The Dragon Lord (8 page)

You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses.

—Ziggy

Rose burrowed her body into the warmth at her back, unwilling to abandon the coziness of the bed yet, or even open her eyes. She sighed and wriggled closer to the solid heat behind her. Nothing was more satisfying than a warm bed on a cold day.

Rose had nearly dozed off again when a thought suddenly occurred to her and her eyes flew open. The heat at her back was too substantial, and something hard and foreign was pressing against her bottom. And suddenly she knew—she KNEW! She turned her head, saw Dragon lying beside her and tried to scramble away, but it was not to be. He grasped her about the waist and pulled her back into the cradle of his body.

“Where are you going, wife?”

Rose swallowed audibly.“What are you doing in my bed?” Her voice was hoarse from crying, and she hardly recognized the croaking sounds that came from her throat.

“This is where I belong.” His hand slid upward to cup a firm breast.

“Do not touch me!”

” Tis my right to do whatever J please to you.”

He trailed a hand over a curvaceous hip and flattened it against her taut stomach. Rose sucked in a startled breath when that same hand inched downward into the thatch of gold fleece crowning the juncture of her thighs.

Rose was not prepared for this. She knew Dragon had a legal right to claim her body, but she was not ready to surrender to the obnoxious blackguard. Unfortunately, her body turned traitor when he rolled her over to face him and forced her against his swollen sex. Heat crept through her veins and pooled in embarrassing places. Her breasts felt swollen and her nipples ached.

Then he kissed her, using his tongue in a way that made Rose feel things utterly foreign to her. He was nude. She was nude. Their bodies were all but glued together, and she felt his man part prodding ruthlessly against the secret place between her thighs. Why was her body reacting so powerfully to a man she did not and never would like? When he thrust his hand between her legs and tried to insert his fingers inside her, she reacted spontaneously. Gathering her strength, she rolled away so abruptly she caught Dominic off guard.

“Dammit! What are you doing?”

“Duty calls. My day begins at dawn.”

Dominic’s face hardened. “Your duty is to your husband.”

Rose sent him a defiant look. “My duty is to Ayrdale and its people.”

“You mean Dragonwyck, do you not?”

Rose wrinkled her nose. “Aye, Dragonwyck, if it pleases you. Turn your head, Lord Dragon, so that I may rise and dress.”

Dominic’s dark brows rose as he linked his hands behind his head and raked his gaze over her. “Go ahead, wife. Watching you dress gives me pleasure. But,” he added sternly, “my patience will stretch only so far. I would have already bedded your sister had you not interfered. The least you can do is accept the consequences of your hoax. You are extremely fortunate, Rose, that I did not beat you.”

Her shoulders stiffened. “I prefer a beating to what you want to do to me.”

“Do not tempt me,” Dominic bit out. “Rest assured that what I have in mind will be much more pleasurable than a beating.”

He reached for her, but she deftly eluded him. She inched out of bed, trying to drag the linen sheet with her, but Dominic would not release his hold. Her body flushed red from embarrassment and anger, Rose rolled out of bed and reached for her shift.

Dominic watched through lowered lids as Rose fumbled with her clothing. He had awakened before her this morning and watched her sleep. With her golden hair spread out on the pillow and a fetching half-smile on her face, she looked like an angel instead of the prickly harridan he knew her to be. It had taken considerable willpower to keep from pulling her beneath him and taking her virginity before she awakened.

When she’d burrowed her bottom against his loins, his cock had stiffened and he’d sought to arouse her so that she would want him in the same way he wanted her. But Rose was either too stubborn or too frightened to let him pleasure her. How long did she think she could deny him? He did not want to force her, but his patience was wearing thin.

Dominic’s dark eyes glittered with renewed desire as he watched Rose struggle into her shift. Her breasts were magnificent, high and firm and just the right size to fit his rather large hands. He had already taken measure of her tiny waist and gently rounded hips, but this was the first time he had glimpsed what his hands had discovered, and he wasn’t disappointed.

Dominic groaned aloud when her shift slid into place, hiding her considerable charms from his avid gaze. He had half a notion to leap from bed and pull her beneath him before she finished dressing, and he might have done so had he not been interrupted by a knock at the door.

Rose scrambled into her tunic, adjusted it about her body and looked askance at Dominic. “Go ahead and open it,” Dominic said. ” Tis probably Raj. He is the only one brave enough to invade the Dragon’s lair.”

Rose opened the door. Raj stepped inside and peered around her at Dominic. “Is the master ready to rise? Petitioners from the villages have gathered in the inner bailey, waiting for you to begin the manor court. Their old lord has been gone a long time, and they want their new lord to rule on their grievances and mete out punishment.”

Dominic rose from bed with easy grace, his powerful muscles rippling beneath the skin of his nude body as he reached for his clothing. Rose took one look at him and ran out the door.

“What did you do to frighten your new wife?” Raj asked with a hint of amusement.

“Not what I’d like to do to her, my friend,” Dominic retorted. “She’s as skittish as a newborn colt.”

Raj looked at him in astonishment. “You left her untouched?”

“You ask too many questions,” Dominic said with ill-disguised rancor.

A chuckle rumbled from Raj’s massive chest. “I have never known a lady you could not charm into your bed.”

” Tis obvious you have never known a woman of Rose’s ilk. She is no Veronica.”

“Mayhap one day you will be glad she is not,” Raj observed.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean? You know I planned to marry Veronica.”

Raj assumed a subservient demeanor that fooled no one, least of all Dominic.“Forgive me for speaking out of turn, master. Shall I inform the petitioners that you will hold court after you have broken your fast?”

Dominic waved Raj away. “Aye, I will hear their petitions. Tis my duty as their new lord. Tell the steward to fetch his quill and ink to record my rulings.”

Dominic washed and dressed, momentarily forgetting the vassals waiting for him below. His head spun with thoughts of Rose. Her soft breasts, her slim figure, the lush curve of her lips, the tight furrow between her legs he hoped to plow very soon. His cock jerked in response to his erotic imaginings, and he quickly stifled the excitement bubbling up inside him. It would not do for the people of Dragonwyck to see the Dragon Lord lusting after his own wife.

Rose was nowhere about as Dominic broke his fast, so he joined a group of knights at one of the trestle tables and was soon caught up in their conversation. After Dominic had eaten, Braden, the steward, joined him with a fresh supply of parchment, sharpened quills and ink. While Dominic presided over the manor court, Braden was to record the resolution of the cases. Before he began the court, Dominic asked Raj to summon Rose. She appeared a few minutes later, obviously surprised by the summons.

“You sent for me, my lord?” she asked curtly.

“Aye. You are lady of the manor and should sit beside me during the manor court. You know your people better than I and may be of some help in resolving the cases.”

Dominic seated Rose, then settled himself in the ornately carved lord’s chair beside her. The doors were opened, and a crowd of petitioners and their witnesses flowed into the great hall. One by one the vassals presented their cases. Dominic fined a man who stole his neighbor’s pig, ordered another to marry a young woman who was expecting his child and negotiated a peaceful settlement between two freemen feuding over a land boundary. And so the morning went.

Rose listened with growing amazement as Dragon handled the minor and major infractions with a fairness and finesse she could scarcely credit. Not even her father could have done so well. But that did not mean she approved of Dragon. No indeed, there was very little Dragon could do to make her like him or convince her to let him bed her. He was the king’s man, and the king had killed her father.

“What think you, my lady?” Dominic said, pulling Rose from her silent musings.

“About what, my lord?”

“Were you not listening? One of our villeins begs permission to wed a freeman’s daughter. As you know, such unions are frowned upon.”

“Do you love one another?” Rose asked the couple standing before them.

The woman, no more than a girl really, nodded shyly, but the man said loudly, “Aye, my lady.”

“What think you, my lady?” Dominic asked Rose. “If I allow them to wed, the freeman’s daughter will lose her status.”

“Your name is Vella, is it not?“Rose asked the girl.

“Aye, my lady.”

“Well, Vella, are you willing to accept the consequences of wedding a villein?”

“Aye, my lady. My station in life matters not to me.”

“It matters to me,” an older man said, stepping forward. “I did not raise my daughter to wed a villein.”

“You are the girl’s father?” Dominic asked.

“Aye, my lord. My name is Algar, and I have chosen another husband for Vella—a freeman who can give her a better life. He can afford to give me the pig I’m asking as a bride’s price.”

“I do not want to marry David,“Vella protested. She clutched the young villein’s arm.“I will have no one but Piers.”

“I have no pig to give your father,” Piers said sadly, “nor a cottage as fine as the one David owns.”

Dominic stroked his chin, regarding the couple through narrowed lids. At length he said, “I am inclined to rule in the father’s favor.”

Vella looked so disheartened that Rose felt obliged to speak up. “You could free Piers, my Lord Dragon.”

Dominic looked at her as if she had lost her mind. That would set a precedent that could have disastrous results. Every villein of marriageable age would begin courting daughters of freemen in order to raise their status.”

Rose knew Dragon was being practical, but the couple looked so much in love she could not bear to see them separated.“Master Algar, would you allow your daughter to wed Piers if he had Lord Dragon’s permission and offered a pig
and
a cow for her?”

“Careful, Rose,” Dominic warned.

“A pig
and
a cow, my lady?” Algar asked, his eyes bulging greedily. “Piers has neither a pig nor a cow.”

“Just answer my question, Algar, and let me worry about the rest.”

“You are treading on dangerous ground, Rose,” Dominic growled. “The decision is mine to make.”

“I am mistress here,” Rose argued, “and I have a pig and a cow I wish to present to Piers.”

“My lady!”Piers gasped, clearly startled. Truly?”

Dominic’s mouth flattened.“My lady wife speaks out of turn.”

“Look at them, my lord. They are in love,” Rose argued.

“I am surprised you hold love in such high esteem, madam.” He searched her face. “Has someone claimed your heart?”

Rose met his penetrating glance with raised eyebrows. “My heart is still unengaged and likely to remain that way as long as I am married to you.”

“One day your sharp tongue will be your undoing,” Dominic cautioned.

Deliberately ignoring him, Rose returned her attention to the couple anxiously awaiting Dominic’s judgment. “Piers and Vella await your answer, my lord. Will you allow them to wed if I provide Vella’s bride price?”

A crafty smile curved Dominic’s lips. That depends, my prickly wife,” he whispered into her ear, “on whether or not you intend to honor your wedding vows tonight”

Rose went still. The man was ruthless; she should have known he would use underhanded means to get what he wanted. What she could not understand, however, was why he wanted her when he loved another. Was his sexual appetite so voracious that he needed more than one woman to satisfy him? Or did he want her simply to finalize their marriage?

“What say you, madam?” Dominic asked.“Will you force me to consummate our marriage in a way you will not enjoy, or will you give yourself to me like a dutiful wife?”

Rose longed to tell Dragon she wanted naught to do with him, but one look at Piers’s and Vella’s expectant faces changed her mind. She did not have the heart to disappoint the thwarted lovers; she would give Dragon her body but naught else of herself.

“You win, my lord,” Rose murmured.“Give the couple your blessing.”

Dominic felt like crowing. His stubborn wife had finally capitulated, and tonight he would have her beneath him. Though he had been tricked into wedding the wrong woman, he was determined to get some enjoyment from this unfortunate marriage.

Reluctantly Dominic turned his salacious thoughts from Rose’s voluptuous body to his vassals.

“Think well on this before you answer, Algar. Will you accept Piers as your daughter’s husband if he can pay the bride’s price?”

Algar’s assessing gaze traveled along the length of Piers’s muscular young body. “He does have a strong back, my lord, and mayhap can be of some help since I have no sons. David is spindly and frail and would likely be of little help to me. Aye, if Piers can pay the bride’s price, I will accept him.”

Then so be it,” Dominic said. “You will have your pig and cow before Father Nyle blesses the union.”

Vella fell to her knees before Rose and touched the hem of her skirt. “Thank you, my lady. I will never forget your kindness.”

“Nor will I,” Piers echoed, dropping down beside Vella and touching his head to Dominic’s feet.

The next petitioners took their place and the court continued. Rose listened closely to Dominic’s rulings but did not interfere again. No man could have done a better job of impartially meting out punishment or dispensing justice. But that still didn’t make their marriage any more palatable to her. Rose’s father had promised her that she need not wed where she did not love, and she had hoped one day to meet a man she could love and who loved her in return. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined she would be forced to call a man like Dominic Dragon husband.