Angie Arms - Flame Series 03 (21 page)

Despite the hour the hall was empty save for the handful of trusted knights gathered near the hearth.

"What news?" Garrick demanded, as soon as his foot landed on the stone of the hall floor.  There was still a part of him that hoped this wasn't news that would pull him from his home and the new bride who awaited him upstairs. 

"It is Stroud," Halvor said from his crouched position
, where he was poking at the flames that raged. 

"What of the swine?" Garrick asked
, moving closer.

"I have men watching him," Damien replied.  This surprised Garrick, after all Stroud was not Damien's enemy, they had served at court together
, and as far as Garrick knew, had gotten along well enough.  "They have returned with news he will be leaving with the King soon."

The man was escaping.  With all that had been occurring
, Garrick had not given up his desire to shed the man's blood, but he assumed he would remain in England so that revenge could still be his.  "What has he done to you?" Garrick asked the seated man.

Drawing in a breath that sounded as if he were exasperated at a small child
, Damien rose from his chair to look slightly down upon Garrick's smaller frame.  "He has taken from you, and you Lord Garrick, I owe my life to."

"You owe me nothing," Garrick said
, turning away to put a step between them.  Many people owed him, those who he gave homes to in place of their service owed him fealty, but this man was his own man, and there was nothing that bound them together. 

"If not my life then my friendship," Damien replied
, when Garrick turned back to face him.

Friendship?  He was learning a number of things since meeting his wife, the softer, kinder side to life.  Perhaps accepting friendships was one of those things he must learn to accept
, and stop questioning.  After all, he trusted these men gathered more than any.  He looked to each of them, and for the first time he acknowledged their faces as those of friends.  They had to be friends, for they were gathered here this evening to speak to Garrick of his enemy.

"When does he leave?" Garrick asked.

“It is only a matter of days."

He had only days to seek the man out and end his life
, or that right would be out of his reach.  Stroud might be lucky enough to return, but it could take years, and Garrick was not a patient man. 

"I will leave at dawn," Garrick said
, with a nod toward Halvor.  Just reunited with his sisters Garrick could see his distaste for leaving them so quickly, but his reservations were fleeting across his features as he stood to his full, impressive height. 

"I will inform the men."

Garrick turned away quickly.  There was only one thing he wanted to accomplish before leaving, and she was awaiting him in their chamber, and he took a step that way.

"I will have my army ready too," Damien said
, stopping Garrick in his tracks and making him swing around.

Garrick did not need Damien or his men
, but he guessed it was what a friend would do, so he merely nodded and headed for the steps.

Chapter 15

"Wife?"

Garrick's voice made Ryann jump, his steps had been silent as he entered their chamber.  She sat by the hearth, a robe wrapped securely around her to help chaise away the chill, despite the blazing fire.  She stood from the chair and turned to face him.

She detected something on his face
, but she could not discern exactly what. 

"Husband," she said
, greeting him with a smile.

"I must leave on the morrow."

She studied him, waiting for an explanation, but he only stood his ground, watching her.

"May I know why you are choosing to leave?"

Quick strides carried him to her, but he stopped an arm's length away.  "It is not a choice I have."

"Then why are you leaving me?"

"I go to kill Stroud."  She stared up at him, a chill racing down her spine because there was no emotion to accompany such a statement. 

"Can you not choose to just let it be?"

His nostrils flared as he studied her.  Finally, he said, "No."

"Why can you not?"

"Because he hurt you, and in the time I have known you, I have grown fond of you."

She smiled at him
, because by his hesitation, she knew fond was not the correct word to describe the feelings he wanted to relay to her, but for a man such as Garrick, it was a monumental declaration.

"I have no doubt he will take you again if given the chance, especially if he learns of my feelings for you.  This will weaken me
, and put me at his mercy."  He paused, studying her.  "When we have children, he will be a threat to them.  What if he does the same to our daughter, or comes after our son?"

"So far there is no way we will have children."

"I have come to change that this night."

Ryann could only stare at him.  This was it, the time she had been anticipating and dreading
, and it all rushed in on her until she stood before Garrick trembling.  Garrick cleared his throat, shifted his weight from one foot to another, but made no move toward her.

"Are you nervous husband?" Ryann asked
, watching his uncertainty and drawing strength from it.

"I am a warrior," he declared, the muscle along his jaw twitched.  Was he agitated at her?

"A very handsome warrior," she said with a smile, as she advanced to rest her hand on his broad chest.  He grunted, not responding, only stared down at her, studying her.

"A warrior who will give me many sons and daughters," she stated.  Feeling emboldened
, she rose up on tiptoe and placed a gentle kiss upon his lips.

The one act unleashed the lion within him.  Within a flash his one hand was buried in her golden hair, the other gripped her chin, holding her still for the onslaught of his lips.  His attack was brutal
, as he met the softness of hers, with the strength of his.  There was no warning as his teeth took her lower lip and bit enough to make her gasp.  His tongue dove in, as the one hand left her chin to wrap tightly around her waist, locking her to his length.  She felt every hard muscle pressing in on her, holding her, overpowering her.  His fingers no longer entwined in her hair, but held her head, his palm pressing against the back of her scalp, refusing to let her move away from him.  His grip was iron, and despite herself, she let out a whimper. 

"Nothing will stop me this time," Garrick said
, as he left her lips to suckle his way to her ear, then made his way down her neck.

Sensations were exploding within Ryann, clambering for recognition
, but gaining no foot hold as one was swept aside for another, again and again, until she felt faint, her knees weak.  As if sensing her dilemma, Garrick swept her up into his strong arms, as if her weight was nothing.  She thrilled that compared to the strength of her husband, it was not.  He carried her to their bed, but instead of releasing her, he climbed onto it with his knees, and shuffled to the middle where he laid her.  As his lips, tongue and teeth worked gasps and moans from her as he moved across her collarbone, his hand was working on the rope tying the robe securely about her waist.  Freeing it, he pulled the cloth aside, then sat back on his heels staring down at her.

The loss of his heat, of his passion
, was a gut wrenching thing, and she wanted to cry out her protest of it.

"You are beautiful wife," he said
, trailing his knuckles almost reverently from her collarbone, down between her breasts, to flatten his hand on the softness of her stomach.

"I fear you have kept me waiting long enough," she said with a smile.  She felt ready to beg him to touch her more
, but her statement made it unnecessary.

A grim smile crossed his lips
, and placing one hand on her thigh, he used it to open her legs, but his obsidian eyes held hers.  "Hold on my dear, this will get rough."

A thrill as strong as a bolt of lightning shot from her toes all the way to her core.  The on large, unyielding palm was pressed flat against her chest, pinning her to the mattress as his head swooped between her legs, his free hand was like a vice on her thigh, holding it to keep her legs open to him
, and she knew tomorrow she would have bruises on the sensitive flesh there.

His tongue was the gentlest of caresses on the most private of places, a contrast to the strength of his hand holding her down.  Involuntarily her hips bucked upward
, coming against his head.  She felt his teeth graze the sensitive nub, and made her gasp slamming back down upon the mattress.  Again his tongue gently stroked upward to swirl gently where his teeth had just been.  She threw her head back, her breath seized in her throat.  Her fingers dug into the cover she laid upon, gripping it in her hand, her knuckles turning white.

His tongue continued relentlessly until her breath came in pants and she felt as if she would come undone.

"Please Garrick."  Ryann had wondered when the time came if her nightmares would overwhelm her, but each time her husband touched her, she had not thoughts of any other man.  Only Garrick and the wonderful sensations he made her feel.  What the other men had done was as different as night and day.  Though this night, she knew, would not completely banish the visions within her head, she had no fear, and only the waves of pleasure filled her mind, and pushed thought of anyone else's touch to the farthest recesses of her mind.

"Not yet."

"Please," ended with a gasp, as he flicked his tongue against that sensitive spot again, and her hips bucked once again.  His teeth gently locked around the bud working it gently, his tongue still flicking, and she could not help the cry that ripped from her lips.  She writhed beneath him, tried to slam her legs closed, but he was too strong, and she could not escape the building pressure deep within herself.

He raised himself and she saw gentleness within his dark eyes she had never seen.  It melted her heart
, and she tried to reach for him, but his one hand still held her down.

"Not yet."  The words were a command.  Garrick removed his hand from her chest, the other from her thigh, and then gripped her roughly by the hips.  With one hard pull he yanked her upward.  Her knees bent, her shins pressed against his chest, her ass resting just below his chest.

"Put your legs over my shoulders."

Ryann did not immediately comply
, and his thumbs bit into her pelvis, pulling her harder against him.  "Now," came his order, and she complied.  Not because he hurt her, or demanded it, but because the lust she saw in his eyes as he looked down at her nakedness gave her no choice.  As soon as she draped her legs over his broad shoulders his head dove between them, his tongue entered her, and she cried out.

Ryann's hands let loose the cover and twined themselves in her husband's hair, holding onto him for dear life as her body bucked against him.  Her eyes rolled in her head and the pressure released itself, flowing from her, shooting her heavenward to plunge back to earth only for the sensations to begin again
, as he continued to stroke her in and out with his tongue.

"Garrick," she cried.  The pressure was building quickly but it was different this time
, and instinctively she knew just the stroke of his tongue would not be enough to release her building desire.  Yet her husband was unmerciful as he licked and nipped at her, until she begged him between her pants, as tears came to her eyes.

Suddenly he shifted and in her cloud of unbridled desire she realized he too was naked.  Ryann did not know when he had unclothed himself, she did not care for he shifted his hips and plunged into her, filling her.  Ryann felt her body explode around him.  She felt she might faint
, as she felt herself pulsing against him.  As she again fell back to earth, she looked up at Garrick and saw that he watched her.

"You are far more than I could have ever dreamed," he said, his voice held a note of awe.

Ryann could say nothing, feeling herself still pulsing and her husband still filling her.

"Now hold tight."

Ryann did not know what those words meant, but did not have time to ask.  Garrick withdrew nearly entirely, then plunged into her forcefully, quickly making her cry out and throw her head back at the new sensation.  Again and again he pounded in and out of her.  Her fingers wrapped again in the cover.  His fingers bit into her hips as he forced her to take each of his thrusts without yielding.  She felt her climax coming and one final thrust, the hardest and deepest yet, brought a groan from Garrick, and a new sensation as he spilled his seed within her, sent her over the edge.  He held her tightly, feeling him pulsing, and her own body felt as if it milked him dry, as her climax rolled on and on.

She felt him shift, lower her legs that felt like dead weights
, then lay down next to her, pulling her against him.

"You are worth it all," his deep voice said
, and was the last thing her mind registered as she drifted to sleep.