Suddenly the box lurched and icy water leaked into the cracks. It wet her clothes and chilled her to the bone. The coffin rolled in a spiral plunging headlong into dark water. She was blind—unable to see. Asilinn tried desperately to escape the box—she pounded on the lid. The water closed in around her.
Asilinn woke with a scream. Sitting bolt upright in bed she tried to shake off the terrible sense of doom her nightmare brought. She drew her knees up to her chest, winced, and let them drop back on the bedding. Her body felt sore all over, especially…. She gasped when she tossed back the covers. Glancing down, she saw the blood staining the white sheeting beneath her legs and smearing down one thigh. Her breasts were swollen and flushed. Jared MacLean left a permanent mark on them when he took her.
With a ragged intake of breath, she closed her eyes at the memory of her shameful behavior. She had welcomed him inside her, pressed him deeper in a fit of insanity he induced. He truly was a dragon. One who hypnotized her and seduced her so thoroughly she craved him—wanted him to ravage her body. The thought made her flush red from head to toe.
“Good morning, wife.” His voice was thick with sleep when he reached across and stroked her exposed thigh.
Jared could feel the lingering stickiness of his seed and her virgin’s blood on his hand. No doubt, her residue clung to his manroot as well. The thought sent a wave of desire straight to his groin. The musky odor of their mating clung to the bedding stimulating him further, but she would be too sore to suffer another invasion just yet. He gazed up at her. The wheat-colored hair about her shoulders formed a cloak of honey tangles only making her more appealing. Her lips and breasts looked flushed and swollen from his use of her. There was a slight bruising near one rosy crest where he suckled a little too hard, not that she had objected. The effect on him was stunning—it made him hard as rock with barely a touch of her soft skin.
Seeing his focus, she tried to jerk the covers back over her but he staid her hand.
He motioned to the sheeting. “We need to clean up. Are you all right?”
“Well enough for one who has been used so grievously,” she replied, jerking the blanket up over her shoulder and pulling away from his touch.
Jared stared at the blood on the sheeting for a full minute before his gaze met hers. “Do you regret your decision?"
Her blush rose again. "You didna give me much choice, Milord," she said, lowering her eyes from his intense perusal.
"No, I did not.”
Asilinn sat staring at the blood-spattered sheets her eyes brimming with tears. He let out a sigh. “It is normal to have some bleeding when you lose your virginity. It is a one-time thing. Come," he pulled her from the bed and tried to free the cover from her grasp.
“Have you no common decency. Grant me at least some privacy to care for my wounds from your rutting invasion.”
“My what?” He took a step closer to tower over her his eyes lit with anger. Asilinn went to back away but he grasped her wrist. “My rutting invasion?”
“If you knew what I said, why did you ask me to repeat it?” She jerked her arm to free herself and took several steps backward.
He glared at her circling slowly around her while she stood clutching the cover over her. “The woman beneath me last night moaned and pushed me deeper.” He stopped in front of her. “You got what you gave last night. You enjoyed it. Would you deny it?”
“‘Twas some foul trick you played upon my body to turn it against my very will and make it crave you.”
“Ah, you did enjoy it.”
She whirled away from his defiant gaze and moaned when her body reminded her exactly where his deepest invasion had been. “You take pleasure in my humiliation.”
He came up behind her and pulled her hair back over her shoulders. “No Asilinn, I take pleasure in you.”
With gentle hands, he took the blanket from her and gave it a toss. She stood in mute silence while he picked up his shirt from the chair. Asilinn's breath caught in her throat when his hand grazed her naked breast. Was she to be taken again so soon? She doubted her sore flesh could bear it. He put his shirt on her. It smelled like him. "Sit over there." He directed her to the only chair in the room.
Jared stripped the soiled linen from their bed, folded it carefully, and placed it in the trunk. She wished he would put on some clothes—he could at least cover his nakedness and the hard shaft that sprung from his loins still tinged with her blood. Unable to bear the memories of what she had done, Asilinn looked away. “Why do you treat the ruined sheeting like some treasure?"
"I have a use for it later." Seeing her questioning look, he explained. "It will be my proof to your father we have consummated our vows." He saw her swallow hard as she turned from him to stare at the dying embers in the hearth. “Do you fear his reaction?"
“Aye," she murmured. “In his eyes I have betrayed him and all my clan.”
“Dinna worry. I will force him to accept me as his son-in-law whether he likes it or not." Jared moved over to tend the fire presenting his bare backside to her when he stooped to bring it once again to a blaze of warmth.
“Bloody hell, can you not have the decency to cover yourself?” Asilinn was rather startled by her own outburst, but it irritated her she could not seem to stop exploring his body with her eyes. Jared turned and stood before her, his eyes dancing in amusement.
“What troubles you, wife? Are you afraid my display may tempt you to repeat your behavior of last night? I assure you I would be glad to accommodate your needs.” He came closer and pushed some errant curls back from her face. “Did you wake with a scream this morning at the memory?”
Asilinn blanched when her thoughts flew back to the terrible dream that had awakened her. It was one of her special dreams—she knew, and with that certainty came no small degree of fear. Was she to die soon? She had no way of knowing because her brief glimpses into the future never gave any clue when they would occur. But perhaps her analysis was wrong. Had she not interpreted her previous dream of writhing beneath Jared as one of pain and suffering? It had been anything but that.
“Asilinn what troubles you?”
His hand came under her chin and forced her to look into his eyes. She jerked away and looked down immediately sorry. His firm manhood was right in her view. With a moan, she blocked the sight with her hand. “Please, Milord. I am unaccustomed to such a vulgar display.”
He snorted and pulled her hand down from her face. “Vulgar?” He made a show of looking over his body, grabbed a swath of plaid, and wrapped it securely around his waist. “Does this cover what most offends you?” His dark eyes sparkled with fire. “I thought you rather enjoyed that part of me.”
Asilinn let out an exasperated groan and ducked her head. “Stop this!”
“Very well….” He took her hand. “Come with me. I have a balm for your sore body.” He urged her to her feet and let go of her. “One moment.” With a grin, he went to the door of the chamber and opened it a crack. “Have Wynne bring Asilinn some clothes and tell Flanna to send up some food.” He closed the door. “Milady.”
Jared gave her a pair of doeskin slippers that covered her feet well and procured a torch from the fire. Taking her hand, he led her into the secret passageway. They walked down flight after flight of winding stone stairs until they reached a labyrinth of passageways. Jared took her down the one to the right or was it the left? Asilinn was all turned around.
Finally, they arrived at a large, oak door. Jared pushed it open and Asilinn's eyes grew wide in amazement. There in the small chamber was a bubbling spring. Vapor rose from the steaming water filling the air with warmth. Jared moved over and used his torch to light several others affixed to the walls in large metal holders. The room lit with the eerie glow of burning torches reflecting off the water.
"We are now deep in the bowels of my castle. I call this the Dragon's Spring because it flows from the earth full of warmth and healing powers. There is a larger pool beyond this wall but I reserve thi
s small one for myself." Jared slid his shirt gently from her shoulders. His eyes explored her in an appreciative appraisal while he slowly dropped his own clothing to the ground. Taking the heat of his gaze from her flesh, he waded into the steaming pool.
Asilinn stood watching his muscular back. Her gaze dropped lower to his tight buttocks. Her face colored at the memory of their intimacy—his insistent probing—the fire he ignited inside her body. He turned to face her. Wide-eyed she inspected the part of him that had pleasured her the night before. She looked up to find his smoldering, emerald eyes burning tracks over her own intimate parts.
"Come, Asilinn," he entreated. Testing the water first with her toe she moved into the pool. The liquid warmth enveloped her body with soothing heat.
Jared went to the far corner and sat on what appeared to be some sort of stone shelf beneath the water. She entered the pool but stayed as far as possible from her husband wading to waist depth and dipping low to let the water cover her breasts. She leaned back against the rocks that faced the edges of the spring. The heat of the spring soothed every sore part of her and she closed her eyes while she enjoyed the wonderful warmth. This was why her husband smelled good. He must bathe here regularly.
Her eyes flickered open briefly to see him watching her from across the water. She closed them trying to banish all thoughts of the night before. Asilinn didn’t know how long she had enjoyed the bubbling warmth of the pool, but her whole body felt relaxed and wonderfully soothed. She opened her eyes to check for Jared and found he had come closer. He eyed her with a lustful gaze across the short expanse of water separating them.
Alert once more she met his gaze. “I have fulfilled my promise to Robert, Milord. I hope you dinna expect more.”
Jared was close now, not more than three feet from her. “Think you, fair Asilinn, that one night of submission will be enough?”
Asilinn straightened an act that made her naked breasts break the surface of the water in the shadowy torchlight. Seeing where he looked, she immediately tried to duck down and conceal herself from his sight. “Aye, Milord, I have done my duty.”
He was close now so close he could easily touch her and he did, reaching out beneath the water to stroke her breasts in the blackness of the water. “You are mine now sweetling, mine to have whenever I wish.”
She whirled away from him and stumbled, falling face first into the inky pool. He was behind her grabbing her around the waist and pulling her out of the water. She coughed and spluttered indignantly when he pressed her back against his hard arousal. She tried to twist away, but he was holding her next to him letting her feel his growing need. His hands rubbed her belly as his head came close to hers—he found the soft skin on the back of her neck and planted kisses behind her ear. She bent forward to get away, but this only seemed to give his engorged rod closer proximity to her nether regions. Asilinn could feel him against her buttocks.
“It will take more than one invasion to make my seed take root in your womb,” he whispered. His hand kneaded her soft stomach. “You are mine now Asilinn and I will have you whenever I want you.”
She gasped when one of his hands dipped lower. His fingers eased inside the heart of her. Asilinn threw her head back against his shoulder her eyes wild as her body once again betrayed her by responding to his touch.
“Dinna do this Milord,” she pleaded, but his fingers stroked deeper teasing the key to her arousal. She tossed her head shakily against his shoulder. “You take your pleasure with me to dishonor my father.”
He said nothing just continued his tender caresses on her neck while his hands worked their magic. He was lifting her, guiding her hips, and coming into her from the rear. Asilinn planted her palms on the stone wall in front of her—she waited for the terrible pain of his penetration, but none came. There was only a growing need as he began his powerful thrusts inside her. He steered her hips to meet his every invasion. Her body gave its own fevered response—one of his hands moved up to squeeze her breast with each push. Asilinn fought to no avail against her desire for him. She wanted him inside her and she hated herself for it.
He leaned forward across her back his breath hot against her ear. “Who takes pleasure Asilinn? Would you deny your own desires?”
She tried to pull away, but all she succeeded in doing was creating another rush within her depths when his thick member moved out and back solidly inside her. “Dragon of Dunbocan you torture me with your dark magic,” she rasped.
“And does it hurt this time fair Asilinn?”
“No Milord, you know full well it does not.” As if to demonstrate his complete power over her, he thrust in and out several more times each time eliciting an involuntary moan from her.
Suddenly he grew more purposeful. He was taking her the way a stallion takes a mare, hard and hot, and from the rear—dominating her—controlling her. She felt the hot spurt of his seed deep within her. Her body contracted hard around him. A firestorm of feeling burst inside her.
Spent Jared eased himself out of her and turned her to face him. “You are my wife. It is your duty to submit to me whenever I desire you. Do you understand your obligation sweetling?”
“Aye,” she snapped. “You have demonstrated it well. I will not forget and thus you will not have to remind me like you have done this morning.”
Jared felt something near anger when he looked at her. Her innocence was an aphrodisiac to him. He couldn’t control his desire for her. It infuriated him. He had never expected such a passionate response from this young innocent. Once he saw how beautiful she was, he had never expected her still to be a virgin.
“Wash yourself off and I’ll take you to begin your duties as mistress of Dunbocan,” he said gruffly. She turned her back to him and he saw her desperately trying to wash away his seed. He smiled to himself. The more times she washed it away, the more times he would need to plant it.
A short time later, they were again in their chamber. Jared left the room for a while to let her dress. As much as he would have enjoyed watching, he needed to get his mind on something else. When he returned, he found Asilinn waiting fully dressed. She wore a plain, rose-colored shift and a deeper rose surcoat. Her hair was woven into a single braid which fell down her back.
“And what will you do with me now, Milord? Parade me around like some crude trophy?” She stood before him glaring at him.
Jared noted his use of her didn’t seem to curb her sharp tongue or her defiant manner; for some reason he didn’t fault her for that. Giving her a cold appraisal, he took her arm. “As mistress of Dunbocan you have work to do. I’ll not have a wife who lies around all day.”
Asilinn bristled. “I’m not some well-kept whore who lies abed awaiting your return! Give me some errands that I may forget the dismal situation in which I find myself.”
“Dismal?”
“Aye, so, it is dismal to be separated from my clansmen, my father, my brother, and made to play whore wife to the Dragon Lord of Dunbocan. And if you think I feel otherwise, you are mistaken.”
Jared pulled around to face him. “You are many things Asilinn, but a whore is not one of them. I suggest you recall the vows you took in the chapel. I have given you all I would have given a wife of my own choosing and I will continue to give you nothing less. But I warn you, dinna cross me or I will punish you with same conviction.”
Asilinn’s mouth was so dry she didn’t think she could form spit. A wife of his choosing, well, she was not that, was she? To him she was just a political tool and still he made her body crave his. She drew herself up as tall as she could, but her head was barely the height of his chin. “I'm ready to work."
He gave her a grim smile. “We’ll eat first.”
The kitchen maid had left a platter of food while he was gone. Asilinn eyed it hungrily, but she refused to sit down and eat with him as if nothing had transpired in the bath. “I have no stomach for food this morning, Milord. I believe my lesson in submission has taken my appetite.”
&nbs
p; Jared glared at her. “You will eat or we will have another lesson in submission.”
Asilinn didn’t know what else to do so she obeyed nibbling her food grudgingly under his dark perusal. She had yielded all to him and he stood over her watching her as if he would like to punish her somehow. Well she had news for him; she had been punished enough by the bruising effect of his body thrusting into hers. But she was cut even more deeply by the fact he had made her want to be taken—he made her want him inside her. Unable to look at him, she cast her eyes down. After a few bites, she stopped eating and glanced up at him.
“I canna eat anything else, Milord.”
“Nonsense, Asilinn. If my seed has already taken root, you may be eating for two.” He grinned at her stricken expression and thrust a slice of meat and a slab of coarse ground bread in front of her. “Finish this and you are done.”
She was hungry and it tasted good, but the blackguard beast that stood over her and watched her eat made her temper flare. She ate half and shoved the rest away. “Unless you wish to force it down my throat, I am finished.”
Jared had to get away from her for a while. The wench was driving him wild with desire—near everything she did aroused him, even watching her eat. “Very well,” he relented, “time for you to get to work.”
He took her arm and led her down from the tower into the more bustling world of the rest of the castle. Everyone they passed offered a warm greeting to Jared and nodded politely in her direction.
Jared called a young boy over and sent him to fetch two of the servants, then led her to the main hall. A short while later, two women appeared looking ill at ease. The young one had pale skin and a fair face. The older woman was stooped and weathered by years of toil.
“I am assigning you two the special task of seeing my lady's orders are carried out. Lady Asilinn is not a captive here. She is my wife and you will afford her every courtesy. Asilinn, this is Flanna," he said, introducing her to the red-haired beauty. “Flanna runs my kitchens with great skill. Her husband Fergus is in charge of my stables. They have one son, a little carrot-top named Toby. No doubt you shall see him wandering about from time to time." As if on cue, Toby ran from the neighboring hallway to hug his mother's legs.
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