Eversong (The Kindred Book 1) Page 13

  Leoma moved aside the covers. “What are you waiting for?”

  He yanked off his tunic and trousers before slipping beneath the covers beside her. She closed her eyes in contentment as he brought her against his hard body.

  “I heard that sigh,” he said, a smile in his voice.

  “Aye. Your shoulder makes a good pillow.”

  With one arm holding her against him, he put his other beneath his head. She opened her eyes to find him staring at the ceiling.

  “Did you tell Roger about the Coven?” she asked.

  “I told him that a woman killed Josef and that I was after her. That’s how I stumbled upon you. In the mix, we discovered Brigitta was part of a larger group that is now after both of us. I decided it was better to leave off all mention of magic. I wasn’t sure if he would think you bewitched me.”

  She swallowed and let her fingers run through his chest hair. “That was probably wise.”

  “Roger had many questions about you. Specifically why you were dressed as you were.”

  “Is that so?” Somehow, she wasn’t surprised.

  Braith’s chest rose as it expanded with air. “I told him it was my idea to help you hide from the group.”

  “And he believed you?”

  “I’m not sure. He wanted me to bring you down so he could pose his questions directly to you.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “I’d rather not.”

  “You don’t like him.”

  She didn’t bother to rebuff his statement. “I have a difficult time trusting anyone.”

  “I know the feeling well.”

  “We should’ve seen to your horse.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “Roger had a stable boy bring him some oats and water.”

  “There will be questions. Who was the tower prepared for? Whose horse is it?”

  “And we’ll be gone before anyone even starts looking.”

  She heard the fatigue in his words. While she hoped they might make love again, she knew that, above all, Braith needed sleep. There had been three occasions where she’d gone without sleep for a day or more, and the toll it took on her was swift and severe.

  If they were to have a chance of outmaneuvering the Coven, then both of them needed to be at their best.

  “Tell me how you came to be with Edra,” he asked.

  Leoma rested her palm flat against his chest. “I’ve not thought about that day in a long time. I remember it was raining. There was mud everywhere. I couldn’t find a dry place. And I was hungry. The kind of hungry where you’re weak and nauseous, where you can feel your belly rubbing against itself.”

  “How long had you been on your own?”

  “I don’t know. A long time. I begged for what food I could, and I occasionally stole some. It was a horrible life. I kept out of sight because some men tried to take me. I’m not even sure how Edra saw me that day. I watched everyone from my hiding spot while trying not to think about food. I saw her ride into town with Radnar. And then she stopped and got off her horse to walk to me.”

  Braith’s head moved toward her. “You didn’t run?”

  “Nay, and I don’t know why. Maybe I was too weak. Maybe it was because of the food she gave me. I’m not sure why I trusted her immediately. Then she offered me a home, and since my situation wasn’t getting any better, I went with her. She and Radnar became my parents, I suppose you could say.”

  “It’s fortunate that they found you.”

  She knew that all too well, having brought in homeless children to the abbey herself. “I remember when Edra brought Radnar and me to the abbey. It was nothing but ruins then, hidden mostly by the forest that had grown up around it. But it was a stunning sight. Right there in the abbey, I watched Radnar and Edra exchange their vows to become man and wife.”

  “You love them very much,” he said sleepily.

  “Aye.”

  He grunted softly. “My mother died giving birth to me. My sire used to tell me often how I was born in battle and blood. That wasn’t exactly the case, but he had to cut open my mother so I could be born. I suppose, in my father’s eyes, that was battle.”

  “At least you knew him. I recall nothing of my parents.”

  “For as far back as I can remember, blood and death have been my life. My father brought me to every skirmish he led. He employed a wet nurse at first, and then an older woman. By the time I could crawl, I was passed around in the camp, knights taking turns watching me as my father trained or went to war.”

  Her heart broke for him. “That couldn’t have been an easy way to grow up.”

  “I learned how to wield a sword earlier than most. I earned my meals by completing whatever training my father had for me or fighting others for it. It continued that way until I was twelve summers and my father was killed. A spear right to his heart.”

  “What did you do then?”

  Braith moved his hand from behind his head and lightly touched her face. “I was given a choice. Become the squire of the lord my father served, or get kicked out of camp. The idea of leaving what I knew terrified me, so I remained. My training continued, and it wasn’t long before I earned my spurs and was knighted. From then on, I used my skills to win at tournaments as well as battles.”

  “How did the king find you?”

  “He was at a tournament and saw me. It just so happened the lord I was in service to—an earl—sang my praises to the king, who then sought me out.”

  Leoma lifted her head and placed a soft kiss on his lips. She smiled to see that he had been talking with his eyes closed. “You sure made something of yourself.”

  “You, as well,” he said, his eyes opening a fraction to look at her.

  “You’ll fit in nicely at the abbey.”

  Braith chuckled. “You mean after we get the pesky Coven off my arse, right?”

  “We will. Somehow, we will.”

  His arms tightened around her. “We’d better because there are lots of things I’d like to do with you. I certainly don’t want this to be our only night in a bed together.”

  She grinned as his words trailed off and he began to snore softly.

  Chapter 20

  The softness of her skin lulled him, but it was the warmth of her body that tugged him from the arms of sleep. Braith opened his eyes, staring in wonderment at the woman lying beside him on her back.

  He wound a long, dark lock of her hair around his finger, mesmerized by the silken texture. He found everything about Leoma utterly fascinating, and completely beguiling.

  His cock hardened when her leg slid against his. How he craved this woman, hungered for her with such profound intensity that he was shaken by it.

  But that didn’t make him withdrawn.

  Instead, he found himself wanting to be closer to her. He longed to know every thought in that amazing head of hers, to have her dark, enthralling eyes directed at him with desire and...love.

  Braith knew it was foolish for someone such as he to want love. He understood very little of it. It wasn’t as if his father had given him much, but he had witnessed the act despite living with a sword in his hand and death beside him.

  Not once had he sought out a woman to be his wife. He had neither the patience to deal with a bride nor the mindset to worry about a household.

  At least, that’s what he’d once thought.

  Everything had changed when Leoma walked into his life that night and knocked him out. Ever since, he hadn’t been able to get the burning, consuming need for her out of his system. And the longer he was with her, the more he craved her.

  He released her hair and skimmed the backs of his fingers along her jaw. Long, black lashes fell against her cheek, her lips parted in sleep.

  There were so many things he had wanted to do to her—with her—last night. Having her naked against him had been heaven. And then he’d fallen asleep.

  He grinned as he pushed the covers down to reveal her breasts. Her nipples puckered beneath his gaze. With his mouth
watering, he leaned over and wrapped his lips around a turgid peak. He swirled his tongue around the tip before suckling it.

  But that wasn’t enough. He wanted so much more.

  Braith slowly removed the covers from both of them and nudged her knees apart. With his eyes on her face, he cautiously settled between her long legs.

  His gaze lowered to the patch of dark hair at the juncture of her thighs. He gently ran his fingers through the curls a couple of times. Then he bent and put his mouth to her. He ran his tongue softly against her all the way up to her clit. Then he swirled his tongue around the sensitive nub, gradually moving faster with each swipe.

  A glance up showed her breath deepening as her hips began to rock. Braith doubled his efforts, tonguing her, licking her. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, and her head began to roll on the pillow.

  Suddenly, her eyes flew open, meeting his. Her dark gaze widened as a soft cry of pleasure fell from her lips. With her hands fisted in the linens, her back arched as her body stiffened with her climax.

  The sight of her body flushed with pleasure, and the taste of her desire was too much. He rose up over her, his cock straining with need.

  Her eyes opened after she collapsed onto the bed. She reached for him, rising up as she did. With a hook of her leg against his and her momentum, she flipped him onto his back and straddled him.

  Braith smiled up at her. “My wild woman.”

  With her dark hair flowing around her, she leaned forward and braced her hands on his chest. “I like being woken like that.”

  “Then I’ll do it every morning.”

  She reached between them and wrapped her fingers around him. Rising up on her knees, she moved him to her entrance and slowly lowered herself onto him. “Aye,” she whispered.

  He grasped her breasts and massaged them, thumbing her nipples as she began to rock her hips. Desire, lust, and need surged through him, gathering in his balls as he watched her head drop back while she moved faster and faster.

  It never entered his mind to try and control his needs. Not with her. With his orgasm growing closer, he sat up and clasped her to him.

  Her head lifted as she looked down at him. With her hands running over his face, he watched as pleasure pulled her closer and closer to the edge once again.

  “Braith,” she murmured.

  He fisted her hair in his hands. “Not yet. Wait for me. We’ll go together.”

  “I...can’t,” she replied breathlessly.

  With her body moving sensuously against him and the tight walls of her sheath stroking his arousal, he was hurled to the edge, knowing that she was waiting for him.

  “Now,” he ground out as he grasped her hips and slammed her down on him.

  Her nails dug into his arms as her walls began to milk him. As soon as the first cries of ecstasy fell from her lips, he flipped her onto her back and covered her mouth with his hand. He continued to thrust into her, drawing out their shared climax until both were spent and slick with sweat.

  He moved his hand away when she grew silent. With her dark brown eyes looking up at him, he lowered his forehead to hers. They remained with their bodies joined and their limbs tangled for several moments.

  This was the kind of morning he longed for. Perhaps he had always wanted it but never understood the hollow ache in his chest.

  “You look sad,” Leoma said as she touched his face.

  He lifted his head. “I like...us.”

  “As do I.”

  “I want more mornings like this.”

  Her lips lifted in a soft smile. “And nights. And days.”

  “Aye. Do you th...” His words trailed off as his hearing picked up something.

  “I heard it, as well,” she whispered.

  Without a word, they rose and hurriedly dressed. He was sheathing his sword when Leoma looked through the slats of the window. “It’s nearly dawn. We should go.”

  “We’ll head back out the passageway that we came in.”

  “I don’t think we’ll have time.”

  He frowned at her words and walked to the window to see what caught her attention. As soon as he saw the women approaching the castle, he knew it was going to be a fight for them to get out before the witches found them.

  His head turned to Leoma. “The gate is closed, so the witches cannot get inside the castle. Few are up at his hour. We can sneak out.”

  Her gaze turned back to look outside briefly. “We should hurry.”

  “They shouldn’t have found us,” he said as they strode to the door.

  “It does no good to try and determine how they found us.”

  Braith opened the portal, and they started down the tower stairs. They reached the bottom, and he halted at the sight of Roger, who was leaning against the wall casually eating an apple.

  “We need to leave now,” he told his friend. “The group we’re running from has found us.”

  Roger bit loudly into the apple and chewed a few times before he lifted his gaze to them. “I know, though I’m afraid you won’t have time to get out. I let the Coven know you were here last night.”

  Braith couldn’t have heard him right. “Why?”

  “Why?” Roger asked as he pushed away from the wall and tossed aside the fruit. “How do you think I came to have this castle, Braith? How do you think I got the title? How do you think I was able to outmaneuver the duke that once owned this place? With all the hidden passageways and tunnels running through this castle, he could’ve easily gotten away. And he would have, had the Coven not helped me.”

  Braith shook his head. “Nay.”

  “All I had to do in exchange for them creating the lie that the duke planned to assassinate the king was serve them. The more I served them, the more they gave me.” Roger shrugged, his lips turning down in a frown. “Sorry, old friend, but they have need of you.” His gaze moved up to where Leoma stood on the stairs behind Braith. “And your companion.”

  “I was with you when we fought the duke’s men for this castle. There was no magic involved.”

  “Of course, there was. You just didn’t see it.”

  Braith withdrew his sword from its sheath. “You were a good, honorable man. What happened to you?”

  “I got tired of battle, of being covered in blood all the time. I grew weary of fighting for the rich and getting little in return. I had no idea I was bedding a witch until I told her what I wished for. When she told me I could get everything I wanted and more if I served her, I happily agreed.”

  Braith held his sword, the blade lowered to the ground. He didn’t know what to make of his friend. He never would have believed Roger could be swayed by the Coven.

  “Make it easy on yourself,” Roger said. “Give me your sword. I’ll walk the two of you out to the Coven.”

  Although Leoma hadn’t uttered a single sound, Braith didn’t need to look at her to know what she wanted to do. Fight. And he was in complete agreement.

  There was no way he would so casually give up his sword. He was a warrior, a knight of the realm, who vowed to fight against evil. Unfortunately, that turned his sights on Roger.

  “Nay,” Braith stated.

  Roger let out a loud sigh. “I’d hoped you would see sense, but if you want to do this the hard way, I’m happy to oblige.”

  As soon as he finished speaking, a dozen armed men filled the area. Roger gave him a smile and stepped aside.

  Braith lifted his sword to block the downward swing of a blade. He dropped onto one knee and yanked Leoma’s dagger from his boot to stick in the man’s side. His attacker stumbled away, holding his bleeding wound.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Leoma put a hand to the wall and launch herself over him, her feet connecting with the opposite wall to propel her forward. He watched as she twisted in midair and came down in the middle of the men, landing on one knee.

  She raised her head and slowly stood, unsheathing her sword as she did. The men were so taken aback by her moves, that they didn’t kn
ow what to do.

  Braith smiled as he let out a bellow and advanced on the man closest to him. As their swords connected, he got a glimpse of Leoma as she used her blade, hands, feet, and body to launch her attack.

  Then he was mired in blood once more. The familiar sounds of swords clanging, bellows of pain, and shouts of attack settled over him.

  He grabbed one man by the hair and slammed him, face-first, into the stone. Braith then punched another in the nose, using the pommel of his sword before swinging his blade to the side and slicing a man through the middle.

  Braith ducked a fist and straightened before turning slightly to slam his elbow into an opponent’s throat. There was little room to maneuver in the tower, and with every man that fell dead at his feet, he tried not to trip over them. Thankfully, the disadvantage affected everyone in the space.

  He took a deep breath as the final man gurgled his last. He yanked his sword from the knight and raised his head to look for Leoma.

  Braith heard the clanging of swords and jumped over the dead bodies to follow. His heart hammered against his ribs at the idea that Leoma had left the tower and he hadn’t even known.

  Was it Roger who led her out? Or was it the Coven. Braith was more concerned about Roger because he knew how treacherous the bastard could be. His treason had always been against others in the past, but Braith now knew the sting of that betrayal, as well.

  He rushed toward the sounds of battle and slid to a halt when he spotted Leoma fighting four knights in the hall below.

  Just as he was about to jump down to help her, more men poured out from either side of him.

  Chapter 21

  She was going to kill him. Leoma cut through the men as she fought her way to Roger. The bastard had betrayed Braith, and she wouldn’t stand for that.

  After Braith had sung his praises, she watched her lover’s face as shock and anger contorted his features. The fury that swallowed her had been thick and cloying. Her hand had immediately gone to her weapon while she locked her focus on the traitor.

  The moment Braith drew his weapon, she was ready for combat, ready to sink her blade into Roger.