The Taken Bride: A Medieval Romance

by McCormick, Kaley

  As Carden reached the middle of the river, he could feel her starting to stir. It was taking longer to get across the river than he had anticipated, but he was not willing to give up. Carden gathered all of his strength and finished swimming across the river with his captive in tow before she awoke.

  When he reached the other side Carden wanted to do nothing more than lay on the bank to catch his breath, but he knew Sven would quickly get word that his daughter was missing if he had not already. He had no time to waste he needed to get to the caves as quickly as possible. There he and Zuzulla would spend the night before travelling further in the morning.

  Carden had only made it about half of a mile before Zuzulla was fully awake.

  “Let me go,” Zuzulla screamed pounding on Carden’s back. Zuzulla looked around and realized that she had no idea where she was. Fear began to take a hold of her. There were no guards anywhere and she knew that she was out of her father’s kingdom. This was an area that she had never seen before and she had no idea how to get home.

  Carden dropped her do the ground hard and Zuzulla looked up at her captor dazed. He was a large man with muscles all over his body. He had dark skin and slick black hair and wore nothing but a thin pair of pants that Zuzulla was sure had seen better days. She could not stop herself from thinking how attractive he was, not like the princes who had come to court her. They were thin and pale and had probably never lifted so much as a fork their entire lives. There was something about this rugged man that drew Zuzulla in but as she looked up at him she felt nothing but fear.

  “What are you doing,” she demanded, “where are we.”

  “I am stopping your father’s reign of terror,” Carden said, looking down at the beauty lying on the ground in front of him. Her skirt was barely long enough to cover her prize and it was clinging to her body. “We are far out into the wilderness now,” Carden continued.

  “His reign of terror,” She looked up at him confused, “You must be mistaken my father is a kind man he would never cause anyone terror.”

  Carden let out a loud laugh at her reply, “How wrong you are little girl,” he said reaching into his pack. He pulled out a length of rope and began binding her hands. “Your father is the most dangerous man in the entire countryside right now. He is a murderous evil man and you are going to help me stop him.”

  “I will never help you,” Zuzulla scowled as she struggled to get out of his grip, “take me home.”

  “Your wish is my command,” Carden said as he helped her to her feet.

  “Hmph,” Zuzulla tried to smooth her skirt down to cover her body, “and what happened to my clothes.”

  Her questions were beginning to get on Carden’s nerves. He tied the loose end of the rope around his waist and began walking deeper into the woods forcing her to follow.

  “You cannot lead me like a dog,” She screamed at him pulling back on the rope, “I am the princess.”

  Carden knew that the rest of the journey was going to be hard and he considered knocking the girl out again, but his body was tired and he knew he could not continue to carry her.

  “Come along,” he said gently tugging at the rope, “we have a long way to go and still need to catch food for the evening.”

  Suddenly Zuzulla became aware of how hungry she actually was and how terrified. She had never been anywhere without guards close by and no matter how brave she felt when she was off in the woods she always knew that the guards were nearby.

  Tears began to roll down Zuzulla’s face and Carden looked back at the young woman standing behind him. “Are you going to kill me,” she asked quietly.

  “It is not my job to kill you,” he replied, his demeanor softening. He reached his hand out for Zuzulla to take, “My job is only to capture you,” he continued. Zuzulla took his hand as he helped her along the rocky ledge. She had no reason to trust this man, but at this point she had no other choice.

  They headed deep into the forest, the woods were thick and dark. Zuzulla knew that it was still light out only because of the few streams of light that seemed to sneak through the thick trees. After about 2 hours she was becoming tired and was having trouble keeping up with Zuzulla. Her body was not used to this amount of exercise on top of that her stomach felt as if it were going to come out of her throat due to hunger.

  “I have to stop,” she said to Carden.

  “We can’t stop, not much further to go,” he replied, looking back at her as she tried to keep up with him.

  “You don’t understand,” she pleaded, “I can’t continue on.”

  “What do you want princess,” Carden said clearly agitated, “I am not one of your servants. I am not going to carry you.”

  He could hear her whimper as he raised his voice and a ping of guilt filled him. He turned and looked at her. She was a mess, her dress ripped dirt on her thighs and her hair standing up from getting wet. No one would have ever thought she was a princess if they had seen her.

  “I’m sorry,” Carden said to her, “We will be at the caves soon.” He was not used to dealing with human women. It had been so long since he had been human it seemed like a lifetime ago. He was glad that he had been changed at the age of 25 and would never age. His body was in perfect condition and he had the knowledge of many old men.

  She looked up at Carden clearly shaken but still trying to seem as if she were brave. It made Carden smile, he had never imagined that she would be as brave as she had been. He assumed she would have broken down by now and begged to go home he was amazed when she did not. What he did not know was that she was not sure if she wanted to return home. While they were walking, she had been thinking about what he had said about her father. It was not the first time that she had heard he was an evil man or that he had terrorized an entire village. She had just not wanted to believe it until now.

  But the more she thought about it, the more she realized that this man would not have taken her if he were not desperate to stop her father. She had thought about all of the people who had died at the hands of the only man she had ever loved and the legacy he would be leaving her with when she became Queen. The more she considered it the less she wanted to return home.

  “I’m not like him,” she said to Carden as they entered a small clearing.

  Carden turned to look at her. The ropes had burned her wrists and he could see her wincing in pain. “You’re not like your father,” he asked.

  “I only want peace,” she said, looking up at him, “I want to help people.”

  “That may be what you say now, but the power goes to your head,” he replied, “This is where we will camp for the night.”

  Zuzulla looked around and saw a large cave in the distance. There was a lot of soft green grass in the clearing and she wanted nothing more than to fall into it but Carden kept walking.

  “Where are we going,” she asked him.

  “There is a hot spring next to the cave, you can clean up there and I will dress your wrists.”

  Carden seemed to relax a little bit as they walked to the spring. Zuzulla was just happy that she would be able to relax in the hot water. When they reached the spring Carden turned to her. “You can bathe here,” he said.

  She looked down at her wrists. “I need my hands,” she said calmly.

  “No, no way am I going to untie you. Undress here and get into the water.”

  She was used to undressing in front of her servants, but they were women, she had never undressed in front of a man before.

  “I will not undress in front of you,” she snapped.

  “Then you will not bathe,” he replied.

  Carden began removing his pants and lay his pack beside the spring. He was looking forward to the hot water just as much as she had been. His muscles were sore and his body had been through more than what he had expected. Zuzulla tried not to watch him as he took his clothes off, but she could not help but peaking. She had never seen a man without his clothes on and if her father knew that this man was undressing in fr
ont of her he would have had him killed.

  “I can’t undo my buttons by myself,” she whispered.

  Carden looked up at Zuzulla as he pulled his pants off of his feet. He laid his pants next to his pack and walked over to Zuzulla slowly. Her eyes wandered over his body taking in all of his chiseled muscles. He had thick black hair on his chest that thinned out as it reached his stomach, leaving only a small line that lead down to his cock. Zuzulla pulled her eyes away from his body. She closed them as he neared her, but could not get the image out of her mind.

  His body was amazing, but what she had not expected was his cock standing at attention as if it were looking straight at her. Something inside of her stirred and she felt dampness between her thighs as he began undoing the buttons on the back of her gown.

  “I saved your cloak for you it that would be more comfortable to sleep in,” he whispered in her ear. He wanted to see her body more than he wanted to admit. He had seen her eyes go straight to his throbbing cock and that only turned him on more. All day he had struggled with himself, wanting to throw her down and have his way with her but knowing he had to stay one step ahead of Sven’s army. As he unbuttoned her dress, he thought about how nice it had felt when she was bouncing on his lap on the horse. If only she had been awake, if only they were not in this situation he thought, if only he was not her captor.

  As he reached the last button on her dress Carden slid his hands back to her shoulders and pushed the dress down her arms. He could see the corset under the dress and as the dress fell to the ground, he began untying the thin ribbon. He never understood why women forced themselves to where such awful contraptions, he would much rather see their body the way it was instead of distorted in this odd garment.

  When the corset was loosened Zuzulla slipped out of it easily. Carden looked at her from behind, there was no reason for her to even wear the garment, her body was perfect. He licked his lips as his eyes traced down her back and fell on her thick round ass. He wanted to grab it and he could feel his cock jump, but he was a Highlander and she was a princess, he knew it would never be.

  Carden walked around Zuzulla and tugged on the rope leading her to the spring. He stepped in first, then turned to give her a hand. There in front of his face where her beautiful breasts with the pinkest tips he had ever seen. They were hard and begging him to suck on them and as he looked up at Zuzulla he could tell that she was embarrassed.

  “What is wrong,” he asked as she took his hand and stepped into the water.

  “The way you looked at me,” she answered, “it was almost as if you were an animal and I was nothing more than a piece of meat.”

  “A beautiful piece of meat,” Carden said, smiling at her.

  Zuzulla let out a small giggle. It felt nice to relax in the water with Carden even if he was her captor. She sank into the water, allowing it to cover her completely before coming back up and looking at Carden.

  He could tell that she was in pain and he wanted to do something to help her. “If I take the rope off, will you run,” he asked.

  “Where would I run to,” she asked, looking at him.

  “If you run I will catch you and I will kill you,” he said.

  Zuzulla knew that he was telling the truth and she nodded her head in agreement.

  “I don’t want to run,” she said as he worked at the knots.

  Carden raised his eyes and looked at her. “What do you mean,” he asked.

  “You say my father is a bad man. You’re not the only one who has said these things. I don’t know what he has done. Killed people? Tortured them? I don’t think it matters any more. I don’t want to go back,” she answered.

  Carden slipped the rope off of her wrists and tossed it onto the bank. He then took her hands in his and gently dipped them into the water. He heard her wince as the water ran over the burns.

  “What is it you want Princess,” Carden asked as he slid his thumb over her wrist.

  Zuzulla had no idea what it was that she wanted, but at that moment she wanted nothing more than to kiss the man who was standing in front of her. No man had ever shown so much compassion for her. She knew that people were forced to care for her, but this man did not have to. He could have left her dirty and in pain, but instead he wanted to take care of her and for that she was grateful.

  She looked up at him and quickly pressed her lips against his. In one swift movement, she could feel that his arms were around her and his body was pressed against hers. He parted his lips and slid his tongue against hers begging for entrance. She had never kissed a man before and was unsure of what to do, but she parted her lips slightly to allow him entrance into her mouth. His tongue flicked against hers sending chills through her entire body. Carden’s hands were moving down her back as she wrapped her arms around his neck. The burns on her wrists still ached, but it was something she was willing to deal with in order to be this close to this man… Her captor.

  Carden’s hands landed on her ass and he squeezed gently pulling her against him. She could feel his hard thick cock pressed into her stomach begging for attention. She was unsure of what to do and decided to allow Carden to guide her. One of his hands stayed planted on her ass squeezing and kneading at the thick flesh while the other one moved to the front of her body. She could feel his hand as it brushed against her stomach and slide up her rib cage. He gently brushed his finger across her nipple causing her to draw in a deep breath.

  The feelings that he was causing in her body was nothing like she had ever experienced before. She smiled as she thought about how angry it would make her father if he found her there like that with this man. Carden’s hand cupped her breast as he continued to slide his thumb back and forth over her hard nub. It felt as if electricity was coming from his thumb and shooting through her entire body.

  She heard a deep growl come from Carden’s throat as he pulled her against his cock. She had never witnessed such desire in her life and it filled her with pure pleasure knowing that the desire he felt was just for her.

  Carden released her ass and pushed her against the side of the spring. Their bodies were so close she did not think even the water could come between them, but as he pulled his body back slightly he could see the disappointment in her eyes. Carden slipped his hand between them sliding it down her stomach until he found her slit. He pressed his finger into her slid slowly sliding it down, flicking over her already hard clit until he reached her entrance then he slide it back up again.

  He began working small circles around her clit, causing her to moan. She moved her legs further apart, allowing him to have more access. She had never imagined that the touch of a man would feel so good. She bowed her back, causing her breasts to stand straight up. Carden released the one he had been holding and quickly captured her pink nub in his mouth. He began flicking at it with his tongue as he worked on her little pink clit.

  He could feel the werewolf clawing to get out, but he knew that he could not allow it. He knew that she was a princess and princesses were not known to have sex before they were married. He could not deny that he wanted her, but tonight it was all about bringing her pleasure.

  She had said that she did not want to return home, but he knew that could change quickly. He also had no idea what the King of Kigom had in store for her, but he knew he would never allow any harm to come to her.

  Zuzulla’s body began to tense and Carden knew that she was teetering on the edge. He began working at her clit faster as she began rocking her hips back and forth. Suddenly her arms tightened around his neck and she let out a loud moan. He could feel her body shaking with pleasure and he allowed her to finish completely before he stopped rubbing her.

  Zuzulla looked up at Carden, her face was flushed and her breathing was still heavy. “That was amazing,” she said, “but what about you.” Her eyes moved to his throbbing cock. Carden could not deny how badly he wanted her. “Not tonight, Princess,” he said, looking down at her, “now let’s get you cleaned up and I will get us some d
inner.”

  Carden cleaned her up and when she was out of the spring he dressed her wounds. As she stood in front of him completely naked, her body shaking from the orgasm she had just experienced and the cold of the night air, he wanted to lay her on the ground and slide his cock into her smooth entrance. He knew he would have no problem doing it as his cock was still hard just as it had been most of the day. He also knew that she would not stop him, but he did not want to taint her. He wanted to save her for another time.

  Once her wounds were dressed Carden took her cloak out of his pack and wrapped her in it. He led her to the nearby cave.

  “I need you to stay here,” he said, looking into her eyes. She could see the softness in them now and wanted nothing more than to kiss him once again. “There are very dangerous creatures out in these woods at night, if you try to run away, they will get to you before I can.” She could tell he was serious and spread out a small blanket that he had given her.

  “I won’t leave,” she said, looking up at him. Carden knew that it was against his better judgement, but he could not see tying her up again. He turned and left the cave. As he reached the edge of the woods, he shifted into a werewolf. This would make catching dinner much easier.

  Once the guards realized that Zuzulla had not returned to them, they began searching the woods. After what seemed like hours of searching and finding nothing one guard stumbled upon the remains of her dress. It looked as if it had been shredded by an animal, but there was no blood on it. He called for his companions and they all came running. He held up the dress and the look of fear could be seen on his face.

  They all knew what would happen to them if they returned without the king’s daughter and they knew that the king would hunt them all down if they didn’t return at all. They discussed their options and decided that it would be better to be thrown in prison for life than to be hunted by the army.

  As they returned to the castle Sven was walking out to meet his daughter. She had been late for dinner and he was not happy. He was ready to take her privilege of forest walks away when he saw one of his guards carrying her torn dress.