TheKingsLady (5 page)

“What do you want?”

He chuckled, a deep pleasing rumble and another shiver rolled over her. Damn the man, he should be labeled
lethal handle with care
.

“Direct aren’t you?”

“I don’t have the patience for games. I like the direct route. It saves on any misconceptions.”

He gave her a slight nod, his lips curving in that small devastating smile of his, though it didn’t reach the hard glitter of his eyes. Was he mad at her? What could she have done to earn his dislike, she wondered?

“All right then, I’ll speak plainly. You are here under
my
protection and will be until such time as Vance loses interest. I don’t give a rat’s ass if you like it, I sure the hell don’t. But,” he raised a hand in the air, cutting off her words of protest. “You will do
exactly
as I say, when I say it. Are we perfectly clear? Oh, and so there is no confusion on this subject, I’ll accept yes as an answer. You can add sir or Mr. Penner, either one is acceptable.”

Her teeth ground together so hard she feared she would crack a molar as the insufferable ass told her what to do.

Looking very smug and pleased, she opened her mouth and let him have it with both barrels. “Have a care how you talk to me. The last time I looked in the mirror, I didn’t see a dog collar around my neck. As for doing what you say? Yeah, good luck with that, bud, ‘cause, right now, it will be a cold day in hell before you
ever
hear yes or sir from me. Do I make myself perfectly clear?”

Wen.
Salt spoke softly in her mind, a gentle warning she refused to heed.

Stow it, Salt.

With a low hiss of annoyance, Salt bristled. With haughty displeasure, he sauntered out the door without a backward glance. Oh, yippee, on top of everything else she had a pissed off familiar. Life just kept getting better and better.

Narrowing her gaze on the arrogant male in front of her, she fought the urge to hit him. Fists clenched tight to her sides, she stood and marched up to stand with her jailor, toe to toe, forced to crane her head way up to look at him. What was it with tall men who so attracted her? He had to be well over six-foot tall.

Six-foot-three perhaps? The man made her five-feet-six feel petite. And he was solid muscle! She wavered, the anger flowing out of her like a sieve trying to hold water.

Her mouth went dry as his scent hit her hard. She breathed in deeply. Good gods, he smelled wonderful! Bergamot and the crisp scent of the sea, two of her favorites rolled into a delectable package of muscle. Sinew and bone stretched over smooth golden skin. An unwanted vision of her mouth on all that hard, firm flesh made her stomach flutter as if she swallowed a handful of butterflies. Worse, she felt moisture pool between her thighs just at the thought.

So wrong on too many levels to count!

She huffed out a breath, concentrating firmly on her irritation and not her body’s reaction to this man. “Now, where am I and how do I get the
hell
out of here?”

“You don’t,” Arthur stated with a simple shrug of one massive shoulder.

Gwen gritted her teeth, concentrated on her breathing and for a few seconds, her entire focus narrowed to the inhale, exhale once, inhale, exhale, twice, and then a third before she felt the calm settle on her shoulders. “You can’t hold me here. I want to go home.
Now
!”

Those dark-brown eyes sparked, a hard glint warning her she treaded on dangerous ground. “Make no mistake, I would love nothing more than have you out of here. It’s just not going to happen. Not right now and not until you are no longer in Vance’s cross hairs. So get used to the idea.”

For some reason, his words stung her more than she cared to admit. Why should she care if he wanted her gone, didn’t she want out just as bad?

Yes, sure she did.

“You can’t keep me here indefinitely you know. I do have a life, friends who will miss me.” Okay, that was a lie.

She never felt quite like she belonged anywhere. School was an adolescent nightmare. Awkward and shy, she was more comfortable in a library among books than doing face time with her peers. As an adult…well, not much changed. It wasn’t like she had no friends. No, there had been a few who she actually liked and had things in common with. They just went their own way after school, and the particular commonality once shared stretched and finally broke with time. Not that she felt lonely, she had Salt and her aunt.

Thinking of her aunt left a sharp stab of pain in her heart. The idea of never seeing her again, hearing her voice filled her with a mild panic. She took a long cleansing breath and pushed the thought deep inside. Later, once she was alone, she would succumb to the grief. At the moment, she needed to figure out how to get out of this mess she found herself in.

“Well, your
life
will just have to deal with the interruption,” he snapped out between clenched teeth.

The guy really had issues with women, or perhaps it was just her. She didn’t know what she did to make him dislike her so much and hated the feeling. She missed something very important. Only she had no clue what it could be.

“Easy for you to say when it isn’t
you
being held against your will,” she groused.

Arthur sighed. The sight of his broad chest rising and falling held all of her attention. She couldn’t help it. The way his muscles bunched tight and released beneath his tee shirt… dear Hecate, give her strength, Arthur could tempt a saint!

She gave herself a mental shake, time to get back on track. Hoping he didn’t pick up on her sudden flare of lust, she flicked her gaze up to his face, relieved to find not a flicker of knowing in those warm brown depths.

“Look, I realize this isn’t fair to you, and yes I also know you have a life you want to get back to. All I’m asking is for you to stay here until we can assure your safety. After all, it was your aunt’s dying wish, her last words asking us to keep you safe and out of Vance’s hands.”

“Why me? Why now?”

He gave another shrug, which brought her gaze sliding to the tightening of his pecs, her mind threatening to derail a second time. She ground her back molars in frustration, forcing her to once again meet his penetrating stare.

“I have a feeling it has to do with your powers. They are quite developed from what I witnessed.”

“Yeah, not as developed as that black-haired woman, Merci. She neutralized me quite easily.” She didn’t try to hide the bitter tone from her voice.

“Few are in her caliber, being a direct descendant of Morgan le Fey. Don’t feel too bad about her subduing you.”

She blinked at his outrageous claim. “Uh, huh, and I’m supposed to believe this.”

“Don’t see why not. It’s the truth and shouldn’t be too much of a stretch of the imagination since you are a witch.”

“Being a witch and believing in Arthurian legends are two completely different things. One is a reality, the other fantasy,” she argued, her hand swiping through the air between them.

With a movement so quick it stunned her, he grabbed her hand and pulled her up against his chest. She could feel his heart beat through her chest, his warmth penetrating through her clothes to send tendrils of warmth through her body. Her pulse quickened at his masculine scent. His gaze sparked with hunger, and she couldn’t find the strength to pull away if her life depended on it.

What was it about this man that brought her brain to a screeching halt and her body up in flames? Caught in his stare, the need to kiss him swelled through her. All logic and rational thought packed up and vacated to parts unknown. She wanted him in a way she never wanted anyone before.

Oh, there were men in the past. Two lackluster experiences with sex cured her of her virginity…and gave her a serious body complex from the criticism heaped on her about her weight.

But
this
…this need went beyond anything she ever experienced, and it scared the crap out of her.

* * * *

Arthur found his thoughts behaving like leaves caught in a whirlwind and sent scattering in every direction. Deep cerulean eyes pulled at his gut. A light smattering of freckles spread from her nose to her cheeks that he never noticed before, but now imagined tracing with his mouth. Her full lips parted, so pink and inviting, his teeth ground together in an effort to control his urge to pull her to him and claim those inviting lips. Would she be as sweet as she looked?

Oh, man he so wanted to find out.

Her body sent his blood to boiling with all those lush curves. He wanted to explore every delectable inch, dip and hollow. Hear her cry of pleasure in his ears and taste her on his tongue. The thought made his cock press uncomfortably against the zipper of his jeans.

With her soft curves pressed tight to his body, her sweet honeysuckle scent wafted to him. He bit back a groan as his body grew even harder. Gods damn, the woman was killing him. A siren leading him to places he should know better than go, especially with this female. Yet the need grew, morphing into obsession to take what she offered. Unknowingly or not, the need ramped him up, torqueing his body to the next level.

Her lips hovered just inches from his, too damn tempting. Without knowing how, his lips brushed ever so lightly against hers. The touch sent an unexpected bolt of lust skittering through his bloodstream at mach one. Deepening the kiss, his teeth nipped at her bottom lip in silent demand for entrance and oh, hell yeah, she opened for him on a soft moan.

He wasted no time. His tongue swept inside and tasted the sweetness of her. Bringing her tighter still, his hands moved over her back to her soft rounded hips and cupped her ass, grinding her into his aching erection. Her small hands traveled up his arms, exploring his body.

And oh, fuck yes, those fingers of hers did diabolical things to his control as they stroked, smoothed and then went up to tangle in his hair. She pulled him closer, meeting his kiss with demands of her own.

He broke the kiss and took a shaky breath. Satisfaction swept through him as he drank in the sight of her kiss-swollen lips, her heavy-lidded eyes glassy with desire. That he put that look on her face filled him with savage satisfaction. With a deep growl in the back of this throat, he went in again, capturing her mouth in a kiss more demanding than the first.

One hand rose, grazing her hip, the curve of her waist and up to her full breasts. He cupped her, feeling her nipple harden against his palm. Stroking his thumb against it, he rasped out praise for her body, her responsiveness. Rewarded when he felt her shudder in reaction, a small gasp escaping her, added fuel to an already raging lust racing through his bloodstream.

Breaking the kiss on a ragged groan, he moved his hand up to tangle with her fiery curls, so soft… He gently pushed them back away from her face, marveling as they wrapped around his fingers like a caress. “I want inside of you beneath me, those sexy legs wrapped around me tight while I fuck you,” he rasped out, his voice a deep husky growl of need.

She blinked. The passion in her gaze dimmed as her eyes narrowed and anger flashed in their depths, a sudden squall rising from a sea of…oh shit. Her lips pressed tightly together. “Not likely to happen, let go,
now
.”

Her words were better than a cold shower, shocking him back to reality. What the hell was he thinking? This female was off-limits for far too many reasons to count. How could he forget her betrayal? Her actions led to the ultimate downfall of Camelot, the loss of a loyal friend whose sword could have turned the tide of the battle of Camlann. Because of her adulterous actions, he lost everything.

Fuck that, never again. He swore no woman would hold sway over him in this life, and he would be damned if his resolve weakened, repeating the same mistake in this life.

The woman could go to the nine levels of hell before he fell into that trap. His anger flashed where passion once burned, turning his desire to ash and leaving a deep hollowness in his gut.

He took a step back from the witch who haunted him with such tenacity. “Don’t worry, this won’t ever happen again,” he replied with more than a touch of frost in his voice. “Dinner is at six. Someone will be by to escort you to the dining room so don’t be late.”

He didn’t wait for a reply or to see what reaction his words would have on her. Spinning on his heel, he marched out the room, closing the door behind him firmly.

He needed to avoid being anywhere near the woman, especially with so many things on his plate needing his attention. He felt comforted by the idea as the heels of his boots made a soft tapping noise in the empty hall. Yes, Gwen McAllister would be easy to ignore.

Chapter Five

“So it is true. She lives.” Lancelot Du Lac, fiercest of the legendary knights, a warrior unparalleled in the art of the sword, looked ready to bolt out the door.

If circumstances were different Arthur would have found his old friend’s discomfort amusing. As things stood?

Not so funny.

Sitting in his high-backed chair he let his attention wander toward the majestic view of the Pacific Ocean out the bay window. He felt nothing of the pleasure it usually inspired in him. “Yes, but there is
something
off, there is no recollection of me. Not a glimmer at all.”