She wandered to the little fireplace, piled high with coal, thanks to a generous tip to the innkeeper’s wife. The flames danced, but her fingers remained cold. Did the servants talk about their mistress and master taking separate rooms so soon after their marriage? Melisande felt vaguely ashamed, as if she’d failed in some way as a wife. Mouse leapt onto the foot of the bed and turned about three times before lying down. He sighed.
At least Suchlike never mentioned the sleeping arrangements. The little maid dressed and undressed her with unfailing cheerfulness. Although she’d been hard-pressed to smile this evening after their near robbery. She’d still been shaking from the shock, and she’d lost all her merry chatter. Melisande had taken pity on the girl and sent her down early to eat her supper.
Which left Melisande all alone. She hadn’t much appetite for the dinner the round innkeeper’s wife had served. The boiled chicken had looked delicious enough, but it was hard to eat knowing a young boy was dying in the back of the inn. She’d excused herself early and come upstairs instead. Now she wished she’d stayed in the dining room Vale had reserved for them. She shook her head. No use remaining awake. She couldn’t go back down now that she’d undressed, and that was that. Melisande pulled back the bedclothes from the sturdy inn bed, relieved to see they looked clean, and climbed in. She pulled the sheets to her nose and snuffed out the light. Then she watched the firelight flicker on the ceiling until her eyelids grew heavy.
Her thoughts floated and drifted. Vale’s bright eyes and the look in them when he’d savagely pulled the first highwayman into the carriage. Boiled chicken and the dumplings Cook had made when she was a child. How many more days they’d spend traveling rutted roads in the swaying carriage. When they might cross in kmign sto Scotland. Her thoughts scattered, and she began to sink into sleep.
Then she was conscious of a warmth against her back. Of strong arms and the brush of lips that tasted of whiskey.
“Jasper?” she mumbled, still half dreaming.
“Hush,” he whispered.
His mouth opened over hers, and he kissed her deeply, his tongue penetrating her mouth. She thought she tasted salt. She moaned, caught between waking and sleeping, all her defenses down and in shambles. She felt him lift her chemise and pull it from her body. His hands explored her breasts, stroking tenderly, then pinched her nipples almost to the point of pain.
“Jasper,” she moaned.
She ran her palms over his back. He was nude, his skin so hot it almost burned. His muscles shifted under her hands as he lay atop her, his weight settling between her spread thighs.
“Hush,” he whispered again.
She felt the nudge as he found her center and thrust inside.
Her body was soft, yielding from sleep and his hands, but she wasn’t quite ready. He shifted back and rocked slowly, gently, each small thrust stretching her and pushing him deeper inside. He hooked his hands under her knees and lifted them up so he was cradled between her thighs. And then he kissed her, brushing his palms lightly over her exposed nipples. Tantalizing her and tormenting her at the same time.
She tried to arch up, to make him touch her more firmly, but she hadn’t the leverage or the strength. He was in control, and he would make love to her in the manner that he desired. All she could do was submit.
So she tangled her hands in his hair and hung on, kissing him back, moving her mouth lushly, submissively under his.
He groaned. His hips worked a little faster now, his cock crammed all the way inside of her. She felt each thrust, each stretch of her feminine flesh as she received him again and again.
He broke the kiss and lifted his head away from her, his breath coming in loud, harsh pants. She didn’t open her eyes; she didn’t want to disrupt her dreamy state. Then she felt his fingers sliding down her side, twisting between their bodies. He searched and found her, his fingers strong and knowing. He pressed his thumb down on her clitoris.
“Come with me,” he whispered, his voice a rasp of desire. “Come with me.”
She opened her eyes at last. He must’ve brought a candle into the room, for muted light played along his side. His shoulders were wide and bunched with muscle, strands of hair clinging damply to his face, and his wild turquoise eyes stared into hers, compelling her.
“Come with me,” he whispered again.
His thumb circled her, pressing with exquisite accuracy as his cock filled her. She was splayed before him, a prize all his own, and he kept whispering, “Come with me.”
How could she deny him? The pleasu kim?Comre was building inside, and she wanted to hide her face. He was in control in ways she hadn’t let him be before. He would watch. He would know the secrets she kept hidden from him.
“Come with me.” He bent his head to lick her nipple.
She arched her head and wailed. He caught the sound in his mouth. Licked it up and swallowed it, a prize of this battle. He pressed down on her and held her as she came, jolting with each bolt of pleasure. He held her down with mouth and hips and that thumb, brushing lightly, sweetly, madly now. She’d never experienced an orgasm like this one, nearly painful in its intensity. She opened her eyes, gasping, and saw he wasn’t done. She’d been reduced to shivering pleasure, and he’d only started. He propped himself up on straight arms and watched her as he surged into her, hot and heavy and without mercy. His mouth was twisted, his eyes mad with lust and something else.
“God,” he ground out. “God. God. God!”
He threw back his head, arching convulsively, and she saw him bare his teeth as his body jerked into hers. His seed flooded her, warm and alive. She felt a joy such as she’d never felt before. She’d given and she’d received from him.
It was nearly holy.
His head was tilted back above her, his arms still straight. She couldn’t see his face because of his hair. A single drop of liquid fell to her left breast.
“Jasper,” she whispered, and cradled his wet face. “Jasper.”
He pulled out of her, the loss of his flesh almost a painful wrench, and climbed from the bed. He bent and scooped up his banyan and flung it on. “The robber boy died.”
He left the room.
Chapter Thirteen
That night, the royal court was abuzz with rumor. The serpent was dead and the bronze ring gone, but no one had come forward with the ring. Who was the brave man who had captured the ring?
Jack, as usual, stood beside the princess’s chair at supper, and she gave him a very strange look when she sat down.