Christina's Tapestry

by N. J. Walters

  Christina lost all track of time as the battle raged. Both men were incredibly skilled and wielded their swords with deadly intent. She soon realized that what she’d seen in the courtyard this morning had been little more than play. Sparks flew as metal struck metal. Both men parried and struck, dancing away just before the blade struck home.

  Zaren’s blade slipped past Jarek’s guard, but he managed to block it at the last minute and it hit his armband instead. She could barely breathe as she silently prayed that Jarek would be safe. She didn’t want to see Zaren die, but if that’s what it took to keep Jarek and herself safe then so be it.

  Sweat dripped down her temples and forehead, stinging her eyes, and she blinked it away. She stood like a statue as the men fought on. The end, when it finally came, happened so quickly, she almost missed it.

  Jarek faltered and her heart stopped beating. Zaren lunged for the kill and Jarek sidestepped at the last possible moment. Zaren was unable to stop his forward momentum and fell. Jarek struck him with the flat of his sword, sending him sprawling. The tip of his sword rested on the back of Zaren’s neck.

  Zaren froze, waiting for the killing blow. Jarek glared at the three Bakra brothers. “Concede your claim and I will spare his life.” The three brothers nodded as one.

  “Your brothers have given up their claim. Do you concede yours?” Zaren said nothing, his breathing labored as he lay facedown in the dirt. Jarek pushed his sword point deeper, drawing blood. Zaren gave an almost imperceptible nod and Jarek stepped back.

  Zaren slowly came to his feet and turned to face Jarek. He eyed the other man with respect as he saluted him. Jarek nodded in acceptance and then scanned the crowd until he found her.

  She couldn’t move as he walked towards her, coming to a halt just in front of her. His usually warm eyes were cold and emotionless as he looked her over. She suddenly felt like a prized filly that had been won, but was now deemed unworthy. All her insecurities rose to the fore. He was sorry he’d fought for her.

  “I have won the challenge. It is now your choice. Go or stay.”

  A gasp came from the crowd and she sensed their surprise. The Bakra brothers hurried forward. “Come with us, Christina.”

  Christina was beginning to feel like she was locked in a nightmare. Didn’t he want her anymore? She bit her lip to keep from screaming out the question, afraid of his answer. She’d hurt his pride mightily when she’d questioned him and now it seemed he was questioning if she was worthy of him. She glanced at Marc but he looked away.

  “What do you want?” She reached out to Jarek, but he backed away from her. She could feel the tears on her cheeks as she stood there, not knowing what to do. There was no way she was going with the Bakra brothers, but she couldn’t stay here if Jarek no longer wanted her.

  “It is your choice, Christina.” There was no emotion in his voice. “I fought only for your right to do so.”

  Defeat washed over her. She would stay and remain in her room until the tapestry reappeared and then she would go home. Home to her cold, barren life. And she would live with the thoughts of the life that might have been hers and she would live on the memories of Jarek forever.

  For she knew then that Jarek was her choice. She cared deeply for Marc, but Jarek touched her soul.

  But it seemed as if he no longer cared what she did. There was certainly nothing in his manner to encourage her at all.

  Bowing her head in, she turned and walked back through the crowd.

  “Christina.” Jarek’s voice was filled with anger now as he called her.

  She could not face his disdain and anger. “Stay,” she whispered and continued to walk. The door seemed to be getting further away rather than closer and, like a wounded animal, she longed for the safety of her room. Her body swayed and she held her hands in front of her, searching for something to hold on to. Anything.

  She noticed the blood on her fingers and opened her hand. The imprint of the torque was there and she wondered if it would remain when she was gone from here. The blood dripped one drop at a time onto the stone beneath her feet. Darkness swarmed around her and she embraced it gladly. Anything to escape the pain.

  A hoarse yell pierced her consciousness as her legs folded beneath her. Then she heard nothing.

  Chapter Eleven

  A cold fury enveloped Jarek as he watched Christina walk away from him. That she could even think for one moment that he would lose her was unthinkable. Her lack of faith in him had deeply wounded him. Unreasonable or not, that was how he felt.

  When he’d won the challenge, he’d known he had to give her a choice. It was the hardest thing he’d ever done in his life. Giving her the opportunity to leave him went against every ounce of his being. His instincts were to claim her now that he’d won the right to her, but in his heart he knew it had to be her choice or he would always wonder why she stayed.

  She looked so lost and unhappy as he approached her that he was willing to do anything to make her happy. Even set her free, or worse, let her go to the Bakra brothers, if that was her choice. She’d looked wounded when he’d given her the choice of leaving or staying. He’d thought that she would be pleased to have the power of choosing, but her eyes had filled with pain and she’d turned her back on him and walked away.

  He’d almost given in then and swept her in his arms and carried her to his room. Even though his entire body was screaming for action, he’d forced himself to remain still and asked her again to make a choice.

  She wouldn’t even look at him. He’d barely heard her whispered reply, but the word “stay” echoed in his mind, bringing with it a relief that was incredible. Then before his very eyes she’d swayed and crumpled to the ground.

  A battle cry had erupted from his throat, but as fast as he’d moved, he could not catch her in time. Marc pounded up the steps behind him and Mara was already kneeling at Christina’s side when he reached her.

  He carefully eased his hands under her and turned her onto her back as Mara began to run her hands over Christina’s limbs checking for damage. “What’s wrong with her?”

  Mara brushed Christina’s hair away from her face and felt for injuries. “She’s exhausted and upset. All the changes in her life and the violence of the challenge were too much for her.” She dabbed at the blood seeping from a bump on Christina’s head. “I fear that our ways are too foreign from hers. She is frightened and may well return home to all that is familiar.”

  “Can I move her?” Jarek held her limp hand in his and traced the cuts that seeped blood.

  When Mara nodded, he lifted her into his arms and stood. Marc was keeping one eye on the Bakra brothers who had crowded in to watch and the other one was fixed on Christina.

  Jarek tensed as Zaren approached him. “Is there anything we can do?”

  “I think we’ve all done enough for tonight.”

  Zaren stiffened, but said nothing.

  Jarek swallowed his anger, he was as much to blame as Zaren. Even though they were at odds over Christina, all of the men had been friends for years. Jarek liked and respected the Bakra brothers and did not want to lose such a long standing friendship with his neighbors. “I understand your need to issue challenge and probably would have done the same myself. But she is not of our world and does not understand our ways.”

  Zaren fingered a long blonde strand of hair that hung over Jarek’s arm. He lifted it to his mouth and rubbed the soft lock of Christina’s hair over his lips. Tenderly, he released it and tucked it back behind her ear. “She is worth fighting for, Jarek.”

  Jarek could hear the challenge and warning under Zaren’s words, but most of all he could hear the sadness. “I know, my friend, but the choice must be hers.”

  Zaren nodded and then spun on his heel and walked away. His brothers all gave Christina one last look of longing before following their older brother. Their horses were waiting for them and they swung into the saddles. “Send word and we will either come and celebrate your marriage, or we will co
me and get drunk with you when she leaves.” Whirling his horse around, Zaren thundered out of the castle courtyard, his brothers right behind him.

  “Let’s get her inside.” Marc was holding the door open to the castle and motioning him inside.

  Jarek forgot the Bakra brothers and the challenge, focusing entirely on Christina. This might be their last night with her. According to legend, the tapestry would appear tomorrow night and then Christina could leave him. He had less than a day to convince her to stay.

  He climbed the stairs two at a time and carried her into her room. Laying her on the bed, he unlaced her dress and began to tug it down over her shoulders. Marc was at her feet removing her leather boots. Jarek stripped her dress from her body and tossed it over a bench in the corner. Carefully, he removed the torque and laid it aside.

  Christina lay sprawled across the bed in her white chemise. Every breath she took caused her breasts to rise and fall. The outline of her nipples was plain against the thin fabric and he could see the shadow of her pubic hair. Her hips were wide and made for bearing children with ease and her stomach had a soft slope that fired his desire. He could easily imagine her stomach growing large with child and the image stoked the fires of lust that burned within him. His blood thickened and raced to his cock, making it swell.

  Mara bustled over next to him with a basin of warm water. She laid it on the floor next to the bed, dipped a soft cloth into it and began to bathe the bump on Christina’s head. Jarek and Marc both watched in silence as she worked. Mara lifted Christina’s hair out of the way and draped it over the pillow.

  Jarek swallowed hard. He’d longed to see her hair just like that, but he’d imagined her awake and wanting him, not unconscious and injured. Marc sat at the foot of the bed and rubbed his hands up and down her legs. Jarek knew it was because he needed the contact with her because he felt the same way.

  Mara washed the drops of dried blood from Christina’s hand and when she was finished, she dumped the cloth back into the basin. “That is all there is to be done right now. I don’t think she is injured so much as worn out. She should sleep for a while, but you should wake her every so often to make sure her head injury is not worse than it seems.”

  Jarek knew that men sometimes died from head injuries, falling into a sleep from which they did not wake. He would not allow such a thing to happen to Christina. “We will take care of her.” Marc would stay with him until she was well. Christina had not made her choice yet and Jarek knew that Marc would press his suit hard to get her to choose him.

  So be it. They would both stay. And when she awoke they would do their best to make her want to stay in their world with them. Even one night a week with Christina was better than none. He had been raised to expect this, knew it was a way of life, but a part of him railed against the thought of not having her to himself. It was hard enough to share her with Marc, but almost impossible to imagine her not being his wife.

  The next few hours would be the most important of his life. They would shape not only his future, but the future of the House of Garen. Mara picked up the basin and left the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

  Marc looked at him, his eyes full of questions and longing. “We cannot let her leave us.”

  “We may not have a choice.” As much as it pained him to say it, he did not want her to stay if it would make her unhappy. His resolve hardened as he watched her sleep. But that did not mean he would not do everything in his power to convince her to stay.

  Jarek stripped the chemise from her, wanting her naked. He tossed the garment to the floor and eased the furs from under her, tucking her beneath their warmth. She sighed and snuggled deeper.

  He tugged off his own boots and dropped them on the floor beside the bed. His pants followed. The armbands and wristbands were next. Jarek wanted nothing between his flesh and Christina’s warm skin. When he was naked, he climbed into bed and tugged her into his arms. She settled easily, her head tucked under his chin, her hand on his heart.

  Marc stripped off his clothing and climbed into bed on the other side. Turning on his side, he clasped his hand over Christina’s hip and nestled closer to her back and behind.

  Closing his eyes, Jarek tried to rest. But the image of Christina crumpling at the top of the stairs haunted him and sleep would not come.

  Something tickled her nose and she batted her hand at it. She felt so warm and toasty, she didn’t want to wake up yet. Memories of concerned male voices waking her several times rose to the surface of her consciousness, making her frown. Why was that so important?

  The longer she was awake the more she remembered. Slowly, she became aware of her surroundings and knew she was in her room. She could feel the soft furs on top of her and the two male bodies surrounding her.

  The last thing she remembered was trying to make her way to the doorway of the castle. Then everything went black. She must have fainted. Just the thought shocked her. She’d never done anything like that in her life until she came here. She was healthy and strong and not prone to any kind of weakness at all. Now, she’d fainted twice in the last two days. Maybe it was the air. She certainly found this place unsettling to her peace of mind.

  Memories of the violence of the evening before filled her throbbing head. Raising a shaky hand, she felt a small bump there. She must have struck her head when she fell. A shiver racked her body when she remembered how cold Jarek had been towards her, and the warmth that had filled her fled from her limbs. His words had frozen her insides and she instinctively started to pull away from him.

  His arms tightened around her like velvet bands, not hurting her, but there was no way she could escape his embrace. She swallowed the lump in her throat when his hand tenderly cradled the back of her head as he pulled her closer to him. She was totally confused now, his gentle actions so at odds with his earlier words and deeds.

  She could feel Marc’s hand on her hip and feel his erection digging into the small of her back. It was strange just how comforting she found it to be tucked between these two hard male bodies. It was just as amazing at how normal and right it felt to be sleeping with the two of them.

  It was still nighttime, as the room was cast in shadows, but she knew that this was her last day here. She chewed on her lip as her fingers tangled in Jarek’s chest hair. She still didn’t know what to do. Her head was telling her to grab the tapestry when it appeared and go home where she was safe. Her heart was urging her to grab onto this chance for a relationship and a family.

  The feel of Jarek’s cock lengthening and thickening against the leg she had draped across his thighs made all her thoughts scatter.

  “How do you feel?” His low intimate tones sent heat flooding through her body once again.

  “I’m fine.” Other than a slight headache, she was fine. At least physically. Mentally and emotionally was a whole other thing.

  Jarek’s hand wrapped around her upper thigh. “Are you sure?” His fingers began to move, tracing circles from her hip to her knee and back to her hip.

  She could barely think straight. Marc’s hand began to move in a slow path from her butt to the back of her knee. “Yes.” God, yes. Her leg was being caressed front and back. Two calloused hands sliding up and down.

  Her headache was forgotten as desire thrummed through her. Jarek no longer seemed angry with her. The cold, distant man was gone, replaced by the tender lover who had become so familiar to her. Her sex dampened and she could feel a trickle flow from between her thighs and land on Jarek’s leg.

  He groaned and his fingers dug into her thigh. “So be it.” Jarek rolled over in bed, flipping her onto her back.

  Slightly dazed, Christina gazed up at the two men looming over her. Their eyes were filled with lust and she could feel their hard bodies on either side of her. They both wanted her. It might be the wrong thing to do for her heart, but she wanted this. If she did end up going home, she wanted one more memory of her time here.

  She raised her arms over her head
, the motion pushing her breasts towards them. It was a sign of surrender. Both men smiled slowly. Damn, but they were sexy. Whatever they wanted, she wanted to give it to them. A gift from her heart to them.

  Chapter Twelve

  Jarek wasn’t about to question his good fortune. Christina was awake, seemed no worse for wear for her ordeal and she still wanted them. Any good warrior knew to take advantage of an opportunity when it was presented to him and he was no fool.

  She looked exactly as he’d imagined she would with her blonde hair flowing over the pillows. Her breasts jiggled with every breath she took and each plump mound was tipped with a tight bud that was just begging to be tasted. With her arms over her head and her legs sprawled open, she was a feast for his senses.

  His hands looked huge and dark against her soft pale skin as he traced her delicate collarbone. She opened her eyes and looked straight at him, her eyes blue pools of desire. Her breath was coming quicker now as his fingers inched closer to her breast. Soft. She was so damned soft everywhere. The calloused pads of his fingertips shaped and stroked the sensitive flesh, while his thumb traced the outline of her distended nipple.

  Marc mirrored his actions, watching him closely. Right now, there was more at stake than which brother she would choose. At this moment, they were banded together for their common goal of just keeping Christina with them. Neither of them wanted to lose her to her own world.

  Jarek licked his lips in anticipation as he lowered his mouth. He lapped at her nipple, holding her breast in his hand while he sampled her. When that was no longer enough, he gently clasped it between his teeth and nipped the bud.

  Her ecstatic cries echoed throughout the room. Jarek wanted more from her. He wanted her begging for his attention. He wanted her screams of release. He wanted everything.

  His cock swelled with every taste of her sweet flesh. There had never been a woman made who enticed him more than Christina. His entire body was taut with desire, but he wanted to take his time and draw out the seduction and the pleasure. They had all night and he planned to make the most of it.