“So it is, but you have the advantage of me,
as you know my name and I do not know yours,” Star spoke as
haughtily as she could muster.
Farley rode up closer, too close for her
comfort and said on a low hard note, “Oi have a feelin’ ye know
m’name, but Oi’m happy to remind ye of it.
Farley…
that’s
right and ye and me…well now, Oi’m thinking it wasn’t so very long
ago that we met.”
“You are mistaken, Mr. Farley. I have no
notion who you are and have never met you.” Star lied without
guilt, but even so felt a twitch take over one eye.
“Here now, no cause fer alarm, just yet that
is. Oi’m an acquaintance of yer brothers’ Oi am, so wait till ye
have heard me out.”
She poised herself regally, “I am sorry, but
I am not in the habit of talking to strangers alone in a field. If
you are a friend of my brother’s, he has never mentioned you.”
“Aw now,” he leered. “Oi knows better Oi do.
Oi know ye were in a most disreputable inn not so long ago…and met
with me and m’lads.”
“I have no notion of what you speak.” She
started her horse forward, but he kicked his horse to move in front
of her and got in her way. He reached out and audaciously tried to
get hold of her reins.
If she had a crop she would have given him
another scar.
At that moment, she was so outraged at his
audacity, that she forgot to be frightened and pulled out her gun,
aiming it directly at his heart. She seethed and said, “Release my
reins and get out of my way, or you will regret this, I promise
you.”
“Full of pluck ain’t ye?” He eyed her, “Oi’m
thinking ye won’t shoot me…Oi’m thinking ye will hear me out, cuz
if ye don’t Oi’ll tell everyone yer brother sent his sister to meet
with me and the lads, Oi will.”
“As I said you are gravely mistaken…and
do not think I will not shoot you, for I was taught early on just
how to use this.”
“Oi told ye, Oi knows yer brother. Ye see, he
and me… we have had dealings together, and Oi mean to have more.
Whot would yer fine society do, if Oi set it about that ye and yer
brother were in cahoots with me and mine?”
“I know that my brother frequents the
Mermaid, as do most of the men in our lovely Rye. There is nothing
untoward in that. I, however, do not frequent it. I advise you to
get out of my way Mr. Farley, for I won’t stay here with you
another moment.” She was sure he was bluffing. He had no proof it
was her and no one would believe such an outrageous claim.
“Oi have more to say Missy and ye won’t be
leaving until Oi says it.” He yanked hard on her reins pulling them
completely out of her hold and made her horse spook to one
side.
Butch was unused to such rough handling and
went into the air with a high pitched scream and for the moment it
was all Star could do to keep her seat and hold onto her gun!
* * *
Sir Edward had pointed his horse away from
Berkley Grange and started west. His determination to avoid seeing
Star Berkley was only exceeded by
his need
to see her. He
grappled with himself and suddenly found that his hands worked the
reins without consulting his brain. He turned his horse back toward
Berkley!
As he trotted along, a sound over the rolling
hill caught his attention. It sounded like a horse in trouble and
he hurried up the slope and found a scene that both startled and
infuriated him all at once.
He heard Star yell, “Get out of my way or
die!”
A burley man laughed outright and bellowed,
“We both know ye won’t shoot me!”
Sir Edward moved into action without thought
and his gun was out of its saddle holster and aimed at Farley as he
brought his horse’s gallop to a resounding stop only a few feet
away. “She may not shoot you,
but I
, sir, will blow your
head clean off with great pleasure.”
Star turned grateful eyes to him, as she got
her frightened horse under her and clamored to keep control of her
own gun. She murmured, “Sir Edward…oh thank you.”
“Get behind me, Miss Berkley, at once!” He
returned sharply never wavering his gaze from the brute before him.
“Now, what shall it be?” He asked the toothless man whose eyes had
narrowed as he contemplated his situation.
“Oi mean no harm. The young lady got
spooked…that’s all.”
“Is that so? Let me tell you what is going to
happen now. You will turn yourself about and get off Stamford land.
Furthermore, you will never cross Miss Berkley’s path
ever
again on Berkley or Stamford land, for fear of your life. I shan’t
bother to bring you to trial for trespassing this time. Perhaps if
you are so unwise as to dare a next time, I shall simply shoot you
as a poacher and be pleased to do so.
Do you understand
me?”
“Oi do, but let me say flash, it ain’t over,”
Farley said as he whipped his horse around and kicked him into a
gallop.
“Horrid odious man. I think we should shoot
him just for the way he treats his horse!” Star said suddenly and
she swiped a stray tear from her cheek.
He was off his horse in a moment and reaching
for her to lift her off hers. He could see she was determined not
to cry. He held her close, noted the gun was still in her hand and
gently removed it from the fingers clutching it so tightly.
“Everything is fine,” he told her. “He is
gone and I don’t think he will bother you again.”
She sucked in air and in a trembling voice
said, “I was prepared to kill him.”
“Were you, love? I am happy to hear it. For
he is an ugly customer and I do believe you and I must talk about
this.”
“Oh…” she clenched and unclenched her
fingers. “I want to tell you everything—I do, but right now all I
want to do is get away from here.”
“Not yet, love.” He took the horses in tow,
walked her to a nearby clump of evergreens and tethered them. He
felt her watching him as he loosened the saddles and pulled out his
saddle blanket, chose a spot and laid it on the ground. He reached
out his hand and said encouragingly, “Come, let us sit and enjoy
the summer air a bit before I escort you home.”
He sat and watched her as she hesitated and
then she approached and plopped down beside him, sighing heavily.
He didn’t say anything for a moment but his eyes raked over her.
Her gown of pale blue was weathered and had certainly seen better
days. It irked him that such a beauty should forever be in rags.
When she was his he would see her in the finest…what was he
thinking? When she was his? He shook away such thoughts and instead
dove into the subject that occupied his mind. “What did that
scoundrel want with you?”
“His name is Farley and he means to make
trouble for my brother one way or another,” she offered and bit her
lip.
He tried another avenue for he could see he
would get no more down that road. “How do you know him?”
“I don’t…well not really. You know already
that I was disguised as a lad and at the Mermaid Inn. It was to
deliver a message to
that
blackguard.”
He could see she was distressed. She didn’t
want to tell him even this much and in essence, she hadn’t told him
very much more than he already surmised. “For your brother? You
were there for your brother?”
Her eyes found her lap and she would not
bring them to his face. He lifted her chin, “Star, don’t you
realize…? Don’t you know you can trust me? Won’t you trust me?”
“I want to, but as I said, what you are
asking…what you want to know, is not mine to tell. Don’t you men
have a code of honor about keeping secrets and such?”
“Indeed, we do, but neither do we allow one
another to be fed to the wolves and Star, you and your brother are
in the act of having just that done. He isn’t equipped to see
himself out of this and neither are you. I, however, can help.”
“Let me discuss this with Vern. When I tell
him how Farley accosted me today and how you helped, he may want to
confide in you himself.”
“Fair enough,” Sir Edward said on a sigh.
“You are so good,” Star returned.
“No, no I am not, or I would not be doing
this,” he said and took her into his arms. He could control himself
no longer. His mind had turned into fodder. His manhood throbbed
for attention. His fingers itched to feel her flesh and his mouth
watered for her kiss. His tongue found hers in an instant and
heaven was at hand.
* * *
She wanted him with all her heart. Her mind
told her she was diving into quicksand and her heart answered that
he had hold of her and wouldn’t let go. She trusted him. She did.
When he was near, touching her like this, all was well and would be
forever right.
When his lips touched hers, she gave herself
to him with a frenzy she had not realized she was capable of
feeling. Her arms went around his neck and she pressed herself into
him for more.
His delicious kiss grew into another and yet
another and then his lips covered her neck and back up to her
mouth. He whispered, “You taste so good love…so good…” and the
sound and meaning of the words traveled through her body and made
her yearn for things she had never experienced. She wanted it all
and she wanted it with him, this man who filled her universe with
bright hope and red hot passion.
She heard herself murmur his name and
wondered at the sound of her voice, so low, so husky, someone
else’s voice. She felt the buttons of her gown released, were those
her fingers helping his? She saw him remove his shirt and marveled
at his muscular form, his handsome face and his hungry expression.
She found her thighs clenching with desire.
He opened the buttons of his pants and
thought he was nearly as large as one of her studs for she had
never seen a man naked like this before. Were they all hung like
horses? No, she did not think so.
“Exquisite,” he said as he ran his hands over
her body and cupped her breasts. She had known when he laid the
horse blanket down, this would happen. She had known and eagerly
awaited it.
His lips brushed one of her nipples, his
tongue licked at it, his finger flicked it as his other hand moved
over her belly and then his mouth was on hers again. He whispered
words of praises scarcely audible as he took her fingers and led
them to his manhood.
Excited beyond her expectations, she touched
him, ran her fingers up and down its length. He moaned and wrapped
her hand around it and said, “Oh love, love, your fingers feel so
good…do you like it? Do you?”
“Yes,” she said breathlessly. “I do…I do…”
and as she spoke she squeezed his manhood, thrilled by the feel of
it in her hand. She stroked it, pulled on it as she experienced a
driving sensation she had never thought possible before. She was
wanton, a wanton woman, and it felt right, so completely right.
He moaned and came down beside her once more
and took her lips between his teeth, nibbling hungrily before his
tongue once more was inside her mouth teaching her what was to
come.
“Edward…” she said his name, as his fingers
found the cleft between her thighs and pressed hard. She jerked
with pleasure. “Oh…yes…”
His finger worked its way inside and this
time she was the one moaning. His free hand moved over her belly
and then came to part her thighs as his kisses traveled over her
and then he rubbed his cheek against her inner thigh, kissed it as
his lips traveled higher and she arched.
Riveted by the ecstasy he aroused in her,
every nerve ending was alive and sending messages to her brain.
Messages that said ‘yes, more, yes’ and made her tense to his
tongue, which lapped and licked her into a frenzy as his teeth
gently nibbled. She was transported into pleasure, swept away with
emotions that whispered his name and as he gently sought her
wetness with his finger.
Her body jerked from his ministrations. She
felt primal and wanted to cry out when all at once, her entire body
exploded with sensation so great she did in fact scream out his
name, “EDWARD.”
His moans incorporated sweet words of hunger,
“Sweet Star…my own beauty…” he murmured huskily before he put
himself between her thighs.
She could feel his rod there at her opening.
She knew what was coming and trembled as she waited for it.
He whispered hoarsely, “Are you ready for
this…are you sure…?”
“Yes, yes…want…” she answered, still
trembling from the aftershocks of her climax.
He rubbed his cock at her cleft before
pushing in just a bit. His voice was low, erotic sounding as he
told her, “So tight, oh but sweetheart, so wet and tight…”
All she knew was that she had turned feral at
his touch. She wanted everything he had to give in every single
imaginable way. Then, as he rammed into her, she felt an immediate
tearing and a sharp pain. It was over almost as soon as it occurred
and he was rocking himself inside of her. She matched his movements
and pumped against him for he had worked her into a frenzy of
sexual need.
Suddenly he pulled out of her and said almost
harshly, “No…no…not yet…I want this to last.” He scooped her into a
sitting position. She eyed him questioningly, for she was in heat,
she wanted him inside of her, she wanted him in every imaginable
way a woman could want a man. He turned her gently and set her on
her hands and knees and whispered low and sweetly, “Your derriere
is exquisite my love…you
perfect
little woman, you.”
She felt him rub his cock on her bottom and
pumped backward against him wanting him to enter, wanting him to
make her feel the way she just had.
He complied, slamming his cock deep inside
and rocking her in an age old motion that brought her to a
screaming climax. She shook and jerked this time with the
aftershocks of her experience and he released a short laugh and
said, “Now…my love, now…”
He pulled out once more and she felt cold
from his withdrawal, and objected. He laughed again, “Here, Star…is
this what you want, and he plunged himself back inside of her and
his hands went around her to find her breasts and as he pounded
into her and fondled and teased her nipples, he let out a long hard
growl of pleasure as he let himself go.