Tapestries 03 - Woven Dreams (6 page)

“The tapestry brought you here?” Leaning back, he propped himself up on one arm, wanting to have a good view of her face as she talked.

Her proud chin swept upward as she gave him a regal nod. “It did.” Once again, he was struck by her sheer loveliness. It was a subtle kind of beauty that a man noticed the longer he watched her. Her hair had appeared a plain medium brown until the sun struck it. Really, it was a mixture of just about every shade of brown imaginable. Her braid was the width of his wrist and he longed to unwrap the twisted mass and drape it over his body. He imagined that his brother was having similar fantasies.

Her skin was pale, almost translucent. As he continued to stare at her, a light pink tinged her cheeks. He could spend hours tracing the contours of her face with his fingers. Her cheekbones were high, her chin strong but feminine and her nose straight.

She closed her eyes as if to escape his heated gaze. He found himself wondering just how soft her eyelashes really were as they brushed her cheeks. Her eyes captivated him.

They were a dark, rich brown that made a man want to promise her anything, everything. There was no guile to be found in them at all. She had no idea of her own beauty.

His gaze moved lower, over the slender column of her neck toward her breasts. She was breathing rapidly, her chest rising and falling, making her breasts sway. From the glimpse that he’d had of her, he knew that she had exquisite breasts. High and firm, they were more than a handful for sure.

His own breathing was deepening and his cock was swollen, pressing hard against the placket at the front of his pants. Jarmon sucked in a deep breath and slowly released it. Talk first. His sexual needs could wait.

He was struck by the silence around the campfire. It wasn’t a comfortable one. He could smell Genny’s fear permeating the air around them. He could feel the thick waves of lust pouring off himself and his brother. Shaking himself, he rolled up into a seated position again, bending one leg so that it blocked his erection from her view. The last thing he wanted was to frighten her any more than she already was.

“Do you know about the tapestry?” She shook her head and glanced away, staring toward the woods. Interesting. Perhaps she knew more than she was letting on. No matter. Taking his time, Jarmon gave her a brief history of the tapestry. “So you see,” he continued. “The tapestry brings women from other times and places who do not fit in their own worlds. Women who have the ability to thrive here. The tapestry has already come twice in this lifetime. It brought Christina to the Garen brothers and then it brought Jane Smith to our family.”

He smiled as he thought of Jane. If he brought Genny home, he had no doubt that Jane would have her full story within a matter of hours. His smile faded. As long as he was certain she wasn’t telling them the truth, he would not take her back to Bakra 31

Castle. He would not risk the safety of his family. They had suffered enough. He did not think her malicious or cruel. Rather, she struck him as a woman who was afraid and on the run from someone or something. Pushing aside his concerns, he continued. “It has never been known to bring three perspective brides in one generation. This is indeed a blessing.”

Genny was staring at him now, wide-eyed. “Three men to every one woman?”

“In some cases. But because we are four brothers, we are allowed two wives. Our older brothers, Zaren and Bador, have Jane. We will have you.” He couldn’t shake the feeling that he hadn’t told her anything she didn’t already know. Maybe she was telling the truth, but he wasn’t convinced. He wanted her—his body made no secret of that fact—but he wouldn’t let down his guard around her.

A horrible thought struck him. “You’re not married are you?” Maybe she was running from an abusive husband.

“No!” she all but yelled before composing herself again. “No.” Her voice was low and steady. “I have never been married.”

“Good. Then you have no objection to us trying to convince you to stay with us.” She shook her head back and forth. “No. I mean, yes, I do have objections. I won’t be staying.” Her hands were fisted in the fabric of her dress, but she kept her body still as if trying not to attract attention. It struck him as a natural pose for her, one she’d learned and used often.

“Do you miss your home so much then, Genny?” Garrik kept his voice soft and inquiring.

“No.” Once again she glanced away. She seemed to be struggling within herself over some issue. When she faced them again, she was calm and composed. Jarmon admired the way she was able to do so when she was obviously very afraid. Her courage pleased him.

“Three days.” He’d had enough of talking around the subject. “For three days we wish to pleasure you, to be with you. It is our job to convince you to stay here with us, to marry one of us. But first we must pleasure you separately and together so you will know that you are compatible with both of us. If you stay, then you can make your choice as to which of us you wish to marry. The other brother still retains the right to share your bed one night a week, as I’ve already explained.” Genny jumped to her feet, her hands held out in front of her to ward them off. “No.

I cannot.” Tears welled in her eyes.

Both brothers stood slowly, neither of them wishing to frighten her enough to run.

“No one will force you, Genny,” Garrik crooned. “We only want to make you happy, to bring you sexual satisfaction.”

She stared at them as if they were both out of their minds. “I do not understand either of you.” With each word she spoke, she took a step away from them.

32

“You don’t need to decide right now.” Jarmon told the lie easily. In his mind there was nothing to decide. If they were not men enough to seduce her, then they deserved to be turned away from her bed. They would never force her. The very thought was abhorrent to him. But that did not mean they would not use every skill they possessed to convince her otherwise.

Genny stopped and stared at him. Jarmon knew he’d thrown her off kilter once again. What did she think they were going to do, toss her down on the blankets and flip up her skirt? Perhaps she did. And while the idea had merit once she was used to them, it would never do for her first time with either one of them.

“Come.” Jarmon sat back down and patted the ground next to him. “Sit and we will eat. The fish are cooked. You are hungry, aren’t you?” Her hand slipped to her belly and she licked her lips. Jarmon stifled a groan at the innocent enticement. “Food would be good.”

He glanced over at Garrik and nodded. Both of them ignored her as they busied themselves with the fish. Gradually, she crept closer to them. No, not to them—to the food. Her eyes never left the cooked fish as she slowly lowered herself to the ground some distance away from them.

Garrik pushed a large portion of the food in Genny’s direction. Sitting back, he picked up his own food and began to eat as he drew Jarmon into conversation.

Knowing what Garrik was doing, he joined in. Both men chatted easily about their hunting trip and about what they might do tomorrow.

Although neither man looked directly at Genny, both of them were very aware of her every move. She ate like a person who’d been half starved. When she finished the fish, she even licked the broad leaf that it had been served on before she caught herself.

She tensed, but relaxed again when she thought they weren’t paying her any attention.

Jarmon had saved a large portion of his own fish and casually pushed it toward her.

He didn’t so much as glance in her direction as he kept up the congenial conversation with Garrik.

He bit back a smile when she finally reached for it, pulling it close. She was like some untamed creature of the forest. They would not win her by force, but by gentleness and consideration.

Food was just the first step. By the time they lay down for the evening, she would be well fed and relaxed. Ripe for seduction.

33

Genny placed a hand on her stomach and sighed. She felt better than she had since she’d first began her frantic flight from her home. That was, she counted the days off in her head, seven days ago. At some moments, it seemed as if she’d run in the middle of the night just yesterday. At other times, it felt as if she’d been on the run forever.

It was good to have a full belly for a change, but she could not afford to let down her guard for one single moment. She didn’t understand the Bakra brothers at all.

They’d been nothing but kind to her since they’d stumbled upon her by the river. She felt heat creeping up her cheeks at the memory. They’d seen her half naked. No other man had seen her in such a state of undress.

She wasn’t sure they bought her lie about the tapestry, but neither of them had disputed her outright. Not that she’d thought they would. This was Javara and women were scarce. Of course they would want to keep her.

Perhaps she wouldn’t mind being kept by them…just for a short while.

The errant thought made her stiffen. Where had that come from? She’d never imagined being married before, of sharing her life with several men. She’d never dared to consider it before, instinctually knowing what kind of men her brothers would choose for her. The Luther brothers. She shuddered and the meal that she’d so recently consumed threatened to come back up again.

What would it be like to have a husband who cared for her, one who treated her kindly? She’d always wanted children and a home of her own, but had never dared to dream. The tapestry had done that for her. It had tempted her to dream. But more than that—it had given her the courage.

Three years. She’d put three years of her life into that piece of cloth. It had taken her months to plan the design and to slowly confiscate lengths of thread from all that she’d spun and dyed. Her brothers sold and bartered her threads and she’d never seen a penny for her efforts. She’d decided on her seventeenth birthday that she at least deserved to have some of the thread itself.

She’d started at the edges of the design, creating the trees and plants. From there she’d added some birds and animals as she’d worked her way toward the castle in the center. The castle itself had been one of her own creation. Made of gray stone, it stood proud and tall. A fortress, yet a home.

After two years, she was ready to begin the two warriors who’d stood in front of the castle. Why she’d settled on two and not more, she’d never know. Perhaps it was because she’d secretly longed for a husband of her own. To have that, she’d have to belong to at least two men. She didn’t want to belong to three. She’d been around too many rough men her entire life. The fewer, the better.

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It was in that final year that two of her brothers had been killed by Zaren Bakra, and Leon and her second-eldest brother Harmid had become obsessed with the Bakra brothers. Their obsession had obviously become hers and she’d used their descriptions of the men to complete her tapestry. They represented freedom to her. They had defeated her brothers and their victory had given her the courage to fight for her own freedom.

In her own way, she wasn’t lying. The truth was that the tapestry had brought her to them. Without it, she’d never have had the sheer audacity to defy Leon and to flee the only home she’d ever known.

She couldn’t stay with them. Oh it would be easy to give in to them. They were good men, kind men. A woman could do much worse for a husband. But no matter what she thought she might like to do, she could not stay. If her brothers ever found out, they would make outright war on the Bakras. They had already suffered enough at the hands of her family. She would not bring more hardships and strife their way.

But, a sly voice in the back of her head whispered, there was no reason she could not enjoy their sexual advances. They would be gentle with her. She didn’t know how she knew that, but she didn’t doubt her instincts—they’d kept her safe too many times for her to distrust them now. Genny had always feared losing her virginity to one of the rough, vile men her brothers called friend. She’d always known they would be brutal, taking pleasure in her pain. Not so Jarmon and Garrik.

They’d already had plenty of opportunity to make use of her body if they’d desired it. She was a woman alone with no protection and no real weapon. They were two exceptional warriors in their prime. She hadn’t stood a chance if their intentions had been less than honorable.

Instead, they’d reassured her and fed her.

Perhaps this opportunity was a gift from the gods. She’d prayed to them for years, begging them not to let one of her brother’s horrible allies be the one to take her virginity. Maybe this was the answer to her prayers. This was an opportunity to have men of her choosing initiate her into womanhood and the mysteries of sexual relationships.

Heat flooded low in her belly and her sex dampened with need. She’d never felt this way around any other men in her life. Could she truly let this opportunity slip through her fingers? They wanted her. They’d left her no doubt of that fact. She’d seen lust in men’s eyes before, but it had always left her cold. The sexual desire in Garrik’s and Jarmon’s eyes warmed her blood, making it pump faster through her veins.

Her breasts ached and for the first time in her life, she yearned for a man’s hands to touch them, to stroke them. Her nipples were tight buds, rubbing against her dress every time she shifted even the tiniest bit. She felt hot and flustered, not quite sure what she wanted but knowing these men could give it to her.

Jarmon had wrapped his arms around her earlier today, cradling her body against his much larger, harder frame and she could still feel the echo of his embrace. Once 35

she’d understood that he’d meant her no harm—in fact, wanted only to comfort her—

she’d longed to sink back into his arms. Genny had wanted to curl into his body and never leave. She’d felt safe for the first time in her life.

Then she’d discovered who he was.

Sighing, she traced her finger through the soft moss around her, listening with half an ear as the brothers chatted softly between them. That was another thing she liked about them. They didn’t feel the need to yell as her own brothers did.