STORY EXCERPT

The young man turned his mount around and attempted to flee. Thankfully, the horse stumbled and fell, spilling the boy on the ground. He charged after the youth and closed in with swift strides. Alexander’s quarry stayed in sight as he weaved in and out of the trees.

Alexander kept close at his heels like a dog giving chase. Once the boy was in range, he launched himself on the youth and brought him to the ground. Underneath his hands, the boy felt lithe and slender, almost like a woman would. Small growls echoed from the knight’s throat and mingled with the horrific battle sounds a few yards away.

Alexander straddled the youth and held the boy’s arms back. “You will pay for that little injury, boy."

With that, he ripped the cowl back. What he saw made his jaw fall slack. Golden hair, pulled into a tight braid, flowed down the back of his head and disappeared beneath the edge of the cloak.

He quickly moved to the side and rolled the boy over. Only the stranger was not a boy. She was a most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Deep emerald eyes stared at him and flashed like lightning, full of innocent curiosity and fanned by a long set of blond lashes. High cheekbones comprised her face and made a perfect setting for an expertly sculpted nose. Full, luscious lips rested underneath. Her lower lip trembled lightly.

“Well, well, what do we have here?” Instantly, his cock hardened underneath his braes. He imagined her lush lips parted while moans of ecstasy escaped her delectable mouth as he plunged deep inside of her wet cavern as the sides of her pussy held him hostage. He groaned. From the way her armor rode away from her chest, he sensed her breasts were large and no doubt creamy, an attribute that never escaped his attention.

“’Tis none of your concern.”

She tried to push past him and rise, but he refused to let her. Instead, Alexander captured both slender wrists above her head and manacled them down. She was far too lovely not to look at. “Aye, it is my concern when I capture such a beautiful woman.” She intrigued him, from her soft breath to the aura of womanhood surrounding her. Since he would rid himself of Catherine once she bore his child, perhaps this one could warm his bed very well.

“Let me go.” From the way she clenched her jaw, this one was definitely stubborn and would give him a great challenge, both in and out of the bedcovers.

“No.” His fingers touched the hard shelf of her jaw to find her skin was as soft as it looked. He traveled upwards and caressed the silky strands of her luxurious hair. His large rod turned to painful steel beneath his braes and strained the leather almost to the breaking point. “You are a most beautiful woman, vixen. What is your name?”

Her features softened as a smile spread across her lips. “’Tis a name I am sure you will not forget quickly.”

Blood pulsed to his midsection at the sound of her voice. His braes tightened to the point of pain. “What is it?”

“This.”

She drove her knee hard into his groin. Explosions of pain erupted, and he grabbed his aching shaft. Damn her! She pushed past him and managed to bypass his outstretched hand. Biting through the pain, he leapt to his feet and took off after her. His stride was slow, but his anger, mingled with unrequited lust, energized him nonetheless. The girl had hurt him twice, and he was damned sure he was going to punish her thoroughly, but not before he tasted a little of her succulent fruit.

Alexander rounded a tree and discovered her in the arms of one of his men, quivering and shaking like a frightened rabbit caught in a trap. Her flight from him was over. “What shall we do with her, my lord?”

He stopped before her and crossed his thick arms over his chest. They would do nothing with her. She was his. “That is up to me, now is it not?”

//////////////////////////

Catherine shook in the hands of the Duke of Kent’s man, her mind awash in fresh terror. The Butcher of the Isles was determined to become her husband, despite his notorious hatred for Scots. After all, her people had killed the Butcher’s beloved, Riana, years before. So why did he want her of all women? At first, she had thought when the party melted out of the darkness she had imagined Laird Robert McLeish being her captor. Laird McLeish had promised years before when her grandfather, King James, had banished him from the court that he would claim her and become King of Scotland. Unfortunately, the nightmare was far darker than she could have ever imagined.

She felt trapped in this legion of tall men, their mighty armored statures dwarfing her completely. What was she to do? Her gaze darted about and flicked to the lifeless bodies of her garrison strewn about like cordwood. The men assigned to protect her were no more. Damn! Why could they have not been spared?

“We have the princess, my lord.”

Looking no worse for the wear, Taryn emerged through the thicket of soldiers carried between the arms of two of the large men. Aching pangs of regret knotted in her belly. She should not have had Taryn play her but she needed a decoy in case something of this nature happened, especially with McLeish on the loose.

A very tall man with an overabundance of light blond hair gestured toward her. “What do you wish to have done with her?”

The Duke stepped forward, his dark, mysterious eyes narrowed to slits "I have not decided yet." His full lips spread into a half smile. "As for the princess…" He pointed to Taryn. "Be certain that she is unharmed. We will be leaving for the chapel where I will wed her before the night is through."

Taryn lurched forward with her hands up. “No, wait, my lady!”

Catherine cringed at the sound of Taryn’s words. Her identity had been given away through no fault of Taryn’s. Fear had driven her servant to blurt out the plea.

The Duke’s stare turned to her. His scowl became something far more dangerous than his sword. Lust danced in those dark eyes, undoubtedly hungry for what he would do to her if she wed him. “What is the meaning of this?”

She looked away as his heated stare and intense emotions became too much for her to bear. “Nothing.” Catherine trembled as the blood turned to ice in her veins. This hulking beast meant to marry her, and there was no one here to stop him.

The Duke stalked over to her and jerked her away from her captor. In one swift move, Catherine found herself in a tight embrace against his hard body. “So you are the princess, and she is your maidservant. Ah, now I see the ruse.” His gloved fingers tilted her head up and gently forced her to stare into the murky depths of his black eyes. “So my little wife has a rebellious streak in her. I will have to take great pains never to extinguish that flame.”

Tremors of newfound emotion scuttled through her body. “You will do nothing of the sort. I will marry no man until I decide to do so.”

“I think not, dear lady. You see, you have no decision in the matter. If you resist me, I will have no qualms about giving your maidservant to my men for sport. Tell me, is that what you wish for her?”

Catherine looked at Taryn. Her friend’s eyes filled with abject panic, and her breathing turned shallow. Taryn had always been a friend to her as well as a servant. Indignity and death for Taryn was something she could avoid. Her spine stiffened. She was not about to allow this hulking beast to intimidate her. “Why do you wish to marry me?”

His thick arms crossed over his armor-clad chest. “I have no desire to wed you. I am only doing so on the orders of my king.” The Duke’s cruel voice cut through her as he pulled her in front of him. He captured her arms behind her back. “You see, I hate every Scot, including you. If it had not been for the Scots, my land would not have been pillaged nor my betrothed killed.”

“That had nothing to do with me.” She was not about to ask forgiveness for the ruthlessness of her people. As far as she was concerned, the past had gone and there was naught to do about it.

“It has to do with your people, little one.”

“Why marry me if you hate me so viciously then?”

“My king ordered me to wed you and produce an heir within a year.” The Duke’s gloved fingers picked up the stray strands of her blond hair and held them to his nose. “Since the king is my grandfather and I am his loyal subject, I intend to do as he has bid.”

The thought of giving this man a child filled her with a terror she had never experienced before. She could not see his features well but she knew him to be big, especially from the way he had landed on her initially. Her ribs and arms ached from when he had driven her to the ground in an effort to halt her flight. She let out a weary breath. The loss of her innocence to this beast was but a small price to pay for Taryn’s life. “If you promise to spare the life of my servant, I will marry you.” She removed herself from his grip and turned to stare at him. “It will be under duress, however for I want nothing to do with you."

“You will have everything to do with me, my dear. I will be your husband and I fully intend on taking my rights.” He leaned close, his lips inches from her cheek. She closed her eyes in an effort to withstand the assault on her senses. “You will come to look forward to my nightly demands for I know how to please a woman.” His voice dripped promise.

The mound between her legs quivered slightly at the thought. ‘Twas not as though she did not know what happened between a man and a woman. She had caught several of her father’s men in the stables with some of the maids, their moans rising high in the fresh clean scent of the barn. In a vivid memory, Catherine had witnessed a soldier on his knees before a maid. She held her dress up and exposed her mound to him. He licked his lips in a hungry fashion as she parted the wet folds as if to show him the treasure hiding inside. The soldier pressed his face to the mound as his long tongue flicked at the glistening button. Her nub grew with each stroke, the color burning red as passion pulsed. The maid threw her head back and moaned, bending her knees so that her pussy was wide open to her lover. He lapped at her more as his hands grabbed her hips and pinioned her in position so that his tongue could delve deeper into her. The woman’s cries became louder and louder as she undulated against his face. Catherine had gasped as the sight and touched her own swollen mound as her nipples puckered beneath her bodice. Why was she so hot suddenly?

Just as the woman’s climax was about to wash over her, the soldier pulled the girl downward and unlaced his breeches. Catherine had gasped when his long, hard member came to light, thick and ready. Without ceremony, he plunged into the maid’s welcoming sex, positioning in and out, riding the poor girl hard. Catherine had watched as he took his prize, his hard cock slick with the maid’s juice. He thrust hard, making the poor girl moan endlessly. Catherine’s own pussy dampened and throbbed as she imagined herself impaled by his thick cock and swooning in ecstasy….

Catherine jerked her head up and wiped every delicious thought from her head. The last thing she wanted the Duke to know was the effect he was having on her. “I have my doubts for I am only doing this to save my maid servant’s life, nothing more.”

The Duke locked a thick arm around her waist. He tilted her head up, and looked deep into her his eyes. “You will share my bed, little Catherine, and bear me a son in the coming year.” His voice dropped several octaves and dripped with sexual promise. The area between her legs dampened quickly. “You may come to enjoy what I have planned for you.” The masculine timbre, mingled with the maleness of him, made her feel a little lightheaded as the blood pounded her veins. “Even though you think me to be cruel, you may find I can be tame as well."

ADULT EXCERPT

The Duke smiled as he slid his fingers out of her and touched his lower lip. His tongue snaked out and tasted her juices. He smiled with a wicked grin as he licked his fingers clean. “Just as sweet as I had imagined.” He stood to his tall height of over six foot five inches. “Undo my braes.”

Catherine’s gaze flicked to the bulge straining his braes, the tip of his cock nearly reaching his navel. What should she do? With shaking fingers, drunk on her own sexual power , she unlaced the leather laces holding his garment intact. Once the edges were parted, his rod emerged, hard and erect with the mushroom-like head glistening with moisture. She gasped. “Your intention is to put that into me?”

“Every inch of my hard cock will be in you tonight, but for now, I will have to settle for release of a different kind.” The corner of his lips curled into a sensual half grin. “Now get to your feet.”

Catherine wanted to rebel but the sight of his delicious looking shaft captured her attention completely. “What ‘tis it you wish me to do?”

“Give me your hand.”

She offered the slender limb to him, and he guided her to the head of his thick shaft., She marveled at the beauty of him and touched his velvety flesh, taut and blue-veined. Her climax burned through her again as her juice flowed from her pussy and dampened her braes.

“Move your hand in this fashion.” He wrapped her hand around the shaft. He pumped her hand and showed her the amount of pressure he liked. “Ah, that is good.” He leaned his head back and closed his eyes all the while he held onto her shoulders. She marveled at the fact her fingers were in no way even close to touching because of his girth. The fact that her sex would be stretched to the limit as this beautiful organ filled her was an enticement unto itself. “Ah, that is it, Catherine. I want to come into you tonight and every night. I want to sink my cock into you until you are drunk with the pleasure of it.”

The Duke continued to murmur his promises as she continued to manipulate his cock. Clear droplets of liquid formed at the top and gave off a musky scent. Taking her thumb, Catherine swirled the moisture around the mushroom-shaped head and parted the slender hole from which water emerged. The Duke groaned tightening his grip on her shoulders. Curious, Catherine dipped her head and licked at his shaft, tasting the sticky liquid. “That ‘tis it, Catherine. Take my cock in your mouth and suckle it.”

Catherine did not need further encouragement. Wrapping her lips around his thickness, she took him as deeply as she could before retreating with slow and deliberate movements.

“Suck my cock harder and faster, Catherine,” the Duke groaned in a half whisper. “I want to feel the back of your throat.”

She followed his command and intensified her motions. The Duke held her steady as he fucked her mouth gently. His thick cock stretched her mouth to the limit but Catherine did not care. He stirred her senses and made her feel alive, just by having his engorged organ in her mouth and knowing that she brought him pleasure, just as he had her.

Catherine deepened her sucking. She tightened her lips around the shaft, forming a tight barrier. Up and down, she milked his cock while her hands kneaded his sacs, tight with the need to come. He bucked against her mouth and continued fucking her mouth slowly. “‘Tis it, Catherine. Take my cock in all the way. ‘Tis a good girl.”

Alexander opened his eyes and tilted his head forward. Catherine worked her magic with her virgin mouth. He marveled that her perfect pink mouth fit around his shaft. He pumped her mouth slowly and enjoyed the way his cock disappeared between her plump pink lips. Suddenly, Alexander felt his control desert him at a time when he needed it most. “Deeper, Catherine, deeper.”

Just as his instructions escaped his mouth, a shot of warm salty liquid filled her mouth and she withdrew, unsure of what happened. The Duke’s breathing was ragged as he stroked her hair. “Swallow my seed and lick my shaft clean, Catherine. I want my come inside of you in some form if I cannot spill it in your virgin pussy—as of yet.”

“But—“

The Duke traced her lips with the wet head of his cock. “Lick it clean as you have been instructed.”

Catherine lapped at his musky juices and reveled in the taste of his essence, masculine and earthy. The Duke watched her with fascination. “‘Tis a good girl. I want a clean rod before I tuck it away.” His sensual smile initiated the desire all over again. “I must say that was the best cock suckling I have had in a while.”

Florid heat filled her face. How could she have given herself to him that easily? Was she that wanton? “You—are most welcome, my lord.” She turned away as he tucked his spent organ back into his braes. She was a whore and nothing but. This man was her hated enemy, yet with one touch she gave herself over to his ministrations willingly. She let out a weary sigh. What was wrong with her? His scented fingers caressed the side of her face. “You taste as sweet as I imagined.” The Duke tasted his fingers again. “I know I will enjoy tonight.”