A Dark Guardian (13 page)

And despite what might happen afterwards, she would not turn back. Not even when his hand cupped her most private part. She jerked at his touch, but then heat infused her. His hand moved in a circle as he pressed against her, and it wasn’t long before her hips raised to meet his hand. A thrill raced through her at his deep, primal moan.

He pulled his head back and ended their kiss. She wanted to reach for him again, but one look into his dark eyes, and she knew something troubled him.

“What is it?” she asked, unable to take her hands from around his neck.

“We shouldn’t do this. You are a gentle born lady.” She smiled and ran a finger across his jaw. “We both know I will not receive any marriage offers. My betrothed chose Theresa, if you recall.”

“I remember,” he said and pursed his lips.

“I am not looking for marriage from you, if that is your concern.” She lowered her gaze to his chest since she knew she couldn’t continue looking into his eyes and not reach up for another kiss. “I have never felt like this before, and I don’t want it to stop. I feel like a woman should.”

Nothing but the crackle of the fire reached her ears. Then he turned her face to him and smiled.

“If it is a woman you wish to feel like, then I will oblige you, but I will not take you.”

She opened her mouth, but he held up his hand.

“Not here, Mina. Not on the dirt floor of a tunnel. You deserve much better than this.”

Who was she to argue with that?

She returned his smile and leaned up to kiss him. His arms wrapped around her and brought her fully onto his lap. She breathed in his scent of mystery, man, and power.

His lips moved over hers with skill as he pushed his tongue into her mouth and teased and cajoled until she was panting with a wanting that confused her.

It seemed that he knew exactly what she needed when she needed it, because his hand moved to settle between her legs. She instantly moved her hips against his hand and let out a groan when strange sensations quickened through her and moisture pooled between her thighs.

She gasped when his expert fingers deftly unlaced her trousers and slid inside to touch her bare skin. But that gasp quickly turned into a moan when his fingers touched her sex. He moved his fingers to dip inside her, then spread her own arousal over her throbbing clit that begged for more of him.

“My God, Mina,” he whispered against her forehead.

She barely heard him as his fingers moved against her. With her eyes closed and head thrown back, she let herself fall into the pleasure that was taking control of her.

Hugh didn’t know if he could keep from plunging into her. She was hot, moist, and ready for him. All he had to do was move her until she straddled him, but like he told her, she deserved better. So he would suffer through this torture and give her the pleasure she deserved.

His fingers parted her nether lips and slipped a finger inside of her tight, wet sheath. She gasped, moaned, and moved her hips against him. She was made for loving.

She had much passion inside of her that had just waited for the right man to unleash.

Her fingers dug into his upper arms as she lost herself to the throbbing that grew by the moment. Soon she would orgasm. That thought made him so hard he had to shift to relieve some of the pressure. He was in a bad way, worse than he had ever been.

He looked down and found her staring at him. With one hand cradling her against him and the other pleasuring her he couldn’t move.

“Remove your tunic,” he said, his voice sounding strained even to him.

She complied without question, and the sight of her bare breasts made his rod jump painfully. They were full and her nipples hard, just waiting to feel his mouth. He pulled her towards him and took a taunt pink nipple into his mouth and suckled while his fingers increased the tempo inside her while his thumb teased her clit.

He moved to the other breast and felt her legs tighten around his arm. It wouldn’t be long now, he mused.

She screamed his name as the climax overcame her, and she convulsed around him. He held her until the last spasm of pleasure faded. Then he withdrew his hand and wrapped both arms around her. Neither spoke. He didn’t want words to spoil what had happened.

He leaned his head back against the tunnel wall while she laid hers on his chest.

It wasn’t long before her breathing evened and sleep took her.

Mina awoke to a heartbeat in her ear. Hugh. She smiled and thought back to what had transpired. He might not have taken her virginity, but he had taken away any innocence she might have had. And that suited her just fine.

“Did you sleep well?” he asked.

She raised her head and smiled. “Actually, I did. Did you sleep at all?”

“A

little.”

His warm hands moved over her back, and she remembered she no longer wore her tunic. She shivered when she thought about what his mouth and fingers had done to her breasts.

“Are you cold?”

She shook her head. “Remembering.”

He moved one of his arms and brought her tunic to her. She pushed from his warm chest and slipped on her tunic. When she turned back to him, his eyes were on her breasts. He looked as if he were about to speak.

“If you are going to apologize for last night. Don’t. I don’t regret it.” He raised a dark brow. “That’s good because I wasn’t about to apologize.”

“Really?”

“Really. Now are you ready to make our way to the monastery?” She jumped to her feet and laced her pants. “I am now.” The fire was almost out, and Hugh quickly fed it to make it grow. “Find me the biggest limb you can.”

She set about doing as he asked. She found some, but they weren’t long enough to be a torch for them. Just as she was about to give up, she found a limb hidden behind a root.

“Here,” she said and handed it to him.

He examined it. “Perfect.” He quickly made it into a torch and, once it was lit, kicked dirt onto the fire. “Let’s go.”

She followed him as they retraced their steps from the night before. This time it was much easier since they had the torch. Since they were able to move faster they also reached the fork in the tunnel quicker.

“The tunnel to the castle is much longer than the tunnel to the monastery.”

“I hope your right,” he said over his shoulder.

They walked in amicable silence. She watched the way his long, muscular legs strode with determination and grace. His eyes were constantly looking around for some sign of danger, and when they did reach the end of the tunnel at the monastery door, he pushed her behind him.

“Hold the torch high so I can see,” he said.

She held up the torch and watched as he reached for the handle on the door, his arm muscles bunched as they readied. He took a deep breath and pulled. It didn’t budge.

He tried a second time with no results. With a mumbled curse, he looked around and found nothing barring the door.

“It must be bolted from the inside,” he said.

“That doesn’t help us since the monastery is abandoned.” He cursed in a language she had never heard before. There was so much she wanted to know about him but so little time to find out everything.

“Go over there,” he pointed behind her.

She couldn’t imagine what he was going to do, but she walked to where he pointed. Once she was there, he ran to the door and hit it with his shoulder. Dust rained on him.

“I think that’s solid oak,” she pointed out.

He ignored her and put his shoulder into the door again. This time there was a creak. The third time and there was a definite crack in the wood.

She saw the material torn from the shoulder of his shirt. His shoulder was red and would most likely bruise. “We could always return to the cottage.”

“How do you know its dawn and that the creature isn’t waiting for us?” She hadn’t thought of that. “’Tis better than watching you hurt yourself.” He flashed her a bright smile before he ran at the door again. This time the door splintered and flew open. She moved toward him and the broken door. Stale air assaulted her as she walked from the tunnel into a room.

“The smell of damp earth was better than this,” she mumbled as she covered her nose with her hand.

“Do you always complain so?” he teased.

“Pretty much, though the only person who usually hears it is myself.” He chuckled and took the torch from her. There was a sound ahead of them, and he quickly drew his sword in preparation.

“If something happens to me run to the cottage entrance,” he whispered.

Mina gripped the dagger at her waist and slowly followed Hugh into the monastery. They were in what looked like an old library of sorts. The bookcases were bare and many of them broken and turned over.

They walked by a set of bookcases that had partially fallen, the shelves were dust laden and many held spider webs. The silence was deafening, yet both of them knew something, or someone, was in the chamber with them. She tried to step where Hugh stepped so whoever was in the chamber wouldn’t realize she was with him.

Her heart began to pound with a mixture of fear and excitement at what they would find. She had little doubt that Hugh could take care of whatever it was. He was, after all, a weapon the Fae used to kill the creatures that terrorized villages.

He stopped and held up the torch above his head. For several heartbeats, he stayed just as he was, waiting. She wanted to ask him what he paused for but held her tongue instead.

To her surprise, he leaned toward a set of bookcases and peered into the darkness.

There was a loud hiss, and a cat shot out of from between the shelves. Mina gasped and stepped out of Hugh’s way as he jumped back.

He turned and looked at her, and she couldn’t stop the giggle that escaped. As her laughter grew, she saw a smile begin to spread on his face, and it wasn’t long before they were both laughing.

Once her heart had slowed its beating and she had wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes, she looked at him. “Is it safe now?” she asked while trying to stop another bout of laughter.

“I think so.”

It was his lopsided grin and his playful shrug that made her catch her breath as she realized just how much she had come to trust him despite telling herself not to.

“Are you ready to move on?” he asked

She gazed at him as the sunlight filtered through a window above them to shed its light on him. Flecks of dust could be seen dancing in the air, and all she wanted to do was touch him to see if he was really with her and not a figment of her imagination.

“Mina?”

His face had grown serious as worry etched his brow. She inhaled and put a smile on her face. “Aye, I’m ready.”

They moved through the wreckage of the library and had to step over many broken pieces of furniture. She had never been inside before today, and it upset her that someone would have destroyed a house of God. “Someone must have done this once the monks departed.”

“How long has the monastery been abandoned?” She thought for a moment. “Before I was born. Longer I believe.”

“It could have been raided and everything stolen.”

“I cannot imagine anyone doing that to a church or monastery.” He shrugged his massive shoulders. “If you aren’t christen it doesn’t matter to you. Other people worship different gods.”

“Well, I don’t worship their gods, but I wouldn’t dream of destroying a place where they worshipped.”

He stopped and turned to look at her. Through the light of the torch she saw him studying her. “What is it?” she asked.

“Nothing,” he answered after a moment and continued.

They came to a door that opened to stairs. They climbed them with Hugh holding the torch in one hand and his sword in the other. Though they didn’t encounter anything or anyone, he never lowered his sword.

They passed many doorways as they climbed the stairs, but he persisted onward.

When they finally reached the top, he pushed open the door and sunlight flooded the chamber.

He lowered his sword and stepped into the chamber. She followed and looked around as she walked to a window and gazed out at the countryside. They were at the top of the monastery, and the view was spectacular.

“I was hoping it was daylight,” Hugh said as he came to stand beside her. “How far is it to the castle?”

She looked at the sun. “’Tis not even mid-morning. We could make it there by noon if we start now.”

“Then

let’s

go.”

She pushed away from the window and followed as he walked down the stairs until he came to a doorway to their right. They followed the hallway until it led them outside.

“How did you know where to go?” she asked.

“All monasteries are pretty much the same.” He didn’t say more, and she didn’t persist. They walked out of the gates that had once barred any woman from within. She turned to give the monastery one final look.

She had forgotten the many strange, evil looking creatures that had been carved into the structure.

“They are meant to ward off evil,” Hugh said.

She shivered. “They would certainly keep me away.” He laughed. “That’s the point as well.”

She turned and began the long trek back to the castle. Along the way, she and Hugh walked side by side, rarely saying anything, but it was a comfortable silence.

When they reached the castle, guards yelled down from the gatehouse and quickly opened the gate. They walked beneath the gatehouse, through the bailey, and into the castle without being stopped by anyone. She tried to keep the smile from her face as they stepped into the great hall, but no matter what she did nothing could make her lose her happy mood.

“How could you?” Theresa screeched and dove at her from the stairs.

Mina raised her arms to shield her face from Theresa’s claws. Her injured arm took the brunt of the attack, and even though it rarely bothered her, it now throbbed so badly it almost brought her to her knees.

“Enough,” Bernard bellowed and pulled Theresa off her. “I told you I would take care of this,” he told Theresa.

Mina held her arm and swallowed down the nausea that had suddenly assaulted her. “What is going on?”