Innocence Enslaved (31 page)

“Me too.” Her body content, she became suddenly sleepy and smothered a yawn.

“Sleep. We’ve another long day tomorrow.”

She nodded, shifting to her side and snuggling her back to his front. Lifting her long hair off her neck as she settled onto her pillow, she heard a low growl rumble in his chest.

“What?” she asked, twisting her face up to his.

“I marked you.” He ran a finger over the spot where his mouth had latched on when he found his release. Her hand came up and rubbed at it too. “I didn’t think I was that rough.” He bent immediately to kiss it. “Now you carry a mark from the collar, the cane, and my mouth.”

She turned back, the beginning of a smile tipping the corner of her mouth.

Surprised, he leaned over her to ask, “You like that I marked you?”

“You don’t hear me complaining.” Taking his hand in hers, she pulled it up between her breasts as she snuggled back into him. The smell of their passion still lingered in the room, though her scent was strongest of all on his fingers. Though he’d brought her to pleasure twice, she became aroused thinking about her wetness and how it would taste on his fingers. Better yet, on his cock after he’d buried himself in the depths of her heated passage. She couldn’t resist finding out. Her tongue flicked out and lapped across the tips of his fingers.

“Emilia!” He pulled his hand away. “If you don’t stop taunting me, I’ll give you that spanking I promised right now. Imagine how you’ll feel with your blistered butt up in the air as we join up with the others.”

“I’m sorry.” Although she wasn’t, she tried to seem remorseful as she peeped at him over her shoulder.

“I don’t believe that for a minute,” he growled while curving his hand around her jaw and lowering his mouth to hers, his demanding lips caressing hers until she was breathless. “Sleep, dove,” he insisted as he settled behind her. “Daybreak will be here all too soon.”

“What about the lantern?”

“Let it burn.”

“As you wish, master.” She giggled as his hand closed over her breast and tweaked a nipple in warning.

“Insatiable nymph,” he murmured, not sounding the least bit displeased.

Chapter Twenty

The following morning, a groggy Emilia barely managed to thank their hosts before Corbet boosted her onto her mare’s back and handed her the reins. It was dark because it was raining and all she could think about was crawling back into bed beside her man’s warm, comforting body.

“Are you awake enough to ride, or do I need to take you up with me?”

“I’m cold, but awake.” She shivered from the damp as she answered, while pulling her blanket more closely around her.

Following along at the steady pace he set, she hunkered down in her misery. The plodding gait of the horse lulled her into a daze and her head bobbed as she nodded off once or twice. On the third time, she heard Corbet curse and slow his horse to a stop.

“Come here,” he said as he dragged her off her mare and across his lap. After he adjusted the blanket around her and had gathered Buttercup’s reins, he started them off again.

Heat seemed to roll off him in waves and she cuddled close, humming her satisfaction.

“Thank you, Corbet. This is much better.”

“You looked like a sleepy, wet kitten huddled all by yourself. You should have taken me up on my offer the first time. I would have been most upset if you’d have fallen off your mare and broken your neck.”

Upset didn’t sound like undying love to her. She tipped her head back and frowned. “Because you love me?”

He grunted and shook his head. “Because it would have been damned inconvenient to have to start training another pleasure slave.”

“What? How can you think such a thing,” she protested, going so far as to swat him lightly when he chuckled.

“I was teasing, sweetling. I would be devastated if something truly happened to you. Besides, you’re all the pleasure I can handle. As insatiable as you are now, I can’t imagine what you’ll be like once I fuck you.”

“Corbet!” She colored fiercely at the vulgar term. Then she quieted, thinking maybe she was too ardent in her desire for him. “I don’t know what makes me act as I do. I’m sorry.”

“Emilia! Don’t you dare apologize. I love your fire and will be most upset if you try to bank it or douse the flames. I shouldn’t have teased you, sweetling.”

“Then you don’t mind the wanton way that I act.”

“By my word, no! I adore how you hunger for me as much as I do you.”

She gazed up at him searchingly, relaxing when she read only truth in his eyes. She smiled, shyly at first, then she couldn’t resist teasing him in return.

“I do have a healthy appetite, master. I’m ravenous, in fact, especially when the fare is so delicious.”

“I’ll do my best to keep you well-sated, siren.”

Grinning, she snuggled closer as he urged his horse into a trot. With her ear pressed to his chest, the steady thud of his heart lulled her into a contented sleep.

While she dozed, they made good time despite the rain and were at the noontime destination ahead of schedule. It was in a little village a half day’s ride from the border of Melbourne. If they kept on pace, they’d make camp there and be at her father’s farm by supper the next day.

While they waited for the others to arrive, they went into a small tavern to dry out and have a bite to eat. There was a small fire in the hearth to remove the damp from the air. Choosing a table near it, Emilia sat with her back to it and spread out her skirts, hoping they’d dry before it was time to move on.

Two mugs of ale and bowls of a hearty beef stew were plunked down in front of them by the ruddy-cheeked tavern owner.

“A terrible day for travel, it is. Where are you heading if I might ask?”

“Andover,” Corbet answered evasively, offering him no more beyond that. “Have you heard of any trouble? Washed-out bridges or thieves harassing unsuspecting travelers?”

“Not from that way. A troop of knights from Melbourne were through a few days back, searching for a missing girl.” His eyes flickered over Emilia. “A red-haired girl about eighteen—beautiful, they said—was taken from near her home. Her papa was distraught and offered a sizeable reward of silver to get her back.”

“Melbourne, you say,” she replied. “I’ve always wanted to travel there. Mama once told me a story of a beautiful waterfall that flows near one hundred feet high and into the river which leads to the sea.” Excitedly, she reached across and covered Corbet’s hands with her own. “Say we might see it one day.”

“Of course, sweetling. The next time we pass through, perhaps.” He looked up at the owner, following her lead. “Have you heard of this place, sir? How far is it from here?”

The man visibly relaxed and smiled again, clearly fooled by Emilia’s ploy. “No more than a half day’s ride. And an easy one at that. The roads from here to Melbourne are well maintained. Would it be a wedding trip, perhaps?”

“No, sir,” she simpered prettily. “We’ve been wed two years this September. We’re hurrying back to see our young daughter. Mama is keeping her, but I miss her so. I’m sure you understand.”

“I do, having three daughters myself. They are my heart and joy.” The bell over the door rang as another customer came in. “Excuse me. Call out if you need anything else.”

Anxiously, she watched him walk away and engage the newcomer in conversation. “Do you think he believed us?”

“How could he not?” he replied, with an arched brow. “You are utterly charming and quick to spin a tale, little one. It pleases and concerns me at the same time.”

She blushed, her eyes dipping to their still joined hands. “I believe Muriel may have rubbed off on me. She is a bard in the making, a true storyteller.”

“Hmm, so Alice has lamented many a time.”

“They’re late. Do you think something has happened to them?” She squeezed his hands tight. “I’m worried, Corbet.”

“We were early and on horseback. Our travel was fast and light. The rain could have slowed the wagons down. Don’t go borrowing trouble before there’s a need.” She nodded and watched as he brought her hands up to his lips for a kiss. “Finish your stew and ale. Maybe when we’re through it will have stopped raining and they’ll have arrived.”

Corbet’s prediction came true. For as they exited the tavern a half hour later, two wagons and three outriders were rolling down the main street. Muriel’s bright head was gleaming in the sun that had broken through the clouds and drew her notice first, that and the way she was waving and bouncing up and down on the high bench seat.

Emilia gaped up at the tall man at her side with a sense of awe. “How are you so wise when not yet thirty, sir?”

“Life experience,” he said with a half-hearted smile as he took her hand and watched the others draw near. “And not so young. I feel twice my age after living under Ervin’s thumb these past years. Let’s get the horses and go greet them.”

As the wagons drew to a halt a few minutes later, Corbet greeted Charles with a nod. “Any troubles?”

“The night watch stopped us on the way to deliver the saddles, but they let us go. As they rode out, I heard them say they were heading into town, which bought us some time, I believe. Since then it has been clear travel, except for the blasted rain.”

“Same here.” He lifted his chin, indicating the other wagon. “How about the rest?”

“No trouble there either, master.”

“’Tis sir, Charles. You’re all free now, remember that lest you give us away.”

“Of course, ‘tis a hard habit to break.”

“Clearly, since I granted you your freedom some three years past and you still refer to me as the same.”

Emilia exclaimed, “How generous of you, Corbet. But why didn’t you grant the same to Alice and Muriel?”

“It was safer that they remain in his keep,” Charles explained.

“How so?”

“All men, women, and children who reside in the district must pay an annual tax, Emilia; as the slave master I paid it for them. Without family, or work to earn a living, they would have fallen once more into debt.”

“To become indentured to the manor yet again.” Her mouth gaped open. “I’ve never heard of such unfairness. But Corbet, why not pay the fees for them and hire them as servants?”

“There is a residency application fee that must be paid to become legal citizens, and it isn’t allowed for a master to free a slave and pay it for them. And before you ask, there is another fee to move outside the district.”

“That is grossly unfair. The laws are obviously made to perpetuate their enslavement.”

“Precisely,” Corbet answered sardonically. “That is Lord Ervin’s way.”

“How has no one killed the vile man and put an end to his cruelty?”

Muriel stared at her for a moment. “You’ve never seen his guards apparently. They are like mountains. We met a few yesterday and the way they hauled me out of the wagon like I was a feather frightened me.”

“He also hires heartless mercenary knights and pays them very well for their loyalty,” Charles added with a grumble. “Or he would have been dead within a sennight after being made earl.”

She remembered Sir Ranulf had towered over Corbet, who was a full head taller than she. An army of Ranulf’s could well fend off an assassin.

“Will he send those knights after us, do you think?” she asked as she clutched Corbet’s arm, finding it terrifying to imagine him taking on one of those behemoths, let alone a whole troop of them.

“We can’t know what Ervin will do, Emilia; as for the other, he will get his due one day. Right now, however, we must move along. To gather in the middle of the street is begging for attention.”

* * *

The rest of the day was without incident and as planned, they made camp outside of Melbourne’s border. Emilia helped Alice and Muriel with a cold supper, while Corbet set up a watch and talked with a few local men who passed and called out in greeting. Too tired to do other than sleep, they shared blankets that night, snug and warm in each other’s arms.

Dawn broke with the fingers of pink, orange, and gold streaking across the sky, promising a day of dry travel, which was a blessing. Although she’d slept well during the night, Corbet insisted on taking her up in front of him again. Enjoying snuggling up in his strong arms, her back supported by his chest and her head resting on his shoulder, she’d soon dropped off, dozing the morning away.

She didn’t notice that their small caravan of horses and wagons had pulled off the road until he called his horse to a stop. Sleepy, she barely had time to take in a small country church before he dismounted with her in his arms.

“What are we doing here?”

“I believe I promised a smith
and
a priest. Or did you forget?”

Startled wide awake by his meaning, she glanced at the others, who were looking on with pleased smiles. Muriel was practically jumping up and down, beside herself with excitement.

“You don’t think we should wait for my family to bear witness?”

“No,” came his succinct reply, before he added, “We have our own family to stand witness and I’d prefer to greet your family for the first time with our vows said.”

Much of that left her speechless, mostly that he’d called himself, Muriel, Alice, and Charles their family. Blinking back tears of happiness, she didn’t question it further as he took her hand, led her to the parsonage, and knocked with a firm hand.

An hour later, following an explanation of their hasty nuptials, and several coins exchanging hands, the priest agreed to the waiving of the banns and agreed to conduct the wedding. Muriel and Alice had been busy while this had gone on, her friend gathering wild flowers that she’d woven into a circlet for Emilia’s hair and Alice shaking out her green gown for the occasion.

Now she stood with Corbet before the red double doors of the small church, the round little priest in front of them with his bible in hand. She listened to his words as best that she could with her pulse sounding loud in her ears, her heart in her throat, and both hands clutching her soon-to-be husband’s much larger ones like a lifeline. He squeezed them and offered her a tender smile of reassurance, and suddenly, she calmed. This is what she had longed for and she wasn’t going to let her silly nerves interfere with the moment.