Man Who Should be King (6 page)

“A mind-bender? What the hell is that?” William asked the
question before Marcus could as they both looked at the old man.

Marcus reached out and grabbed Syranna’s arm. “You controlled
my mind? You put thoughts in my head?”

Syranna frowned, and Marcus could see that acceptance of
knowing she couldn’t lie any longer on her face. Uther spoke first, though,
interrupting whatever the others had been going to say. “This is wonderful,
Syranna! You can become the Grand Mistress of Mystonia! Why did your
grandfather keep it a secret? This is the most wonderful news possible. We’ll
need to keep it quiet until the tournament, of course.”

Marcus wasn’t completely sure what was going on at this
point. He did know that he felt violated somewhat. Yet part of him was glad to
know that he had not taken her in the heat of the moment. This would make the
first joining that much sweeter. The mind tricks were something they’d need to
discuss, of course. The pressing matter was the old man’s obvious overwhelming
delight at the news. It was clear that Syranna had practiced her gift as a
child—which in his opinion seemed perfectly natural. What curious child would
not feel a need to explore their God-given talents?

Syranna glanced at old Uther. This sure wasn’t working out
as she had planned. “Uther, we can’t tell anyone about this. Grandfather told
me it wouldn’t be safe if anyone discovered that I could do this.”

“Unsafe?” Marcus tugged on Syranna’s arm. “What do you mean
by unsafe, Syranna? Is someone threatening you?”

William was shaking his head in confusion. “Mind-bender?
Such things aren’t possible!”

Uther shook his head, still laughing and smiling. “Once a
millennia there is one mind-bender born within Mystonia. Theaenaff’s family
have been the grand wizards here for generations because there has never been
anyone who could do battle with them. But Syranna is obviously potent and
strong enough to overcome Theaenaff’s powers.”

Marcus turned to glare at Uther. “Syranna will not be doing
any of these things, old man. She is the legal heir on Vikalla and will become
my wife.”

Uther just cackled at the bold man’s words. “You are blind!
Becoming grand wizard is more important than anything on Vikalla!”

Syranna saw the shock and anger on Marcus and William’s
faces at old Uther’s words. She knew that she needed to separate them as
quickly as possible. In spite of knowing it was wrong she looked at Uther,
directing his thoughts easily. A moment later the old wizard was smiling kindly
and offering to help.

“Well, I’ll take care of our little pets, Syranna. You take
his lordship inside and get him dry.” Uther made the trilling noise, calling
the dragonets to him.

Syranna spoke up quickly. “We should go in and let you dry
off, Sir Marcus. Come along,” she said, and then added belatedly, “Please.”

Marcus and William followed Syranna back inside. She planned
on letting him dry off in front of the fire, but Marcus spoke up as they
entered the hall. “I’d like to change clothes, if it isn’t too much trouble.”

“I don’t have any guest rooms made up.”

Marcus smiled. “A good hostess would offer her visitor the
use of her rooms. I could make do with your room, and that will give your maids
time to prepare rooms for tonight.”

Syranna couldn’t think of a single reason why he shouldn’t
use her room, so she ended up nodding her head in agreement. “Follow me,” she
told him softly.

Marcus grinned and looked at William. “Find my satchel and
have it sent up, William. Thanks.” Ignoring William’s grin, he turned and
jogged to catch up with his reluctant hostess.

* * * * *

Syranna opened the door to her bedroom a few minutes later.
Marcus walked in behind her, taking in the beautifully decorated room. It was
obvious that the impoverished appearance seen elsewhere in the castle did not
exist in this room. Marcus smiled as he looked around before Syranna turned to
face him.

“The bath?” he prodded her softly.

Syranna nodded her head and gestured with her hand. “Over
there, sir.”

Marcus bowed his head slightly. “Lead the way, milady.”

As Syranna walked across the room, Marcus began shedding his
wet clothes. In the bathroom, Syranna turned and gasped in surprise. “Oh my
God!”

Marcus grinned. “I’ll take that as a compliment. If you
wouldn’t mind starting the water, I know that these older castles have
interesting plumbing systems.”

He watched as Syranna deliberately didn’t look in his
direction while she turned on the water. Once the water was filling the
old-fashioned tub, Syranna quickly started for the door. Marcus caught her
forearm and held her tightly.

“Stay, Syranna. We have a lot of matters to discuss. Perhaps
you would like to join me in the bath? I assumed the customs of politeness are
still practiced here.” He lifted his free hand to stroke it down the side of
her face. He stopped as he heard William’s voice in the bedroom.

“The satchel is on the bed. I’m going to find that old coot
and try and figure out what the hell he was talking about.”

As the bedroom door closed, Marcus grinned. “Alone, at last.
It’s not too late…”

Syranna looked up at him quickly. “Too late for what?”

Marcus still held her arm as he moved closer to the tub. He
stepped into the rising water. “This feels good.” He sank down into the water,
his grip pulling Syranna closer until she was leaning over the tub. Her soft
gown gaped away from her chest and allowed Marcus a tempting view of ripe round
breasts. He tightened his grip on her arm until she looked into his eyes.

“Did you just force Uther’s offer to take care of the pets?”
He saw the truth as she glanced away from him guiltily. Since he had earlier
seen the old man’s aversion to the dragons, his offer had seemed rather
unusual. He pulled on Syranna’s arm until she knelt beside the tub. “I still
have a hard time believing that you controlled me that easily.”

Syranna lifted her eyes to his. “People of strength always
think that physical power is the most effective weapon against an enemy. I’d
never done anything like that before.”

“Hmm. By the way, I’m still waiting for you to perform your
duties as a good hostess.”

Marcus waited patiently, watching as Syranna rested her
knotted fists on her hips as she glared at Marcus. It was obvious that she kept
her eyes trained above his neck by the way her head kept jerking back up. He
smiled as he heard her reply.

“I have been a very good hostess, sir. I have offered you
food.”

“Then your education is sadly lacking, my lady,” Marcus
reminded, almost enjoying her discomfort. “In ancient times, the daughter or
nearest unwed lady related to the host would attend the guest’s every wish in
the bedchamber, including bathing him.”

Still on her knees, Syranna inched away from him. Marcus
realized that she had forgotten about the fist he had wrapped around the
material of her dress. Her movement made the dress dip even lower in front.

“I can’t believe that you dare to bring that up! I don’t
recall being offered any such services when I stayed on Vikalla!” she accused
him quickly.

“I would have been happy to perform any and all of these
services, milady, had you but requested assistance. You did not, whereas I
have. I believe your actions are simple from this point on.”

Syranna narrowed her eyes as she stared at the handsome man
in her bathing tub. “I think you are only saying this so that you can sleep
with me, and have your way with me! You are angered because I cheated you out
of it last time!”

Marcus tightened his fist in the fabric, dragging it a
little farther down across her bosom. Syranna was forced on her knees to come
closer under the pressure he was applying. “Aha! So you admit that you cheated
me, and therefore did me a great disservice!”

Syranna shook her head quickly. “No! You were going to rape
me! I had every right to defend myself. You should be in jail.”

“I was wrong to force myself upon you. But it was obvious
that you had no intention of seeing the seriousness of the situation you had
caused. It is not as if I was planning on taking your maidenhead and then
deserting you. My God! I am giving you the chance to rule Vikalla! Are you
completely dense to this honor you are being given?”

Syranna tried to move backward while coming to her feet, but
she’d forgotten that in stepping closer earlier the floor beneath her was now
wet from the water dripping off Marcus’ arm. Her feet slipped out from under
her and she went toppling. Marcus acted quickly, pulling her forward. So
instead of falling backward onto the hard floor, she landed in the water with
him.

“Ha, ha, ha!”

Syranna glared at the laughing man for at least a minute,
wet hair hanging in thick ropes and water running down her face, before she
realized that in falling, her hands had entered the water. Her left hand
slipped along his wet flesh and was definitely resting upon a portion of his
lordship’s anatomy that was rapidly becoming harder the longer she continued to
touch it.

“Oh my God!” Syranna blushed deeply, and in trying to get
up, she actually curled her fingers around him. It took a few moments for that
faux pas to sink in before she cried out in embarrassment once again. The more
that she scrambled about, though, she realized that she was actually touching
him more instead of less!

“Relax, Syranna! Stop moving and I’ll help you,” Marcus told
her a moment later, once he’d taken a deep breath. His hands began moving her
in the water. “Now you had best strip those clothes off so you can finish my
bath for me.”

“You’ve got to be jesting with me, sir! Surely you can’t
expect a woman of royal blood—”

Marcus held his hand up. “I believe you were the one
renouncing that blue blood a short time back.”

Syranna began moving in the water, starting to remove her
clothes slowly. Finally she pulled her hair forward to cover herself as she sat
naked in the tub with Marcus. “If I promise to sleep with you, would you leave
afterward?”

Marcus paused in reaching for the soap. He couldn’t believe
what Syranna had just offered him. Such action was unheard of on Vikalla.
Perhaps a woman’s maidenhead was less a prized possession on Kalledane. “You
are offering me your virginity?”

Syranna looked away from his gaze before she spoke. “Yes, in
return for your promise that you will leave me here, and alone.”

“There is no future husband that you wish to offer it to
instead? I find it hard to believe that a woman as beautiful as you can say she’s
never met a young man whom she fancied as her husband.”

“My future is my business, and I have no intention of ever
marrying. I am quite happy here.”

Marcus held the soap out to Syranna, watching her until she
finally took the bar from his hand. She was reaching for a washcloth when he
stopped her. “I prefer you to use your hands please. I don’t like the feel of
the rough cloth.”

“Ooh!”

He watched as she fumed silently, gritting her teeth and
glaring at him. But she rotated the bar of soap until her hands were full with
lather. He didn’t wait for her to move but reached out and pulled her closer,
slipping his feet beneath her bent knees so her legs draped over his thighs. As
she lifted her hands and began to wash his chest, he lifted his dripping wet hands
and grabbed the two wings of black hair down either side of her face. Quickly
he tossed it behind her. He dragged one hand down her hair, making sure it was
pulled into the water so it wouldn’t slip forward again.

Marcus lifted his eyes and found Syranna glaring at him
again. He grinned unrepentantly. “No reason I shouldn’t enjoy the view now, is
there? Nice castle you have here. I can see why you don’t want to leave it. It
is so, well…I can’t find quite the right words.” He paused and lifted one arm,
wordlessly indicating where she needed to wash him next.

Syranna’s hand moved to brush over his armpit, but he shook
his head. “No, I think you should be more thorough. I wouldn’t want to assail
your gentler senses after two days on the road traveling here. I’ll lift both
arms and you can wash them at the same time.”

With her hands lifted while washing his underarms, her
breasts bounced and lightly splashed the surface of the water. “Keep going,” he
told her a few seconds later. That’s when she most likely noticed why he had
stopped speaking and what he was staring at. Immediately she dropped her hands.
Marcus grabbed her wrists. “If you don’t want to wash me, then I’ll wash you.”

“That’s not necessary.”

“Are you saying that you wouldn’t enjoy having someone care
for your body, tenderly washing it, drying it and then applying some sweetly
scented oils and lotions to soften it?” Marcus stopped because his words were
making him harder than a rock. Taking a deep breath, he lathered his hands as
he watched her. “I think you would enjoy living on Vikalla once again.”

Syranna shook her head quickly. “I’m quite equally sure,
sir, that I would not. What makes you think I would?”

“We enjoy a much more comfortable lifestyle, of course. You
would have servants to do your every bidding, and you would want for nothing.”

“All I’d have to do is sleep with you?”

Marcus bristled at her question. She was making it sound
like the inimitable fate worse than death! Breathing in slowly before he
answered, Marcus delayed his reply, choosing his words with care. “Well, I
doubt we’d do much sleeping in the beginning. At first I wouldn’t be surprised
if we weren’t up most of each night making love. In fact, I should imagine we’d
make love several times at least, every night, in the early days of our
marriage. Probably even more once you are with child.”

“What!” Syranna gasped at his bold words. She wasn’t
completely sure which was upsetting her more, though. His relaxed easy way of
discussing the topic of sex with her, so nonchalantly and complacently, or was
she more upset over the fact that sex
with her
seemed as if it were not
a big deal? Quickly she told herself to stop being so foolish, ignore the
little frissons of desire running through her body and possibly making her act
a little crazy.

“Yes. I’ve heard that many women experience an increased
need for sexual arousal while pregnant. Being a good and obedient husband, I
feel honor bound to service my wife in her times of need.” His devilishly
attractive and smug grin spoke volumes more than his words. “I think you will
look very sexy as your belly swells up big and round with my child. And of
course, your pretty boobies will get bigger as well. Full of sweet milk for my
son to drink.”

“What makes you so sure that you would have a son?” Syranna
tilted her chin at him defiantly. At this point she was going to fight him on
every single issue, no matter what. It was the principle, after all.

“I will be just as happy with a daughter first time around.
And quite eager for us to try again.”

“And if the second is a daughter?”

“Then I shall love my second daughter just as much as I love
my first.”

“You forgot to add that you would be eager to try a third
time to get the son you want!” Syranna prodded Marcus angrily. She suddenly
stopped as she realized that she was talking right along with him as if her
becoming pregnant by him was a “done deal” from this time on, which was
completely and totally ridiculous, she told herself! She wasn’t imagining
having sex with him. This was all just talk—

“A third time? Well, I should imagine that we would be
slowing down a little. From what I have observed of other families, the focus
does change slightly once the first child comes along.”

“Are you saying that I shall be so misshapen by pregnancies
that you will no longer find me attractive?”

“Those are your words, milady, not mine. Somehow I should
imagine that I would continue to be interested in your body, even if pregnancy
does take a bit of a toll. After all, it is due to my child beginning life
inside you.”