Enchanted Lover (8 page)

Unconsciously his hand moved to caress the treasure.
A scream tore from Asilinn's throat when his palm brushed her full breast. She
jumped back from his fondling trembling violently under his perusal.

His gaze traced downward to her flat stomach—to the
tangle of golden curls at the crux of her womanhood. Asilinn covered herself
with her hands and blushed crimson. God he wanted her. Could she be as innocent
as she claimed?

"Dinna do this, Milord," she pleaded.
"If you wilna cast me aside, please give me time to know you better before
you take me."

Jared sucked in his breath and turned his back to
her. He walked over to the desk and ran his finger over the hard wood. After
what seemed like an eternity, he let himself look her way again. "I cannot
grant you a reprieve. Even now, your father rides to Dunbocan with a force of
two hundred men. You must be my wife in every sense of the word before I meet
with him. Otherwise my plan has no chance of success."

A strangled whimper escaped from her. In desperation,
she moved to his side. Asilinn was unaware of her affect on his body.
"Please, I'll tell him of your generosity."

Jared encircled her in his arms and pulled her to his
chest. "No, Asilinn," he whispered. "I canna wait."

Grasping her golden mane, he pulled her head back to
meet his lips while he claimed her mouth.

Asilinn moaned; fear rose up to greet her. His tongue
ravaged her lips until they parted admitting him to the dark recesses of her
very soul. Terrified she beat his chest with her fists, but it was as if he
could not feel her blows.

Aggressively he attacked her innocence with roving
hands of fire and a swirling magic tongue that titillated her body to respond.
Still she fought him, valiantly trying to stop the conflagration of emotions
sweeping over her. She felt him lift her. Using one hand, he grasped her
buttocks and pressed her close against the hardness of his loins. Asilinn
gasped for air when his lips moved downward along her neck. It struck her—he
was moving toward the bed.

"No," she screamed. He laid her down in the
soft ticking. She was twisting now beneath his weight as he pinned her to the
mattress. "No," she whimpered, tears wetting her cheeks. Her
nightmare was becoming a reality.

He stopped abruptly and propped himself on his elbows
looking down into her eyes. With one finger, he traced a tear along her nose.

"Leave off your struggle and I wilna harm
you." Without waiting for her response, he found her lips with his and
pressed his hard body between her legs.

Asilinn was overcome by sheer panic—a clear picture
of her mother's struggle flashed before her eyes. She struck blindly at him and
tore away from his kiss. "You wilna rape me without a fight," she
choked, desperately trying to squirm from beneath him.

Jared grabbed her arms and pinned them above her
head. The weight of his body was heavy between her thighs. "Zounds! I
dinna want to rape you, Asilinn. You are my wife. If you stop fighting, it will
not hurt."

"I'm afraid it will kill me sure," she
whimpered. "I cannot. Have mercy."

"Sweetling, what am I to do with you?"

Lifting his weight from her, he left the bed and
walked over to the leather chair by the desk. He flopped down in the seat as if
he were exhausted by his effort. Asilinn sat up and watched him stare into the
fire. It was a long time before he spoke.

"I dinna wish to take you by force, but it is
clear in the eyes of the church it would not be rape. I am your husband."

"Mayhaps the church would see it different had
they knowledge of my desire to go to the nunnery," she suggested, sure
anything was better than the fate he had in mind for her.

He gave a shallow laugh. "A desire born of
circumstance, to tell me otherwise would cast a sin upon your eternal
soul."

How could he know the innermost workings of her mind?
And even now he talked with her rather than doing the deed. "I dinna
understand you, Milord."

"Nor I you, sweetling," he murmured. His
gaze flew over her. He leaned his head down and rubbed his temple with his
hand. "I only sought to end a war, not begin one."

Asilinn rose from the bed and walked over beside his
chair. "Is that not an impossible dream?"

"I did not think so. I had not bargained for a
spitfire wife who would have the courage to fight me at every turn." His
face suffused with a warm smile. "And now what do I do with my virgin
bride? If I return you to your father untouched, he would not believe it. He
will still consider your purity violated as will all your clansmen. If I keep
you yet never make you mine, I'll surely go mad. And if we never have any
children I hold little hope for the possibility of peace."

Asilinn knew he spoke the truth. Her father would
never fathom the possibility of her having an unconsummated marriage with the
Laird of Dunbocan. He would be more likely to accept her bearing Jared's child,
a child who could be used against Jared in some foul plot. He would never
believe Jared MacLean had wed her but not bedded her. And her reputation would
be forever tarnished by her father's doubts even if they annulled the marriage.

"Tell me, wife. Am I so vile to look upon you
canna bear to have me in your bed?"

"Milord, you are a MacLean, handsome though you
be. But I cannot lay with my father's enemy."

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer to his
chair. His eyes were luminescent in the firelight. "I am your husband,
Asilinn. Why do you fear death by my hand in our marriage bed?"

Asilinn gasped feeling all the color drain from face.
He was a dragon—a mind reader—a seer who could look into her heart and see her
fear.

"Speak," he demanded. His jaw set in a taut
line.

"I will fight you and your anger will rule your
reason and thus I am a dead woman," she said in a raspy whisper.

"God's teeth, woman. Where did you get such a
notion?"

"It happened before, Milord."

"What nonsense is this? You are alive and
well."

Asilinn turned her head. Tears were streaming down
her cheeks. "I saw it happen to my mother, Milord, at the hand of a
MacLean. I was but a child."

He was so quiet she wondered if he had heard her. She
looked back at him to find his glowing eyes studying her.

His grip loosened on her wrist and he ran his hand up
her arm in a gentle caress. "Dinna fight me Asilinn and I wilna harm you.
You have my word."

"My mother screamed and cried."

"Your mother was not with her husband. I am your
husband. You will come to no harm in my bed."

"Give me but awhile, Milord."

"The waiting will not quell your fear." He
sighed and dropped his arm back to the chair. "I ask you Asilinn as a
husband to his wife. Will you give me my husband's rights and with them a
chance for peace among our people?"

"And if I say nay?"

"You are still my wife and I will press you for
this favor until you give in."

"But you would not rape me?"

"No, I wilna rape you." He smiled.
"But I wilna leave your side till you say yes. We shall remain here in our
tower."

"You call this a choice?"

"'Tis a choice of when," he replied.
"More choice than most would grant thee."

It was true. If in some deep part of her, she could
find a dram of courage she should act before he changed his mind and took her
roughly. "Will there be much pain?"

Jared laughed when he reached over and pulled her
into his lap. "I will do all in my power to make it as painless as
possible," he whispered. "Will you do what I say and let me pleasure
you first? The pain will not be great if your body is ready for mine."

Asilinn's eyes grew wide with fear. "Does it
always hurt, Milord?"

"No, sweet Asilinn." He nuzzled her hair.
"It only hurts a little the first time. Then there is only pleasure."

Asilinn drew a ragged breath blinking back a tear. If
this was her one chance to escape her mother's fate, she must grasp it quickly
before he lost his patience. "I will submit to you, Milord," she
whispered. "Please dinna hurt me."

"Close your eyes," he instructed. His
hushed voice was a seductive caress in the quiet chamber. "Let your body open
to new sensations and pleasures. You are safe in my care."

She looked at him in a fleeting moment of indecision
and then did what he asked. She closed her eyes. She could feel his soft lips
on her eyelids, his tender nibbling on her lower lip.

His mouth covered hers in a leisurely version of his
earlier kiss. It was so slow, almost endless. This time there was no urgency
only a sense of being tutored by him. He fed upon her lips, lingering, teasing,
and searching insistently for something.

She felt his hand move to cup her breast. The heat of
his touch burned her tender flesh as he teased the tip to an excited peak. With
his mouth still sealed to hers, he rose from the chair and carried her to the
heavy-curtained bed.

Obediently she kept her eyes closed—she was overcome
by the deep rush of feelings coursing through her. She felt more alive than she
had ever thought she could be. Every fiber of her being awaited his next caress
sealing her in a web of erotic confusion.

She was lying on the bed now. His lips released hers.
She couldn't feel his weight on the ticking—she couldn't feel him anywhere.
Confused she opened her eyes and gaped at him in wide-eyed amazement. He stood
before her stark naked. His broad shoulders shone golden in the firelight. A
thick mat of dark hair covered his powerful chest and trailed off to a fine
line as it went downward. Her eyes followed the trail to the engorged rod
springing from his muscular loins. "Oh," she gasped, clamping her
eyes tightly closed and going rigid in fear.

She felt his weight next to her. His hand traveled
down across her thinly clad bosom and rested gently on the crests of her firm
breasts.

"Dinna be afraid, Asilinn. I will give you
pleasure first."

With that dark promise, his lips again found hers.
She could feel his hand rubbing insistently across her breasts, caressing, and
stroking until it felt like his hand belonged there. She was not rigid anymore.
He was coaxing her body to feel things it had never felt before. Her breasts
ached for his every touch.

Asilinn felt his kiss grow more urgent. His hand
traced a scorching trail downward coming to rest on the golden curls hiding her
womanhood. His fingers began a feather light enticement through the thin cloth.
A whimper escaped from deep in her throat as her desire flamed. His lips left
hers and moved to her breasts, nipping playfully at first, and then suckling
right through her gown. Asilinn's breath was coming in short gasps. Her body
seemed to have a will of its own arching to give him better access.

Sensing her rising desire, he freed the flimsy gown
from its clasps and removed it with one sweep of his hand. His head dropped
immediately to capture her nipple and tease it with his hot tongue.

Asilinn cried out when his finger entered her most
secret place. She felt his gentle probing—his thumb massaging the nub of her
awareness. What madness was this? Her whole body was shaking—she craved his
every touch. The feeling consumed her. He slowly eased her thighs apart—always
stroking and kindling the fire in her she could not comprehend.

“You are so tight, Asilinn,” Jared whispered, easing
two fingers into her. It felt like the membrane was still intact, but he would
know soon enough. He would have a care with his explorations—he preferred
another tool to take her virginity.

Asilinn’s body opened to accommodate him as he
started a slow in and out massage—he probed and withdrew only to push into her
again. The sensation grew more intense with each manipulation. Her hips moved
with the in and out motion of his fingers and suddenly she was wet beneath his
touch. “Sweet lady,” he murmured. Asilinn was filled with a raw need she did
not understand—her hips seemed to find their own rhythm, faster, and more
urgent.

With a tight laugh, he moved between her legs running
his hands down her body while his head moved even lower to taste the heart of
her. He worked his magic on her willing flesh. Breathless she opened her eyes.
He glanced up at her and took her legs over his shoulders. He used his mouth to
bring forth a shattering explosion of pure bliss that enveloped her whole body.
Her hands grabbed the bedding in hard fists as wave after wave of erotic
pleasure swept her. She called his name in a breathless whisper.

Her legs were trembling when he let them slide back
to the bed and moved again to enjoy her breasts. She was shaken by the whole
experience.

He raised his head to look into her eyes. "Now
that you are ready," he whispered. "It will not hurt very much."

Jared knew she was his now, slick and sweet from the
pleasure he had just given her. He moved his body so his thick member waited at
the entrance of her tight sheath.

His lips found hers probing and teasing, but his body
could wait no longer. With one thrust, Jared pierced the only barrier to his
coveted prize. She cried out in pain. He lay still, elated to know he was her
first, her only.

Ever so slowly, he started to move inside her. She
moaned at first, but her body contracted around him each time he moved deeper.
Asilinn was wild-eyed—she tossed her head and grabbed the sheeting as she moved
restlessly beneath him. He could feel her coming again—her fevered movement
swept away all his control and he plunged into her hard, over and over, until
her body matched his own fevered rhythm.

Asilinn was wild. She couldn't feel him deep enough
within her to satisfy the power gripping her. Frantically she grabbed his waist
and his buttocks holding him tight inside her. With one powerful drive, he
burst inside her taking her with him over the edge of sanity to the paradise of
fulfilled desire. She went limp breathlessly gasping for air. The weight of her
husband was still wedged tight between her thighs.