The Warlord's Promise Read online

  “Your sister will ensure that you’re safely returned to your family,” Ethan said. “You’ll leave first thing in the morning.”

  “If you're to stay the night, then you must come play spades with us.” Alison tugged on Kate's sleeve. “After, I can show you around the place.

  It’s like a modern castle, and the bed in my room is four-postered, with a velvet duvet! Can you imagine?”

  Alison certainly was in her element. Kate had to smile. She knew her sister longed for the finer things in life. She also wanted a rich husband who could give her those things. Kate was worried Alison might not be happy as a poor shepherd’s wife, but anything was better than being stuck with a warlord. At least she'd know love.

  “I'm afraid your sister will not be joining you this evening," Ethan informed Alison. "She has expressed the need for a hot bath and a long night’s rest, and I do like to make sure my guests are provided with everything they desire." He glanced momentarily at Kate with a bold grin, and then turned back to Alison. "She'll join you again in the morning.”

  “Uh...yes, yes, of course,” Kate practically stuttered as the heat of that look caused her cheeks to burn. Alison could never know the truth. “I'm suddenly not feeling well. I just need to lie down.” And that was the truth.

  Ethan took her hand in his and was dragging her along behind him again as he strode out of the room. Back upstairs. Into his bedchamber.

  Doors closed, and locked, behind them. Her stomach lurched. She thought she was going to be sick. Her heart pounded against her chest and she was practically gasping for air. Breathe.

  “Take off your dress.”

  The command shocked her. It was so bold, so direct, so... Ethan.

  Could she really do this?

  “You’ve seen your sister is unharmed, now we can proceed.” Kate gulped. The man intended to get right down to business. And she had agreed to this. It had been her idea. She would be his until morning. A shiver of anticipation went through her at that thought. He was the most handsome man she’d ever set eyes on, and he carried himself with such confidence, he was almost regal. How bad would it really be?

  He pulled off his boots and then pulled his shirt off over his head, tossing it on the chair with her discarded cape. She took in the sight of his strong muscles and the random pattern of scars across his back as he went over to the bed and once again reclined on his elbow. Watching her.

  She stood, frozen. Hands shaking as she thought about unfastening the laces of her dress. While he watched. The sight of all his male flesh had her feeling warm all over.

  “I’m waiting,” he told her.

  She reminded herself why she was there and stiffly moved over to the chair, lifting her skirts as she brought one of her feet up to rest on the plush, red velvet cushion. She began unlacing her boot, pulled it off, and then began unlacing the other.

  She thought of the last time a man watched her undress. Her husband had been dead for six years, killed in a battle with the previous warlord while defending their village. She didn’t miss him as much as she thought she should. He’d been a good man, but the marriage had been arranged.

  She didn’t know if she’d ever loved him. She had an idea of what that emotion felt like. Passion. But she’d never known it with him. Had never known it with anyone.

  She rolled her stockings down her legs and tossed them on the floor, next to her boots. She turned to face Ethan and began pulling at the laces of her dress. It would all be over soon. She tugged the sleeves off her shoulders and let her dress fall to the floor, pooling around her feet. She stepped out of the pile of fabric and lifted her chin boldly as she met Ethan’s stare and began to lift the hem of her shift.

  “That’s enough,” he barked and then held his hand out to her. “I want to finish undressing you myself.”

  Kate forced her feet to carry her over to the bed. To Ethan. She slid a reluctant hand into his outstretched palm and let him pull her down on the bed next to him. She took a deep, shuddering breath as he leaned over her.

  She could see his features clearly now. Hard, rugged, handsome.

  There were tiny wrinkles around his eyes, giving him a kind look. His skin smelled of soap and man. Spicy. Earthy. She let her eyes fall closed for a brief moment, breathing him in. It had been so long since she’d been with a man, so close to another person. Touched. She had to get her emotions under control. She couldn’t give the warlord anything more than her body.

  He rested a hand against her cheek as he looked down at her. His dark brows were drawn as he studied her. Then he bent his head and slanted his mouth over hers. His lips were firm, his kiss burning, ravenous. As his tongue darted out to tease and lick at her lips, she felt her whole body going loose, limp. She hadn’t expected his touch to be so warm.

  He fisted his hand in her hair, holding her tightly as he deepened the kiss, sweeping his tongue into her mouth. As his tongue twirled with hers, she felt another rush of warmth. She’d never been kissed so expertly, so thoroughly. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

  When he began moving one of his rough hands up her thigh, lifting her shift, she welcomed the gesture, almost felt her legs falling open to invite him in. What was she doing? She wasn’t supposed to be enjoying this. She shouldn’t want his touch, but she did. Her mind could fight it, but her body knew. If he kept on touching her the way he was, she would be his for the night.

  As he continued to kiss her, she opened her mouth to him, even kissed him back, as much as she dared. It would be easy to lose herself like this.

  He moved his hand over her stomach and then up to cup one of her breasts. He stroked his thumb over her nipple, and then pinched it between his fingers, hardening it to an aching point. Heat speared through her. She moaned and he tore his mouth away from hers, leaving her panting, breathless, as he stared down at her, his own breath ragged.

  "I need to see you," he said, drawing her shift up. He pulled it over her head and tossed it aside.

  He'd moved fast enough that she didn't have time to protest or to be embarrassed. She moved to cross her arms over her breasts, but he stopped her and pinned her arms by her sides. He brought his lips to her ear.

  "Why would you try to hide yourself?" His warm breath tickled her skin. "You're so beautiful."

  Kate blushed. People had called her beautiful before, but the words sounded different coming from him. It was like Ethan was the only man in the world who had ever really meant them.

  He took both of her breasts in his big hands, cupping them in his palms, squeezing the flesh, spreading warmth through her. He bent his head and sucked one of her nipples into his mouth. As he flicked and teased with his tongue, her pants came faster and she felt a rush of wetness between her legs. He groaned his approval and then lavished the same attention on her other nipple. She couldn’t stop the moan of ecstasy that escaped her lips.

  He covered her mouth with his again, his kiss forceful, seeking, as he thrust his tongue into her mouth. She braced her hands on his shoulders and surrendered to it. Touching his hard muscles and warm skin excited her, like a secret thrill. No one would have to know she delighted in the way the warlord felt.

  His strong hands roamed over her stomach, her hips, her thighs, bringing shivers to the surface of her skin. When one of his hands reached between her legs and his fingers brushed her sex, pleasure shocked through her. She flew up from the bed and tried to push him away. He didn’t budge an inch.

  "What's wrong, lass?" His deep voice was gravelly, rough.

  "I – I –" She didn't know what to say. She had no idea he would try to pleasure her. She'd hoped he'd rut between her legs a few times and then pass out until morning. She never dreamed of something like this.

  He ran his hand up the inside of her thigh and his fingers found her soft folds of skin again. He stroked her gently. "Has no man ever touched you like this?"

  "No." Kate flushed with embarrassment. Only she touched herself like that. Her husband's hands had always been at
her breasts while he’d used her body.

  He raised his brow and gave her an impish grin. "Lie back, Kate. I want to touch you here. It pleases me verra much." He continued stroking her, building excitement in her with each clever caress of his fingers.

  She swallowed nervously, hesitating, and then forced herself to lie back on the bed, before she changed her mind. It wasn't so much that a man was pleasuring her, but that it was Ethan. The first man to touch her like this was the one she hated most. Didn't she?

  "Open your legs." He used his other hand to help guide her legs apart.

  She squeezed her eyes shut as he spread her open. He worked one of his fingers inside her and she gasped in surprise. As he moved back and forth, pushing his finger into her, he began to stroke his thumb right over that sweet spot hidden between her legs.

  "Oh my!" Her eyes flew open. She'd never felt anything so exquisite.

  "That's it," he murmured. "Feels good, doesn't it?"

  " Yes..." she sighed. Incredible. Please, don't stop.

  He shifted his position on the bed, and she panicked when he moved his head between her legs and put his mouth on her. No one had been so close to that intimate part of her before. When he ran his tongue over her tender flesh, she couldn’t stifle the cries that came out of her.

  He forced his finger deep inside her while he licked her, once in a while circling his tongue around her clit. Astonishing pleasure rolled through her and she grasped at the bed cover, gripping handfuls of the soft velvet as he worked her ruthlessly with his mouth and finger, bringing her up, higher and higher. When he sucked her swollen nub into his mouth, she cried out, arching her back as her climax speared through her. Pulsing.

  Sharp. Hot. He continued to slowly suckle her clit, drawing every last shudder and whimper from her, until she lay still, panting.

  Surprised didn't begin to describe how she felt. Overwhelmed, stunned, slightly rattled. Getting closer. She'd given this man permission to use her in any way he desired, and his first move had been to pleasure her while denying his own release. She'd never known such a splendid and wonderful thing existed. After this, she would have no problems giving the man anything he wanted.

  Ethan rose up over her on the bed, using his knees to push her legs further apart. He began unfastening his trousers as he looked down at her.

  His dark eyes were glowing with hunger. Full of want.

  "I'm going to take you now, lass," he said. "I think you're ready for me." Kate gave a slight nod. She couldn't speak. She was not ready for this.

  She had agreed to it, but she was still apprehensive about what was coming next.

  Maybe he'd be quick about it, like her husband always had been.

  She'd always thought men were predictable creatures, but Ethan was starting to change that notion for her. She couldn't begin to imagine what else he might do to her and she wasn't feeling certain she could handle it.

  He slipped out of his trousers and her eyes went wide at the sight of his heavy erection. He was thick, long. Bigger than she'd ever seen. She definitely didn't think she could take all of him.

  Panic rose in her as he settled his powerful body between her legs, gripping her hip with one of his hands to steady her as he used the other to guide the tip of his cock to her wet folds, running it up and down over her a few times, coating himself with her wetness. Just as she was starting to enjoy the sensation, he pushed into her. His thick shaft stretched her, filling her as he pushed deeper. Then deeper. She was expecting to feel pain as he slid into her, but she only felt a slow pleasure, building from somewhere deep inside her this time.

  He bit out a curse. "Ah, you're so tight..." A thrust of his hips.

  She curled her fingers around his arms, feeling the muscles tensing as he shoved his cock further, further, slowly inching his way into her. How much more of him could she take? He drew his hips back and then rocked forward with a strong thrust, seating himself fully inside her.

  "Oh, God!" Her body arched up to him, as if it suddenly had a will of its own. She hadn't expected to like the way Ethan felt.

  He groaned as his cock pulsed inside her. "You've got me feeling like a randy lad," he panted. "I almost spilled my seed just then."

  That was quick. Too quick. She wanted more of him.

  He began to move, slowly at first, back and forth, in and out, but soon he was driving into her harder, deeper, over and over again. Her legs began shaking as he bucked into her. Pleasure surged into her with every sharp thrust.

  He groaned low in his throat, straining to keep a steady rhythm. He seemed determined to satisfy her. Wondrous pleasure continued swelling from deep within her, rising up as he plundered her, until all at once it crashed into her, exploding on a flash of heat.

  She gave a strangled cry, gripping his arms as he kept pumping into her while she came apart under him. He drove his hips fast and hard, until, with a final thrust, he went tense, a loud groan escaping him as he shuddered, and then collapsed on top of her.

  As the waves of pleasure slowly ebbed away, she couldn’t believe how happy she felt, how beautiful, loved, and she wanted to cry. She’d never felt anything like it. Why hadn’t she experienced this kind of lovemaking before? Had her husband simply lacked the skills Ethan possessed, or had he been a lazy lover? Were it not for this arrangement, she might have lived her whole life never knowing something like this could exist between two people.

  Her eyes had been opened to a brand new world. She suddenly felt whole, fulfilled. She felt so feminine and even a little lusty. She wanted to run through fields of grass, barefoot, or chase waves on the beach. She felt like laughing. Some part of her was now changed forever, like something inside of her had been unleashed. Set free. She was a different woman now. And he had done this to her.

  Ethan rolled off of her, sprawling out on the bed next to her. She watched his chest rise and fall with his labored breath. She marveled at the size of him; his big, muscular body, strong legs, and his cock, still hard and glistening with sex. He was much bigger than she was, and though she'd been afraid of him, he hadn’t hurt her. He’d done quite the opposite.

  Who was this Ethan MacGregor, this dark stranger who had taken the time to give her unimaginable pleasure when he had no need to? He'd turned everything she ever thought she knew upside down. A tear slipped down her cheek.

  “Ah, Christ...” He rose up on his elbow, wiping her tear away with his thumb. “I dinna hurt you, did I?”

  Kate shook her head. “No.” More tears threatened, her chin trembled.

  She did not want to cry. She turned her head away.

  “Then what’s all this?” He rubbed his warm hand up and down her arm, meaning to soothe her.

  “Why did you do that to me? Why didn’t you just take care of yourself?”

  He chuckled. It was a low, rumbling sound. “Lass, you’ll come to find that when I take a woman to my bed, I make certain she’s satisfied before she leaves it.”

  Kate took a deep breath, calming herself. She had to spend the entire night with him. How many more times would he do this with her? And could she deal with it? If he were simply to use her for his own pleasure, she thought she could. Knowing he intended to satisfy her before letting her go was something entirely different. She didn’t know how to feel about that.

  Or about him. Her nightmares of being mauled by a brute and having to endure crude, dirty sex had been replaced with the reality of the way he'd...made love to her? It was the only thing she could call it. Though love wasn't involved, he'd used some degree of care while ravishing her.

  The man had ambushed her, vanquishing her fears. It didn't seem fair.

  She finally turned back to face him. “I never knew sex could be like that.” “Were you not married once?” His brows drew together.

  How did he know these things about her?

  “Yes, I was married.” She propped her elbow on the bed and rested her chin in her hand, looking up at him. “But I don’t know if I loved him. I ba
rely knew him. He died six years ago, and we never shared anything like this. Anything so real.” She had no idea how all that had just rushed out of her. She felt like Ethan was easy to talk to. Not at all what she’d expected.

  “That’s a bloody shame,” he said. “Fine waste of a woman like you.” She stared back into his dark gaze. The way he spoke to her, as if he thought highly of her, was throwing her. Did he really mean these things, or was he only saying them to temper her? To keep her agreeable.

  “A woman like me? You don’t know anything about me,” she argued, although she had a creeping feeling he knew quite a bit about her.

  “Oh, yes I do,” he said. “I know everything about you now.”

  "You can't know everything about me. Even I don't know myself that well."

  "Let's say I know enough."

  "Why?" she wondered. "Why would you want to know anything about me?"

  Ethan stared back at her. "I like to know something about all of my subjects."

  "Is that part of your job?"

  "Of course. How can you take care of people if you don't know what they want or what they need?"

  "So you're taking care of people, are you?" she snapped. He had such an interesting way of phrasing things to make them sound better than they actually were. "Fine profession for a warlord."

  "It goes with the territory." He shrugged his shoulders. "When you take something, you become responsible for it."

  "Why don't you not take anything, then you wouldn't have to be responsible for it?"

  "Ah, but I like taking things, lass." He gave her a villainous smile.

  "You're well familiar with that."

  His arrogance stunned her. "Did it ever occur to you that some things don't want to be taken?"

  "Then where would the fun be in taking them?"

  He was impossible. A rogue to the core.

  “You think you know me? Then tell me something,” she challenged.

  “About me.”