reckoning for which you will atone, as well.”
“But you said I wasn’t even born and—”
“Silence! I’ll have silence from you who have slept in my bed while I made my own on the grounds of strangers. You’ve eaten at my table and feasted when I made my meals from wild game and scraps of bread. No one to turn to, our allies were overthrown as we were. But a bitter wind blows and with it comes war. The men riding with me I’ve chosen for their skill with a saber, their loyalty proved from our days spent as renegades—but we are outlaws no more. We are the law and I am the officer in command. They follow my orders now, circling us in the woods where I rode you down.
“See the wildflowers you were gathering crushed beneath my horse’s hooves, feel the warm air on your breasts, barely covered. Your clothes are in tatters. How foolish but how brave you were to struggle with me. Scratches cover my face and my blood runs hot as I force you to the ground.Look around you and see four saplings—two at your head, two at your feet. Is your heart pounding?”
“Yes… yes .” The four posts took on the semblance of tree trunks and she jerked her head from side to side, staring at their ominous positions, suddenly struggling to free her wrists.
“That’s it, fight me. You know what I mean to do and—”
“Stop!” Grappling with him, she freed one hand and thrust at his chest. His laughter was dark and mocked her lesser strength as he easily pinned her flailing arm beneath her twisting weight and she again cried, “Stop!”
“Stop? I don’t think so. The more you fight me, the more I want you. Feel how hard I am bearing down on your hips, my mouth covering yours to taste the sweet sound of your cries for help.” His lips were brutally sweet, stealing her breath while she felt the cinch of silk around her wrist before he led her to grip the wood. Holding it tight, holding on for dear life, she whimpered, “No, no,” and made a token resistance as he knotted the tie around the sapling post.
And then her other hand was pulled from beneath her. The tingle of circulation rushed through her fingers and ripples of arousing sensation shot from the soft scrape of teeth on her palm to the fierce tug low in her belly.
His nipping bites became a giving kiss pressed to where her pulse leapt in her wrist. She was riveted by the sudden snap of his belt cracking the sense-thick air, and then came the stern feel of leather looped around her wrist and fed through a buckle. It felt snug and warm as a harness while his murmured words in French mingled with the sight of him twining the belt around and around the wood.
A satisfied smile was on his lips as he taunted, “For shame, chérie, you’ve given up to the enemy much too easily. I’d hoped for a challenge but you’re simply lying there while I stand over you and start to unfasten my breeches. Listen to my men cheering me on, eager for their turn at you once I’m through.”
“You mean to rape me?” Fantasy and reality merged and she jerked against the restraints. “The hell you’ll do such a thing! Let me go now. Now! ”
“I’ll let you go when and only when you’re too weak to stand, much less walk. But as for rape…no. Rape would be too easy and I want a better victory.” His thighs clamped around her legs that kicked futilely beneath him. “What spirit you have, after all. Certainly a worthy opponent to battle in bed. No, I don’t believe I’ll share you with my men. In fact, I’ve decided I don’t even like them looking at you, so I order them to move on, to scout the area until I join them. And should I not appear by sunset—which is a distinct possibility—they are to make camp. You would do well to please me since it would buy your family freedom for another day.”
Rising up, he clamped a palm between her legs and she bucked against his possessive grip. “I’ll have this and you’ll give it to me willingly.”
“Never,” she
“But you said I wasn’t even born and—”
“Silence! I’ll have silence from you who have slept in my bed while I made my own on the grounds of strangers. You’ve eaten at my table and feasted when I made my meals from wild game and scraps of bread. No one to turn to, our allies were overthrown as we were. But a bitter wind blows and with it comes war. The men riding with me I’ve chosen for their skill with a saber, their loyalty proved from our days spent as renegades—but we are outlaws no more. We are the law and I am the officer in command. They follow my orders now, circling us in the woods where I rode you down.
“See the wildflowers you were gathering crushed beneath my horse’s hooves, feel the warm air on your breasts, barely covered. Your clothes are in tatters. How foolish but how brave you were to struggle with me. Scratches cover my face and my blood runs hot as I force you to the ground.Look around you and see four saplings—two at your head, two at your feet. Is your heart pounding?”
“Yes… yes .” The four posts took on the semblance of tree trunks and she jerked her head from side to side, staring at their ominous positions, suddenly struggling to free her wrists.
“That’s it, fight me. You know what I mean to do and—”
“Stop!” Grappling with him, she freed one hand and thrust at his chest. His laughter was dark and mocked her lesser strength as he easily pinned her flailing arm beneath her twisting weight and she again cried, “Stop!”
“Stop? I don’t think so. The more you fight me, the more I want you. Feel how hard I am bearing down on your hips, my mouth covering yours to taste the sweet sound of your cries for help.” His lips were brutally sweet, stealing her breath while she felt the cinch of silk around her wrist before he led her to grip the wood. Holding it tight, holding on for dear life, she whimpered, “No, no,” and made a token resistance as he knotted the tie around the sapling post.
And then her other hand was pulled from beneath her. The tingle of circulation rushed through her fingers and ripples of arousing sensation shot from the soft scrape of teeth on her palm to the fierce tug low in her belly.
His nipping bites became a giving kiss pressed to where her pulse leapt in her wrist. She was riveted by the sudden snap of his belt cracking the sense-thick air, and then came the stern feel of leather looped around her wrist and fed through a buckle. It felt snug and warm as a harness while his murmured words in French mingled with the sight of him twining the belt around and around the wood.
A satisfied smile was on his lips as he taunted, “For shame, chérie, you’ve given up to the enemy much too easily. I’d hoped for a challenge but you’re simply lying there while I stand over you and start to unfasten my breeches. Listen to my men cheering me on, eager for their turn at you once I’m through.”
“You mean to rape me?” Fantasy and reality merged and she jerked against the restraints. “The hell you’ll do such a thing! Let me go now. Now! ”
“I’ll let you go when and only when you’re too weak to stand, much less walk. But as for rape…no. Rape would be too easy and I want a better victory.” His thighs clamped around her legs that kicked futilely beneath him. “What spirit you have, after all. Certainly a worthy opponent to battle in bed. No, I don’t believe I’ll share you with my men. In fact, I’ve decided I don’t even like them looking at you, so I order them to move on, to scout the area until I join them. And should I not appear by sunset—which is a distinct possibility—they are to make camp. You would do well to please me since it would buy your family freedom for another day.”
Rising up, he clamped a palm between her legs and she bucked against his possessive grip. “I’ll have this and you’ll give it to me willingly.”
“Never,” she
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