Warrior (11 page)

throat, squeezing slightly.

“You should have told me you like it

rough.” Vulcan’s voice sounded

murderous. Jaisyn began to pray.

What had she been thinking?
That

she’d come into his tent, kill him, and

sneak out? That without a leader, the

Morden

soldiers

would

leave

Lytheria? Yes, it had been something

like that. She must have been half-

mad to think her plan would work.

She had a better chance of killing him

in battle than she did right now.

Vulcan’s hands slipped down her

dress, caught the hem and pulled it up.

Jaisyn struggled, this time hitting at

him with her clenched fists. His other

arm tightened around her throat again

and feeling her air cut off, she stilled.

Oh sweet Lyria, she was going to be

raped by the one man that she hated

above all.

She felt rough fingers caress her

intimate area through the cloth barrier

and shrieked. If she didn’t do

something, she was going to be taken

on a pallet like a common whore.

“Is this the only way you can have a

woman?” she taunted, hoping he

didn’t strangle her. When moments

later she was still alive she continued,

“Is that it? You are so unappealing

that you have to rape women?”

***

Vulcan ignored her. She was a

whore who’d attempted to kill him.

She was lucky he was taking his

revenge this way and not plunging that

dagger through her heart. His fingers

caressed the thin shift and he roughly

pushed that to her waist as well.

***

Jaisyn

continued

her

struggle,

gasping in shock and horror as his

fingers brushed the curly hairs at the

apex of her thighs.

“Don’t—” she began, feeling tears

form in her eyes. This was not the

way she’d imagined her first time.

Well, she hadn’t imagined it at all, but

this certainly wouldn’t be the way that

she would. She tried to push his

fingers away.

Even with her hands shoving at his,

Vulcan’s fingers still played with her

soft, curly hairs. He lowered his head

to her breast once more, tugging the

hardened nipple into his mouth and

rolling his tongue around it until Jaisyn

wasn’t really sure what she wanted

him to do, get off or continue what he

was doing. And then she reminded

herself that it was Vulcan, and she

knew what she wanted.

She’d sucked in a deep breath and

was going to attempt to throw him off

of her once more when his fingers

moved to rub against the part of her

that had always piqued her curiosity.

Jaisyn had no idea why it was there,

yet it looked so at home in the folds of

her femininity. Even her governesses

and maids had blushed when she’d

asked about it, and had told her that it

just was. The first rub sent a jolt

through her body that had her bucking

under him, her entire body tensing

from having him pay particular

attention to tiny piece of flesh.

***

Vulcan felt the tremor that ran

through her body and smirked. Was

his captive actually enjoying this? If

not for the fact that she’d tried to kill

him, he might have taken her back to

Morden. From what he could see and

feel, she had a beautiful body, and

was responsive to his touch.

He pinched her button between his

fingers and felt her legs clench around

his thighs. Moving his fingers further

down, Vulcan circled tentatively about

the opening that he soon intended to

fill, before moving the pad of his

thumb back toward her sensitized

nub. When he pressed and circled, he

heard what sounded like a whimper,

and when he looked down, he noticed

that her eyes were closed and her

teeth gripped her lower lip.

Deciding he’d kept himself waiting

too long, Vulcan undid his breeches

and positioned the tip of his aching

erection against her soft opening.

***

Jaisyn’s eyes flew open. What was

that? That was definitely not a finger.

She was just about to put up what

would have been a futile struggle,

when a cry went up and the sound of

steel meeting steel rang in her ears.

In a flash, Vulcan was off of her,

tugging his breeches closed as he

grabbed for his broadsword. Then, as

if remembering she was still in his

tent, her breasts exposed, her dress

hiked up to her belly and her entire

lower body on display, Vulcan glared

down at her. “If you ever come after

me or any of my warriors again, I
will

continue where I left off and, after

I’ve had my fill and my men have

taken turns with you, I will personally

cut you into tiny pieces.”

And with that, he was gone. Shock

kept Jaisyn in the same position for

many minutes and when she finally

snapped out of it, she pushed her shift

and the dress down and wrapped the

black cloth about her hair once more.

She could do nothing about the ripped

bodice of her dress so she clasped her

hand to her throat, hoping that the

edges of the dress wouldn’t come

apart, and stood. She knelt once more

to search for her dagger, just in case

she had to use it, and slipped from the

tent.

Immediately, she noticed that some

of the Lytherian soldiers were

engaging those of Morden. Somehow,

they must have found out that she’d

left the castle and come searching for

her. Jaisyn tried her best to get their

attention, to tell them that she was

safe, but they were busy with the

Morden soldiers. She hurriedly slipped

into the forest behind the castle and

followed a secret path until she came

to the hidden entrance. As she

suspected, a few soldiers were

standing there.

Before they could say anything, she

spoke. “One of you has to go out and

bring our soldiers back. I am quite

safe now.”

“Liege,” one of the soldiers bowed

and immediately went about her

bidding. The rest of the soldiers stared

at her in concern until one voiced it,

“Were you hurt, my liege?”

Jaisyn shook her head and forced a

smile. “Thank you for the concern,

Ricktor, but it’ll take more than a

Morden barbarian to hurt me.”

Appeased by her answer, Ricktor

and the other soldiers nodded and

chuckled. A smile, weak though it

was, was all Jaisyn could manage.

Against her will, something different

had happened to her body. Something

that she’d never felt before. She

dreaded to think what would have

happened had she not been rescued

by her loyal soldiers but a small, a

very small, part of her still wondered

at it.

***

“That

is

the

only

logical

explanation,” Varian was saying to

Vulcan, who sat amongst his generals

and lieutenants in the morning air.

Lytheria was coldest, if this
cool

breeze could be described as such,

during this hour. “There must be a

secret passageway. They did not

lower the drawbridge but somehow a

Lytherian female entered your tent,

followed by the soldiers who engaged

us. And then, like ghosts, they

disappeared.”

Vulcan

nodded.

He

was

in

agreement. There had to be a secret

entrance. The only question was

where was it? And if there was a

secret entrance, this siege could go on

for weeks. No, they had to find it soon

and put an end to this.

“Now, I’ve walked around the castle

and almost every part is surrounded

by the moat except for the area

surrounded by the forest. I’ll take

some of the men into the forest with

me and see what I can find,” Varian

continued, looking to Vulcan for

approval. His brother nodded, his lips

set in a grim line as he thought of the

woman who’d struggled beneath him

last night.

“There will be soldiers at that

entrance,” a lieutenant called out.

Varian turned to him, the paleness

of his eyes darkening. “Of course

there will be soldiers. Perhaps two—

maybe four if that much. If I find the

entrance, I’ll enter with six of our

warriors two hours before dawn.

We’ll take out the soldiers at the

secret entrance, creep through the

castle, enter the inner bailey and

lower the drawbridge.”

“How will we find our way through

the castle?” one of the generals asked.

Varian answered with a dark smile,

“Someone will show us. Perhaps a

serving wench or a squire boy.”

The general nodded and they all

looked toward Vulcan, who gave his

approval. Within moments, all except

for Varian and Vulcan, disappeared to

carry out other tasks.

“Something is troubling you, my

brother?” Varian asked, staring at the

thoughtful expression on his brother’s

face.

Vulcan rubbed at the week’s growth

of beard on his face before saying,

“Why would the Lytherians risk

exposing a secret entrance to us?”

Varian thought of that for a few

moments before he shrugged. “I don’t

know. Maybe they wished to scare us

into running back to our heathen

Northlands.”

The king stared up at his brother for

a long moment before saying, “No.

They know we don’t scare that easily.

It was no attack either, not with only a

handful of men fighting on the

outskirts of our camp.”

Varian, picking up his brother’s

train of thought, furrowed his brows.

“You think it was a diversion?”

Vulcan didn’t answer. Instead, he

allowed his brain to go back to last

night. The woman beneath him had

definitely been a Lytherian and she’d

smelled clean, like budding flowers on

a sunny day. Most prostitutes could

not afford scented soaps, unless they

were the mistresses of royals or rich

men. But the woman under him had

not acted like a prostitute would in

that situation, submitting to him in

exchange for her life. In fact, she’d

acted the exact opposite—she’d acted

like a…a
virgin
! It was then that the

diversion had come, the one that had

interrupted what would have been a

very interesting encounter last night.

That made sense. The Lytherians

would create a diversion if one of their

royals—one

of

their

princesses

perhaps—was in trouble.

He came to his feet immediately, his

large bulk forcing Varian to step back

quickly. “What? What did you figure

out?”

A cynical smile twisted Vulcan’s lips

as he replied, “One of the princesses

paid me a visit last night.”

Varian looked dubious before his

eyes narrowed. He lifted a dark brow.

“Well, that would explain the suicide

mission.”

“Exactly.” Vulcan turned on his

heel. “Find that hidden passage,

Varian. I feel the need to be reunited

with the princess who tried to kill

me.”

***

Varian Anselm Mor’an was a

deadly contradiction. His thick head

of hair, various shades of blond,

brown, red, and black, that he’d

inherited from his mother, and

captivating blue eyes, coupled with his

flawless complexion made him one of

the most handsome in the land. His

looks however, along with the fact

that he enjoyed smiling much more

than his older brother, made him one

of the most underestimated opponents

on the battlefield. An inch or two

shorter than Vulcan, with a leaner

physique, Varian was a combination

of agility and intellect. He, more than