Aurora Rose Lynn (5 page)

Kerrich cradled
Celestine’s head against his shoulder. Her tranquil sighs surrounded him. Occasionally, the eyelashes feathering her cheeks would flutter as if she was about to awaken but she was only dreaming.

A cold shiver spread over him as he remembered the turmoil of his past. He should never have allowed the goddess/witch to inveigle him into making love to the lovely perfection in his arms. For a reason he couldn’t fathom, his heart had become involved in a matter of a few short hours. He
was torn apart now, by his desire to stay with her, learn more about her and to slake his body’s need for hers. How would he find the strength to walk away once the light of dawn touched the darkened earth? His desperate need for freedom warred with his need to stay with Celestine.

She looked so peaceful.
Would he put her life in danger too if he stayed? Or worse yet, if she found out he was fleeing from the law, would she turn him into the sheriff? He couldn’t think like that, he reproached himself. Of course, he didn’t know much about her but he sensed she wasn’t a vindictive woman but rather kind and inquisitive. He shook his head. How had he let her charms and this devastating attraction addle his head? What if he was wrong and turned him in, misting his attempt at freedom into thin air?

He would never let that happen. Freedom was essential to the soul. It was what made a man. If he lost that, there would be no reason to live on. After two more days, the law would be on his side. He would be a free man. Then he would be able to seek revenge for his parent’s sake instead of
being forced to hide like an animal.

Celestine
shifted restlessly in his arms and her eyes fluttered before her dark blue gaze met his. “Oh,” she whispered.

He chuckled. “Surprised to see me?”

“I’ve never awakened with a man before,” she said without a shade of embarrassment. She plucked at the fine hairs on his chest. It warmed his heart to see she didn’t make any effort to cover herself. That probably meant she felt safe with him. He hadn’t realized he had such a protective urge. The battle with the anger he had suffered from since he had seen his parents killed, seemed distant, replaced with a lighthearted feeling. Perhaps life would be kind to him from now on.

“What are you thinking about?” she asked, trailing a finger along his jaw.

“How lovely you are.”

She laughed. “Where do you come from?”

“Everywhere and nowhere.”

“You can’t come from every direction,” she teased.

Some men could, but he wasn’t about to tell her that. “Where do you come from?”

A small smile tugged on her lips making him suspect she would use the same ploy he had. “From over there.”

He thought it would be useless to ask but he did so anyway. “Where is over there?”

Her eyes twinkled like blue jewels as she cocked her head to one side, in the direction of the castle, he mused idly. Her hair spilled over her shoulder in a rich display of color.

Shrill laughter broke out from underneath them. Celestine blinked and clapped a hand over her mouth. She pressed her small palms against his chest and turned to peer over the edge of the loft. Her hands clenched into fists. She gathered her hair in her hand and drew it to one side, clearing her view of whatever had frightened her below.

“Oh,” came out as a little whoosh of air but her shoulders relaxed. She glanced over her shoulder and frowned at him. Even as she did so, she pulled her dress closer to her naked thighs and covered her ass.

Concerned, he asked softly, “What happened?” What was she afraid of? He choked back the bitterness abruptly welling up inside him, the bitterness that threatened to eat away at him and choke out his very existence with its tenacious roots. Was she on the run too?

***

Celestine clutched her gown around the lower portion of her body and listened to the woman below. Was it someone who had discovered her absence from the castle? Leuric normally didn’t interfere with her comings and goings within the castle but he might have increased security in preparation for her wedding tomorrow – a wedding that wouldn’t happen if she had her say.

She listened to Kerrich’s quickened breathing behind her. The laughter had come from a couple, a tall man and a buxom female, who had entered the hayloft’s shaded privacy for the same reason Kerrich and she had. Fascinated, she watched the woman lean her back against the wall and brazenly lower her bodice and reveal her swollen breasts to the man.

“No, no, not that,” she heard the man say before he surprised Celestine by kneeling in front of the woman who had how arched her back. The man lifted the woman’s skirts and curtly ordered, “Hold them up.”

Celestine
sucked in a breath as Kerrich scooted in behind her to rest his chin on her shoulder. “Are they having fun yet?” he asked with a hint of laughter.

“What are they doing?” she asked, puzzled. Her eyes widened when the man slapped the woman’s thighs apart and bent his head between.

His voice sounded amused, as he replied, “My precious little innocent. They’re making love.”

She couldn’t take her gaze away from the man who groaned and grunted until the woman slammed her palms against the wall behind her, squeezed her eyes shut, and mewled like a newborn kitten. Was she enjoying what the man was doing?

“Your turn, Mathilde,” the man said.

The woman pulled herself together and dropped to her knees but
Celestine couldn’t see more from her vantage point. Whatever the man had done to the woman had made Celestine’s clit hard and her pussy wet. The man’s body tensed and then he threw his head back, groaning.

“That’s the fastest you ever came,” the woman laughed, slapping his butt from behind.

He refastened the cord on his breeches. “It’s the forbidden nature. It makes a man yearn for more.” He tugged playfully on Mathilde’s nipple before she brushed his hand from her breast with a little huff and tugged her bodice back up over her breasts. “Just wait until the old man finds out.”

“Why should he?”

She shrugged, dropping her skirt over her thighs. They lowered their voices and walked out, the man shaking his head and Mathilde wagging a finger at his chest.

“Beltane brings out the frisky in people,” Kerrich said, startling
Celestine out of her thoughts. His breath warmed the back of her neck. She felt flushed and heated all over as if she had sat too close to a raging fire.

“I think so,” she whispered. She glanced over her shoulder at her him and instantly enjoyed the sight of his golden hair, his strong
jaw and the keen interest in his slack-jawed expression. He was a marvel of sculpted flesh. A strange surge of affection for him washed over her, frightening her. Had she fallen in love with him? She dismissed the foolish notion. Only empty-headed girls held that belief.

“What startled you?” he asked, trailing little kisses down the back of her neck.

“I don’t know,” she lied. “Would you worry if Leuric found us like this?” she blurted out. Now that was a foolish thing to say but she couldn’t take it back.

For a moment, naked fear glittered in his gray eyes. Inexplicably, it vanished in the blink of an eye. “Why would he be looking for us?”

“I don’t know. I thought it was a custom for the guards to search Beltane feasters out to surprise them in the act of making love,” she said lamely.

His jaw tensed. “Would those guards happen to be looking for you?”

She gave a fluttery smile. “Why would you think that?” Would her stupid words smother this special thing she had with Kerrich – if that was his real name?

He shrugged. “Just the way you said his name. Most of the village people call him
Lord
Leuric.”

“I’m not sure why I said that.”

Their eyes met, his questing, hers nervous. His face hovered over hers, before he tasted and savored her lips. She found herself curling her fingers into the fine, wispy golden hairs on the back of his neck, wanting more of his kisses, wanting more of him again. She didn’t know a man could be hard and soft all at the same time.

When he drew back to take a breath, she noticed beads of perspiration trickling down his temple. The pupils in his eyes were narrow, like a cat’s at night if they strolled into candlelight. At ease with this captivating man whom she knew nothing about, she pulled the chemise over her head to free her breasts.

A hiss of forced air swirled around them. Coquettishly, enjoying her female power over him, she pressed her naked breasts against his chest. “You have such wonderful eyes.”

“Kiss me again,” he demanded hoarsely.

“Do you know when your eyes narrow, green sparks mix in with the gray?” His erection bulged against her bare thigh.

“I’ve never had time to look.”

She blew a soft breath against his ear and tongued a path around its shell. She wanted to make love to him this time – not allow him to hurry as if he had to leave on urgent business.

She couldn’t repress a giggle. “You’re teasing me.”

His features took on a grim, pained look. “No. I’ve been too busy with other things.”

She raised questioning eyes to his.

“Perhaps one day, I’ll be able to explain.”

His words had such
finality in them, Celestine sensed the chaos vibrating within him. “One day is a long time away,” she murmured, prompting him for information.

“Not now.”

His frosty glare was enough to change her mind. Her curiosity had caused her trouble a time or two although recently she had rarely had the opportunity to investigate her surroundings as she had when she had been a child.

The vulnerability of an unwanted memory engulfed her. Seeing her mother’s smiling rosy cheeks as she lifted her to smack a kiss on her small cheek. For the second time in less than a day, the darkness overshadowed the memory.
Celestine drew back, shutting her eyes tight, clamping her hands to her ears, willing the evil to go away.

“
Celestine? What’s wrong?” The voice came from a great distance as if through a six-foot stone wall.

She rocked back and forth. “It’s nothing,” she managed to croak.

He placed a gentle hand to the back of her head and pulled her to his chest. She heard his heartbeat against her ear. A heavy sigh blocked out the sound. “The darkness lives with you too, doesn’t it?”

His shaking voice forced her to drag her eyelids open and give him a questioning look. Deep pain filled his steely gray eyes.
“The darkness?”

“The memories of the bad,” he whispered.

She fisted her hands against his chest. “That’s just it. I can’t remember the bad.”

He kissed the line of her jaw. “I have the opposite problem. I remember it only too well.”

Her breath shortened. Tears gathered in her eyes. “What do you remember?” she whispered, hoping he wouldn’t draw into himself again. She couldn’t remember the shadows that haunted her but she suspected, remembering them might be equally bad.

“I’ve never told anyone before.” He hesitated and plunged on. “Six years ago and a hundred miles away, Leuric had my father killed for no other reason than that he was a noble. Leuric wanted the power and lands my father held. The only way he could get it was to kill in cold blood. He killed my helpless mother whom my father adored right in front of his eyes. I watched her die, watched the blood gush from the wound in her throat. I’ve never felt so helpless before.

“Then he ruthlessly killed my father, even as he mourned my mother’s loss. Leuric took everything.” His fists clenched into tight balls. “Since the good lady died, he’s been the lord, repressing those trying to make an honest living with an honest day’s work. He doesn’t hesitate to kill indiscriminately. He forces them to pay more and more taxes. I’m so weary of him and his ways.”

Celestine
listened, stunned by his words. What could she do to help him? What would happen if he found out she was Leuric’s stepdaughter? Hatred bred hatred. She buried her head against her shoulder, clamping her hands tightly against his broad shoulders. Words of sympathy were so useless. Coming from her, it might sound like hypocrisy, especially if he found out who she was. He had lost his family even as he watched Leuric’s cruel behavior.

Tears, for his great loss and for her own, bathed her cheeks. She had to leave before he discovered her identity. She tried to get to her feet but he pulled her back down against his chest. “Don’t leave. Stay with me.” He crooked a finger under her chin and lifted her face. Their eyes met. “Make love to me.”

She took his hand and pressed it against her cheek, rubbing it, reveling in his tender masculine presence. Her silky hand seemed fragile and small against his callused palm where she saw a long life line etched in. She turned his hand over, lifted it to her lips and sucked gently on his index finger. He didn’t have to know who she was and she would never let him find out. The thought saddened her that tonight was all she had with him.

He reached between her thighs, rubbing at the soft nub of pleasure. Tomorrow would take care of itself, including the possibility that she
would be forced to marry Lord Guermont if she couldn’t find a way out. But today, she had this handsome stranger to herself. Why not enjoy what she had?