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  “Why not?”

  “Because he has a knack of escaping his fate. Though perhaps this time someone will deal with him once and for all.” She could hope...

  “You don't like him much, do you Lady?”

  “No, with good reason.” She sighed and rubbed her temples. “Hopefully there will be something good to eat.”

  “Baked fish, though they killed a cow the other day, might be beef.”

  Celeste smiled, she could hear the desire in his voice. Desire. That was another problem she had been left with. No matter how deeply she wanted to deny it, Davien's kiss had set her desire alight. Her inner walls clenched. Her clit throbbed. She hadn't wanted to react this way, but now couldn't stop it. Her body had become attuned to his touch, his kiss, the way her body rippled and desired him.

  “This way, just one turn and a flight of stairs to go.”

  “Thanks.” She nodded and followed him through the fortress a little more. She knew where the kitchen was, she'd just never been there until now. “Something smells good.” The last time she'd been in one of the kitchens of a great house, it had been Tearlach's residence in London...

  Not something she wanted to relive. Not if she could help it. The very memory of being with him left her feeling sick to the core. If she hadn't been snatched by Tearlach then she might have found a way home. Now she was trapped on this island, with three men who wanted her and bound by rules that could condemn her if she made a single slip.

  “You look drained, Lady.”

  “It's been a long day.” In more ways than one. “But thank you for that.” Celeste pushed open the door to the kitchen and smiled. Warmth and the smell of good food welcomed her, embraced her as she walked fully into the room. A dozen men and women in grey servant's uniforms worked here. Fresh bread baked in the ovens. A pot of stew over the fire. A roast turned on a spit.

  Welcome. Yes, she felt welcomed here. At peace. Home.

  “Miss, is there something we can get you?” One of the maids turned and offered a warm smile. “Normally we don't see people come down here from upstairs... ”

  “Just hungry and thought where better to eat than the kitchen.” Celeste nodded toward the large table. “Would it be all right if ate here?”

  “Cook?”

  “Don't see a problem with it.” An older woman turned to look at her for a minute and then smiled. “Welcome Lady.”

  “Thank you, Ma'am. I won't be a problem.” Celeste settled down at the table and looked around the kitchen again. The guard had wandered away to a smaller table and helped himself to a cut of beef, leaving Celeste alone at the large main table in the warm room. “Is there anything I could eat that wouldn't leave you short?”

  “Roast beef, Lady. Baked Cod. Either would taste good now.”

  “The beef then, bread and tea, if you have any?”

  “Won't take but a moment to get the kettle on, love.” The older woman flashed a smile and turned her attention to her work, setting one of the maids to get the meal ready for Celeste.

  Celeste rubbed her temples. Even now, away from him in the kitchen, she could feel his presence and it wasn't something she was comfortable with. Her body ached for his touch, or right now anyone's and she had to find a way to deal with it. Not as a submissive though. Never that again if she could help it.

  “Here you go, miss. Good hot meat and potatoes, gravy too. Cook thought you might like it with all the trimmings.”

  Celeste grinned and reached for the platter set before her, her stomach growling in sheer delight. “Thank you. This looks wonderful.”

  For the next hour Celeste did nothing more than enjoy her meal and tea, chatting occasionally with the servants working in the kitchen. With no men to bother her she was able to relax enough to savor her dinner. A pleasure she treasured.

  But she couldn't stay here forever. It would be a form of hiding and wouldn't do her any good. Celeste closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. She had to go back to her room.

  “Lady, do you need someone to walk back with you to your room? The guard was asking, he's due off duty in an hour.” A young assistant to the cook walked over to the table and collected the platter.

  “Then I best return to my room now. Thank you, again, the food was delicious and the company appreciated.” Celeste stood up and pushed a stray lock of hair back from her face.

  The guard rose and walked over, a contented smile on his face. “You look a little better, lady.”

  “I feel it as well.” She smiled and looked around the kitchen one last time before she turned to walk back out of the kitchen. “Thank you, for bringing me down here, I needed the time and the food.”

  “Not a problem, lady.” He brushed against her briefly, the warmth of his touch reminding her of the hunger in her body. “It is a pleasure, in more ways than one.”

  The words teased at her senses, offering her something she wanted to grasp and hold onto if only for a short time. Would it be wise to see if he would spend the time with her? She hadn't seen any male slaves on the island and she craved the touch of a man. Would it cause him trouble? She frowned as they reached the corridor where her room was.

  Would it bring trouble down on me?

  “Lady, is there something else you need, something I could do for you?” His voice a seductive whisper.

  Or was that just her imagination? Did she need a man's touch that badly that she would lust after a guard who had been kind to her. “Best I see to myself once I am in my room, but thank you. I would not wish to bring you trouble.”

  “You couldn't get me into trouble if I offered freely, Lady.”

  She rested one hand against her door, her eyes closing for a moment. “This is a conversation we should be having in private.”

  “Agreed.”

  Celeste pushed open the door to her room and let the guard follow her in. Once he was within the room she closed it firmly, making certain that no one would be able to hear what they were discussing. The last thing she needed was to have this conversation overheard.

  “Sit, please.” She nodded toward the chairs in her room. “I would have us comfortable for this conversation. I wasn't— I don't know what I was expecting.”

  “It wouldn't be the first time a member of the guard had dallied with one of the ladies.” The guard settled down into one of the chairs. “I'm Andrew, by the way.”

  “A good English name.” Celeste settled into one of the other chairs, her mind spinning. “You've served here long?”

  “A year, lady. Not long I know, but enough to get the feel of this place.” He nodded slightly and let his gaze play over her form. “Are you interested in my proposition, lady? Of company?”

  “Company, that is one way of putting it. But that's not what you're offering, are you?”

  “No, lady.”

  “So just what are you offering, so there are no misunderstandings.” The last thing she needed was an issue of her misusing the guards.

  “My company, in an intimate manner, lady. In anyway you see fit.” He blushed slightly and looked away from her. “As either a play thing or— well, I'm sure you get the picture.”

  “And the rules about being submissive?”

  “Do not apply behind closed doors, lady. You know that.” Andrew smiled, though there was a nervous twitch around his eyes. “Though I would understand why you would be worried about such a thing being done. You do not know if I can be trusted or not, or if the law is upheld.”

  “Something like that.” She didn't trust many, and had less reason to try to trust anew. “I would enjoy the touch of a man again instead of that of a woman.”

  “There is a lack of male slaves on the island.”

  “Indeed.” Cold sweat beaded down her back, this was a chance she was taking and it left her feeling uncertain. “One that I have wondered at.”

  “It is the Lord of the Island's choice, lady.” Andrew smiled. “I think he would not enjoy having male slaves on the island, or perhaps he would enjoy
it too much, I couldn't tell you.”

  There was something odd about the man. He gave her the creeps in more ways than one. The way he looked at her, spoke to her and the others, no there was something wrong with him. “And have you served one of the ladies here before?”

  “No, I haven't found one I've felt comfortable with.” A slight blush touched his cheeks. Almost innocent. “You're not like the others. You don't use people.”

  “No, I don't. Or I try not to.” There had been times she had used others, she didn't like it though, the feeling it left her with. “I have had to use others once or twice. It wasn't a choice I enjoyed.”

  He nodded, his gaze never leaving her face. “If you would have me I would serve you this night.”

  Her inner walls rippled at the thought of it. His cock. His body. She needed it. It would have been nice to know that she could refuse what he offered. She could but she didn't want to. She didn't want to be alone. Not tonight. Not with what now boiled in the pit of her being.

  “Strip and move onto the bed.” She whispered, her gut knotting. She half expected him to refuse and laugh at her. He didn't.

  Chapter Four

  Andrew pushed to his feet and walked to the bed, pulling off his uniform as he walked. Celeste's breath caught in the back of her throat. He was obeying her. Fully. Why?

  “Is this what you want?” Andrew looked at her, a smile on his face as he stripped the last of his clothing off.

  “Yes.” Celeste rose slowly, smoothing down her dress. “It is.”

  “Good.” His cock thickened against his thigh, hungry for her touch. He moved onto the bed, laying face up, his cock throbbing as he watched her move toward the bed. “You're beautiful, lady. More so than any other woman I've seen before. Like walking ice, and yet you burn. A desire, a passion, it's in your eyes, the way you speak, the way you look at people, the sway of your hips. It can't be ignored. Not by any man with a grain of life still left in him, lady.”

  “Thank you.” Heat flushed across her cheeks. Compliments. She wasn't used to them, not in that sense. Not as a woman with the right to say no. “Close your eyes.”

  He didn't hesitate. His eyes closed, long lashes caressing his cheeks. Innocent and wicked all rolled into one. Her inner walls rippled, tightening in need. She had to experience him. Now.

  She pulled off her dress, laying it over the chair. Her body trembled. Breasts tightened. Nipples taut. She couldn't ignore how she felt right now. She didn't want to ignore it. The last items of clothing joined the dress over the back of the chair and she took a deep breath. This was the last chance she had to change her mind.

  I don't want to change my mind.

  Celeste leaned forward and traced the tip of one finger across his chest. He shivered. His cock throbbed and thrust upward. So eager. So full of life. He would do anything she wanted, just as long as he could enjoy her body in return. And she'd let him. In time.

  “You want me?”

  “Yes,” his word a hiss, his body tight as he lay, waiting for her, on the bed. “I need you, lady. Need your touch. I crave it. Fully.”

  “Nice to be wanted.” She murmured. She'd been wanted before, but not like this. Not as an equal, or dominant. Even the slave hadn't made her feel like this. With the slave there had been fear. Not with Andrew.

  “Needed.” He whispered.

  Yes, needed. When was I last truly needed as anything other than a pet, a slave? A pretty piece of property to sate their needs? Never...

  She eased onto the bed. Her knees touching his body as she shifted over him, resting her knees on either side of his hips, keeping herself above him. Her core pulsed. His cock throbbed. It would have been so easy just to sink down on his cock and claim him. But she wanted more than just a quick fuck.

  “Please.” Andrew whimpered.

  “Soon.” She lowered down slowly over his groin, feeling the swell of his cock pressed against her inner thigh. “Very soon.” She rocked her hips back and forth, teasing his cock.

  “You smell— soft. Strong at the same time.”

  She almost laughed. Men didn't look at her the way she looked at herself. Now she could enjoy it, relish how she was being respected and treated instead of the way the men who had owned her had treated her. She leaned forward, tracing her fingernails over his chest, the touch slow, light and teasing. He groaned beneath her touch, arching his back, his hands tightening into fists at his sides.

  “You like that.”

  “Yes,” the word little more than a hiss.

  “You want more?”

  “Please.”

  Celeste smiled and traced her nails over his chest, teasing his nipples. Each touch taunted him with what was to come. Her hips rolled, her lower lips so close to his cock that she knew he could feel them. She reached up, undoing the braid, letting her hair fall loose about her shoulders, smiling as it teased across his chest. Each light caress of her hair added to the tension in his body and she feasted on the low, whimpering sounds he made.

  Pleasure, it was hers to command or deny and she sank into the joy of it. She'd never known such power with a man before, and she wasn't about to turn her back on it. Not now, not ever.

  Her sex throbbed, demanding attention. Her clit ached, wanting to be touched, caressed or teased. Now.

  “Watch me. Do not touch, just watch me.”

  Andrew opened his eyes, his gaze fixing on her body. Celeste smiled. She cupped her breasts in both hands, teasing her fingers over her nipples, watching as his eyes widened. She pinched both nipples, a soft jolt rocking through her hips as his cock throbbed against her thighs.

  “You're tormenting me.”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I can, because you enjoy watching. And because it's arousing us both even more.” Celeste saw not point in hiding it from him. “You're enjoying every minute of this.”

  “Yes.” He nodded and trembled beneath her. His cock pressed against her inner thighs, throbbing, the tip wet from his passion. “Please, I feel like I'm about to explode.”

  Her core tightened in response to his words. She needed him, his cock, his body, buried deep within her, and she needed it now. She groaned and lowered slowly down onto his cock, taking it an inch at a time within her clenching heat.

  Andrew closed his eyes, his hips rolling up to thrust deep within her body, his hands fisted at his sides as she claimed his thick erection.

  For a moment she didn't move, she didn't want to, instead she savored the feeling of being able to use him for her own delight. For her own pleasure and with his full co-operation. No guilt involved. He'd granted permission. Offered himself to her.

  “So tight!” Andrew groaned, his hips rolling as he thrust deeper into her tight, clenching core. “So sweet and tight. Never felt anything like this.”

  No, he wouldn't have done. Loose and hungry farm girls, or willing tavern lasses, nothing like her. A woman who had been taught to keep her body tight and eager. It had been to please others, to please Davien, but she'd learned to keep to the exercises once she'd found out just how much control it gave her over her own body. Now she let herself loose on him, sinking into the erotic dance she knew so well. Her body squeezing and releasing his as he rolled beneath her.

  “God! I don't know how much longer I can hold on!” Andrew cried out, his eyes wide, his thick cock pressing against her inner walls, demanding more from her as she thrust back down on his erection.

  “Do not come. Not yet.” She growled at him, the pace her body set one that left no chance for her to stop, or slow down. She'd needed this since she'd first stepped onto the island her body wasn't about to turn its back on what she now had.

  A man. Under her. Willing, and filling her completely. She eased one hand down between her thighs, finding her clit with her fingers. The simple touch brought a jolt of pleasure through her being. Her fingers grew slick. Beads of pleasure coated them as she tapped against her clit and rolled on his cock. Pressure grew
within her body. Her walls thickened and rippled, massaging his penis, clamping on his throbbing erection until nether of them could hold on much longer.

  “Come for me!” She cried out, arching her back, her hips thrusting forward.

  He screamed, his body tight, hungry and eager beneath hers. As one they moved. Their bodies locked together. The pressure rippling through them both as he arched on the bed beneath her.

  Time lost meaning, on the knowledge of pressure, pleasure, and release that claimed her senses, remained.

  Celeste collapsed against him, sliding her hands over his chest as she tried to catch her breath. He groaned, his cock still buried within her, but the need within him had eased. He'd been sated, they both had. It would be enough to keep her content through the night and put her in a better position to deal with the three men who wanted her for themselves.

  “Thank you,” he whispered, his breathing ragged still. “Even if you never ask me into your room again, I'll never forget what you permitted me to experience with you this night.”

  That was all it took to break the spell for her. She rolled off the bed and reached for her robe. “It would be best if you left. You do not want, or need, the men on the Island knowing what happened here, they would not take kindly to it and might seek some form of revenge against you.”

  He blanched and rolled off the bed, nodding. “Yes, of course. I had not— thank you— I wouldn't want to have to deal with their— their issues.” He was already reaching for his clothing and with the mention of the men who seemed determined to make her life a misery, she could completely understand.

  “I will make sure no one else hears what happened between us and it would be best that you did the same. That way we might be able to enjoy such a meeting again some time, however if they find out I fear that you might not live long enough to even get word to me that they were now aware of the situation.” Was that fair, or even honest? Not entirely, she couldn't be certain that they would strike out against the young guard, but neither could she be certain that they would leave him in peace.