Rise of the Defender (125 page)

     Inside, he set her down roughly and she
stumbled away from him, her pretty face flushed. Without a word, she tried to
push past him and escape the room, but he grabbed her arm and flung her onto
the bed. His huge body fell atop her, pinning her to the mattress.

     “Get off me!” she yelled.

     His voice was low. “You are my wife now and
I may do anything I please. 'Tis time you accept that.”

     She glared at him, knowing his words to be
true. “God forgive me for what I was thinking when I consented to marry you. I
must have been mad!”

     He was stung but he did not show it.
Patience
,
he kept telling himself. Be patient and she will come around.

     “I love you, Lady Burton,” he said quietly.
“I have always loved you, and nothing you can say or do will change that. Is it
so hard to accept my love?”

     She turned her face away, still struggling
against him. “I married you, Marcus, what more do you want?”

     “I want you, your heart, your mind, as well
as your body,” he said steadily. “Jesus, Dustin, why do you treat me as if I am
a leper? You act as if I am a twisted, disfigured troll instead of the man I
am. Do I truly repel you?”

     She stopped her fighting, looking at him
then. “Is that what you think? That you repel me?”

     “What am I to think?” he returned softly.

     She shook her head slowly. “Marcus, of course
you do not repel me. You are the most handsome man I have ever seen.”

     “Besides Chris,” he added.

     She nodded. “Aye, besides my hus…Chris.”
Her face went soft, her struggles ceased for the moment and he relaxed atop
her. “I remember the first time I saw you. You are so striking that I had very
unladylike thoughts about you, and I was embarrassed because I had only been
married a week. I was guilty for thinking someone gorgeous other than my
husband.”

     “Is that right?” he smiled faintly. “I
remember the first time I saw you, too. Once I got past all of this hair, I
realized you were absolutely beautiful. And I wanted you. Even after I learned
you were Chris' wife, I still wanted you.”

     “I know,” she said. “You kissed me.”

     “I did,” he agreed evenly. “Admit it to me
now, Dustin. You liked it. Before the shock set in and you pulled away, you
liked it.”

     She gazed back into the dark blue depths
and offered a little grin. “Perhaps,” she said ambiguously. “But you scared me
because you made me feel vulnerable.”

     “Why?” he wanted to know.

     “Because you were willing and I found you
attractive,” she said honestly. “But the more I grew to love Chris, the easier
it was to ignore you. I remember thinking that if you had showed up at
Lioncross first, you would have been the love of my life.”

     His smile faded. “Had I but known, honey, I
would have been the first man to come for you, believe me.”

     Her hand came up, timidly, and she ran her
fingers slowly through his wavy black hair. Lord, he was a handsome devil.

     “Why am I so blessed that the two most
important warriors in the kingdom both found love with me?” she whispered in
awe. “What did I ever do right in the eyes of God to warrant such a reward?”

     He shook his head, dipping his head to kiss
her softly on the neck. “Do you know that I have never loved anyone, or
anything, in my life? Especially not a woman.”

     “What about your family? Mother?” she
asked, closing her eyes at his soft, warm lips.

     He was working his way up her neck. “I left
to foster when I was six years old, so I have little attachment to my mother,”
he said, his mouth against her skin. “Other than Richard, and my fellow
knights, I have loved no one. Mayhap that is why I lose control around you so
easily.”

     She melted into his touch, his caresses,
and soon their clothes were off and their bodies were melding erotically.
Dustin pushed him over on his back, dragging her mouth all over his broad
chest, closing her eyes and trying hard not to imagine him to be Christopher.
She straddled him, her buttocks nearly resting on his neck, and fondled his
arousal endlessly before plunging her hot mouth onto him. She could feel him
kneading her bum and nipping at her skin.

     He had all he could take of her mouth and
pulled her underneath him, turning his attentions to her plump breasts and slim
torso. She writhed beneath him as his big hands moved about her, telling her
wordlessly how glad he was that she was finally his wife.

     Dustin had realized something about Marcus'
lovemaking early on; he liked a bit of roughness, and he liked to put her in
strange positions. Not that she minded, for it excited her as well. He put her
knees up and plunged his face into her intimate place, his tongue caressing and
lapping and stroking long and hard until she was nearly screaming with need.
When she was dripping wet, he put her legs together and Dustin looked at him
with great disappointment.

     “What's wrong?” she panted.

     He grinned wolfishly. “Nothing.”

     Legs pressed together, he pushed them up so
her knees were in her face, exposing the most private part of her to the
celling. She could not see his face because her legs were in the way as she was
nearly folded in half, but when she opened her mouth to question him further,
she felt his huge member pressing against her and he slid easily in his full,
hard length. Gripping her knees to keep her legs aloft, he pumped into her with
sensual force and Dustin quickly realized she liked this a great deal.

     He thrust and thrust, his grunts of
pleasure matching hers. She felt herself building quickly, wanting the
explosion that came with the relief, but he suddenly stopped and parted her
legs, pushing his body down onto her as she wound her thighs around him.

     “Is this the only way Chris made love to
you?” he asked breathlessly.

     Her eyes were glazed with desire, nearly
incoherent. “What do you mean? Did he make love to me atop, as you are? Nay,
sometimes I made love to him, riding him like….”

     “Nay, that's not what I meant,” he
whispered, running his hand along the crack of her buttocks and coming to rest
on her anus. “Did he ever make love to you here?”

     “No,” Dustin shook her head, curious but
apprehensive at the same time.

     He smiled, kissing her chin, her neck.
“Then you are a virgin.”

     “I am no virgin, Marcus,” she snorted. “I
have birthed a child. I have been married before, and....”

     He snickered. “You are a virgin, here.” His
finger wiggled into her anus ever so slightly and she squirmed, feeling
uncomfortable but liking it just the same.

     “Do you... do you want to make love to me
there?” she asked a bit fearfully.

     “Nay, honey, not if it makes you uneasy,”
he pulled out the hard length of himself and drove into her again as if to
emphasize his point. “I am perfectly happy where I am.”

     He thrust into her a couple of times,
trying to regain his rhythm, but she stopped him. “If you want to….isn't it
right that a bride should be virgin for her husband?”

     He smiled. “What are you saying? That
Christopher took your first virginity, so you are offering me your second?”

     She giggled. “Will it hurt?”

     “Did it hurt to lose it the first time?” he
asked.

     She shrugged. “Not really. Will I like it?”

     “Oh, I think so,” he whispered, thrusting
into her again. Dustin turned herself over to him, trusting him with whatever
he wished to do. He continued to make love to her as he was, drawing out his
thrusts and making her so slick and wet she was sprawled beneath him like a
wanton, begging him for more. When he was sure her anus was drenched with the
moisture from her vagina, he withdrew and slowly inched into the puckered hole.

     Dustin's eyes opened wide as he slowly
drove into her, but she did not utter a sound. In fact, she was so aroused that
she felt her climax started before he was even fully imbedded in her and he
drove into her three times before spilling his seed. Gasping and calling his
name softly, she wound her arms around his neck and he withdrew from her anus,
driving once again into her vagina and feeling the last of their combined
convulsions.

     Seated to the hilt as his arousal
diminished, he was sure nothing on this earth was greater. He had found his
happiness, his contentment, in everything.

     Dustin lay in his arms, her legs wrapped
around him, feeling very naughty but liking it just the same. How was it that
this man made her feel so wicked? She may not have loved him, but he made her
feel daring and womanly. She fully intended to tell him her feelings, but
somehow sleep claimed her before she could speak the words.

     Days passed and spring descended fully on
Somerhill. Marcus spent nearly all of his time with Dustin and Christin, taking
them into the small town, or down to the river, or off into the countryside for
a ride. He was convinced that if he bombarded Dustin with his presence, that
she would put Christopher behind her more quickly and begin to focus on him. He
was positive that they could have a happy life together if she would only give
him a chance.

     Try as she might not to, Dustin seemed to
linger on Christopher constantly, especially when she saw Marcus with Christin.
He was so loving and good with the babe that it made her heart ache to think
what Christopher was missing. Yet she also began to see that he truly loved the
both of them, selflessly, and she was moved. It was growing increasingly more
difficult to fight off her growing feelings for Marcus. He was a kind man, a
good husband, a wise father, and an exciting lover and she knew she would be
happy with him if she would only let herself. But she could not seem to let her
wall down completely, not even for him.

     News arrived from Lioncross in late April
announcing the birth of Michael Christopher Myles Olmquist. Mother and son were
doing very well and Dustin was thrilled that Deborah bore a son. She mentioned
returning to Lioncross for the christening, but Marcus was vague and changed
the subject. Dejected and somber, Dustin realized he would probably never let
her return home. Edward had been right. Somerhill was now her world, and
Lioncross was a memory. Marcus knew how she felt, but he could not risk taking
her to Lioncross only to have her never want to leave.

     One bright day, Marcus took his wife and
daughter into the land ablaze with spring flowers and set out lunch while
Christin scrambled through the sweet grass. Dustin sat on the ground and
watched her daughter play, taking leaves out of her little mouth as Marcus
approached and offered her a bit of cheese.

     “Spring time is glorious this far north,”
he commented, sitting down beside her and lounging back. “There is far more
color than in the south.”

     “Oh, I do not know,” Dustin replied, taking
a bite of cheese.

     “Lioncross is fairly colorful this time of
year.”

     “Aye, but you are closer to the Welsh
border,” he said. “London is so filthy and drab that the flowers refuse to
grow.

     She smiled. “How close are we to Scotland?”

     “Two day’s ride,” he said. “We have
actually had a few marauders since I have been here, but they have kept to the
woods.”

     Christin scooted past and Dustin reached
out to tickle her tummy. Marcus smiled at the baby, catching the reflection of
Dustin's diamond ring in the sunlight and feeling his mood dampen. He reached
out and took her hand, studying the ring.

     “If I bought you a diamond ring, would you
wear it?” he asked.

     She pulled her hand away, guiltily trying
to hide it. She wasn't sure how to answer him. “I do not like diamonds, really.
I only wore the ring because Christopher made me.”

     “Then take it off,” Marcus said shortly,
immediately cursing himself for sounding so blunt. “I mean, he's no longer
around to force you to wear it. And you are married to me now, and I should
like to see you wear my ring.”

     Her light mood was ruined. Her wedding
rings were a sore point and they both knew it. “I do wear your ring, Marcus.”

     “On your right hand.” He sat up swiftly.
“When are you going to stop holding onto Christopher? He is dead, Dustin. I
have courted you for weeks and weeks now, praying that you would come to your
senses, but you continue to live for a life gone by. You would do well to
realize that.”

     So much for patience. Dustin hung her head,
tears welling. “I do realize that. Why do you think I came north, with you?”

     He stood up, agitated. “I do not know I
truly do not know. You tell me - why
did
you come?”

     She looked up at him, her eyes wide with
outrage. “Because you all but got down on your knees and begged me to come,”
she reminded him. “You nearly killed David when he tried to stop you and
threatened Edward at every turn. What choice did I have?”