The Bladed Tiger's Empress, page 12
part #1 of Claiming Her Empire Series
Cornelia snorted as she led Marilla back out into the morning air, the streets still as empty as when they had walked to visit Geneva. “You have no mother to educate you, someone had to step up before you became pregnant out of wedlock.” She gave Marilla a knowing look. “I couldn’t help but notice you and he are not yet joined, I’m sure there is quite a story to how the two of you wound up here. Where are you both from?”
Cornelia’s eyes were suddenly glistening with the gossip. It seemed to Marilla that she was innocently curious, but Marilla was still hesitant. She fidgeted as she said quietly, “We lived in the town of Redwood.”
“Ah, the impoverished mining town closest to the castle of His Majesty. No wonder you left. I’d heard that everyone who could evacuate, had long ago.”
“Not us,” Marilla said, laughing awkwardly. “We clung on until,” she broke off, swallowing her nerves. She wasn’t accustomed to lying.
“Until Emperor Frederick rose to power,” Cornelia finished for her. “I understand. An emperor change is frightening for the surrounding towns most of all. Too bad what happened to his wife.” Marilla felt her legs stiffen with dread. “Had you heard of her? Word was she was stolen away from the castle on her wedding night and killed somewhere close to your town.”
“No. Well, of course I’d heard of her, but hadn’t heard that story,” Marilla answered quietly.
“The princess was a figurehead, an insignificant girl I heard.”
That she had been, but not willingly. She supposed technicalities wouldn’t matter much to her subjects however, they knew she made no decisions, held no influence. What did they care why?
“Marilla!” Hayden’s voice carried from the inn and both women looked up to see him standing outside the doorway, his hair tousled, overcoat on over his bare chest and trousers pulled up but not secured firmly around his waist. They drooped low around his hips, untucked from his boots as if he had just pulled everything on in a hurry as soon as he realized she was gone.
“I’m all right, I’m on my way back!” Marilla called, blush coloring her cheeks at the sight of his frantic concern. She turned to Cornelia’s knowing smirk. “He worries.” Marilla shrugged, giving a mock roll of her eyes.
“Well, I suppose he should with you being a hot commodity and all.”
Marilla looked back at her to find Cornelia’s eyes staring assessingly. “What do you mean?”
“There were some soldiers here, looking for someone matching your description and that of your male companion. They were offering a hefty sum, and word is some of the Oakmire Bandits have been on the lookout too. Don’t be so surprised, it doesn’t take a trained eye to pick you out as a noble and your man as a warrior. The two of you stick out like the pox, especially together.”
“Are you going to turn us in?” Marilla whispered, her heart pounding.
“Considered it, decided it wasn’t worth the trouble, but you should be careful, Princess. Stick to the back roads because they’re looking for you, and at the rate you’re going it won’t be long until they find you.”
9
Fugitives
They left almost immediately, taking only enough time for Cornelia to show Marilla how to brew the special tea and make a batch for the night before. “Drink the tea each morning following intercourse,” Cornelia instructed. “It might make you sick at first, so don’t be alarmed if you get a stomachache.” The potent tea had been incredibly bitter and stung the back of her throat as she forced it down. “You’ll get used to it,” Cornelia promised, regarding Marilla’s soured expression of disgust.
“Thank you, Cornelia, for everything,” Marilla said on a cough.
Cornelia’s full lips pulled into another sincere smile. “As I told you, we women need to stick together or life could become horridly unpleasant, and who knows, maybe one day you’ll pay me back.”
They dipped their heads to each other, curtsying as Hayden gathered their belongings, and then they fled from the brothel town. The last town they would stop in since the soldiers were on their tail. Soldiers would be searching the main road, so they would have to travel through the wilderness as fugitives. “Your stunt in the woods when those soldiers attacked bought us some time, but clearly our time is up now. Someone revealed that we are still alive,” Hayden explained as he swung his sword to clear a path.
“How far are we from the temple?” Marilla asked as she trudged after him, ignoring the blisters rapidly growing on her feet.
“A few weeks still if we keep a steady pace.”
Marilla watched his overcoat sway as he walked, focusing on his back, which rippled beneath the concealing fabric each time he swung one of his swords. The forest was constricted, humid with heavy heat and almost as soon as she entered she couldn’t wait to leave, but with him she could stay forever. Maybe this time trekking through the woods was the only time they had, she didn’t know what awaited her as they approached the temple, she didn’t know how they lived or the rules she would have to follow to stay.
Maybe she wouldn’t be permitted to be with Hayden because they were not married.
Marilla reached out through her cloak and gripped Hayden’s overcoat between her fingers gently, and immediately he stopped. He turned to her seriously, looking down with concerned eyes as she gazed up at him. He probably thought her feet hurt and she wanted a break, but she was more intently focused on feeling him again.
“What if I don’t want to hurry?” she whispered, reaching up and wrapping her fists tightly around the collar of his overcoat and pulling him down to her level, raising onto her tiptoes and pressing her lips firmly onto his, finding the courage to express her desire.
He moaned against her lips, surprised and when she withdrew, they panted together for a moment before she asked, “If we travel through these woods, we should be safe right?” he nodded numbly. “Then let’s take our time. Let’s enjoy this like it’s an adventure before we get to your temple and I have to be back on my best behavior.” To emphasize her point, she pulled his lips to hers again and this time he sheathed his sword and wrapped his arms around her frame, pulling her into his hard chest.
She moaned at the warmth that engulfed her again, her core already aching for him to fill her as he had before. “Hayden…” she pleaded as he moved his lips down to her collar, pressing them into her soft flesh and raising goosebumps along their path.
Her eyes fluttered closed, fingers tingling until she threaded them possessively through his hair as he separated her dress from around her neck and plunged it down to her waist. His lips explored her shoulders, fingers following pursuit until they grazed her peaked breast. She shuddered at the contrast his warm, calloused fingertips provided to the humid air around them. He stroked down to her navel then he went farther, pushing the fabric down enough to settle his fingers between her thighs. Her breath caught as he gently spread them where she stood, his other hand fisting her hair at the nape and turning her face up to his. Her hands drifted down from his head to his forearms where she rested them subconsciously, focusing more on his fingers as they pressed against her sacred gate. The gate only he held the key to.
She searched his face where it hovered just above hers, his lips close yet far, his breath soft and warm against her cheek as his emerald eyes gazed intensely into her golden-brown ones. His fingers suddenly inside her, he pressed into her slowly and gently, and she gasped ever so delicately at the euphoric feeling that filled her.
He felt her innermost region, navigated it expertly and drew soft cries from her lips, which made the hard rod that had formed between his thighs twitch. He ached, skin suddenly sensitive beneath her fingertips that still rested lightly on his hard forearm, feeling the tendons beneath as his fingers moved inside her. He beckoned her closer from within and she complied, had no choice under the strength of his hard touch. “More?” he asked huskily, a whispered rumble that made her shudder and convulse around his submerged fingers.
“Yes,” she breathed. “Yes.”
His lips came down over hers in a crushing kiss unlike the gentlemanly one he had started with when she had instigated their intimacy. This one was possessive, demanding, intimidating, yet Marilla didn’t feel intimidated. Instead she felt in control, empowered even. This rough, hard, massive man wanted her, and she held power over him—a warrior, a general, the Bladed Tiger, and somehow she was in charge, completely in command.
It was enthrallingly addictive, this power that came with being the Bladed Tiger’s woman.
“You worried me, when I woke up and you weren’t there,” he said against her lips, parting from her slightly so he could look at her. His emerald gaze was fierce and passionate, but also dangerous. “I told you the next time you disobeyed me there would be consequences.”
She stared at him, her body still tingling, thighs still clenched with heat. “How did I disobey you?” she breathed, still out of breath from the feeling of his fingers against her core.
“I told you to stay by my side in town, you disobeyed.” She squeaked, surprised as she was suddenly in his arms, turned and looking at the foliage beneath her, his thigh pressed into her abdomen, holding her steady.
“What do you intend to—” she broke off with a gasp as his hand connected with her exposed rear. The smack echoed through the trees, yet the redness that welted her flesh tingled, heat spreading to her nether region, lighting her core on fire.
“Are you sorry you worried me?” he asked her, another smack knocking her forward but his thigh and hand held her firmly in place.
“I went with someone, I-I wasn’t alone,” Marilla pointed out, gasping at the sting to her rear. So this was what he meant by punishment. She didn’t struggle, the stinging pain caused her thighs to clench even more.
Another smack. “Not someone you know. You could have told me.”
“You were asleep!” she cried and he struck her again, giving her skin a little stroke where it was most sensitive.
“You could have woken me.” Smack. “Told me what you were doing.” Smack. “Warned me so I didn’t wake up alone and worried something had happened to you.” Smack.
“All right!” She twisted in his grip, looking back at him. His hand hovered over her and her breath hitched. “All right, I am sorry I worried you.”
“But not sorry you disobeyed?”
“Well—” He pulled back his hand. “All right!” She was giggling now, kicking her legs and squirming to get away from his firm hand ready to strike her. “All right,” she said, smiling at him. “I see your point and yes, I am sorry I disobeyed you. Something could have happened.”
He returned her smile with a steady smirk of his own and laid his overcoat down onto the foliage before freeing her from his grip. He gathered her into his arms and gently pressed her into the fabric, pulling himself over her just as he had back at the brothel town. “That’s all I needed to know,” he said gently.
He had her dress down to her ankles and off quickly, then his own trousers stripped from him though he kept his undershirt on. She pushed her fingers underneath the thin material, stroking over his tight stomach and defined pecs to his thick shoulders then held her breath, anticipating the familiar feeling of pain then pleasure although this time when he entered her there was no pain, just immediate intense pleasure.
She cried out in ecstasy and he moaned against her temple, the feeling of being fully sheathed inside his princess was like nothing he had ever experienced. She held him firmly, coiled around him in a tight knot of seduction and if he never had to, he never would pull free from her, he would remain joined to her like this until the reaper himself came to take him away.
He thrust deep, slowly at first, pressing his hips hard into the cavern hidden between her thighs. She arched her back, her head pressing into the ground with redness staining her cheeks. Her breasts bounced with each movement he made, his thrusts speeding up slightly as she clutched him harder. He gasped against her mouth as her breath turned husky. After a few more quick thrusts, he felt her pulse around him, her body going taut then slack. He watched her face which seemed to change the longer he watched her, eyes fluttering and unfocused with each painfully slow push.
He realized he wanted to see her from another angle and gently helped her flip with him as he rolled and pulled her on top of him. She sat as if on a throne, gazing down at him. He had to guide her at first, shifting her hips though she quickly picked up the rhythm and rode him like a barebacked stallion. Marilla was surprised by the difference in pleasure this vantage point served. She could watch Hayden as his eyes rose and fell with her, watching her breasts, the quiver of her lip as she clamped it between her teeth and the subtle flutter of her eyes. She hadn’t been able to see him as clearly from beneath him. He was much taller, so she only really had a clear view of his thickly muscled chest. As much as she enjoyed his chest, she much preferred the view of his face, especially his expression as he gazed at her with admiration.
With a few more twisted thrusts from her, Hayden came strongly inside her, filling her with warmth and she collapsed next to him on the overcoat, her nakedness somehow making her feel more free than unseemly. “What do you think it will be like?” Marilla asked as Hayden gathered her against his chest, listening to the birds in the trees and the rustling of the leaves against the wind.
“What what will be like?” he asked, threading his fingers into hers and bringing her hand to his lips, kissing the tips of each of her fingers one by one.
“The temple.”
“Ah, my old home. It’s a place filled with orphans who are trained in the ways of combat.”
Marilla blinked, looking up at him from where she lay cuddled into him. Orphan? She had never really thought about Hayden’s life before coming to the castle or how life at the temple had been for him. Her father had sent him away when he turned eight. It had been a hard adjustment for Marilla, but when she turned sixteen he returned and was declared General, having earned the nickname Bladed Tiger back at the temple. He had changed a lot in the time between, coming back several feet taller and several inches thicker with several new scars.
“It’s not as bad as you’re thinking, we care for each other there. I’m excited to see some of my old spar-mates who are likely still around,” he said, his gaze distantly focused skyward to the trees overhead as he talked.
“Why would they still be there?” she asked.
“I had a home to return to. The castle was my home, but them?” Hayden shook his head. “They are likely to become mercenaries. They’re up for purchase when their training concludes.”
“Then how do you know they weren’t purchased?” Marilla asked, not liking the word when describing people.
“I finished my training much earlier than them, they will probably still be finishing their training.”
“Why did you finish quicker?”
He smirked down at her. “I’m a natural.”
Marilla snorted, returning his smile. “So who purchases these other warriors?”
His smile fell slightly, gaze casting skyward again. “The castle purchases the best. The rest become mercenaries for hire, self-employed, which most prefer, but you never know who is going to be buying your services and what they’ll demand of you. A sword for hire can be a dangerous profession and not just because you could wind up dead, you could also wind up committing crimes you don’t agree with for a master you hate.”
“Would that have been your fate if Father hadn’t…”
“Purchased me?” Hayden finished for her, huffing a laugh. “Probably. I was an orphan when your father’s men found me and delivered me to the castle. The emperor wanted me to become a useful addition to his army, so he sent me to train at the temple.”
“What is life like there?” she dared to ask.
“Brutal, but there is a village within. They’re kind and only tough because they have to be to train soldiers properly in the lifestyle of war. It’ll be safe for you there, safe for us there.”
Marilla licked her lips with the tip of her tongue. “Will we be allowed to be together even though we aren’t married.”
He laughed at that, deep and throaty and with her cuddled into his chest, she felt the vibrations of it. “They couldn’t care less about what we choose to do with our own bodies as long as we don’t interrupt their training exercises.”
“Will I be able to train with the—”
“No,” Hayden said quickly, rolling onto his side and placing his palm against her cheek. “No.”
“Why not?” Marilla breathed. “I’ve been training with you.”
“Not the same.” Hayden shook his head.
“How?”
Hayden swallowed, propping his head up on his palm. “You’ll see.”
Marilla averted her eyes. “Do you not think I’m strong enough?”
Hayden snorted, scooping her chin back up to face him so he could press his lips to hers. “There are different kinds of strength, and believe me, my princess, you’re strong.”
Marilla’s expression soured into a pout. “Not strong enough to learn combat with your old spar-mates though,” she snorted.
“You’ll see what it’s like and you’ll know then why I cannot permit it,” Hayden said firmly yet with an after-tone of amusement. Was he amused by her efforts in persuading him or in learning combat? Would he tell her if she was no good at fighting? Probably not.
Marilla’s pout deepened.
“Now, Princess, what have I told you about those worry wrinkles?” He grunted as she elbowed him hard in the ribs.
They traveled through the woods for almost three weeks, taking their time so not to ruin the fragile world they had built around themselves. Hayden knew they were getting closer and though he was excited to be reunited with his old friends, he was also dreading it. For now he had Marilla all to himself, and he hadn’t been taking that time for granted.
