Page 98 of Seduced By Her Highland Warrior
She gestured toward the pouch of silver, held by the earl’s servant. “Those coins were forged from the blood of men. I ask you to take them. Accept my gift, and let us go.”
The earl opened the pouch and sifted through the silver. “And what about the death of your husband?”
“It was not her fault,” Finian said. “An arrow took his life.” He gripped the dagger hard and glared at the earl. “But after knowing what she suffered in that marriage, if I’d been able, I’d have killed him myself.”
A flicker of a smile played upon the earl’s mouth. “It was a good match, and strong alliances were made.”
“She deserved better than him.”
Before the earl could respond, Alys lifted a hand. “Please, stop.” She lowered herself to her knees, begging, “You had my obedience, all my life. I did everything you asked of me. But this is something I want for myself.”
Finian hated to see her lower herself, but her words suddenly made another truth clear. The earl was more than an acquaintance. And he’d come to the garrison on behalf of the woman kneeling before him.
“Please, Father,” Alys repeated. “Grant me my freedom. And his.”
Withinthedarknessoftheir tent, Alys lay in Finian’s arms. Though he remained quiet, she knew he wasn’t asleep.
After her father, the Earl of Monterancy, had released them, they’d ridden hard to find the others. Though she had not a coin to call her own anymore, Alys didn’t care. She had her freedom, which was more precious than gold.
Brochain and the others awaited them, and Iliana had wept tears of joy at the sight of her father. She’d admitted to him that she’d found the silver buried outside the shelter where Alys had hidden her, after disguising her as a boy. Once or twice, Lord Harkirk had nearly caught her, but Iliana had hidden herself within a pile of straw.
“Why did you return?” Finian asked Alys, breaking the stillness. “You risked your life for me.”
She rolled over. Though it was dark and she couldn’t see his face, she touched his cheek. “No one ever cared about me the way you do.”
“No one ever will,” he said, catching her fingers with his hand. “You’re mine, Alys.”
She smiled in the darkness. “So I’m to be your prisoner, now?”
His hands moved beneath her shift, sliding up her legs, his mouth dipping down to kiss her. “I’ll bind you in silken chains. And torment you until you scream.”
She fumbled with the layers of clothing between them, lifting her shift away and tugging at his trews. In a whisper, she said, “Show me.”
Finian reached beneath her hips and captured her wrists at her side. The position tilted her womanhood towards him, and he smiled at her. “You’ll be at my mercy.”
When he lowered his mouth to her cleft, the slow burn of ecstasy rippled through her skin. With his tongue, he tantalized her hooded flesh, nibbling and sucking, until tremors broke through her. He held her hands, not allowing her to move as he feasted upon her, driving her to a higher pitch.
“Finian, come inside me,” she begged. “Love me.”
His mouth moved away from her center, his tongue dipping against her navel and up to her breasts. And when he entered her at last, filling her with his shaft, she gave a soft sigh of relief.
He thrust hard against her, cupping her hips as he deepened their joining. Her breath quickened with the rhythm pulsing against her wet entrance, and she met his penetrations by arching her hips.
He did torture her, but with such pleasurable sensations, she hardly cared if she died from it. And when her keening gasps did tighten into a scream, he covered her mouth with his own, muffling the sound as he took her over the edge. She spasmed against him, loving the feel of his body emptying within her, his breath mingled with her own.
“I want to spend the rest of my life loving you,” he breathed, passing his hands over her flesh. “If you’ll have me.”
Alys smiled, holding him with all her heart. “Always.”
