Arianna was enjoying the power she had over this strong man, surprised at how her touch was affecting him so strongly. She was just wondering what else she could do to keep him groaning and muttering flatteries for a while longer, when he suddenly pushed her onto her back. His lovemaking became fierce, his passion a wild thing that demanded she join in that wildness. When he joined their bodies, there was little gentleness in the way he moved, but she did not care. Her passion easily rose until it equaled his, and she was soon urging him on with her words and her body. The release that tore through her had her crying out his name, clinging to him as if she was falling and he was the only thing she had left to hang on to. When his release came, his seed filling her, he gripped her so tightly she knew there would be a few bruises and she did not care.
Still trembling from the force of the passion they had shared, Arianna opened her eyes and looked at the man sleeping so soundly in her arms. She thought of how often he had spilled his seed inside her and that tiny flicker of hope in her heart grew a little bigger. If there was the slightest chance that she was not barren, then passion as hot and wild as what she shared with Brian had to leave her with child. It would cause a lot of trouble if she ended up back with her clan, with child and no husband, but she did not care. If Brian sent her away, did not wish to keep her, at least she would have a piece of him to cherish. Arianna just hoped that was good enough for, with each moment spent in his arms, she knew she never wanted to let him go.
Chapter 11
“I think ye ought to let me send some men with you.”
Brian sipped his ale and looked at his cousin Sigimor, who was sprawled in his huge chair at the head of the table and rapidly emptying a bowl of sliced apples. “Nay, I told ye last night that isnae necessary. The men were routed, their numbers culled, and some even wounded. If they were still close at hand your men would have found them by now. Arianna and I can slip round them if our trails cross before we get to Scarglas.”
“Wheesht, ye could probably slip right through the midst of their camp while they dine. But, if ye had a few men with ye, ye could at least stop to cut a few throats ere ye flee. Reduce the number of men hunting the lass even more than we did when we chased them out of here. That would be a good thing to do.”
“A fine plan,” Brian said, and shared a grin with his cousin, “but I believe I will hold fast to my own. Every instinct I have says they are all gathering to try and grab those boys. There is also a chance her family may have already arrived there to look for her. We have to get to Scarglas to see what is happening there. Aye, and Arianna needs to be at Scarglas, needs to be back with the lads so that she cannae be taken and used against the boys.”
“I have nay kenned the lass for long but I do ken that she would ne’er betray those lads to save her own life.”
“Nay, she wouldnae, which is a thought that chills me to the bone. Howbeit, if she was held as hostage to get those boys, I think those lads would quickly try to trade themselves for her and naught short of chaining them up would stop them. ’Tis true that I only saw them together for a short time, but e’en though they call her Anna and they have no blood ties, she is their mother.”
He repeated what he had told Sigimor about how he had found her upon the beach, the boys guarding her, and even how they had acted when parted, but this time he stressed how the boys and Arianna had acted toward each other. Then he explained more fully how the Lucettes had treated the boys and Arianna. Brian made no attempt to hide his anger over that, either, and could see that his cousin shared it.
Sigimor nodded. “Aye, ye are correct. In their eyes, she is their mother. ’Tis no surprise. The lads were nay cared for by their true parents nor by those blood-proud fools they should have been able to call family. Only to be expected that the three who were so scorned by all who should have cared for them would join together, make their own wee family. They were all each other had whilst trapped in that keep where no one was kind to them.”
Tapping his knuckles on the table as he frowned in thought, Sigimor continued, “I am also verra surprised that the lass’s kin didnae come to fetch her and break a few heads in the doing of it. E’en if they all still believed the marriage was a true one, that clan wouldnae abide one of their own being treated as poorly as Lady Arianna was. I ne’er asked, but did the lass ne’er send them word?”
“She did but I believe every missive she wrote was read by that fool she thought she had wed or his parents. If they didnae like what was said, they destroyed it. We also think they read all that was sent to her, may even have destroyed a few of those. It would explain how Amiel and the DeVeaux discovered who had taken the boys and where we were all apt to go to find some shelter.”