Jacq's Warlord (14 page)

After the bloodbath she’d witnessed the day before, and the echoes of the wounded and dying, she didn’t look forward to another skirmish. But she wondered how much help Percy’s soldiers would be if they were as ill-disciplined as their leader. “Do you expect to engage with enemy forces soon?”

“Since we are small, I hope to avoid them altogether until I can join up with Henry’s army, but we will be prepared.”

“Well, since we’ll be leaving early I guess I’ll try to get some rest.”

75

Delilah Devlin & Myla Jackson

As she rose, he caught her hand. “I must speak to Lord Percival regarding our plans for tomorrow’s movement. I’ll return later.”

She nodded, unsure what he was trying to convey.

“Your pallet is too small for us both. Add my furs to yours.”

She tried to tug her hand from his, angry he assumed she was his for the taking. But his gaze held no sign of arrogance, and perhaps a hint of a question…
Will you concede
?

he seemed to ask.

What the hell…male chauvinist or not…it didn’t matter. She would only be here as long as it took her to figure out how to get home. Why not grab for the gusto?

She nodded briefly and turned from him, her thoughts in turmoil but gladness lightening her step.

* * * * *

Jacq awoke in the darkness to the sensation of fingers hastily pulling away her clothes. “Rufus?”

“Shhh…You’re dreaming,” he whispered, as his palms glided over bare skin at her bottom and breast.

When he pinched her nipple hard, Jacq cried out, and then closed her mouth against a moan as his lips latched on to a tightening peak. “Is everyone asleep?”

“Now, they’re not,” he said, his words muffled against her skin.

“Bastard,” she bit out, but the invective in her tone was missing—she liked the way he soothed after taking his stinging bites. “You could have made a little noise—given me some warning.”

“You were curled up like a kitten on the furs, and you mewled just as sweetly when I petted you. I didn’t think you’d wake at all if I was quick about it.”

She combed her fingers through his thick hair and pulled hard. “You’d have screwed me sleeping?”

He tsked. “Your language is deplorable.”

“But my mouth is very talented, hmmm?”

“So’s mine.” He suckled her other breast, and then quickly slid down her belly as he bit and licked his way toward her pussy.

Jacq groaned when his fingers parted her folds and his warm breath blew over her swelling clit. “I won’t ask who taught you your tricks, if you don’t ask me.”

He bit her inner thigh and growled. “Don’t ever tell me unless you want my ire branded on your backside.”

“Sounds wicked kinky,” she said, her breath hitching as he sucked her clit between his teeth.

A lap of his tongue to soothe the tender knot and he raised his head. “I’m not sure I understood that word, but you don’t sound particularly afraid.”

76

Jacq’s Warlord

“I’m not,” she said, her bravado waning as his hands curved beneath her ass and lifted her clit toward his mouth. “I’m a tough girl, I can handle anything you’ve got.”

“We’ll see.” The sexy promise in his voice had her pussy clenching, sucking in air.

“Yes, Jacq. Give me your passion.” The flat of his tongue stroked upward from her asshole to her clit.

Jacq’s hips undulated, trying not to lose the glide of his “wicked kinky” tongue.

Over and over, he administered wide strokes that had her writhing and issuing full-throated groans. When he paused to pay special attention to the most sensitive “spots”

along his journey, Jacq was sure she’d shatter like brittle glass.

He tongued her asshole—surprising a shout from her raw throat. When he delved between her pussy lips to rim her channel, she clamped her mouth closed and shivered, opening her legs wider to give him deeper access. As he stroked her engorged clit, she did indeed mewl from behind closed lips, thrashing her head on the furs, at last gasping a plea for him to come inside her. “Please, oh please. I can’t take it anymore.”

“I thought not,” he said, but his voice was hoarse rather than triumphant as he climbed up her body and settled his hips between her splayed thighs. His cock found her center immediately and thrust deep into her body, then pulled back and drove her breath from her lungs with the next deeper stroke.

Jacq bit her lip to catch the scream that bubbled up inside.

Rufus halted the relentless motion of his hips and stared down at her, his eyes glittering in the moonlight from the open tent flap. “Why do you stop your cries?”

The moment was slipping away and Jacq reached up, slipping her arms around him to drag his torso closer. “Christ!” she whispered fiercely. “Don’t stop now.”

Rufus’ mouth curved into a wicked smile and he rolled his hips in a slow circle, sliding his cock deep inside. “Do not hold back.”

“Who’s holding anything back?” she groused, the breathiness in her voice belying her rising excitement.

Rufus pulled away to settle beside her in the furs.

Jacq nearly wept with frustration. She swung her leg over his hips and tried to slide on top of him, but he held her lower body away.

Instead, his palm curved around her breast and he reached up to suck on its twin.

“You aren’t starting all over again, are you?” Jacq couldn’t help the hint of whine that entered her voice—or that moan that followed when he bit the tip of her breast.

“You’re not ready,” he murmured against her.

“What are you talking about? I’m creaming like a water fountain!” She rubbed her juices on his thigh to prove the point.

His mouth latched on to her nipple, drawing so hard Jacq felt an answering tug in her pussy. Lord, he’d have her coming just nibbling on her tits! “
Rufus!
”

77

Delilah Devlin & Myla Jackson

Before her shout ended, he rolled her again and thrust hard into her cunt—but didn’t follow with another plunge or another, as she expected.

Jacq reached up and grabbed a fistful of his hair. “Don’t stop now, you bastard!”

“I want it all, Jacq,” he growled above her lips. “Your cries should ring in my ears—

there’s nothing puny about you.”

“We’ll wake the whole camp.” She lifted her head to glide her lips along his moist neck. “Please, Rufus.
Fuck me
.” She squeezed her inner muscles to clamp around his cock and felt it jerk inside.

He pulled out abruptly. “You’re still not ready.”

“Jesus H. Fucking Christ!” she said, giving his hair a painful tug before letting go.

“Tsk! That’s blasphemy, Jacq. What am I to do with you?”

Jacq’s whole body quivered on the edge of release
and he wanted to talk
? She gave him a venomous glare and faked a yawn. “I’ve changed my mind. I’m going to sleep.”

She shut her eyes and nearly wept when a low, sexy chuckle gusted against her cheek, tickling her ear.

“This is entirely my fault. I’ve been going about this the wrong way.” He lifted from her. “Roll onto your belly.”

She squeezed her eyes tighter and issued a raucous snore, but groaned when his hands gripped her hips and turned her. His palms caressed her ass, kneading the muscle in slow circles that her clutching fistfuls of fur and squirming to open her legs.

But he straddled the backs of her thighs, forcing them closed. Then his thick thumbs rubbed along the crease separating her buttocks and Jacq’s heart leapt in alarm while her cunt drenched the bedding.

Those thumbs spread her, closed her, while his fingers dug deeper into the muscle.

Jacq buried her face in the fur, gasping like a fish out of water, her whole body tightening, desire curling in her core. “No, no, no…”

A drop of moisture fell between her buttocks and his wicked thumbs rubbed the spit deeper, glancing against her anus, making her jerk.

But she didn’t protest. Her breath caught as he rubbed circles over her sensitive asshole and her body tensed, waiting to learn what he’d do next. When he’d tongued her there, she’d been shocked enough.

He eased off her legs. “Come up on your knees.”

Eager and trembling, she did just that, spreading her knees wide, lifting her bottom as high as she could, not caring he had yet another unflattering view of her huge ass.

His answering growl reassured her. She completely forgot about her vulnerable position when his cock nudged her cream-coated pussy and pressed inside.

Her whole body melted and she sighed, letting her head drop to the piled furs.

His thighs tensed and hers did too, expecting his sharp thrust—when it came, she bit her lip and moaned.

78

Jacq’s Warlord

“Jacq, what did I say?”

His voice, deep and flavored with amusement, should have warned her, but the delicious fullness—his cock cramming deep into her pussy—took away her breath, her will.

Then another cool drop of moisture landed between her buttocks and a thick, long thumb screwed into her ass and Jacq’s whole world narrowed to an awareness of a new fullness that burned as he eased past the tight ring of muscle to thrust inside.

He drew back, pulling his cock out of her pussy and his thumb eased out of her ass at the same time. Then he slammed back inside her cunt, as did his thumb with a twist that had her writhing, rubbing her swollen tits in the fur, moans tumbling from her lips.

Again and again, he entered her in both places, stoking an excitement that surpassed anything she’d ever known before. When his thrusts increased in tempo, his thumb slid deeper and he wriggled it against tender tissue that burned hotter until her orgasm crashed around her, blinding her with a flash-burn of light that pricked the backs of her closed eyelids and sucked air into her lungs. The scream that followed emptied her of air and pitched her headlong into darkness.

79

Delilah Devlin & Myla Jackson

Rufus urged his horse forward. When he drew alongside Donald he raised his hand, a silent signal for his men-at-arms to halt. “Donald, what is it?”

“I’m not sure.” Donald scanned the view around him. “Magnus was supposed to meet us here. He’s long overdue.”

“He has had enough time to ascertain Percy’s progress along the river.”

“Yes, plenty.” Donald tipped his head to the side listening and sniffing the air.

“Something does not feel right.”

“I agree, but we cannot wait. Continue forward and ensure each man is ready for trouble.” His gut tightening, Rufus pulled back, allowing his men to move ahead. The men-at-arms were followed by wagons carrying the usual staples for war—weaponry, foodstuffs, the tents, and the people who provided support to the army while on campaign.

The woman riding at the rear of one such wagon, with her long legs dangling over the side, drew his attention for the hundredth time that day.

She was a distraction.

He had spent a good part of the previous night trying to get his fill of her, yet each taste left him longing for more. Awake shortly before dawn this very day, he had been as hard as an oak, and with no time to relieve the ache.

When he reined his horse beside the wagon, he searched for some plausible reason for being there.

Her gaze swept over him intimately, her shapely eyebrows winging upward.

Now he was here, he was at a loss for words. The more he scratched his brain for something profound, the slower his befuddled faculties functioned. Frustrated and angry at his unease, he glared at her.

Bold as brass, the minx grinned, eyes sparkling, her smile quirking the corners of her mouth.

With a grunt, he shifted in his saddle, his breeches uncomfortably tight. He glanced away, discovering how much easier he could concentrate when he wasn’t looking directly at her.

“Have you seen any signs of trouble?” the woman asked.

“All is well,” he lied.

She snorted.

Startled by her daring, he turned to look at her.

80

Jacq’s Warlord

Her arms were folded over her chest, and her eyes narrowed. “Tell me another one.”

“Another what?” Why had he bothered to engage her in conversation? Memories of the pliable girl who had begged him sweetly for release just hours ago had him wondering if this woman was a changeling. This meddlesome creature with her tightly pursed lips couldn’t be the same soft woman who had matched his passion stroke for stroke.

As she glared at him, she mumbled something under her breath.

He thought he heard the words “bull” and “shit”. “What did you say?” he demanded, leaning toward her.

“I said I don’t believe you.”

“Good God, woman, I was merely trying to alleviate your fears.”

“I don’t need you to lie to me to
alleviate my fears
. Give it to me straight or don’t give it to me at all.” Twin flags of color blossomed in her cheeks and her chin raised a notch higher.

Heat climbed his throat into his face, and his eye began to twitch. “Dare you accuse me—”

“Yes,” she interrupted. “You’re not telling me the truth.” She rose on her knees in the bouncing wagon, her gaze now even with his. “I may be a mere woman, but I have eyes in my head. And I know your men are concerned…as…are…you.” She jabbed her finger at his chest. “You’re missing several men. Why did you send them away?”

With a darting glance, he realized their argument was drawing attention from others, including the eavesdropping cart driver. He drew himself up stiffly, and looked down his nose at her. “Woman, that is not your affair.”

Her full lips thinned into a straight line. “That’s also untrue. My life depends on how well you can protect me.”

Rufus’ jaw clenched, his back teeth grinding away. Dammit! He hated to admit the woman had logic to her statement. With the slightest of nods, he conceded. “Very well.”

He leaned close to her and lowered his voice so only she could hear his words over the rumbling of the wagon wheels. “We entered territory held by Stephen this morning. I sent Percy along with his contingent of men to follow a path parallel to our own.

Smaller groups stand a better chance of passing through undetected.”