Enchanted Lover (26 page)

Morven grinned at Osred. “I think we've just been
dismissed.”

“So it would seem,” the irate counselor replied.

Morven grabbed Osred's arm and led him from the room,
looking back to wink at Jared.

When they were alone again, Jared stared at her
expectantly. “I did not wish to be a widow so soon,” she said. She dropped her
head to avoid his steady gaze. Then, drawing a deep breath, she looked him in
the eye again. “You know I have healing skills, is it surprising I would use
them to help you?”

His expression was thoughtful as he studied her. “I
didna expect it.”

“Dinna make too much of it. I would help any man in
need.”

His eyes crinkled in a laugh that made him gasp in
pain when it got to his jaw.

***

In the days that followed Jared felt as if his body
was betraying him. Asilinn seemed amazed at his progress, but to him it was
ploddingly slow. Frustrated by his handicaps, Jared sent Asilinn to find Morven
and told her to busy herself elsewhere while he talked with him.

“I hear you have things well under control,” he told
his cousin. “Now I would ask a favor. I need you to help me down to the
Dragon's Spring. I think what my poor body needs is a good soaking. Perhaps it
will ease my pain enough to allow me what I desire most.”

Morven laughed. “Lady Asilinn is close, yet so far
away,” he said. “You realize, of course, she will kill us both if she catches
us. The woman has guarded you like a watchdog. If it hadna been for her and
Skye and Liam, you wouldna be with us now.”

“How so?” Jared asked while Morven helped him stand.

Morven related the tale of the women sneaking off to
find him in Burnum Woods and of Liam's involvement in the rescue. Jared just
shook his head. Thus distracted he had made it all the way to the spring
without too much trouble.

When he slipped into the hot water, he felt the
soothing balm working on his soreness. Morven sat on the bench and watched his
expression. “I can see you'll have me doing this every day until you can manage
it on your own.”

Jared laughed and moved on to the business at hand.
“Have you made any progress on identifying our attackers?”

“Very little,” Morven admitted. “Our losses were
heavy. They killed four of our men and got away clean. I'm completely stumped.”

Jared grimaced and asked for an accounting of the
actions Morven had taken. They discussed different possibilities and Morven
helped him back to bed just before Asilinn came in. “I shall expect you every
day at this time for a briefing,” Jared said when Morven rose to leave. Morven
grinned and nodded as he left the room.

Asilinn smiled at Jared with a smile that made him
immediately suspicious. “What?” She moved toward him with a determined look on
her face.

“It is time for the stitches to come out,” she
announced.

“Stitches?”

“I had to sew your jaw closed, but now I must remove
the thread. ‘Tis healed enough to stay together on its own.”

“Will it hurt?”

She laughed. “The Dragon Lord of Dunbocan Castle is afraid to have his stitches out,” she taunted.

“I just asked if you were going to hurt me. It
worries me how much you seem to enjoy it.” They both started laughing.

Asilinn skillfully went about her task. When she was
done, he fell asleep with his head in her lap.

During the next week, Morven arrived daily to consult
with Jared. Asilinn was always banished from these meetings, but she was aware
of what was going on. Toby had told her he had seen Morven helping Laird Jared
down the stairs. One day she spied on them and realized the route they were
taking was the public way to the Dragon's Spring.

Jared must have told her the truth about Morven not
being aware of the secret passage. It would have been the path of choice to
keep his secret from her, but apparently, not even his cousin was aware of its
existence. That gave Asilinn some small sense of security. But now she wrestled
with a weightier problem. If she wanted to ensure the safety of the life
growing within her, she must convince her husband she was willing to be his
wife, and there was only one way she could think of to do it.

He had just returned from his bath and stood
balancing himself with the bedpost when she walked in. It was time. She must
pray for strength to carry out her plan. Walking close to him, she touched his
chest with her palms. It felt good. She wasn’t shaky at all.

“Do you need me, Milord?”

“What did you have in mind wife?” His dark eyes raked
over her.

Jared was a little dazed by her demeanor. She looked
as if she meant to lift her skirts for him, but he could not fathom why. Her
small hands moved down his abdomen finally coming to rest on his groin.

“I would be your wife today, if you will have me,”
she whispered.

Jared’s pulse hammered—could it be she actually had
come to care for him? He remembered the warm way his parents had exchanged
touches—glances that were only theirs. It was what he craved most in his
marriage, to be loved by his wife. Not that he was at all sure he loved
Asilinn, but he wanted her to love him unconditionally. Then maybe he could
find a way to love her back.

Knowing he must test her resolve, he opened the front
of her gown and ran his hand over the snowy mound of her breast while his
finger traced its tip.

“Is this what you want, Asilinn?”

Asilinn took a deep breath and pushed him back onto
the bed. She stood before him, slowly letting her gown slip off her shoulders.
He gave her a scorching appraisal his manhood throbbing in anticipation.

He watched her nervous fingers fumble with her shift,
finally freeing it to drop at her feet. She moved towards him naked and glowing
in the pale sunlight that lit their chamber. When she neared the bed, he
reached out and pulled her on top of him, his hands tracing roads of fire over
her creamy flesh. She felt smooth and hot, like marble heated by the fire.

“Asilinn, help me off with these clothes,” he
entreated. “I would feel you upon my flesh.”

She straddled him, urging him to sit up so she might
ease his shirt off his sore shoulder. Her nipples teased the mat of hair
covering his chest while she worked. He lay back with a groan, running his
hands up to capture her wondrous full breasts. She arched toward him and he
pulled her forward, sampling each rosy tip one at a time until a throaty
whimper escaped her.

Grabbing her shoulders, he eased her back to a
sitting position. She arched back as he ran his hands down her trim torso.
Sliding one hand between them, he felt her rise up on her knees to allow him to
explore her depths with intimate strokes. Her eyes glazed over and she moved
against him restlessly—moist—wet—anxious for him.

“Asilinn, the rest of my clothes,” he reminded her.
She moved away from his soft ministrations to remove the final impediment to
their union.

His shaft was hard and ready. Asilinn moved down to
caress it and he groaned in ecstasy when the silky purse of her mouth closed
over him, tasting, nibbling. Slowly she moved her caresses up his body,
bringing the sweet juncture of her thighs to rest over his hardness. She
reached down and took him in her hand, guiding him into her.

He felt the velvet glove of her flesh surround him,
urging him into her tight sheath. He thrust eagerly, exhilarated by the feel of
her body contracting around his. With rhythmic movements, she pushed him deeper
driving him to the brink of insanity. An urgent whimper escaped her each time
she pressed him to her depths. He was in a frenzy to please her.

She was making love to him—having everything her
way—pleasuring him as she pleased—in control of his body. And he loved it.
Lunging into her, he was oblivious to the pain of his bruised body. She drove
all thought from his mind until the only thing that mattered was union with
her. She arched wildly to receive all he could offer. When he spilled his seed
deep within her, Asilinn collapsed on his chest.

A burst of pure euphoria shot over him, leaving him
clinging to her in spent passion. They rested that way for some time,
intimately intertwined… unwilling to disengage.

At length Asilinn rose up on her elbow and looked
into his eyes. “Milord, there is something I would tell you,” she said softly.
Sitting up, but still physically engaged and straddling him, she took his hand
and led it to her smooth white belly. “Your child grows within me.”

Jared’s hands palpated her still-flat stomach
spellbound by the thought his child was inside her. His member still rested
within her and now he felt the impossible—he was swelling again—growing hard
and erect. But other thoughts ruined the moment for him. This was why she came
to him today—this was why she saved him and nursed him. Not because she cared
for him, but because she wanted to be sure he would protect her and the
child—just like his first whore-wife.

“Your news pleases me. Can you feel it?”

There was an edge to his voice that made Asilinn
wary. His member grew hard within her but his eyes had lost the glaze of
passion’s flame. They looked angry and cold. She didn’t know how to
respond—didn’t know what would diffuse his anger. Instinctively she pressed him
deeper and leaned over his chest so her face was close to his. “I feel your
pleasure at my news,” she whispered, kissing him lightly.

Jared pushed her away, grabbing her by the waist and
tossing her on her back on the bed beside him. She caught a fleeting glimpse of
his erect manhood, tall and hard, still glistening from the mating that had
just occurred. The next moment he was on top of her, spreading her thighs and
shoving himself inside her. He pressed tight into her then rose on his elbows
and stared down into her face. His midnight hair fell like a curtain around
her, blocking out any other view but his dark, brooding eyes.

Jared was so furious he could barely control himself.
Asilinn, sweet innocent Asilinn who had come to him pure, untouched by any
other man, was acting just like his first wife. She used her body to gain his
favor and to get his protection. The thought should quell his need for Asilinn,
but it didn’t. All he wanted now was hot punishing sex—sex that made her scream
for him—cleave to him—want him so desperately she begged him for it.

He moved his body in and out, thrusting very tight
and controlled. He watched her frightened expression, the tears shinning in her
eyes while her body reacted involuntarily to his every movement. It was his
best weapon against her—the one thing about him she was unable to resist.

“Tell me why you came to me today, Asilinn.” He
prayed she had the sense to speak the truth because the rage within him at this
instant would burst forth uncontrollably if she lied—lied in the most intimate
circumstance—lied with him inside her.

The dark, simmering anger—the tension she felt in
every muscle in his body joined intimately with hers made Asilinn’s whole body
shake. “I—I am your wife. I came to you as a wife should.”

There it was again. The tight thrust in and out,
almost punishing as he gazed down at her. And her body enjoyed the sensation
despite the bizarre circumstance—rose to meet him—tightened around him each
time. The dragon lord was enchanting her again, controlling her and making her
gasp when he moved inside her.

He stopped his movement and gazed hard into her eyes.
“You were my wife before, yet you never came to me like you did today. I would
know your reason.”

“I am glad you are live.” Again the thrusting until
she cried his name. “Jared,” she gasped breathlessly. “Why are you doing this?”

He stopped and dropped his head so close to her face
she could feel his hot breath when he spoke. “Why are you glad I live?”

“Because our child needs you.”

“What does he need from me?”

“Your protection,” she whimpered. “He needs your
protection. I wanted to be sure you would protect him.” She was crying now, the
tears running around her cheeks into her ears.

“You had but to ask,” he said tersely.

“I’m sorry—I’m sorry. I was afraid.”

“Afraid of what?” Jared gave a gentle thrust, more to
keep himself ready than to punish her, but her body contracted around him
making him eager to be done with talk. She had told him the truth even though
it was not what he wanted to hear.

But she surprised him by running her hands over his
shoulders while she gazed up at him through her tears. “First I was afraid you
were dead and I was alone among the warring clans with no protector. Then I was
afraid when you finally woke, you would have no memory of our marriage. Now I
only fear for the child who grows inside me. He will not survive long without
his father’s protection.” She grabbed his black mane of hair and held it back
from his face, staring deep into his eyes. “And now, Milord, I ask you to
forgive me for having so little faith in you I didna just ask.”

Asilinn circled her arms around him and pulled
herself up off the bed so her nipples tickled his chest. She found his lips
with hers and kissed him deeply, flicking her tongue intimately into his mouth
until he pulled her to him roughly and took control of the kiss. He mimicked
the action that had begun again where they were already joined with his
thrusting tongue. She accepted him eagerly, wrapping her slender legs around
his buttocks to take him to new depths and sucking his tongue.

But he didn’t trust her words or her actions and in
his erotic haze, Jared still wanted her to beg him. With her legs still wrapped
tightly around him, he rose up and dragged them both to the edge of the bed.
Disengaging from the kiss, he stood and ran his hands up her body to make her
arch back for him. As he grasped her hips—her body tumbled back, golden hair
flying, brushing the bedding while he rode her hard and deep. She was
breathless when she grabbed hold of his hair and pulled him down to her
breasts. Asilinn pressed his head to her as he suckled—nipped—bit each
contracted nipple, all the while plunging into her time after time. Her hands
were tangled in his hair—she whimpered and moaned, pressing her breasts into
his mouth, clasping him tight with her legs, pushing him deeper into her than
he thought he could go.