Jacq's Warlord (18 page)

After checking with the sentries who kept watch over the camp, Rufus made his way back to the tent. This had been an eventful day. He wondered how Jacq would receive him. Only this morning she had fought a man bent on raping her. Perhaps she wouldn’t be comfortable with him near.

Inside the tent he silently drew off his clothing. Telling himself he wouldn’t press his own needs, he crawled between the furs and snuggled next to her. He held his breath when she rolled toward him and settled her head against his shoulder. He tightened his arm around her to bring her closer and relaxed. She felt so right nestled against him, like she belonged at his side. Her trust made him feel invincible.

Her proximity, however, made him hard as stone. Despite his best intentions, his shaft lengthened. He held himself rigid, fighting his growing need, until she looped her bare leg over his and rubbed her moist cunt against his thigh.

Thank the Lord! Rufus sighed as she rose up and her tongue lapped across his chest to find his flat nipple. Teeth bit gently into the tip, tugging until he groaned. Then her mouth glided along his chin, nipping him.

She pressed a wet kiss against his lips. “Rufus,” she whispered, her mouth hovering above his, “I need you. I don’t want his hands or mouth to be the last to touch me.”

“
God
. If you are certain…”

“Please, Rufus.”

Released from his good intentions, he rolled them in the furs until he lay over her, covering her from shoulder to feet, wishing the darkness didn’t cloak her features.

Supporting the weight of his chest on his elbows, he framed her face with his hands and lowered his head to capture her lips.

She sighed softly into his mouth.

Although, his body screamed for him to seek the moist haven of her cunt, he kissed her—deeply—telling her with his mouth he’d take his time to woo her body and mind.

He began with shallow pressure, smoothing over her lips, suckling softly on the lush lower lip, until she murmured a protest and thrust her tongue into his mouth.

She dueled inside his mouth, stroking deep, rimming his teeth, suctioning as she kissed him until he couldn’t breathe and pulled away to drag air into his parched lungs.

“If you want me to stop at any point, I will do it,” he promised.

Her hands circled his neck, fingers sliding into his hair, tugging hard. “If you stop…at any point…I’ll kill you. Now…” Then she whispered a command into his ear he had never heard any woman but the coarsest whore say aloud.

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The temperature inside the tent rose in an instant as heat flared between them.

“Anything to please a lady,” he replied, crushing her lips beneath his for a quick grinding kiss.

Shifting, he slid down her body, burying his face between the mounds of her breasts, breathing in the scent of her. He paid homage to each burgeoning crest, gently laving then chewing the points until she lay breathless beneath him.

Working his way down her rounded belly to the curve of her hips, he tasted her from nipple to navel, sucking at her skin, leaving his own trail of love marks in his wake.

As he slid lower, Jacq grew more restless, each teasing nip of his teeth eliciting moans and sighs. She began to rock her pelvis against him, undulating in time to the growing waves of her passion.

At last, he reached the apex of her thighs. The fingers gripping his hair dug into his scalp as he pushed her knees up and apart, and then spread the dewy folds of her cunt.

He pulled the thin inner lips into his mouth and suckled until her thighs trembled around him. Then he lapped between, dipping his tongue inside her to catch her essence, stroking upward as her moans grew breathless and higher pitched.

Never before Jacq had Rufus paid homage to a woman’s cunt, nor elicited such a passionate response. Each time he took her like this, he added techniques he’d used to inspire quick arousal in other women to deepen the experience for Jacq.

He pulled back the hood guarding the pearl of her arousal and rubbed his tongue over it while his fingers sank into her channel, again and again. He’d obliterate any memory of Percy’s rude assault. His fingers, his mouth would bring her only pleasure.

When he felt the shudders of her building release tremble through her belly, he withdrew and came over her. He kissed her, wanting her to know the taste of her passion on his tongue.

Her tongue stroked his, taking her essence and she groaned. Jacq’s strong arms closed around his back, her hands gliding upward to knead his shoulders. She moaned into his mouth, then turned her face to the side to break the kiss. “Please, come inside me now.”

He was already there, his cock pressing against her slick folds. He smoothed his hands along her inner thighs, splayed wide around his hips, and then hooked his arms beneath her knees to open her wider, lifting her higher to receive him.

He pressed his face against the side of her moist neck and drove into her, pushing inside until she sheathed him fully.

Her breath left her on a sob, and he halted, pressing a kiss to her neck. “Did I hurt you?” he whispered.

Her face moved side to side. “You’re killing me.” Her fingers combed through his hair, and then she pushed his head back and kissed him hard. “Fuck me, Rufus!”

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What a woman!
Her moist heat surrounded him and rippled along his shaft, snug as a gauntlet. Rufus couldn’t hold back a moment longer.

He slid out and rammed back inside, then rocked against her, over and over, his hips hammering fast and hard. Tension built in his ballocks, hardening his buttocks and thighs. Soon, his whole world narrowed to feel of her hot, wet cunt spasming around him as he thrust hard inside her.

Jacq murmured encouragements while her hands clutched his buttocks and her hips rose to slam against his. Her breaths grew ragged, her moans coming one on top of the other.

He changed the angle of his thrusts, trying to stroke just the right spot inside her channel—the one he’d discovered unlocked a furious passion inside her. When her back arched off the furs, his grip turned fierce and bruising to hold her in place for more.

“Don’t stop,” she gasped. “Just like that! Rufus!” she keened his name and came apart, her body spasming deep inside, her channel gripping his shaft in pulsing waves.

Rufus didn’t let up, refusing her the mercy she screamed for—not until her words became an incoherent litany of jumbled pleas. “
Ohgodohgodohgod!
”

Only then did he let loose his stern hold on his own rising ecstasy, shouting as his seed spurted into her in a long, hot stream.

Collapsing on top of her, he sucked air into his lungs, feeling like he’d run all day behind his horse instead of riding it.

Jacq’s breaths came in short gasps, and he moved to keep from crushing her with his weight. Rolling to his side, he settled her back to his belly and wrapped his arms around her middle.

“Thank you,” she whispered, snuggling her bottom deeper into the cradle of his thighs.

“Sleep now. I have you.” He squeezed her and kissed her hair.

She sighed and slept within seconds, her soft snores making him smile.

With his hand resting on her breast, his mind reflected on all that had occurred that day, his thoughts filled with the woman in his arms.

God, but she was beautiful, strong, intelligent—and his! He could grow to love this headstrong woman if he were not careful.

He prayed their plan would work and he’d live long enough to enjoy his prize. The good news was that with their pursuit of Braxton, they’d soon pass within a day’s ride of Rathburn Keep.

For her sake, he would leave Jacq there within the relative safety of its walls.

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“What do you mean? No chain mail! Lord Rufus, do you hear this daft woman? She wants me to go without my armor.” The disgruntled knight stood toe-to-toe with Jacq.

She stared him down with an icy glare. “No chain mail,” she repeated slowly and deliberately as if speaking to an idiot. “Now quit whining. You sound like a little boy.”

His face mottled with anger, the man stared from her to Rufus and back.

Jacq remained unfazed. At this point, a good fight was just what she needed to release her frustration. Her morning had been fraught with annoyance. She was beginning to believe all men in the twelfth century were idiots and had to be told everything more than once to get it through their thick skulls.

“But I feel naked without my chain mail. What if I should be skewered with a sword or stabbed with a knife? I’d have no protection,” another man groused to his buddy standing next to him.

Ignoring their complaints, Jacq reiterated the lesson. “You have to lighten your armor and yourself in order to move quickly and quietly. The intent is to avoid detection from the enemy, not attract it. You don’t want to squeak or rattle, do you?”

“Next she’ll be wanting our smallclothes,” another said, and reached for the ties of his braies. His hand stilled immediately when his gaze met Rufus’ glare. “Your pardon, milord.”

“Doesn’t seem right to me,” one soldier muttered.

“Right, wrong, I don’t care what you think.” Jacq threw her hands into the air and stalked toward Rufus. “This is ridiculous. These men were nothing more than big babies too stubborn to try something new. You talk to them. They won’t listen to me.”

“No, Jacq.” He crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. “This is your way. You have to convince them, not me.”

Jacq scowled. Her head was beginning to pound. “Thanks for nothing.” She stalked back to the men. Good Lord, what had she been thinking?
I’m a feminist caught in Gloria
Steinem’s version of hell.

Donald sat on a stump, grinning at her dilemma.
He must think he has the best seat in
the house. That cuts it. Dad, what would you do?

Squaring her shoulders, she drew herself as tall as she could and walked to the center of the group. Chin up, shoulders back! She took a deep breath. “Soldiers!

Atten
tion
!”

The note of command in her tone must have had an effect because they quietly gathered around her.

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She conceded their acquiescence was probably due to their curiosity to see what the strange woman would ask them to do next. Jacq didn’t care. For now, she had their undivided attention.

“Form a row in front of me.”

Still silent, they cast baleful glances at Rufus, but at his nod they glumly complied with her order.

She paced along the line, eyeing each man wondering what the hell she was supposed to do now. How would a drill sergeant get them motivated?

“Did your mothers raise mamma’s boys?” she shouted.

“Hell, no!” one man shouted.

“No!” another echoed.

A few grumbled under their breath.

“Sounds to me like they did. I’ve never seen so much whining from a group of men in my life.”

“Lord Rufus, are you going to let her talk to us like that?”

She rolled her eyes. “Did Lord Rufus train you to whine?”

“Ballocks, no!” “’Course not!”

She cupped her ear. “I don’t hear you. Did Lord Rufus train you to whine?”

“No!” the group shouted in unison.

She suppressed a grin. While individually they felt insulted by her questions, their shared response had the desired effect. Every man stood at attention with his chest puffed out.

Now they were getting somewhere, and surprisingly they were all listening and waiting for her next question.
So these boys can catch on, can they?
She threw in a trick question. “Are you going to stop whining and start learning?” Resisting the urge to wince, she stood tall, daring them to answer incorrectly.

“Yes!” A loud cheer rose from the group of men as first one man, then another, tossed his chain mail to the ground and stood in front of Jacq, ready for her next order.

“That’s more like it.” She grinned at them. “Now, let’s get to work.”

She pointed to the three soldiers at the end of the line. “You three, go find some small branches with lots of leaves on them, about so big.” She motioned with her hands to indicate the size they should find. “Now go.” She watched the three trot toward the nearby trees.

“You,” she said pointing at a man who had been snickering as he watched the other three jump to do her bidding. “Gather cool charcoals from last night’s fire. The blacker the better. Don’t burn yourself.”

“Yes, Lady Jacq,” he said, responding to the note of command in her voice.

“And that’s another thing…you’ll call me Jacq. Is that understood?” She looked around at the remaining soldiers with a fierce frown, brooking no argument.

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“Yes, Lady Ja…I mean Jacq,” replied one man.

“But that’s a man’s name,” another muttered.

Yet another grumbled loud enough for all to hear, “Yeah, what kind of mother would call her daughter by a man’s name?”

It was going to be a long day.

In short order, the three men returned with their branches, and the fourth with pieces of blackened charcoal.

Ordering the men to sit in a semicircle around her, she chose one man and had him kneel in front of the group.

Charcoal in hand, she drew a pattern on his face and began to fill in the shapes with black. “The point of camouflage is to break up recognizable shapes. So when you begin to blacken your partner’s face, be sure to make the shapes irregular, like the natural dappling of sunlight through trees. And don’t forget to do the same with every bit of exposed skin—ears, arms, neck, hands.”

Jacq set them to work rubbing black into each other’s cheeks. Then she showed them how to stick leafy branches through the loose weave of their clothing. She confiscated strips of bandages from Cook’s supplies and tied them around their heads so that they could add foliage to further break the outline of their heads.

Jacq pulled Beast, Monty, and Alfie, Rufus’ other young squire-in-training, aside and whispered instructions to them. The three nodded their understanding and departed the clearing. Satisfied things were progressing well she sauntered over to Rufus and Donald, knowing she must look smug over her success. Behind her she could hear the troops laughing and joking at their appearance.