what Roberta had said about it. Something like 'Puny dicked men always had to compensate for their shortcomings.' Her cheeks flamed with color as she thought Malachi definitely didn't have any shortcomings to compensate for. She suddenly caught herself starting to nod off. She jerked herself awake. What was she doing? Men expected their whores to pleasure them and then leave and not fall asleep. She got to her feet.
She was startled by his hand sliding up the back of her calf and gripping the bottom curve of her backside. She looked down at him. "I'd like you to stay the night. Would you?" She hesitated a moment, then nodded. He reached out to her with his other hand. She held up a single finger. He pushed himself up on his elbow as he watched her walk to the bath, then she picked up a cloth and cleansed her body. The corner of Malachi's mouth turned up as he thought to himself, You might not be able to cleanse all of me from your body. When she returned, Malachi held his hand out to her. She tentatively took it and he pulled her down into his arms. After a moment he said, "You know, we should probably move to the bed. It will be more comfortable and definitely warmer." He caressed her cheek. "Are you cold?" She shook her head and settled against him.
Malachi awoke in the very early hours of the morning. He was cool, she was clearly freezing, pressed tightly against him shivering. He glanced at the fire. It had burned itself out. If he was a gentleman, he'd get up and rebuild it. Clearly, he was no gentleman. He stretched and was able to just grab the bearskin she had worn when she came into his room last night. He tossed it over them. She started and snuggled tighter against him. Malachi wrapped his arm tightly around her. A minute later, he was asleep.
When Malachi awoke again, he knew it was around his normal time to rise; but he had a problem. He was laying on his side with a very nice backside pressed up against his very uncomfortable erection. Both of his hands found their way to her breasts. He began nibbling on her neck, while his thumb and forefinger of both hands found her nipples and began gently squeezing and rolling them. After a minute, she gave a little moan and started wiggling her backside against him. He squeezed her breasts tightly. "I'd stop wiggling your backside against me like that, unless of course, you want me to pull you on top of me right now." She shifted and tossed her hair so she could look over her shoulder at him and raised an eyebrow in question. He kissed her for a moment, she wiggled her backside tighter into him, he pulled his mouth free. "Does that mean you want to mount me, or you want to leave me?" She furrowed her brow in confusion. Malachi hesitated for a moment, sure it wasn't an appropriate question, then he asked, "Have you never ridden a man before?" She looked at him dubiously, then slowly shook her head. Malachi turned her in his arms, rolled on his back, and pulled her on top of him. "The best part about you riding me is you're in charge." Malachi very much enjoyed educating her. Afterwards, he wrapped his arms around her and held her in place, enjoying the feel of her on top of him.
Malachi ran his hand into her hair. "Tell me your name, please." He felt her shake her head. "Do you remember what your name is?"
The slave pushed herself up so she could look down on him. Her brow furrowed trying to remember when she had first come to this castle. She put so many things out of her mind, her name included. Edmund had told her that she no longer had a name, that she was just a slave. She tried to remember. It'd been a very long time since anyone had called her anything but Slave or Healer. Then she remembered. She slowly nodded her head.
Malachi reached up and caressed her cheek. "Please tell me just one word, your name?" She looked frightened and began shaking her head. She made some very animated hand gestures he didn't even try to follow. The one that stuck in his mind was her dragging her thumb across her throat. He gripped her hands and pulled them behind her back as he pulled her down on top of him. He shifted both of her small hands into one of his and he ran his other hand up her back and into her hair. "Listen to me. Edmund is dead. I cut his head off. Christian is dead. Any threats they made died with them. I understand it's been a long time since you've used your voice. But you've got to find it. I don't expect whole sentences out of you in a day. I want you to talk. I want you to make yourself understood with something other than your hands. And I refuse to allow people to continue to call you slave. Please tell me your name or say something, anything, just one word."
For a moment the slave was frightened, she didn't like being restrained. Then she tugged her hand and it came free; he was holding it with no force. She pushed herself up, still straddling him. She reached out and caressed his cheek. She tapped his chest. "Gentle." The one word made his heart pound. His hands went into her hair, he pulled her down and began kissing her.
Broderick arrived at his brother's quarters. He opened the door without knocking and walked in. He turned around quickly, saying as he did so, "What the bloody hell is it with me and walking in on people having sex?"
Malachi grabbed the fur and pulled it over the lass. "Get the hell out, Broderick," Malachi shouted at his brother.
As soon as the door closed behind Broderick, the slave pulled free from Malachi, got to her feet, wrapped the skin tightly around her, and quickly exited the room through the communicating door.
Chapter 18
The slave entered the large closet, still wrapped in the fur. She crossed to her belongings and gathered up her clothes for the day, then exiting the closet through the servant's passageway, she went down to the servant's bathing chamber. Heating some water, she poured it into the small metal tub, then stepping into the tub she seated herself cross-legged and began to wash while she contemplated last night. It was definitely a very enjoyable experience. She didn't think she would mind being his slave at all, at least until he took a wife; then she hoped he would no longer desire her body. Being Edmund's slave had been a miserable enough experience until he married Roberta; that only made it worse. Not only was she a whore, but she was now an adulteress as well. Her brow furrowed as she considered the word. She wasn't sure that was the right word. Was the other woman an adulteress or was she just part and party to it? She shrugged her shoulders and dismissed it. Either way, she was guilty of terrible sins. She paused momentarily, considering what Father Glennhill was always telling them, 'That where there was life, there was hope and things would get better; they just had to keep the faith.' She wondered what Father would say about her situation. Would he blame her for what had transpired involving Edmund, or would he say that those sins were on Edmund's head, not hers? She wasn't sure. She liked to think he would, but she didn't know. She considered what she had done last night with Malachi. That was definitely on her head. He had offered her ample opportunity to leave unmolested, but she had pressed the issue. While she was considering, she began to cleanse her most intimate flesh. She winced. It was very tender. This surprised her. He had not been rough when he used her. Again she hesitated over her choice of words; it just didn't sound right. She didn't feel used. She considered 'used', 'taken', or 'had her'. She frowned. None of them felt right. Her hand drifted up to her belly. No-no-no-no, do not even allow your mind to go there, she told herself. He will use you for his pleasure until he takes a wife, then if you're lucky he'll dismiss you.
The door opened and Roberta entered. "
There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you." As Roberta glanced down on her, the slave turned a vivid shade of crimson. Roberta narrowed her eyes. "What's the matter, are you all right?" The slave nodded shyly, but refused to meet Roberta's eye. Roberta felt her temper rise. She tilted the slave's chin up as she examined her front and back. "Did he hurt you?" demanded Roberta, though she saw no bruises. The slave held up her hand and shook her head. Roberta squeezed her hand tightly. "Please don't lie to me, if he hurt you, tell me." Again the slave shook her head. Roberta frowned and said, "I'll leave you to finish your bath. I'll see you later."
*****
Malachi got to his feet and pulled his kilt on. He stormed over to the door and yanked it open, demanding as he did so, "You better have a damn good reason for just walking into my room without knocking."
Broderick replied flippantly, "Sorry, I expected to find my older brother alone. How was I to know you'd find something to occupy yourself with?"
Malachi gave him a murderous look. "You ever refer to her as an object again, I will cut your tongue out."
Broderick looked annoyed and demanded, "What did I say?"
"You said 'Something to occupy myself with'," snapped Malachi.
Broderick's brow furrowed for a moment and then he nodded. "Sorry, my mistake. I did not mean to imply anything, other than of course the fact that I was surprised to find my highly moral older brother entangled with a lass."
"Oh, so it's okay for you to spend the night with a woman, but it's not okay for me?"
"I didn't say that. I said I was surprised." Broderick hesitated a long moment, then he commended his soul to God as he added, "I'm glad. You've mourned Olivia too long. I know she's somewhat of a forbidden subject around you; but she is dead, man, you need to move on." To Broderick's surprise, Malachi looked grim but nodded.
Malachi stood there considering for another minute and then he nodded his head. "I know you're right, but there were things you didn't know, things you couldn't understand."
Broderick gripped his brother by the shoulder. "You do realize I was thirteen, not dead or stupid. I don't know how long you two had been … intimate, but I know you were involved." Broderick squeezed Malachi's shoulder tighter, forcing his brother to look at him. "But I suspect it was for some time. Didn't mean anything to me then, but it does now. It has for some time. About three weeks before the epidemic, I saw Olivia retching out her guts. I asked her if she was all right. She said she was fine, just a wee bit under the weather … did you ever tell Father?"
"We all had lost enough friends. I didn't need to add any more deaths to the toll. What good would it have done anyways? I thought it was better if nobody but me knew what … what I'd lost."
Broderick pulled his brother into his arms and hugged him tightly. "That was your prerogative and you're right, but that was an awful burden for a sixteen year old to carry by himself. You should've let Father help you shoulder that burden."
Malachi nodded and hugged his brother back, then he pulled free. "So what brings you to my room so bright and early?"
"I ran into Alec. Apparently Young Alec hasn't been seen since yesterday evening. His father is greatly worried about him. Didn't like to say so, but I figure some woman probably dragged him off to some private corner. But I didn't know if Alec would find that reassuring or upsetting. So I told him I would look into it."
"Well, it would take a lot to kill Young Alec. No bladed weapon can do it and though I've never shot him, I somehow doubt a bullet would penetrate his skin. So I'm going to agree with you and hope we see him at breakfast." Malachi turned, then crossed to the washbasin and began getting ready for the day. After a minute he asked, "Far be it for me to ask you to kiss and tell, but what happened with you and Abby?" Malachi smiled as he saw his brother through the mirror look distinctly uncomfortable.
Broderick cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I went there with the intention of just having dinner and talking with her; but I enjoyed her company so much it seemed completely natural to kiss her. You can guess where things went from there."
"I hope if you spent the night, you had the decency to not leave without telling her goodbye. Women get pretty pissy about that."
Broderick crossed his arms over his chest and stared at his brother. "Oh, wise older brother, exactly how do you know this? What have you done in your life to make you an expert on women? I thought the only woman you'd been with was Olivia?"
Malachi wadded up the towel and threw it at his brother. "Okay, smartass, I read it in a book." Broderick looked dubious. "Okay, I read it in several books. I don't exactly have much to do in my evenings but read."
Broderick caught it and started laughing. "All right, I'll admit it makes sense. Fortunately, she was awake when I left." Broderick sobered. "Her husband treated her very badly. She is very timid. I like her a lot, but I'm not sure she'll agree to marry me after how he treated her. What should I do?"
Malachi sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure I'm gonna be much help. I have my own problems where women are concerned right now." While Malachi continued dressing, he considered his situation and his brother's. He, too, liked the slave very much, but if he was honest with himself, she was in no condition to be making any serious life decisions. She had spent the last few years in absolute obedience or suffering severe punishment. "I think if we wish a serious relationship with these women, they need to learn to stand up for themselves and state what they want or what they don't want before we commit ourselves. Otherwise, I think we'll all end up miserable."
Broderick considered for a minute, then nodded. "I think I get what you're saying. You're saying if I convince Abby to marry me now, in a couple of years when she's found her own voice, she might not be happy being married to me anymore. She wouldn't have picked me if she'd been free to make her own choices." Malachi nodded. "Well, that sucks. I guess on that note, we should go to breakfast."
Malachi shook his head at his brother. "Does food still solve all of your problems?"
"Not all of them, but it helps."
Malachi laughed and turned towards his bedroom door, but to his surprise it opened and Roberta entered looking furious. Malachi took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'll see you downstairs at breakfast. I think I'm about to be yelled at." Broderick nodded and quickly excused himself.
"You are unbelievable! You're no better than Edmund! You see what you want and you just take it without care or concern for anything but your own lust! You are a pig!"
Malachi momentarily considered oinking, then he decided that would only infuriate the woman more, and right now he wasn't in the mood. So instead, he merely cut her off. "Clearly you know that I slept with the slave last night and you're pissed about it. Get over it. Whether you like it or not, she is a grown woman and capable of making her own decisions. And before you go deciding that she wants to spend the rest of her life alone, perhaps you should ask her what she actually wants; because it wasn't my idea for her to come to my room last night and offer to take me to bed. It was hers. And before you go accusing me of being like that bastard, perhaps you should consider the fact that you're still on your feet; because I think if you walked in here and yelled at him like you just did me, he would have beat your ass, whereas I stood here and took it, whereas I am only speaking harshly to you. I think that alone should prove the difference between the two of us, and do not compare me to him again."
Roberta blinked. "If what you say is true, then why did she look so upset when I saw her just now?"
"I don't know. I cannot begin to know what is going on in her head despite my efforts. The most I was able to get her speak was a single word."
Roberta gasped. "She spoke?"
"As I said, one word."
"What did she say?"
"That's between me and her. I hope now that your husband is dead, she will slowly begin to speak."
Roberta hesitantly asked, "What are you going to do with her? She's your property."
"She is no man's property."
Roberta considered for a moment then she said, "You do realize you have the potential to hurt her far more than Edmund ever could?"
Second Age of Darkness Page 13
