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.I want your seed and the promise of your child.He stood so quickly, the princess landed her delicate bottom on the ground andnone too gently.Dye stared down at the startled princess. I can t do that, he said.The princess worked her way onto her knees, which put her on eye level with histies.Guessing her intent, Dye took a step backward. I can t do that, he repeated.She frowned at his ties, stretched tight across the thick mound of male flesh tuckedinside his leggings. What s that, then? That s for& that s not for you.The royal princess knelt before him, head tilted to one side. Well, that s adisappointment.I hope that isn t a sample of what I might expect on my weddingnight.Dye s heart stopped.For at least two instants, it stopped.And, as he stared at theVandal princess, the fact he d been ignoring for so long started to come home.He waswedding this woman.This yellow-haired Vandal kneeling before him.She was all wrong!Everything about her was wrong! Her breasts were too small, her hips too narrow.Her smokeless blue eyes were like chips of ice.Her cold heart lacked warmth or fire.Her hair was too& yellow.She wasn t& she wasn t Martigay.She was all wrong! Andhe was wedding her upon a resolution at Amdahl.* * * * *On the other side of camp, Pall wrestled with his angry friend. But, Martigay, heprotested, his eyes flitting across the clearing to the king s tent as he locked his fingersin the palomino s halter and hoped for some sort of help from the royal pavilion. Whatare you going to do? You re too ambitious to be a merchant s wife, or a merchant forthat matter.You re a good soldier, Martigay.With one hand, she palmed the tears from the sides of her face. There s more thanone army, Pall, she delivered resolutely as she swung into the saddle.116Dye s Kingdom: Wanting It Forever Wha are you mad? You re not traitor material, Martigay.Even if you were, theSaharat don t like women in their army.They don t like women, period! If the enemydoesn t catch you and burn you alive, Dye will catch you and kill you after he skins youalive! Martigay, don t do this! What in Hadi s name happened between you and theking? Bruthinia happened. What? That little yellow-haired trollop? You can t be serious! He s only weddingher because he has to.Everyone knows he loves you!Martigay put her foot in Pall s chest and shoved. How? she shouted, gulping backthe next round of tears. How would everyone know that?Pall watched helplessly as she wheeled her mount away. Because the only time heever fucking smiles, he shouted after her,  is when he s with you! Standing in themiddle of camp, Pall glared first at the cloud of dust that marked Martigay s departure,then at the king s tent. Shit! Pall ground out. Shit! he delivered again in a short,violent burst as he started toward the king s tent. Well, that explains a lot, Pall said as he pushed into the king s tent, the twoguards at the door dragging on his arms like two impotent anchors.As the Thrallishguards wrestled him, Pall stared at the nude princess kneeling before Dye, her mouthabout four inches from his groin. Martigay just deserted your army, My Lord.Quit fucking around here and stopher before she gets herself killed.* * * * *Riding east through open, wooded hills, Martigay pushed the palomino to its limitand didn t slow until she thought the mare must finally rest.Even then, she loped alongfor another league, eventually stopping when she reached one of the many rivers thatwound out of the Kelty Mountains and hurried down to the sea in a narrow rush.Whileher horse drank, she crouched on a rock at the water s edge and let the river s spraycool her anger.The roar of water on rocks filled her head and she closed her eyes, letting the soundand the river fill her mind, pushing everything else aside including those words fromthe king uttered at the moment of arrival, she reminded herself.Uttered as he hadcome inside her.She almost screamed when tough fingers dug into her arm and slung her sidewaysto spin onto the gravelly bank.Chest heaving, heart racketing, Martigay spun around to face the angry redheadtowering before her.Outraged, she gulped in a few breaths. What are you doing here?I m not your soldier anymore, she spat out.As she said this, her eyes slid behind him,expecting to find his following guard.The brush and willow was thick next to the river117Madison Hayesand it took her a few dread instants to conclude that he was alone.His sorrel stood nextto her own palomino, nose lowered to the water. That s why I m here. His expression was an almost black, menacing mask of fury. Get out of here! I m not coming back to your army, she insisted as she backedaway from him, stumbling on the loose rock at the river s edge. I don t want you in my fucking army, he said in the first two steps. I want you inmy bed, he said in the next two, which put him back within grasping distance of herround, warm body.Planting his feet, he yanked her toward him and covered her lipswith his.Her feet left the ground as he picked her up, turned her and moved toward thenearest wide tree.Without breaking the kiss, he slammed her into the smooth hide of anold birch as his thumbs hooked into the top of her leggings and he yanked downward.Twisting beneath his grasp, Martigay fought to get her lips back long enough to askthe question. What about Bruthinia? Bruthinia who? he grated with a lust-roughened voice. Bruthinia who you re going to wed. How much did you see? he growled in a threatening voice. Pretty much all of her, Martigay shot back. How much did you see? I saw the same as you, he informed her roughly. But evidently you missed herfall from favor when I stood up and she landed on her ass.She s on her way back toTharran. His lips dragged into the corner of her mouth. Listen.We can hammer outthe details later, he rasped. Right now I ve got to get inside you before I explodeinside my leggings.The next instant, Martigay s back was sliding down the uneven surface of the tree.Dye was standing before her, back turned, steel out.A dozen men stood before him inthe forest, spaced out in a rough crescent.As Martigay watched, a dozen moreappeared to fill in the gaps, bows raised, arrows trained on the King of Thrall.118Dye s Kingdom: Wanting It ForeverChapter Twenty-OneDye balled one large fist and heaved his shoulder forward, testing the chain peggedinto the stone wall at his back.The result of this effort was nothing more than a raspinggrate of sound [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]