Taking Karre Page 7

  “Then the gods must have their reasons. They brought you to me. That is the only explanation. I regret that you did not travel here under the greatest of comfort, but if this is your destiny, then there was no stopping your arrival. This is our joined fate.”

  She gave a soft laugh. “Will you tell me your expectations of my duties, or will you make me guess? Or is giving you untold pleasures in bed to be my only role?”

  His cock jerked, completely satisfied with those terms. His head forced him to speak. “Women tend to a man’s home, though at Spearhead you will have to merely direct the servants to see to our needs.”

  “All of our needs?” She gave him a playful smile. “Do you use the servants to—?”

  “No, not those needs.” Vidar’s gut tightened at the thought of any other in her bed. After he met her, the idea of his bride taking more than one husband left him feeling a little cold. He did not want to share her talents with other men. The possessiveness took him by surprise. “The gods smile at Starian unions and, once we marry, we do not seek another. We stay faithful because the gods demand discipline. War demands discipline.”

  “Marriage and war,” she laughed harder though the sound was barely audible. Her shoulders shook. “That sounds about right.”

  “Sera was correct in her advice to you.” His words lowered into a husky murmur. “If you please your husband, he will be of better temperament.”

  “Out of all the planes, I have never heard that line used in such a way before. Though, several times I have been told the penis will implode or explode if it is not massaged. Sorry, warrior, but you’re going to have to come up with a better line than that.”

  He grimaced. “It is not a line. It is true.”

  “If you insist.” She turned fully to him, giving up on kicking the furs. “So sex and housekeeping in exchange for anything I want? It sounds like being a kept woman.”

  “Yea, I will keep you.” He nodded in agreement. “It is the will of the gods.”

  —

  Karre tried not laugh, as he misunderstood her meaning. But truly, what he proposed sounded more like a mistress than a wife—at least according to many of the planes she had been on.

  When he had grabbed her arm in his bruising grip, dragging her like some piece of chattel into his tent, she’d snapped. The cool resolve of her façade had disappeared. Her arm ached, but she couldn’t be sure if it was the memory or an actual pain that stung the nerves.

  Foolish, foolish, Karre, she admonished. No game is won without thinking, without control. Take back the control.

  Funny how, in all her travels, she had never been put in this position. Sure, she’d had the chance to be a mistress. The course of action would even have been easier than, say, becoming the maid with blackened teeth and frizzy hair, but she always felt she was above using sex to get what she wanted. Okay, so as Sparkle, she had used her sex appeal, but it was hardly the same thing. A pang of guilt wrapped around her heart. That is exactly the arrangement she was making now. At least she was attracted to Vidar. He would make a fine lover.

  Yes, lover, not keeper. That is how she would think of him. Lovers gave gifts to their mistresses all the time. It was not the same thing as stealing from him.

  It’s all about perception.

  “You do not speak of love,” she observed, “only of protection and sex.”

  “Unions are made of necessity, not love,” he said.

  “I’m glad to hear it. I would not have believed you if you said you loved me.” Karre ignored the small ache the admission caused, refusing to give the tightening inside her chest any credence.

  “Starians love their country, their people, the sanctity of life, but there is no room for romantic love in our world.”

  She coughed, pressing against the center of her chest. The knot didn’t loosen. At his concerned look, she explained, “Dust from the ride. I’m fine.”

  “Would you like me to get you a drink?”

  “Yes, please.” She nodded. He disappeared out of the tent.

  Get control, Karre. Keep it together.

  Karre absently pulled the clips from her hair, fluffing the locks in an effort to enhance her appearance. She looked down at the shapeless gown and frowned. With nothing else to replace it with, she pulled the material over her head and tossed it aside. Then, lying on the fur, she positioned her body carefully, tugging a wayward strand over her shoulder to curl around her breast.

  “My lady, your—”

  “Ah!” Karre gasped, covering her chest as a young knight walked in with a goblet. He made a strange noise, dropping it on the dirt floor. Red liquor flew across the tent making a slash over her stomach. “Watch it!”

  It all happened in an instant. The young man stood, gaping at her waist where the liquor stained her flesh. She tried to push up, but with her arms over her chest, she wobbled and had to brace herself. The gesture exposed a breast. The man made a strange strangling sound before running from the tent as if the fires of hell were after him. Karre let out a burst of laughter.

  “I brought food,” Vidar said as his hand appeared inside the flap. “What did you do to Groff? He ran into the forest looking like—” Vidar skidded to a stop, looking at her on the fur. He began to smile, but the look faded as he glanced behind him, back to her naked form, behind him once more. “I will string that boy up by his toes.”

  “Wait.” Karre pushed up to stop him. “Leave him be. I think the fear of what you might do was enough. It’s not like he knew what he was walking into.” When he looked as if he might protest, she hurried to add, “What have you brought me?”

  “Oh.” He looked at the trencher he carried. “Meat. The men roasted it on the fire.”

  Karre lay back down, letting her fingers dance along the fur, as she purposefully drew attention to her naked waist. “Bring it to me.”

  “Did Groff…?”

  “Did he look?” Karre laughed, stretching along the fur. “A naked woman was lying on the floor in an otherwise sparsely decorated tent. Yes, he looked and then he ran for his life. Let him be.”

  Vidar’s foot hit the goblet as he stepped forward. It spun and skidded to the edge of the tent. Karre leaned upon her elbow, cradling her head in her hand.

  “You’re not scared of me, are you, warrior? You won’t run away to the forest, will you?” She turned, angling her shoulder back as he neared, giving him free view of her chest.

  He knelt, shaking his head in denial as he set the plate near her chest. Karre reached forward to run the back of her hand against his cock, massaging him through his clothing. Already he was eager and hard. Vidar groaned.

  “That knight got me wet,” she said. His groan turned into a scowl of rage, until she pointed at her hip. “He spilled wine.” She trailed a finger along her waist where the liquor was beginning to dry and stick.

  Vidar moaned softly. Warm lips brushed her flesh and he began to lick her clean, sucking and biting at her flesh. She kept her hand on his cock, light and teasing. He slid his hand over her ass, cupping her cheek. When he slid his fingers along the back of her thigh, inching them to enter her pussy from behind, she stopped him.

  “I’m hungry, warrior. I wish for you to feed me.” Karre knew she had her practical reasons for wanting to control him, but as her plan formed in her head, she found she liked their game. If she let him explore her as he’d been intent on doing, she wouldn’t be able to keep a straight head.

  Vidar lifted a piece of meat from the trencher. Karre pursed her lips and shook her head, refusing to take it. She rubbed his cock harder, rolling forward just enough to reach his balls.

  “Take off your clothes so that I may feast.” She licked her lips.

  Instantly, the shirt was pulled off his chest and thrown at the side of the tent. In his eagerness, he shook as he jerked at the laces. Standing, he kicked his feet to rid himself of his boots as he pushed off the pants. Karre put her head on her hand again, resting against it.

  “Feed me,�
� she ordered, not moving as she opened her mouth wide.

  Vidar grabbed his cock, stroking it a few times as he knelt back down. The towering shaft bobbed near her face. She reached out with her tongue, licking the smooth tip. He touched her breast, lifting it in his palm, smashing the nipple against his palm until it hardened against him. Walking forward on his knees, he brought his erection closer. Karre sucked him a little deeper, taking the full head into her mouth. Her lips hooked on the ridge as she sucked.

  He groaned, reaching over her head. Vidar crawled on top of her, straddling her shoulders as he rested on all fours. The motion turned her onto her back and angled his cock toward her face. Karre gasped in surprise and he took advantage, thrusting his cock deeper into her mouth, nearly choking her on its thick length.

  She took hold of his hips to control the depth. His hips worked, fucking her mouth, gliding along her lips and teeth. When he learned the limits of her mouth, she took hold of his balls, rolling them as she sucked hard.

  “I enjoy feeding you,” he whispered, the admission harsh as it came from above her head. Karre’s lungs burned and she was forced to push his hips, taking his cock from her mouth. Protesting, he groaned. “I am not finished. I wish for you to drink me as well.”

  Gasping for breath, she pushed her large breasts together and looked up at him. His eyes glinted as he got her meaning. All thoughts of her sucking him to completion must have left him because he hungrily lowered his body along hers until his cock fit in the crease of her breasts.

  “Now you may come,” she said, as if granting him permission.

  “Oh,” he grunted, pumping so his inner thighs pinned her body down. The intimate smell of his erection filled her senses as the wide tip bumped into her chin. “I enjoy your breasts. So warm and soft and full.” He began to find release, the movement of his hips becoming jerky. As he came, he kept moving, spilling his seed over her throat to form a warm necklace before drawing the moisture between her tightly pressed breasts to make his cock slide in his own juices.

  He stopped, breathing hard and not moving to take his cock from between her breasts, even as she released their hold on him. Karre raked her nails up his hips and moaned. He might have come, but her body’s arousal was merely heightened by the display.

  He crawled down, staying above her as he kept her against the floor with the canopy of his body. Bending at the elbows, he leaned down to kiss her mouth.

  “I am wet again, warrior,” she said before his lips could find their mark.

  He furrowed his brow as he looked at the cum he’d squirted around her neck. She saw the moment realization dawned on him. Karre laughed as he reached for a discarded piece of clothing to wipe her clean. The rough material scratched her skin. When he finished, he grinned as if he thought himself very clever. He leaned to kiss her again.

  “It is your turn to dine,” she said, stopping his mouth once more. She pushed at his shoulder and spread her legs until they bumped the barrier of his body. When he didn’t move fast enough, she slipped her hand between them and began rubbing her clit in tiny circles. “Fuck me with your tongue.”

  He followed her gaze down to where she masturbated. “You wish for me…? I have never dined on a woman there.”

  As if fascinated and hesitant at the same time, he crawled down her body. She threaded her legs along the outside of his. He licked his lips and she nearly screamed at the seductive agony of his contemplation. Slipping two fingers along the folds, she parted the soft lips. Then, reaching for his hair, she pulled him to her pussy before falling back onto the furs.

  Hot breath fanned the parted folds and she pushed on her heels to lift her ass off the ground. His tongue reached slowly to her clit to flick the bud, as if tasting a foreign dish for the first time. He drew he tongue back, as if sampling her intimate taste. A low moan escaped him as he did it again. Then, with increasing eagerness, he ran the flat of his tongue up her folds, over her fingers.

  Vidar adjusted his weight to lie more comfortably between her legs. He grabbed her wrist and tossed her hand out of his way. Like a starving man at a fresh spring, he began sucking and drinking her pussy. His hands grabbed hold of her legs, keeping her firm to his mouth as he smothered his face into her folds. His nose stroked her clit as he shoved his tongue inside her cavern. He moaned, vibrating her with the sound. Never had she had such an enthusiastic partner.

  Karre bit her lip as she came against his face, shaking and trembling as her moisture coated him. He didn’t stop and the sensations became too much. She pushed at his head, gasping, “Enough, Vidar, enough.”

  He pulled back with a self-satisfied grin. “I will be doing that again, my lady, but for now your taste has made me hard.” He crawled up her body and she felt the heat of his cock brush her thigh. The velvety smooth shaft was heavy with desire. “I would like to ride you.”

  Still weak from release, she opened her mouth to speak, but he was already set on his course. He brought his cock to her still slick opening and thrust inside. Vidar made a primitive noise of satisfaction as her pussy accepted him.

  Wildly, he fucked her, biting his lips as he watched her breasts bounce around with each thrust. The hard sex caused little jolts of pain deep inside her sex, but the instant pleasure following it more than made up for any discomfort. His gorgeous muscles tightened and flexed, captivating her as her breasts did him.

  He grabbed a breast and squeezed, pinching the nipple between two fingers. Tension shot throughout her entire being. His mouth opened wide and she knew he held back. “Finish for me,” he demanded, “give me my prize.”

  Karre came, hitting her zenith with a gentle cry of relief. Seconds later he froze over her, staying buried as he met with release. With a deep, almost pained sigh, he collapsed next to her and pulled her hot body against his even hotter chest. Grabbing a breast in his palm, he closed his eyes. “I am well satisfied. My lady may have whatever she desires.”

  The pleasure of release diminished some at his words. He’d meant it as a compliment, but it left her feeling a little bit like a whore being paid for services. She thought about inching away from him but she was too tired to move.

  Chapter Five

  Because right now, in this moment, her ass hurt too much.

  Karre gritted her teeth, trying to think of anything but the endless rocking of the horse beneath her. Dissatisfied with her white gown, Vidar had given her a man’s tunic and breeches. It suited her just fine, as she bunched the gown beneath her butt to cushion the ride.

  Their morning started early, before the sun even deigned to shine down upon the waking soldiers. Vidar awoke before her, eating his breakfast before coming to massage her awake with his hands on her naked breasts. But there had been no time to finish what he started as the sound of cart wheels squeaked outside. For the first mile or so, the feel of his body tempted her desires, but now she just wanted to slip off the horse and never move again because right now, in this moment, her ass hurt too much. The sensation in her backside went from numb to burning to sharp jolts of pain to a combination of all three.

  “You said I could have whatever I wanted.” Karre leaned forward to whisper up into Vidar’s ear. She had told herself she wasn’t going to cash in on his sexual “payment” but she couldn’t take anymore.

  “Are you hungry?” he asked, reaching down to his leg where a satchel hung.

  “No, I wish to walk.”

  “We are very close to—”

  “Please, Vidar. I am not used to riding.”

  “Of course, my lady.” He shouted a command to one of his men, urging them to continue on. Their horse stopped. When they were alone, Vidar swung down and reached up to help her to the ground. Her legs wobbled and she placed her hand on the horse’s side to steady herself. Vidar took her by her arm. “Can you walk?”

  Karre nodded, trying not to limp as she stretched her legs.

  Vidar made a small clicking noise and led her forward on the worn path. The horse followed behind t
hem.

  “You said before that Divinity traded the brides,” Karre said, wanting to take her mind off her aches. Learning of yet another Divinity crime might make this detour worth it.

  “Yea.”

  “What for?” She threaded her hand on his arm, but only because she needed to steady herself. As the cart squeaked and horse hooves softened with distance, the surrounding forest’s gentle noises became apparent. The light hum of insects mingled with the slightly louder call of distant birds. In the illumination of late day, the new spring leaves seemed to glow. Tiny veins threaded them in imperfect symmetry as they crashed and danced above in the trees, taunting their fallen, brown brethren on the forest floor below.

  “Water,” he stated simply.

  Karre stopped walking and dropped his arm. “Water? I was traded for water? Are you joking?”

  “No. The Divinity aliens wanted some of the blue mineral water and offered us brides in return.” He gave a small laugh. “They had great talks about the matter until finally King Wilhelm agreed to give them one small vial per bride.”

  As he moved on, the horse’s head neared her back. She took several fast steps before falling into a leisurely pace beside him. “A vial of water. I am worth a small vial of water. That’s insulting. Is it at least a cure for age? Or some kind of miracle water? Is it an elixir that makes you men big and strong when you drink it?”

  “No, most would not say it is magic and we do not drink it unless desperate. It can make you sick. Though, it is blue.”

  “Oh great, you can’t drink it but at least it’s a pretty color. Decorators and spa owners everywhere will be so happy.” She gave a wry laugh. The insult was too much. She remembered the henchmen had given her a bowl of such water to clean up with at Battlewar. She had thought it was mixed with some kind of soap for cleaning.

  Brides for bathing water. Wonderful. Even her thoughts dripped with sarcasm.

  “If it cheers you, the water is special. It stays warm no matter how long it stays away from heat. It has saved men from the cold.” He swung his hand over his head and smacked a low branch.