Samuel (Samuel's Pride Series) (8 page)

“I went to an all-girls school. And
while some of them…played with each other, I never did. I was there to get an
education, not experiment.” Samuel laughed, and she jerked her shirt together. “I
think I’d like to sleep in another room.”

“You can do that if you want, but it won’t
matter much. Wherever you are, I’m going to be. But this bed is the biggest in
the house, and I plan on using every inch of it with you.” Her shirt was torn
from her body this time. He reached for her pants; she nearly begged him to
stop when they too were in pieces on the floor. Kennedy stood before him in her
bra and panties, and he was looking at her like she was a meal instead of a
person.

“You’re looking at me like you want to
eat me.” She flushed when she realized what she’d said. “That’s not what I
meant.”

Samuel dropped to his knees in front of
her and pulled her forward. As much as she wanted to protest, she wanted to see
what he was going to do. When he nuzzled his mouth over her mound, she tried to
pull back.

“I am going to eat you. And drink from
you.” He looked up at her as he curled his fingers into her panties at her
hips. “You’re going to come for me, aren’t you?”

“No, I don’t think—” He tore them off
her, and she tried to cover herself. But he moved her hands out of the way and opened
her thighs. She let him position her the way he wanted. Her mind had shut down,
and nothing on her body was listening to her anyway. As soon as he pulled her
nether lips open, she felt her juices begin to trickle down her legs. Her hope
was that he’d not seen it, but she knew that when he licked her that he had.

“Please, you must stop.” For an answer,
he suckled her clit into his mouth, and she nearly cried out. The more he ate
at her the more she needed from him. And when he bit her clit again, she came
hard and cried out his name.

“Again. Come again for me. I love the
taste of you.” She didn’t think she could have stopped from coming if someone
had a gun to her head. Over and over he brought her to release until she wasn’t
sure she could stand. But when he lifted his head from her, his mouth wet from
her, she felt her body react with need, wondering how that was even possible.

Samuel stood up and kissed her. He ate
at her mouth as vigorously as he had her body. And for some reason that made
her needy all the more. When he pulled back from her, she whimpered and reached
for him, but stopped when he started to unsnap his pants.

“You’re a virgin, and as much as I hate
the thought of hurting you, I’m afraid it will the first time.” She glanced at
the bed then at him as he leaned over to pull his jeans off. When he stood up,
she took a step back. He was so large. “You’ll have to trust me, I will fit.”

“No, I don’t think you will.” Kennedy
wanted to touch him to see if he felt like he looked. When he took her hand and
wrapped it around him, she moaned. Rocking into her hand, she felt the skin
heat beneath her touch and the soft flesh was wonderfully different than the
hard steel of him.

“I want to be inside of you when I come.”
Nodding, she realized that she didn’t care right now. The ache of wanting him
made her weak in the knees. “Christ, you’re beautiful.”

“Nay, I’m not. But you’re kind to say
so.” She watched as a pearly white drop appeared on the tip of his cock. She
wanted to lean down and taste it and nearly did so when he jerked her head up
and pulled her to him.

“I’m sorry, love, but I can’t wait any
longer.” He lifted her up, and her feet went around him and locked at her ankles.
As he took them to the bed, he lifted her high enough that her breast was at
his mouth, and he bit her. Kennedy cried out and wrapped her hands into his
hair, thinking to pull him away when he sucked hard on her, and she came apart
again. When her back touched the bed, he wasted no time in moving her to the
center still surrounding him. His cock at her entrance made her still.

“If you tense up, it’s going to hurt
more.” Kennedy looked him in the eyes as he held her. “I need for you to bite
me when we come. We’ll be mated when you do. I’ll bite you as well.”

He slammed forward, the pain taking her
breath away. Samuel didn’t move for several seconds, and she felt the tears
roll down her face. He told her over and over he was sorry, but she knew that
this was a necessity, like all things that were going to happen from now on.
When he began to move, slowly at first, she moaned. Her body was moving up to
another climax, and when he licked her throat, she felt it crash over her.

She didn’t bite him. Kennedy had started
to twice but couldn’t do it. Mates were for lovers and people who loved each
other. She was a way to a means for him, and becoming his mate or not was going
to be her decision. Even if it killed her.

Samuel roared against her shoulder. His
teeth torn into her flesh deeply, but it didn’t hurt like she’d thought it
would. Something moved over her when he came inside her, triggering her own
release again. She might be his wife now, but she wasn’t going to be his mate. When
he dropped over her, his weight felt good, but he rolled over and took her with
him.

“Next time,” he said to her softly. “Next
time you’ll bite me, and we’ll be truly one.”

Kennedy didn’t want to be one with him. She
wanted to be herself. When she felt his even breathing beneath her cheek, and
his heart returned to a normal beat, she pulled away from him to find another
bed. But she got no farther than an inch away when he pulled her back. He held
her to him all night, and finally, exhaustion took her under.

Chapter 8

Samuel woke and reached for her again.
Kennedy had been so responsive all night that he found that right now he wanted
to hold her to him. Then maybe they could shower together. But all he got was
cold sheets and a pillow that smelled of her. He sat up in bed and looked
around.

The room was set to rights. Her clothes
were gone from the floor where he’d torn them from her, and his own pants were lying
over the chair near the fireplace. He didn’t know where her things were, but he
was pretty sure if she’d left this room, it was either wearing his things or
she was naked. Either way, he wanted to find her.

Reaching out beyond the room to the rest
of the house, he didn’t find her there either. He was beginning to get worried
when he asked his mom where Kennedy was.

She went to get her things and to go to
work. I didn’t know she had two jobs when I hired her, did you?
He started to
tell her that she dinna have any job but to be his wife when he thought of what
Butler said.
She said she’d be back in time to make supper. Are you keeping
her on as cook until you find someone?

I’m not sure what we’re doing.
And he didn’t
either
. She likes to cook, and it might make her feel happy if she can. Not
full-time, but for now.

His mom agreed with him.
She made us
breakfast before she left. If you hurry, you can join us. The rolls are about
to come out of the oven now.

Samuel reached for Kennedy again and
felt the block she’d put up. If she’d bitten him last night, she would no
longer be able to do that. But then, they had the rest of their lives to get
this sorted out. He was washing his hair when he realized that he knew nothing
about her. Not where she lived or worked, as a matter of fact. He decided that
the two of them needed to sit down and talk. And he had to tell his mom what
happened with his father.

He walked into the kitchen in time to
see Butler taking what looked like fresh biscuits out of the oven and a
casserole dish that smelled like heaven. He took the larger dish from him and
sat it on the table. Christ, she’d made this?

“She said that I was to make sure that
it cooked for one hour. I was having to keep the others from taking it out
sooner. Have you ever smelled anything that good before?” Butler shook his head
as he continued. “My Lord, we’ll weigh a ton if she cooks for us much longer.”

Right now, Samuel was having a hard time
concentrating on anything but how starved he suddenly was. There were sliced
tomatoes as well as gravy that had to be heated slowly so it wouldn’t “break.” He
had no idea what that meant but pouring it over his portion made him whimper. His
first bite had him moaning aloud.

There were eggs and sausage along with
cubed potatoes that were browned to a nice crisp. Onions and peppers were in it
as well, but in long strips so that if anyone didn’t like them they could pick
them out. Not one person at the table did anything with them but munch them
down with the rest. The gravy was white and thick, tiny pieces of sausage
mingled in with the slight garlicky taste that had him going back for seconds,
then thirds. Samuel also managed to eat five of the most mouthwatering biscuits
he’d ever put in his mouth.

When he put down his fork, it was
because he couldn’t breathe, he was so full. He looked at Butler, shocked. “Christ,
were we supposed to save some for Kennedy?”

“No, My Lord, she said that she didn’t
eat this heavy for breakfast. She said it slows her down.” Samuel realized that
this was the second time he’d called him lord. He asked him about it. “We’ve
looked up the house. The one you and Mrs. Kennedy now own. It’s…shall I show
you?”

When he left to get his computer, the
others cleaned the table. His mother was sipping her tea when she looked up.
She smiled at him, and he grinned back. He’d never felt this good in his life.

“You’re falling in love with her, aren’t
you?” The question startled him. He started to tell her no, but she continued
before she could. “Kennedy is depressed, did you know that? When she left here
this morning, there were circles under her eyes. I realized that as a newly
bonded couple there would be little sleep, but it didn’t look like that.”

“What do you mean?” Samuel decided to
ignore the reference on why they had little sleep and concentrate on why she thought
it was different. “By the way, do you know where she works when she leaves here
or, for that matter, where she lives? I don’t want her out alone so long as
father is in the area.”

“I don’t. She never mentioned it to me
other than today. She told me that she wasn’t going to leave the people that
had given her a place to stay in a lurch. The poor girl seemed to think you’d
have a fit when you found out.” Samuel shifted on his seat but said nothing. He
had been upset with her at first, but he could see that she had work ethics. “The
sale of the horses bothered her, did you know that?”

“Her grandmother told me that her father
left them to her. She said that some of them are prized champions.” His mom
nodded. “But there’s something else, isn’t there? What do you know?”

Instead of telling him, she said something
else. He felt like she’d given him the keys to something great when she
suggested that he woo her. And not only that, but to make her a partner in his
life and not to treat her like her father had treated her. “She’s not like me,
thankfully. She’s got a backbone and not afraid to use it. But right now she’s
been overwhelmed by us all and made to do something that has taken a great deal
from her. Kennedy believes you only married her for the estate.”

Butler came into the room then with his
wife and the laptop. Brigitte was smiling at him as she pointed to the screen. There
in front of him wasn’t a smallish house like he’d envisioned, but a castle,
including a drawbridge.

“The original laird asked the
townspeople if they’d not tell anyone that there was a castle there. He
explained to them that if the neighboring lands knew of it, they’d come and
rape and pillage the village in an attempt to take the castle. They all voted
and decided that he was correct, and they started calling it a manor. Rose, the
name of the manor, was the laird’s wife. There is a large rose garden in the
back with her first roses in it.” Brigitte moved the cursor to the next
picture. “There are orchards there as well, brimming with all sorts of fresh
fruit in the summer and fall. And see here, there are the paddocks. Kennedy
said that the house sits on five thousand acres including the town. Which she
told us you now run too.”

He was handed a packet of photos, and
they all shared what each one represented. There were pictures of the trees in
full bloom, as well as two with Kennedy riding the horses through the fields. Better
pictures of the house and grounds too, with the grounds all neatly trimmed and
cleaned in the foreground. Samuel was overwhelmed by what he was seeing.

He looked at the Internet and found out
that the house had nineteen bedrooms and ten baths on the upper floor alone.
There was a kitchen that could be used to serve over a thousand guests, and had
several times over the years. Many times over the years the house had been home
to many battles, and the house used as a makeshift hospital. It told how Kennedy’s
father, the Earl of Lambton, had brought the house from near ruin forty years
ago and also made the town prosperous.

“She lived there.” His mom nodded at
him. “I thought that she needed me to care for her, to make her…I don’t know…have
things I could provide for her. But she…she has all this.”

“No, Samuel, you both do if you’ll allow
her.” He looked at the pictures and then back at his mom. “You’re overwhelmed.”

“No shit.” She laughed at him, and so
did Brigitte. “I’m sorry, but…how does this make me a lord? This is her family.
I’m just…just a guy from Illinois.” He looked up when a small laugh caught his
attention. Dani came to him as she entered the room.

“The title came with your marriage to my
granddaughter. And as soon as Shamus is disinherited, you’ll take the title of
Lord Lambton as well.” Dani kissed his cheek. “Hello, dear. How are you today? Looking
up your family history, I see. Would you like to discuss the money now?”

“How much…? Christ I know this sounds
greedy, but how much money are we talking here? I know that you said that with
the marriage came her money, but I thought that she wasn’t….” Samuel took a
deep breath, trying to gather his questions. “You said she wouldn’t receive
anything because she was a daughter. I don’t have the kind of money to keep a
house like this.”

“Kennedy is from a long and very
prosperous line. Her grandmothers have been providing for her as the first
daughter for all their generations. As Kennedy will for her own daughter. Over
the years, decades really, the women realized that as first daughter she’d be
the one that would be married off for more money. Titled money as it were. They
dinna like it any more than Kennedy does now. They provided her with a means to
say no. Gave her enough money that she could simply do as she damned well
please and tell her family to screw off.” She thanked Butler for the tea he set
in front of her as she continued. “Over the ensuing years only one of the descendants
used it, and she ended up finding her own love years later and paid the money
back. I’ve never been more happy for that time in all my life.”

Samuel smiled. “It was why you helped Kennedy
escape and get her education. You wanted her to be free of her family long before…hell,
a very long time before her dad died.”

“I did. I could see that she needed
more. Much more than the milksops there could give her. I never thought she’d
meet a man such as yourself, but then it was only recently that I had an idea
what you were. Kennedy had her first encounter with her boss and his mate. The
Savages I believe their names were.” She handed him a rolled up parchment, and
he held it gently in his hands as she explained. “It’s the deed to the house,
as well proof that all back monies have been paid off. And in answer to your
question, the estate isn’t indebted at all now, so it’s worth is just over one
hundred million American dollars. Of course, that doesn’t include the
furnishings and cars. My husband was quite the collector, and those are being
returned to the garage as we speak. I had them removed before my son died.”

Samuel didn’t open the envelope she
handed him either. He needed to see Kennedy. Now he understood so much more
about his wife that he never did before. He wanted to tell her how sorry he was;
no, he wanted to beg her to forgive him. He’d treated her no differently than generations
back had treated their own mates.

“Where is she, do you know?” Dani
nodded. “I don’t expect for her to forgive me, but I do need to ask her. She
deserves so much more than I’ve done to her.”

“And you care why? You have the house,
young man. The estate is yours now that you’ve bedded her. What reason could
you have to ask her to forgive you now?” He saw the gleam in her eyes and understood
the question.

“Because I need her to complete me. I
need Kennedy because she’s all I’ve ever needed in a wife and mate, and I was
too stupid to realize it.” He looked at the computer screen that had gone dark.
“If this means giving up all of this so she’ll believe me, then I will. I want
her to trust me, because right now she doesn’t trust anyone.”

Dani nodded at him and stood up. She
handed him another piece of paper, and on this one was an address. “She’s there
working. It was to provide her with an address so she could buy her own home.
She wanted something to call her own. I don’t think she’s ever had anything of
her own until now.”

Samuel took the paper and moved out to
the garage. He looked at the address for the first time and laughed. She lived
in Savage Campground. And a savage was coming to get her. Laughing hard for the
first time in weeks, Samuel climbed into his big SUV and went after his own
little savage. Time to tame the beasts in her.

~~~

Kennedy was walking the perimeter again
just because she could when she realized she was being watched. The hair danced
on her neck and arms, but she kept going in the same direction. She had her bat
with her, but she was afraid that it was going to do her little good. When
something growled behind her, she turned slowly to see the biggest fucking lion
she’d ever seen.

“Nice kitty.” He growled again as he
made his way toward her. When she lifted the bat up, thinking that maybe she
might be able to hit him once before he tore her apart, he stopped moving. “I
don’t think you’re Samuel, are you?”

The big lion shook his head and roared
at her. Even as far as the ten feet he was away from her, she could feel the
heat of his breath. And the size of his teeth made her think that when he did
bite her, he was going to be able to chomp her in half with one bite of those
powerful jaws. Mother fuck, he was going to kill her.

Fear tore through her, and she wanted to
turn and run from him. But she knew that he wanted her to run. She’d read
somewhere that lions, like all predators, liked to chase down their meals. Swallowing
hard, she thought of Samuel and wondered what he’d do when he found her, if he
found her.