Chapter 6 #2
Reluctantly, I did so, forcing my fingers to unclench. He huffed—a sound of disapproval—his breath fogging the air over my head, then pressed my palms to his chest.
By the Lord, his skin was warm. My fingers and hands tingled as feeling slowly returned, until I was aware I was touching his bare chest again.
Not as an act of charity as I cleaned his wounds, not as a lady of the castle visiting a prisoner in the dungeon…
but as a helpless hostage, clinging to her captor.
I should be terrified.
Instead, I fell asleep.
The day passed in a blur, with me tucked in Kragorn’s lap. He pulled my booted feet up so I was curled in a circle of his warmth…and, thanks to my father’s cloak, we were warm. Blessedly, thankfully, finally warm.
I couldn’t help but remember the months my captor had spent in the frozen cell, only that thin blanket for protection…until he hadn’t even had that. No sunlight, no warmth, no hope.
Was it any wonder he rode like a demon now?
I dozed throughout the day, and when I was awake, we said little. Once, I did catch him grumbling as he wheeled the horse in a different direction, and I risked lifting my head, trying to guess where we were.
He glanced down at me.
“Humans spread everywhere. This is virgin forest in my world, nae villages.”
I tried to understand. “Your world…”
“And mine are mirrors,” he explained lightly. “Same landscape, same animals, same plants. Only yer people are far more populous, and ye’ve destroyed more of the land in yer quest for gold and power and—”
He bit off the words with a little shake of his head, as if he didn’t want to insult my people.
But I chewed on my lower lip and tucked myself back into his warmth, because I couldn’t disagree with him.
This was the farthest I’d ever been from home, aye, but even at Tarbert Keep I knew my father’s influence extended far.
His men and allies cut down forests to build keeps and castles to protect his land and power…
dug into mountains for the ores they needed to build weapons…
took down stags and boar and hundreds of fish at a time to feed the Keep. ..
What would the world be like without such destruction?
By the evening, my stomach was growling and my throat was parched from thirst, and still we rode.
I could feel Kragorn’s tension, the way his muscles tightened and flexed each time he needed to turn the horse in a different direction to avoid human civilization.
He was riding toward a deadline, one I didn’t understand, and his worry was infecting me.
But we finally reached an unspoiled wood and Kragorn released a breath to fog the air around me. I peeked out. Shadows surrounded us.
“Are we safe?”
“Ye’ve always been safe,” he grunted without looking down at me, instead focusing on pulling the horse to a halt. “But aye, we are close now.”
“Close?” I meant to ask, but the word became a small yelp when he swung down from the saddle, taking me with him. Still holding me in his shackled arms, the chain pressing against my back, Kragorn turned to smack the horse’s withers.
We both watched the animal gallop back the way we came, then Kragorn began walking.
“We’re near enough to the stones to make it by midnight, thank fook. We’ll be back in my world in a few hours, hopefully before yer father’s men—the ones who’ve been following us all day—catch up.”
I craned my head to look over his shoulder, to peer into the shadows of the wood, looking for attackers.
Nay, they’d be your saviors, would they not?
I found myself curling around Kragorn, afraid again.
“The horse…” I whispered, uncertain what I was asking.
“Was no’ mine to steal. This cloak, on the other hand, I will take as recompense for months of misery.”
I waited for him to say something else. Something about what my father had objected to. When Kragorn didn’t, I realized this heat in my chest was anger. Imagine daring to be angry at a moment like this, when I was completely at the mercy of the huge beast carrying me through the snow?
Mayhap he felt it, because Kragon glanced down at me, the brow over his good eye rising in challenge.
That gesture gave me courage.
“And me?”
He suddenly veered to the left, heading toward a large pile of boulders.
“What about ye, Lady Lillian?” he asked, his tone mild.
“I am no lady,” I whispered. Not here and now. I was his captive. But I swallowed and continued. “You would not steal my father’s horse, but his fur was payment for the horrors you endured. What about me? His daughter?”
I was speaking to his chin. Kragorn slowly lowered me to my feet, holding me as I got my balance, then placed one finger below my chin to lift my gaze.
“Ye’re no’ his daughter any longer, Lillian,” he murmured, his gaze sweeping my face. “Ye belong to me now.”
I swallowed hard, the fear making my knees weak as the awful truth was confirmed.
“And…and I will be going with you? To your world?”
His fingers were warm against my skin.
“Aye, Lillian,” he drawled. “Ye’re going wherever I go, from now on.”
Oh God. My eyes fluttered shut.
I was his prisoner.
In the same way my father had kept him locked up for months, I would become his. I would pay for my father’s actions and sins. I would follow Kragorn to his world and accept whatever punishment he meted out.
Except…
“Do ye understand, Lillian?” His mouth was near my jaw, his words in my ear, his warm breath against my skin. “Ye’re mine.”
“Aye,” I breathed, finding myself leaning toward him. “I understand.”
“Och, nay, my wee human,” he chuckled, his hands moving to my shoulders, then down my arms, then back up again, making me shiver. “But ye will.”
When his palm cupped my breast, I did understand, and I whimpered.
Partly in fear, partly in surprise, partly in…anticipation. I found myself swaying forward again, and when his thumb brushed against my nipple—hard as a pebble, despite the layers of wool between his touch and my skin—I gasped and arched into his touch.
“Aye, lass,” he murmured, his lips moving to my temple. “Mine. I’ll be taking ye with me, ye’ll be at my side forever.”
Forever? Dear God, I was to be his captive for the rest of my life, in recompense for what my father did? And when his tusk scraped along my jaw, making me shudder…why did I not hate the thought?
“Forever?” I whispered, turning my head to meet his, my eyes still screwed shut.
“Forever,” he agreed, right before his mouth claimed me.
Dear God, his lips!
In the days—and the nights—since his lips had brushed against my skin, I’d tossed and turned, imagining what they’d feel like against mine.
I hadn’t allowed myself to imagine that such a warrior would ever be interested in pressing his lips to mine, but now ‘twas happening.
‘Twas happening, and I should be terrified, especially when his palm closed around my breast, squeezing… but my body betrayed me.
Instead of fear, I felt desire.
Need.
I whimpered again, pressing closer, curling my fingers into fists to keep from clutching at him, pulling him closer. And then his tongue swept over my lips, and they parted in surprise to feel those ridges against such sensitive skin.
His tongue played with mine as his hands roamed over my body.
And everywhere they touched, I felt…inflamed.
Mayhap ‘twas just the last sennight of heightened awareness when it came to him, or the way my dreams had teased me of late.
Each touch had me straining to get closer to him, the heat between my thighs pulsing in time with his caresses.
“Aye, Lillian,” he murmured, his lips moving along my jaw. One large hand cupped my arse, lifting me as if I weighed naught, grinding me against him. “Mine. And ye will love it. Love what I can do to ye.”
I…my brain didn’t seem to want to work. I couldn’t concentrate on his threats—promises? Because pressing against my stomach was a hard length, one I’d never felt but which I could recognize. Kragorn’s cock.
He wanted me.
He wanted this.
He has been in a dungeon cell for months. He would likely want any female who let him paw at her like this.
Aye, but he’d chosen me. For the first time, I’d been chosen, and I wanted to be chosen. Whimpering, I rocked my hips against him, chasing the sensation pulsing in my core.
“That’s it, lass. That’s my good little human.”
Kragorn’s hand moved from my breast, lower…until he was cupping me, cupping my heat, through my layers of skirts and chemise. Could he feel how wet I was already?
“Take what you want from me.”
I moaned, my fingers finally giving up and wrapping around his fur, pulling him closer as I bucked against his hand. The base of his palm ground against my clitoris, providing the pressure I so desperately needed, as the tips of his fingers curled forward, pressing my skirts into my core.
“Mine, aye?” he drawled
I dropped my forehead to his chest in surrender.
“Aye,” I gasped, griding against his palm. “Yours, Kragorn.”
My orgasm exploded over me.
I felt his rumble of approval as my hips rocked, his quiet murmurs telling me I was his good lass as his lips moved over my face.
Touching me. Claiming me as his own.
It should be humiliating, but instead I felt…safe? A sense of certainty settled over me. I now belonged to Kragorn of the Bloodfire Clan, and I would be his captive forever.