Conquered – ebook

Excerpt

Rolph’s steps ate up the distance between us. He notched my chin up to meet his hot gaze. “You are spoken for?”

His touch felt like the most pleasant fire I’d ever had the misfortune to be burned by. “Not anymore,” I returned cryptically.

His brow hiked in question. “And what happened to…,”

“Carrion,” I provided.

“Carrion,” he ground out the name as though it was the most offensive one he’d ever uttered.

“He’s a coward who decided to desert my people and run away when things became difficult,” I angrily revealed.

Rolph searched my face trying to pluck the secrets from the very depths of my head. “He was not only a coward, but a fool,” he intoned, his thumb skimming my cheek. “And if my men find him, milady, I’ll show him exactly what I do to cowards and fools.”

His words should have upset me, but they didn’t. They had the opposite effect. Biting my lip, I tried to look away and hide my arousal. Ever observant, Rolph picked up on it and smiled knowingly.

“Terms,” I deflected, trying to break the tension that stood so thickly between us. “If not fealty that I can offer your king, then what would please him?”

Rolph’s thumb moved from my cheek to my lips. Leaning down, he whispered low into my ear, “Your complete and utter submission.” Hand gliding down my face, his fingers lightly wrapped around my throat and squeezed the delicate flesh there.

His hot words and hotter touch nearly melted me into a puddle at his feet. Moisture pooled between my legs and I had the craziest desire for him to stroke me there. Explore my body with his rough fingers as I did myself late at night.

“Is that how the Normans treat their friends, milord?” I rasped, pushing hard against his chest, desperately needing space between us. “By destroying them?”

Rolph leaned back. “So, you wish to be friends now?”

“I believe that all good friendships start with trust. Do you wish me to trust you, Rolph?” I evaded.

“Say it again,” he growled. His hands dropped to my waist. Pinning me against the tree, he thrust his hardness against my sex to emphasize his desire. “But this time, say it slower, and with the promise that you’ll give me your complete and utter submission.”

The man was an oak. I could feel my advantage slipping away. Fear for my people surged to the forefront of my thoughts. We were in danger of losing everything. I had to think fast. Act more boldly.

“I will submit,” I enticed, licking my lips as Rolph traced the course of my tongue with his eyes. I could feel his thick, demanding cock against my belly and it was driving me to distraction. “I will submit,” I repeated breathily, “my castle to you. All my soldiers will put down their weapons and stop fighting. If you promise me a few things in return.”

Rolph’s fingers skimmed over my hips and his large palms cupped my backside. Grinding his sizeable length against me, I shuddered and placed my hands on his waist to steady myself.

Rubbing his nose along the column of my neck, he inhaled my scent. “What do you want, Bet?”

“I want my people to be safe,” I answered, my breath coming faster and more ragged from the passion he was stirring inside me. “If I let you in, no man, or woman, shall be harmed.”

“The men shall become my prisoners to do with as I see fit,” Rolph quickly bartered, “but your women and children will be spared. What else?” He ran his wet, hot tongue from my ear down to the skin just above my bodice.

“I want a chance to speak with William and pledge my allegiance.” I bit back a moan as his tongue slid between the divide of my heaving breasts and roughly scraped the tips of my hard nipples. “I have a small estate north of here. I request to retain it and take my people there if they’re no longer welcome at Bailliot.”

“I will get you your audience with William, but I cannot promise he’ll let you maintain ownership of your title or lands. Anything else?” Rolph prompted, his fingers stealing beneath my gown and teasing my thighs apart.

This time I did moan. Low and deep. “When you catch that sniveling, thieving, bastard Carrion, I request to be the one to tell him he’s going to die before you end his miserable life!”

Stilling, Rolph’s eyes sharpened to suspicious slits. “Your former fiancé? Why?”

“Because,” I hissed, amber orbs blazing, “I desire to see the fear in his eyes before he dies!”

Movement from the perimeter of the woods garnered my attention then. The two men who’d accompanied Rolph at the beginning of our meeting were outlined by the moon’s light.

In his native tongue, the larger of the two soldiers called out to his lord, “She hasn’t cut your cock off in there, has she?”

Rolph grinned wickedly. “I’m still intact, Uber,” he replied in kind.

My panicked gaze caught and held his. “Do we have a deal?”

Fingers climbing higher, Rolph moved them briefly across my mound then gently swiped them through the moisture between my folds. His thumb edged upward. It circled the swollen nub of flesh that was now the center of my body and brain.

My face flushed red from the sudden invasion and his discovery of my excitement. Clutching his arms, I unconsciously rocked against his hand.

Rolph watched me as he slowly worked me over, his pupils dilating from his own excitement. His own need. Clutching him tighter, I whimpered at his expert handling. Just as I was about to reach the pinnacle of his efforts, his soldier called out to his master once more.

“Milord, the thirty minutes is almost up.”

Freeing his hand from my gown, Rolph brought the slick digits to his lips. As he licked them clean, I watched enthralled. “We have a deal,” he agreed. “But just like you, Bet, I don’t like being double-crossed. Don’t think to go back on your word. You will let me inside your walls tonight,” he warned, “or else you’ll learn the full truth of what it means to be conquered!