A Warrior's Perception (16 page)

“
Nay, ye will lose interest,
”
she insisted,
“
Men are like that. They conquer and control and then move to the next battle, the next lover.
”

“
Where did ye hear such things?
”

“
From my brothers, the stable boys, my jousting partners, my trainers, my...
”

“
That is enough. Have ye ne'er been round a woman?

“
Marila and Grace,
”
she retorted,
“
They talked bout the ways of men.
”

“
Marila and Grace?
”

“
Aye, my brothers,
”
she paused as her cheeks flamed,
“
lovers.
”

“
Ye mean his whores? That would explain some of ye behavior,
”
he barked trying to ease his passions,
“
And the scotch on ye tongue explains the rest.
”

“
I am ‘na drunk,
”
she advised as she flipped her hair back from her shoulder,
“
And what of Grace, was'na she ye whore at one time, did’na ye bed her while ye were at Shinonoble?
”

Kagan frowned and tried to remember the woman he had used to ease his shaft the night he had met Andra. He could not recall her face and chose to remain silent.

“
It does ‘na matters, na woman taught me how to do this,
”
she teased as she rubbed her nipples up his chest and licked his chin,
“
or this,
”
she whispered as she bit his lip and sucked.

“
Nor did a woman teach me how to do this,
”
she stated as she melted her lips to his and slid her tongue into his mouth.

He growled and sucked on her scotch laced sweet tongue. She pulled away and slid down to his waist. She was finding it hard to concentrate on her task as she shivered in delight.

“
Marila did ‘na teach me such things. Calin...
”
she gulped at Kagan's sudden rage,
“
did.
”

Kagan glared at her,
“
That puny pup of a man!
”

“
He was a wonderful teacher. He taught me how to kiss when I was fifteen,
”
she grinned as he frowned. The carefree drunken state she was in edged her farther.

“
When we met in the stables, had ye already mastered ye technique?
”
he gritted out.

“
Ye remember when we met?
”
She smiled,
“
I assumed ye were'na wholly impressed with what ye found.
”

Kagan growled,
“
Get off me woman or I'll show ye how impressed I was!
”

Andra did not move and laughed when he rolled her over off of his lap. He stood and stomped to the door,
“
Ye were mine from that night on. I will ha'e ye in my bed and ye will be beggin' for my touch.

Andra leaned down upon
her
elbows and sat her chin into her palms. She smiled as she slurred,
“
I am'na the one lea'ing in a fit of passion.
”

Kagan gritted his teeth and grabbed the door handle,
“
Would ye rather me take ye without ye permission? In my fit of passion?
”

“
Would take a better man than ye without dyin',
”
she laughed.

Kagan swung the door open and it bounced off of the wall inside her room,
“
Sooner or later, ye will come crawlin’ to me.
”
All women did.

“
Ye can wish all ye want McKregan, I'll na fall at ye feet,
”
Andra replied with a broad grin across her face, exposing the dimples in her cheeks. She was enjoying his dismay and stretched across the bed like a playful kitten.

He watched her body twist, knowing full well she was teasing him with every ounce of pleasure in her body and he was enjoying every second of it. She smiled as she slid her hands down her sides and licked her lips. Her mind was becoming rather sluggish as she held her hand out to him and pointed her finger. The scotch eased around her heart and flared her desires into full bloom.

Kagan stepped to her and tried not to grin at her drunkenness,
“
Perhaps, I should lock ye in this room. I can'na ha'e ye tryin' to seduce me or my men with ye wanton body.
”

Andra's giggle of delight sent tiny goose bumps up his arms and his nipples became erect along with his pulsing shaft. Her words had a different effect and his chest tightened against his lungs,
“
Tryin' to? How many of 'em do ye think will fall for my charms? Two, six, ten? Think they will like to ha'e a romp with this body?
”

“
Ye would fare well to keep away from 'em all. Make na mistake, that body belongs to me,
”
Kagan replied as he caught her hand in his.

“
I donna belong to ye McKregan and I will let whoe'er I wish to touch my body whether ye like it or na.
”
She prayed the room would stop spinning and her face etched with sickness. Her stomach burned and rose up her throat as her lips became numb.

“
Do ye forget? Ye will soon be a McKregan and na
man
has the guts to cross me,
”
he growled as she rolled over onto her side groaning.

“
Shhhh. Stop ye growlin',
”
she closed her eyes,
“
the room is spinnin' and my head...
”

“
Yer drunk and I am tempted to take advantage of it,
”
he whispered as she clutched his hand harder in her misery.

“
Would take a better...
”
Her words were unintelligible and slurred against her groans.

“
There is none better than me,
”
he whispered to her ear as he leaned closer.

Andra's senses came back and she jerked her hand away from his. She urged her voice to be clear and firm,
“
Ha'e ye lain with so many, ye now claim to be...an expert. I would as soon let a frog touch me this night as ye.
”

Kagan stood and gripped the bed post until his knuckles turned white, not out of anger, but out of white hot desire. Ell'andra Duncan was driving him out of his mind and pushing his body to the brink of utter madness. He quickly gathered what restraint he had left and stalked to the door.

“
Then his death would be on ye head,
”
he whispered as he closed the door to her soft snore.

Kagan returned to his bed hours later to find Andra curled up asleep with a soft smile on her lips. Her beauty was devastating and his arousal returned as he slid the sheet up around her shoulders, slid into the bed, and curled his arm around her body. In her sleep, she nestled closer to his warmth but did not stir. He held his breath as his body melted to hers. It felt natural, right that she be in his arms. He held her until the morning sun gently rolled into the room.

He pulled free from her body and stood, his body ached and his eyes sagged with his lack of sleep. What was he going to do with her? How could he not break his oath if she tortured him every night? He needed to get as far from her as possible for a little while and decided to visit the eastern villages for a few days. He smiled as he left the room, he would give the guard explicit orders to watch her. The gypsies in the villages would have potions to control his hunger and he planned on bringing crates of them home.

Andra stared blankly at the two guards who stood a few feet from her position at the stone bench. They had followed her all morn and she was in no shape to argue. Her head pounded and her stomach burned. She had been unable to eat and slowly was trying to choke a mug of ale down. It was bitter and burned her raw throat.

Shrinking back into the shade, Andra closed her heavy eyes, if Dagma was kind, he'd let her die in her sleep. She slumped forward and rested her forehead on the cool stone table, her hair spilling over her shoulders and dragging the ground. She had not bound it or braided the mess of curls; she had barely been able to brush it. Her body ached and she silently swore that if she survived, she would never drink so much scotch again.

As Andra drifted off to sleep at the bench, Kagan was riding hard and fast toward the gypsy villages with ten of his warriors. He would first stop to see an old friend, Haggart the Horrid. He was something of a medicine man, a bit senile and always stank of engorged spice and rum. There was naught that the man did not have a cure for and the man always had something to say about any subject that was mentioned in his presence.

He grinned as he remembered sitting at the old man's feet as a boy. The old goat could tell a story like no other and make men believe they could fly through the air like birds and swim seas like the nautical beasts of legend.

It was rare that the gypsies allowed a foreigner, such as Haggart was, to live and breathe among them. It was never a question; they had accepted him as one of their own the same day he had arrived. Kagan's father, Laird Kain, had placed a large portion of trust in the man, whom he had insisted Kagan call uncle and treat as such.

The sun had sunk below the horizon when Kagan arrived at the first house before reaching the village of Geldamar. Demon trotted along the dirt path to Haggart's stone block house. The wrinkled old man leaned on his gnarled cane as Kagan leapt from Demon's back. Kagan waved a hand toward his men and they trotted past him towards the village over the hill.

“
How be me horse?
”
he lisped in foreign accent,
“
He carried the gal with plenty curves yet?
”

Kagan frowned; the man had a third vision that often perplexed him. He flung the quilt off of Demon's back and hung it on the stone wall beside of Haggart, who was grinning rather archaically.