Tapestries 03 - Woven Dreams (10 page)

“I know you will,” she whispered as she lowered her mouth to his. Her tongue licked at his lips before slipping between them. Boldly, she explored his mouth, tasting and touching, stroking his tongue.

Jarmon cupped the back of her head with one hand, holding her steady as he plundered her mouth. The frantic sounds of pleasure she made fired his blood to an even higher level. Banding his arm around her back, he pushed her downward as he thrust his cock upward. He could feel her body fighting against his intrusion, but he didn’t stop, pushing past all resistance until he was seated to the hilt.

Genny tried to tear her mouth from his, but he wouldn’t let her retreat from him.

He sensed her fear as her body struggled to accommodate his cock and he tried to soothe and reassure her with his kiss. He softened it, coaxing her tongue to play with his. His efforts were rewarded when she finally heaved a sigh and relaxed. The small action nudged him the slightest bit deeper and they both moaned.

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“Just relax.” He wrapped both hands around her waist as he nuzzled her neck. He flicked his tongue around the whorls of her ear and her tight passage contracted around him. Groaning, he nipped at her earlobe. “You are so hot, so wet.” He could hear the amazement in his own voice.

“I feel so full of you. It’s almost too much, but at the same time, it’s not enough.” Her voice was ragged, but he could hear the wonder beneath her words.

“Your body wants me to fuck it. To drive into your pussy over and over until we both come,” he whispered against her ear as he sucked on her lobe. He could tell his raw words shocked her even as they excited her. Her inner muscles pulsed around his cock, making it hard for him to talk.

Lifting her slightly, he eased his cock partway out before lowering her again. Her legs tightened around his back and her fingernails dug deeper into his shoulders. He did it again and again. Her breathing got quicker, shallower.

“Jarmon,” she cried. He could hear the desperation in her voice, knew she was as close to the edge as he was.

Taking a step to the side, he braced his shoulders against the wall of rocks behind the falls. He wouldn’t risk scraping her skin. Her back had suffered enough abuse. Just the thought of someone marking her flesh in such a manner had anger rocketing through his body. As if sensing the change in him, she leaned back, searching his face.

As he forced his anger away, desire came surging back in a wave too strong for him to restrain.

“Hold on to me, Genny.” He began to thrust, leaning against the rock wall and spreading his legs for support as he fucked her. Her body softened around him, accepting him and finally sucking him deeper with each thrust. His balls were taut against his body and his skin felt stretched tight over his bones. Her cries of pleasure had him thrusting faster. Harder.

Her feminine muscles constricted and then began to convulse. Jarmon gave one final thrust and felt his cock explode. His roar of release echoed through the small cavern. His hips jerked as his cum spurted into her. He heard Genny cry out as her body continued to spasm around his. Never in his life had anything ever felt so good.

Wrapping his arms around her, he held on tight.

Now that he’d had her, how would he ever be able to let her go?

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Dry and clothed once again, Genny began to plait her long hair. She was a bit sore between her thighs, but other than that small reminder of what had happened, she felt wonderful. She’d always wondered what having sex with a man would be like.

Certainly she’d heard the other women back home talk about it—their ribald jests and bitter complaints had filled the kitchen as they’d worked. And growing up around animals, not to mention her brothers, she understood how sex worked. But she’d never known quite what to expect. Now she knew. With the right man, it was an absolutely amazing experience.

She knew that Garrik would attempt to seduce her next. Such was the way things were done in her world. There would usually be more time for her to get to know them, but because they were still under the misconception that the tapestry had brought her, they thought they only had three days and it was already halfway through day two.

Genny just planned to enjoy the experience and file it away in her memory to pull out in the future when she needed a reminder of better times.

In spite of her uncertain future, which certainly didn’t look bright at the moment, she was enjoying herself. Both men had shown her a kindness that was rare in her life.

They talked easily to her, sharing stories of their lives and of their family. They both had a wonderful sense of humor, although it was more evident with Garrik. Jarmon tended to keep his thoughts more to himself, but every now and again he would make some dry-witted comment.

For the first time in her life, she had no one to take care of but herself and, since she’d joined the Bakra brothers, she’d had to do precious little of that. They fed her and protected her, leaving her free to just relax and soak up the fresh air and sunshine. She hadn’t known how tense and stressed she’d been or how much she’d needed this respite until they’d given it to her. Or rather, forced it on her. Smiling, she shook her head. She didn’t know which of them was the most stubborn, but they certainly were set on having their own way.

“Tell us about your family?” Garrik had hunkered down beneath a large tree.

Settling with his back against the trunk, he spread his long legs out in front of him and rested his hands on his hard, flat belly.

She shrugged, not liking the direction of the conversation. “Not much to tell.” She was afraid to talk too much about herself, afraid she might give away some clue as to her true identity.

“Are your parents still living?”

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That she could easily answer. “No.” She shook her head. “Both my parents have been dead for years now.” She was grateful to be able to give him a straightforward and truthful answer. Hopefully that would satisfy Garrik’s curiosity.

Jarmon strolled over and dropped to the ground a few feet away from her. His presence made her uncomfortably aware of what had happened at the waterfall earlier.

Her scalp tingled and her breasts swelled the longer he stared at her with his intense pale blue eyes.

“What about other family? Sisters or brothers?” She could hear a tinge of annoyance in Garrik’s voice and turned her attention back to him.

“No sisters.” She picked at the fabric of her woven dress. When she’d redressed, she’d slipped her chemise back under it to help keep the rough fabric from chafing her skin. Before Jarmon had joined her, she’d washed her two thin chemises in the river, hanging them over some bushes to let the heat from the sun dry them. She’d had to scrub for a long time to remove most of the bloodstains that had soaked into them from the wounds on her back. Those wounds were all but healed now, and for that she was thankful.

It hadn’t escaped her that Jarmon had been very careful of her back when they’d had sex. She wished she could have said they’d made love, but they hadn’t known each other long enough to know if they loved each other. Certainly they desired one another.

Besides which, she didn’t want to fall in love with them or have them fall in love with her. It would make leaving them that much harder.

“Brothers?” Jarmon prompted her.

“I do have brothers,” she hesitantly replied. She had to proceed very carefully here.

The last thing she wanted to do was make them suspicious about her. She knew that both men had doubts about her story, but so far neither of them had voiced them in her presence.

“How many?” Garrik was still seated in his relaxed pose beneath the tree, but Genny sensed a tenseness about him that hadn’t existed a few moments before. Even the muscles in his face had tightened and she could see a vein in his temple throbbing.

“Ah,” she stumbled. “Too many.” That was better than giving an exact number.

“Two of them died.” She hoped that little tidbit of information would distract them.

“I’m sorry.” She didn’t doubt the sincerity of Garrik’s words, but he was making her uncomfortable with the way he was staring so intently at her. She half expected him to jump to his feet and declare her a liar.

Hanging her head so they couldn’t see the guilt that she knew had to be stamped across her face, she nodded. With any luck, they would think her overcome by the memory of her brothers’ loss. Truthfully, their deaths had not affected her life in the slightest. She certainly didn’t miss either of them. They’d taken too much pleasure in her misery. She hadn’t really known them all that well. That fact saddened her more than their loss.

“What did you do back in your world?”

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Her head jerked up and she found both brothers watching her intently. She was growing increasingly uncomfortable beneath their scrutiny. Think, Genita, she scolded herself. They think the tapestry brought you from another time and place. “I create threads and weave cloth.” That was the best she could come up with. She couldn’t tell them that she ran a small castle for her miserable, cruel brothers.

“Do you like your work?” Garrik queried.

Sensing his genuine interest, she smiled and nodded. “Absolutely.” This was one topic she could talk about for hours. By the time she was finished they would be sorry that they’d asked her. “There is an art to mixing the right amounts of dying agents to achieve specific colors.”

She spent the next twenty minutes waxing enthusiastic about every aspect of spinning and dying threads and weaving different grades of cloth—she even threw in some detailed descriptions on embroidery techniques. She took pity and stopped when Garrik’s eyes looked as if they were about to cross.

When she fell silent, it took them a moment to realize she’d actually stopped. Garrik cleared his throat. “I’m glad you enjoy your work.” He hurried on before she could break into another long explanation. “Would you like to go hunting with me?” His offer surprised her, but the more she thought about it, the more sense it actually made. Garrik obviously wanted to get some time alone with her and she could use the walk to work off some of her nervous tension. It hadn’t been easy to chatter on for so long. Genny wasn’t used to talking that much at all. Her brothers ignored her unless they were bellowing for her to do something for them. Most of the servants took their cues from her brothers and ignored her. No one wanted to be seen as being kind to her lest they bring the wrath of the Craddock brothers down on themselves. It was a novelty for her to talk for so long. It was also nerve-racking. Already, sweat had her chemise and dress plastered to her back, making it itch. She’d definitely need another bath later today.

“You can leave your belongings here with Jarmon.” Garrik pushed himself off the ground and stretched his long arms over his head. The move accentuated his wide torso as the muscles in his stomach and chest rippled.

Genny wasn’t sure about leaving her things. The last thing she wanted was Jarmon to poke through her belongings and discover the tapestry she had rolled up in the folds of her other dress.

Sensing her hesitation, Jarmon slowly stood and walked toward her. Catching her chin in his palm, he tilted her face upward. Immediately she was lost in the empathy and understanding that shone from his eyes. “Your belongings are safe with me. I would never trespass by searching through your things.” She could hear the underlying message in his words. Trust me. Trust didn’t come easy to Genny. Too many years of betrayal and abuse at the hands of her brothers made it difficult. But she’d already trusted this man more than she ever had any other. She’d 55

gifted him with her virginity. It seemed silly not to trust him with her few meager belongings.

She’d taken more risks in the past week than she ever had in her entire life.

Reaching down deep to find the remnants of her tattered courage, she nodded. Jarmon smiled. Not the usual slight turning of the corners of his mouth, but a true smile.

Awestruck, Genny couldn’t take her eyes off him as he dropped a quick kiss on her mouth. He seemed to find her expression funny because he chuckled as he tipped her chin up, closing her mouth, which had dropped open.

“If there is anything you need to do before we leave.” Garrik gestured to the woods beyond their campsite. Genny blushed, but hurried off to take care of the call of nature before they left.

As soon as Genny was out of sight, Jarmon turned to his brother. “Be very careful, Garrik.”

Garrik scrubbed his hand over his face and sighed. “You caught that too, did you?” Jarmon nodded. “There are too many discrepancies in her story. She seems very familiar with this world. Even her clothing is locally made.” Garrik sighed as he strapped on his sword and hefted his bow and arrows. “I don’t think that there is much doubt that she is from Javara. The question is, who is she?”

“And why is she lying to us?” Jarmon continued to stare at the woods. “Whoever she is, she is under our care.” He turned to his brother and pinned him with a deadly gaze. “We cannot let anything happen to her. Obviously someone had mistreated her badly.”

Garrik’s eyes were just as deadly as he nodded. “I won’t let down my guard, but truthfully, I think she is safe here.”

“I hope you are right.” Jarmon couldn’t quite shake the feeling that this situation was going to explode in all their faces at some point. Still, there was nothing he could do until Genny was willing to talk to them. Warmth flooded him as he remembered their morning at the river. Genny was naturally a giving, generous woman. Very sensual in nature, yet there was a naivety about her that made him want to protect her.

“If she is not a tapestry bride, that means she will not disappear tomorrow evening.” Garrik’s hand absently stroked the pommel of his sword.

“Tomorrow evening should prove to be very interesting,” he agreed. “Be careful with her, Garrik. I don’t think her back is still sore, but the rest of her will be.” Garrik snorted. “Don’t rub it in, brother. I know she gifted you with her virginity, but I too know how to pleasure a woman.”

Jarmon knew he’d pricked his brother’s temper, but he couldn’t quite hold back his grin. Garrik’s scowl deepened and Jarmon chuckled again. “I’m sure you do, my brother.” Holding up his hands in a sign of peace, he backed away.