To think that this boy was the same age as Perry was inconceivable. But it was so. The count flirted with her despite her married state but in a lighthearted way, meaning no harm. Perry seemed to accept it and entertained Lady du Bussein.
Permission to visit the monastery was granted and Lady du Bussein invited them to dinner at a later date.
Everything was smooth and easy. It was a serene moment during their travels and Sarah was disposed to appreciate it. Mother and son were gracious as Perry and Sarah took their leave with no hidden judgment or condescension. Sarah was to look back on these precious few hours as a happy lull before the storm.
The sun began to sink behind the trees as they made their way back to the inn. The Norman countryside was filled with color as the changing of the seasons from summer to fall influenced the landscape. Perry had said very little and Sarah wondered if he’d truly meant what he’d implied earlier. Would he punish her if she did not reveal all?
The thought both terrified her and thrilled her.
She was not sure what would happen when she revealed what she suspected. Though Lady North had hinted at things and not said them directly, and because the woman was biased, Sarah was not positive that her beliefs in this case were well-founded.
As the carriage bumped and rattled over the cobbled road, she considered how much to tell Perry. Should she only tell him what she was sure of? Should she tell him what she’d gleaned from her own instincts? The first was easily shown but the second was not.
The scrolls would confirm what she did know for certain—that her bloodline was foretold and planned. What was clear was that one descendent in every two hundred years was capable of ending the curse. How could she tell Perry that two of her ancestors—one in 1433 and one in 1692—had attempted to break the curse and failed?
“There’s a wolf out there,” Perry said in her ear. To anyone watching it would have seemed as if Perry were whispering something sweet or intimate. His voice was pitched low and soft. “Be still. He’s stalking us.”
She clung to him and was immediately ashamed of herself for it. “Is it the one that attacked me before?”
Perry’s eyes turned blue as he inhaled the air around them. “It could be.” He kept the horses galloping at a quick pace.
It wasn’t only the strange wolf that had tried to kidnap her. Men much like the ones who had attacked them earlier rode out of the tree line. Pistols fired and Perry handed her the reins. She gripped the leather in her hands as he changed from man to wolf and leaped at the nearest man on horseback.
She pulled back and stopped the horses. Perry had stashed a pistol under the seat and she used it. Her father had insisted she learn to use a firearm and she was grateful for that odd practice now.
She aimed carefully and fired. The man screamed as the ball tore through his belly. It was a struggle to reload and while she fumbled a bit, a man hopped onto the carriage. He gripped her arm, a toothless grin widening his dirty mouth.
Knowing that if she cried out she might distract Perry, she used the pistol to hit the man in the face. When he clutched his cheek she lifted her skirt and kicked him in the genitals.
As the man fought to get up from the ground she finally got the pistol loaded and aimed in his direction. When he insisted on climbing up to get her, she fired point-blank and he fell lifeless into the dust.
Shaking, stunned, Sarah didn’t know if she could recover. Two men’s lives had been cut short because of her. How many more were there? She glanced backward and the sight made her stomach roll.
The carnage was terrible. At least four other men lay dead and lifeless, their blood spilled on the ground and deep, mortal wounds gaping on their bodies. Perry was locked in a hand-to-hand battle with the same wolf that had threatened her in England.
Her heart stopped when Perry’s adversary slashed down and Perry barely managed to escape harm. Perry swiped his claws across the other wolf’s face and blood sprayed over them both. The cry of pain was followed by a howl of frustration and the wolf sprang to all four of its paws and sprinted into the forest.
Sarah scrambled down from the carriage and caught Perry’s arm. “You’re hurt.”
His wild expression made her pulse pound and the inhuman growl that purred from his throat had her swallowing nervously. His hairy paws shot out and gripped her upper arms in a bruising hold. She had the mad thought that there was no other like these wolves of Arundale, their dexterous limbs more human than animal, but their transformed faces so completely alien. The curse had taken the dark, primitive traits of a man’s nature and given it form. Trapped somewhere between man and monster, Perry in this manifestation was like nothing else.
For a moment she believed that the beast would win, that she would be ripped apart. But Perry stood in the wolf’s place an instant later, the change so quick Sarah hadn’t seen it happen. The beast was gone but the man was no less rough or insistent. He yanked her into his arms, one hand climbing up her thigh, tearing off her undergarments and wrapping her leg around his waist.
Open to him, she struggled to remain still, gripping his shoulders to keep her balance. With three strides he moved them both against a large oak tree and pressed her against its harsh bark.
He threaded his hand through her hair and tilted her head before he plundered her mouth. His kiss was wild, demanding, overwhelming. His tongue swept inside her mouth and tangled with hers. She whimpered as his fingers dug into her scalp and an erotic tingle spread through her body.
The wolf unleashed needed its mate and the man wanted his wife. The two needs collided into one and Sarah knew it had to be sated. His smell overpowered the scent of blood and she needed that too.
It should have appalled her that Perry had killed all those men. It should have disgusted her that he wanted her body after so much death. Instead it thrilled her that he had defended them and she needed to give him the oblivion he wanted.
That she wanted too.
When he tore his mouth from hers, she gasped for air. His teeth scraped the sensitive skin of her neck. One hand still buried in her hair, he used the other to slide up her thigh, to cover the telltale mark with bruising pressure. The contact sent her arousal higher and higher until she cried out to him.
“Please take me!”
His voice was almost a growl when he answered her. “I want you to come for me. You’ll do it. Won’t you, Sarah?”
“Yes! Yes!” She arched her back, the bark stinging her skin. As she thrust her hips against him he growled, the predator intimidating its prey. She burned and ached to be possessed, to be his.
His hand crept up her thigh and cupped her pussy in a rough caress that only made her cry out for more. When he invaded her with two fingers she tightened around them. She was wet and needy, her muscles tense. Her release beat like a drum but she held back, waiting for him to order it from her.
He held her gaze and rubbed his fingers inside her as he told her what he wanted to do to her. “I want to tear that dress off you and feast on every inch of you. I want to tangle your hair in my hands and shove my cock in your mouth until I shoot my seed down your lovely throat. I want to come on your sweet lips and watch it drip from your skin.”
His erotic words drove her off the cliff she’d clung to and she screamed as she heaved against him. Her release felt like a storm swirling and breaking over them. He gave her no respite but bit her neck and thrust his fingers in and out and until she was near to climax again.
Though he didn’t tear her dress he thrust his hand down her bodice until he could touch her rounded flesh. When his fingers reached her nipples and rolled them, she jerked in his arms, unable to control her reaction.
Her hands gripped his head and she placed fast, needy kisses on his lips, his cheeks, his chin. “Please. I need you inside me. Perry.”
With a curse and a lingering touch of his hands on her breasts, he stepped back from her and yanked open his breeches. With an impressive show of strength, he gripped her arse and
put her legs around his waist. One twist of his hips and he plowed her.
Hard and fast he took her, his hands roaming over her body, lighting fires wherever they touched. She reached up and yanked on his hair to bring his head down. Need drove her to bite his lip, to demand. His cock pounded into her, driving her against the tree. His lips demanded her surrender. His hands possessed her body.
Her orgasm detonated, tensing every muscle, squeezing him, pulling him in. She wanted him to come. She wanted to feel that warm desire inside her.
He broke the kiss and stared into her face. His guttural cry echoed through her body and she felt his release explode inside her, sending her reeling into another orgasm.
She floated. Perry murmured words over and over that she didn’t understand for many minutes. “My love. My mate. You are so beautiful. So soft.”
He rained kisses on her face and his hands soothed her skin where he had minutes previously been rough.
It seemed like an eternity before her heart rate slowed and she could breathe normally. She shifted, wanting to get away from him, needing the distance to put her walls back up. He couldn’t know she was doing it for him.
“No.” He stopped her movements. “Stay. You will not run from me.”
“The horses—”
“Are fine,” he said, and leaned back so she could see that the team had stopped off to the side of the track and were feasting on fresh grass.
“The danger—”
“I will smell him instantly.” He gripped her chin and made her meet his gaze. “Why do you continue to try to put distance between us? We make love and then I feel you withdraw. Am I so terrible then?”
The uncertainty in his face broke her heart. “No. You are not.” She couldn’t control the trembling of her lower lip. “I do not want you to—” She struggled to find the words. Finally she decided to say them directly. “I do not want you to become too attached to me. I am not the first of my family to try to break this curse.”
He frowned, clearly not understanding. “They tried and failed?”
She glanced away. “No, they tried and died.”
Chapter Ten
Still buried in Sarah’s body, Perry wondered if he’d heard her right. Her death? Never! “No. I will not allow it.”
“It is the only way and there is no guarantee of success.” She shoved against him, which only made him tighten his grip. He would never let her go.
“Is this what the scrolls say? How do you know this is true?” He heard the sharp tone of his voice and tried to calm down. “If you know all this, why are we going to see these scrolls, Sarah?”
Her lips trembled and she wouldn’t meet his stare. “Lady North told me—”
“She’s a liar,” Perry snapped. He cupped Sarah’s face and forced her to look at him. “You want to see if she was wrong.”
A single tear slid down Sarah’s cheek. “She told me if I was ever Claimed by a wolf, it would cost me my life to stop the curse.” Her face was drawn in misery and she jerked her head away from his hold. “I should have left after that day. I should have run from you then. Now I will only hurt you.” She ended with a whisper and Perry’s heart clenched.
“Sarah—”
Her head snapped up and she interrupted him. “You’ll be like Marcus, alone, grief-stricken. I couldn’t do that. I have to do what I must to end the curse. It’s my destiny.”
Perry bent down and kissed her gently. “Who says?” he murmured against her mouth.
She arched away from him. “If I don’t it will be another two hundred years before it can be broken.”
“I don’t care.” He nuzzled her neck and her scent went straight to his cock, still buried in her sweet warmth.
“Your children—” she started.
“Our children.”
“What if the papers were right and our child dies? Can you live with that?” She sounded exasperated then gasped when he bit her in the spot where her shoulder met her neck.
Perry noted the despair in her voice and the fear in her gaze. He released her hands and cupped her face. “Sarah, I do not believe it. Whatever happens I will face it with you.” He touched his lips to hers.
Tears squeezed from her eyes and stained her cheeks. “I am nothing, Perry. Worthless. There is no future with me. I was born for one thing and one thing only—to stop this curse.” She leaned in to his hand. “I could never give you children but I can give you freedom from this thing that has hurt you.”
“If the price is your life, my love, then I do not want it.” He eased his cock out and then slid back in, a slow, seductive move that made her gasp. “If we have no children then so be it. If we only have our children for a short time, we will deal with it.”
“Perry—” Her voice broke. “It’s not that simple.”
He held her gaze. “It is that simple.” He decided it was time for the talking to stop. Urgently he thrust inside her, trying to drive away all thought and grief, giving her only pleasure.
“My love, my sweet. You feel so good, so tight.” He lifted her legs and she wrapped them around his waist. “I want to feel you come now, Sarah. Do it now.”
On his last word she arched back, her feet tight against his arse, and she clutched his shoulders. “Master,” she whispered, then screamed as her pussy flooded his cock with warmth.
Barely able to think, he increased his thrusts, wild, needy. Her release stroked his cock, squeezed him in its velvet grip and he exploded inside her. Perhaps there would be no children but he would bury his seed inside her forever if he could.
She jerked and twitched in his arms, which gave him animalistic satisfaction. With care he slid away from her and picked her up to carry her to their carriage. She was relaxed in his arms, her head tucked against his shoulder, her hands clasped around his neck. When she nuzzled him he was stunned to find his body reacted as if he hadn’t just had her twice against a tree.
He placed her on the seat of the carriage and when he joined her, he turned her to face him. “I love you. I won’t let you stop me from saying it. Tomorrow we will view the scrolls but I don’t care what they say, Sarah. You belong to me.”
Ignoring her wide eyes and open mouth, he gathered the reins and yanked the horses back onto the road. Sarah, for once, was silent.
He loved her. Sarah’s heart soared and yet she was conflicted too. The parts of the scrolls that Sarah had read were clear. Anyone born with the ability to end the curse was doomed to face death and heartbreak.
Her ancestors had been witches.
In her youth Sarah had believed she was invincible. When Lady North had told her the stories of her ancestors, of their heartbreak and struggle against the DeFalk legacy, Sarah had had no inkling that it would touch her.
Was that why Lady North had made such a point of telling Sarah those stories? Witches and trials and crossed love were fairy tales, relegated to a distant past that had nothing to do with the young, pretty Lady Sarah Ayers.
But the stories seemed real now, more real than the rattling of the carriage and the jolt of the road. Lady North had claimed she’d seen these stories as if they were histories in the monastic scrolls at Bayeux. Sarah had to go and see if they were true.
Lady North had stated that female descendants like Sarah who were Claimed by a DeFalk wolf would lose their children before the age of five, unnatural results of magic. The stories were filled with brave women fighting to end the curse, becoming slaves to the evil wolves of the DeFalk curse and dying rather than be chained to the beast. And if they didn’t die but were forced to live with the curse, their children were cursed to die and misery the only result.
So, yes, once Perry had marked Sarah she had, from that moment, been determined to end the curse to save her unborn children. She’d resisted Perry’s Claim since Lady North had said that a Claimed woman could not fully reverse the DeFalk legacy. It would take Sarah’s death to do it now. She had seen Perry’s child in her vision. It couldn’t be hers, unless what she k
new was a lie.
Everything hinged on the scrolls.
They arrived at the inn and Sarah realized how disheveled she must look. Blood spattered her dress, which was torn and dirty. Her hair had been yanked from its prim bun and spilled wildly over her shoulders. Not only had she survived being accosted by murderers, but she’d been ravished by her mate in the most primitive fashion, which had left her a bit rattled.
The footman stared in shock. “Madam,” he exclaimed. “There is blood on your dress.”
It sounded better in French. “Yes, and there is blood on my face. I wish hot water for a bath. Can you provide that, please?”
Perry’s lips twitched as he helped her from the carriage. “We will both want a bath. Is there any change in our friend?”
“He has been resting comfortably, monsieur.” The footman showed disapproval and Sarah’s face was hot with shame.
“What are you standing there for?” Perry snapped at the man. “Get our baths ready.”
When the footman scurried away Sarah shook her head. “You cannot be angry when someone makes me uncomfortable.”
“I can and I will.” Perry tipped her chin and stared into her face. “You are the most courageous woman I know. No one will show disrespect to you. I will not allow it.”
He took her arm and led her to the stairs. They checked on Jaimison and found him sleeping.
The maid appeared in the hallway. “Your hot water is ready.”
When they reached their room the maid began to assist Sarah but Perry interrupted. “I’ll assist my wife. Please inform the innkeeper that we will come down for supper.”
The maid curtsied and fled the room.
Sarah kept her gaze lowered. In all her girlish imaginings she had never known that a man could be so insatiable, so overwhelming. She’d also had no idea that her own needs would increase with every touch.
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