Marek (The Knights of Stonebridge Book 1) (14 page)

Kitty expelled a slow breath. She understood. The more she tried
not
to think of him, the more she did. She tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. “I guess there is some sorcery at work, but I don’t control it.”

She thought for a moment about the man in the village. “Who is Arduinna?”

Marek gave her a startled look. He shushed her, then glanced around. With a lowered voice, spoken in a sexy whisper that sent shivers up her spine, he said, “Have you fallen back into the old ways?”

Old ways?
What was he talking about? She scrubbed a hand across the back of her neck, then reached into the pocket sewn within the folds of her skirt. “I found my medallion” She held it out to him in her open palm.

Marek stepped closer, but not too close. Keeping his distance, he leaned over slightly for a better look. “I have seen Katherine wearing it of late. Where did you find it?”

“In the graveyard. You recognize it? It used to be broken in half, but now it’s whole. Do you know where it came from?”

He shook his head. “I thought a bauble.” He regarded the medallion as if it was a two-headed snake. “This is responsible for...what has happened to you? To Katherine?” He took a small step back. “A talisman from the devil?”

Kitty shrugged and studied the medallion. Now that it was whole, she could easily make out the image of a beautiful woman, long wavy hair, sheer flowing gown. She was accompanied by an enormous boar, nearly as tall at the shoulder as a man. “There was a man in the village who also traveled from the future. He did it deliberately. I found him when Thane and I went looking for you yesterday.” She didn’t tell him his wife had most likely slept with him. “He was injured in the attack. I went back today to see if I could get anymore information out of him but he was already dead.”

She stuffed the medallion back into the folds of her skirt. “I brought the man’s wife and son here to live. The boy, Gadrin, he’s young but he can work. Can you find him a job or something?”

Marek nodded but refused to change the subject. “This -” he waved vaguely in the general direction of the pocket she had hidden it in “ – is needed what you need to make the journey?”

“Apparently you also need all four elements. Water, earth, fire and air. But I think this,” she patted the medallion through the folds of her skirt, “controls when you end up. “I have to find this Arduinna.”

“A druid.”

“What?”

“You need a druid. Or an alchemist. Such a person would know of these elements and how the ancient Goddess of Justice can help.”

Kitty was excited by this news. “Where can I find one? Is there one in the village?”

Marek shook his head. “They are Satan’s own priests.” He thought for a moment. “Father Jacob may know of such a man. Likely he has had more than one imprisoned.”

Kitty scrunched up her nose. “I’d sooner ask Satan himself.”

They remained silent for awhile, each lost in thought. Then, with reservation, Marek asked a question to which he seemed loathe to hear the answer.

“It is true, then?”

They stared at each other. Kitty stepped closer, took both his hands in hers. “I am not of the devil.”

She could see he believed her, but knew he did not want to.

Marek raised her hands to his lips. “I believe you, only because you could not possibly be the woman I married. Despite her beauty, I never desired her. Never. Yet, my every waking moment is filled with thoughts of swiving
you
.” He pulled her arms around his waist, held her there, her body pressed against his. “Not just in the animal way, but slowly, so that it takes a very,” he lowered his head, “very long time.”

Kitty held her face up to him as his lips came down on hers. Gently this time. He seemed afraid of making the same mistake he’d made the day before,
whatever that was
, she reminded herself.

Kitty smiled against his lips.

He pulled away to look down at her. “You find humor in my kissing?”

She smiled up at him, shook her head. “I find ecstasy in your kissing, my lord.”

His expression grew serious. She kept her arms about his waist when he released her. With both hands, he brushed back her hair. He held her face between them, looked into her eyes as if trying to see inside her soul.

“You must not –” He stopped, gathered his thoughts. “Please, do not go traipsing outside the safety of the castle alone. I fear for your safety.”

Touched by his concern, not just his need to control, Kitty patted him condescendingly on the back. “Don’t worry. I can take care of myself.”

He made a sound that let her know exactly what he thought of that idea.

She stepped back, cocked her head at him. “You don’t believe me?”

“Are you good with a sword?” He appraised her from head to toe and back again. “Do you conceal a weapon I cannot detect?”

“Maybe.”

“Well then, let us have a look.”

“All right. Follow me.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Kitty led Marek outside and through the covered gallery between the keep and the wall that separated them from the cliffs that fell off sharply to the river. He said nothing, but followed her obediently.

When they were on the other side of the keep, away from the curious eyes of the men in the lower bailey, she stopped, turned to face him.

He waited, obviously intrigued by whatever she intended to show him.

Kitty let him fidget for a moment longer. The anticipation she saw in his eyes gave her a sense of control she’d not experienced before. Even when sparring with her instructor, she had always followed his lead.

“You have to attack me,” she said at last.

“Attack you?”

“Isn’t that what you fear? That some ruffian will attack me?”

“I cannot.”

“Are you –
chicken
?”

“Lady.” He held his arms out and turned slowly for her perusal. “I am no scrawny chicken.” He completed his turn and let his arms fall to his sides.

He was indeed far from scrawny. Kitty’s hands itched. To have all that man flesh at her disposal would be the ultimate fantasy. And it wasn’t just a physical attraction. He had seeped into her soul and commanded her attention from every angle. Physically, God yes. But also mentally and – she dared admit it – emotionally. “That’s not what I meant,” she said, keeping her cool. “Are you scared?” She cocked one eyebrow at him, a challenge that belied the quaking of her insides.

Marek chuckled. “Indeed not.”

“Then attack me.”

He smiled and shook his head, as he might had Bria asked him to taste a cookie she’d made from mud. He reached out, feebly grasped her arm.

Kitty easily brought her forearm up to block him. “Is that the best you’ve got?” She feigned disappointment.

He made to grab her again, with a little more force. Again she blocked him.

“Tsk, tsk. I would have expected more from a big, burly knight such as you.”

This time, he used considerably more strength. As he came at her, Kitty grasped his arm with both hands, hooked her leg around the back of his knee, and pulled that leg right out from under him. He landed with a heavy thud.

Kitty stepped around him, cocked her head for a better look at the shocked expression on his face. “Okay?” She smirked down at him and held out one hand.

Marek ignored her outstretched hand and got up on his own. He said nothing, merely scowled at her.

She faced him, both hands on her hips. “I could teach Bria to deflect such a feeble strike as that,” she said.

This time when he came at her, his intent clear, he managed to get both hands on her. Kitty grappled with him for mere seconds before breaking his grip and aiming a quick snap kick at his groin.

Just before she reached her target, Marek protected himself with a slight turn to the side and a raised thigh. “
M’en fous
, woman! I have need of those,” he shouted at her.

“Humph. For what?” She shocked herself with the question. Such comments only invited trouble.

“You question my manhood?” He gave her no time to answer.

They continued sparring until both were sweaty and panting from their struggle. Marek’s attempts to cause Kitty harm were no longer feeble. He came at her in earnest now. She continued to fend him off, no matter his maneuver. He had no weapon, but she made it clear that it would have made little difference.

Then – disaster.

Marek had disrobed one layer at a time as they fought, until now he stood before her, torso naked. His crucifix gleamed in the setting sun of the late afternoon. Sweat ran in rivulets down his chest to his – Kitty licked her lips and inhaled a deep breath. Marek’s shoulders, pulled back with the stiffness of his spine, rose and fell with his labored breathing. The muscles of his back stretched out behind him making his waist look small by comparison, though Kitty doubted anything about this man could be considered small.

The bulge at his groin confirmed it.

Marek stilled as Kitty continued to stare with hunger at that bulge.

She let her eyes roam slowly over him. She found it difficult to draw breath, whether from exertion or pure lust, she did not know. He was beautiful, the most beautiful man she had ever seen. Every inch of him was solid muscle. His arms were so big, she doubted she could have put both hands around one of his biceps.

When she looked at his face, she found him staring at her as if afraid to move. Victim became assailant, and when Kitty attacked
him
, Marek made no move to defend himself.

Instead of blocking her attack, he grabbed her. He held her against him when Kitty wrapped her arms around his bare shoulders and locked her lips onto his. Fire sizzled between them, fusing them together in a blaze of desire. This was not the same gentle kiss they’d shared moments ago in the darkness of the stable.

Lust must have been dwelling within her her entire life and only now erupted from this very kiss. Sex had always seemed pleasant. But no amount of foreplay had ever aroused her to these heights, certainly neither had any other person.

Marek returned her kiss with equal passion. He gripped her smock at the small of her back, crumpling the material in his fists. With his tongue, he teased her lips apart.

Kitty opened herself to him. God, but he tasted good.

“I have wanted you since the moment I pulled you out of the fire.” His rich accent washed over her, his voice thick with desire. He tugged at her skirt, pulling it up until he got his hands on her bare ass.

Kitty decided then and there that she’d never wear underwear again. She clenched her cheeks against his palms, pressing her hips against the hard cock before her.

He lifted her against him, enabling him to get one hand all the way around and between her thighs. She moaned against him when he pressed his fingers inside her from behind. Her wetness allowed him to slip in and out.

Kitty pulled her bodice down, desperate to feel her naked skin against him. Cool night air teased her nipples, already hardened to stiff peaks. She brushed the sensitive nubs against his chest, gasping at the intensity of the pleasure coursing through her.

He had pulled her skirt all the way up around her waist and continued to hold her by the ass with one hand. Guiding his free hand to the front, she pressed it to the ache between her thighs, ground herself against his fingers.

Marek wrenched his lips from her. He trailed his tongue along her jaw, nudging her head back, and tasted the tender skin of her throat, all the while massaging the pulsing nub at her core. He caught her ear lobe between his teeth, suckled there before whispering hoarsely to her.

“Come for me.”

Kitty panted softly, gasping for air. She grasped his neck as if he was a lifeline and she a drowning woman. She
was
going to come, and for the first time in her life, not from her own doing.

Somehow Marek was able to pleasure her from behind with one hand, stroke her clit with the other and get his sweet lips around one nipple. He swirled his tongue around the hard nub alternately sucking more of her into his warm mouth.

Kitty’s fuse burned shorter until she recognized the explosion about to occur throughout her entire body. She gripped him still harder.

“Don’t let me go.”

“Never,” he mumbled against her.

Her orgasm tore through her. She squeezed her eyes, her whole body constricting in convulsions more powerful than she would have ever thought possible. Marek pumped his fingers into her, her muscles squeezing him spasmodically. She continued to writhe against him, his lips all over her, wherever he could reach.

She expected the familiar descent of her desire to come quickly, but instead her every nerve poised for more. “I want to feel you inside me. Right now.”

Marek needed no further encouragement. He lowered her to the ground, each of them clinging to the other. He slipped his fingers, still slick with her wetness, into his own mouth, sucking her juices from them, his eyes never leaving hers.

“You taste like honey.” He grinned at her. “I shall be eating you for breakfast.”

Excitement raised the downy hairs along her neck. She smiled back at him, fumbling between them to unlace the strings at his crotch. She knotted the cord in her haste. After a moment’s frustrated struggle, he sprang free.

Yes, the absence of underwear was a wonderful thing.

Marek knelt between her thighs as he opened the vent of his chausses. Lifting her knees, he pulled her legs around his waist.

As he bent over her, his cock rubbed against that most sensitive spot. Marek groaned at the contact. Kitty shuddered. He kissed her deeply, plunging his tongue into her mouth, fitting his luscious lips over hers and rendering her nearly incoherent with need. She clasped her arms around him as he plundered her mouth, holding on to him and kissing him back with equal gusto.

She moaned in disappointment when he dragged his mouth away. She missed the feel of his lips. She forced herself to block out the withering reminder that she would miss them more than air when she returned to her own time. She would not think about it. Just enjoy
this
.

She reached down, taking him in her hand, and guided him into her.

Marek rested his elbows on the ground on either side of her face. “You are beautiful.” He stared down at her as he pressed the head of his cock into her, waiting, teasing. “Do you want me, Kitty?”

“Yes!” She worked her hips, trying to take more of him in, but he merely slipped his engorged head in and out of her opening. “Please,” she begged.

“Tell me you want me. Me and no other.”

“I have never wanted another.” She tangled her hands in his long dark waves, pulled his face closer. “I never will.”

Marek crushed his lips against hers as he slid into her. He held nothing back, now. But continued to pound into her with passion that threatened to overwhelm her.

Kitty met his thrusts, her orgasm building once again. When she came for the second time, Marek fairly roared with his own release.

He thrust into her, but did not withdraw. She could feel him emptying inside her, felt the pulse of him as he came. He pushed up onto his hands, elbows locked, and dropped his head between his shoulders. His luxurious mane enveloped her like a net.

After a few pulsating moments, Marek pushed back to his knees, then pulled Kitty up to meet him. He kissed her, long and deep. She felt tears sting the back of her eyes. How was she to ever leave this man? Her lust was spent, yet still she wanted him touching her, holding her. Her heart fairly ached with emotion, emotions that had nothing to do with the best sex she’d ever known.

He pulled away from her and stood, lifting her up as he did. Neither of them spoke as they dressed, both lost in their own thoughts. Every few seconds he would stop and kiss her. The top of her head, the back of her neck, her bare shoulder, the tender spot behind her ear.

“Ye cannot be the woman I married.”

“I told you.”

“Aye, yet to believe your tale, I would have to believe in sorcery, mayhap pagan gods. We would both be burned at the stake.”

“If you think of a better explanation, let me know.”

They walked back to the keep hand in hand. The falling darkness hid them from those who would be shocked to find the lord and his lady carrying on so.

***

The tantalizing aroma of roasted meat assailed Kitty when they entered the hall. She’d had nothing to eat since that morning. No longer an infirmary, the floors had been strewn with fresh rushes and the hall reset with tables, tables that were now piled high with food and pitchers of wine.

“Ah, a celebration.”

“What are we celebrating?” Kitty asked.

Marek leaned over to nuzzle her ear, keeping one arm about her waist to hold her close. “Need you ask?”

She smirked. “No one knows about that.” She whipped her head around towards the windows behind her that overlooked the river. “Do they?” She would be mortified if anyone had seen them.

Marek laughed. “Adin and Vale have returned from escorting Mother to my uncle’s manor. By happy coincidence, this is the day of their birth. ‘Twill be good to test the skills of our new cook.”

They worked through the crowded tables to the dais, Marek stopping along the way to speak to one person or another. They greeted Marek, but few people acknowledged her. Some shot her looks of disdain, but most simply ignored her. When they reached the raised platform, Marek helped Kitty up the step. She took the empty seat next to the lord’s.

Kitty didn’t care that no one spoke to her. It felt good to sit at the high table, Marek’s presence giving her courage to face those who would shun her. She slipped one hand across his thigh beneath the table. He reached under, covered her hand with his own, then called for ale.

“There you are, my lord.

Kitty glanced over her shoulder. There stood that slut from the tavern, one arm already draped across Marek’s shoulders while she poured ale into his goblet.