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"Dunna ever be afraid, Sierra," her mother's voice whispered in her head. "Fear will be your downfall, as it is mine."
Sierra shoved her body against the dungeon's heavy, wooden door. With the dense smoke from the executioner's chamber still clogging her throat, she breathed deeply of the rain-soaked smell of earth and moss. The clouds above were gray and ominous, covering the sun and offering little hope of warmth in this most unholy of places.
Her eyes rose to the hill overlooking the outer wall of the castle. Once occupied by the Romans, the fortress was now home to Britannia's Saxon king, Lord Aeglech. Nine years ago, his tribes had taken over, obliterating all that was once a thriving Britannia. Those who did not accept the new Saxon rule were killed. Those who did became Saxon property. In some ways, Sierra considered herself lucky to be alive. She owed her life to her mother, and to the threat of a Druid curse that her mother left on Lord Aeglech and his guards in the moments just before she was hanged as a traitor.
More than once over the years, Sierra had wished she had not been allowed to live. Or that her mother had not left her with the gift of sight passed down on the maternal side of her family. She had never wanted the gift, seeing the life of servitude it had enslaved her mother to. Untrained, Sierra was not able to summon her sight at will, but over the years, she had managed to use it well enough to stay alive. And if she could stay alive, perhaps she had a chance of one day finding the brother who had been taken from her the night their mother died.
If nothing else, living in the Saxon fortress had served to strengthen her in odd ways. No longer did she despise the sight of Lord Aeglech or look upon him as a murderous barbarian. Nor did the cries of anguish from Balrogan's torture chamber— where she grew from a young girl to a woman—make her vomit, any longer.
For nine years, she'd lived in this Saxon hell, clinging to her mother's last words, "Dunna fear." It was her first and last thought each day. She had long ago learned to void herself of the things inside of her that could lead to fear. It was all she knew. It was how she survived.
Sierra choked on the cold air that filled her lungs. Blinking the wetness from her eyes, she squinted at the Saxon gallows up on the hill. Placed there for all the village slaves to see, it currently stood empty, gently blowing in the breeze and patiently awaiting its next guest. She absentmindedly touched the lavender wristlet on her arm. Her mother had given it to her once long ago.
"Sierra!"
Careful not to respond too quickly to her birth name, she glanced toward the nearby stable from whence the whisper came.
There beneath the eave, with his arm braced above him, stood Cearl—her lord, her savior—the boy who started as friend and who'd now grown to a handsome man. The one and only boy she had ever given herself to.
Sierra waited a heartbeat and checked around her before she hurried toward him. She gripped the water bucket as it slapped hard against her thigh, and let it tumble to the ground so she could leap into Cearl's waiting arms.
"'Tis good to see you as well, Mouse." He laughed and clamped his mouth down on hers.
She savored his lips, the sharp taste of mead on his tongue, the feel of his arms secure around her. When she was with Cearl, the dark world she lived in faded away, if only for a few moments.
"Is Balrogan expecting you back soon?" he muttered, dropping her to her feet and wrestling with the knotted belt at her waist.
"I have a little time, not much," Sierra replied and turned her head to allow his fervent kisses on her neck. In truth, Sierra did not know what Cearl saw in her. Sentenced to aid the executioner, as his apprentice, she was ordered to keep her hair short and wear men's clothing. It was part of her punishment to have no identity, no gender. Yet Cearl did not seem to mind that she was covered in soot and filth.
"Take care when you call my birth name aloud," she reminded him as his fingers fumbled with the leather knots of her belt. "It is dangerous out here. Someone might suspect that you are familiar with me."
"Is it not true that I am?" He grinned and brought his mouth down hard on hers, before refocusing his efforts on his task. "What shall I call you, then? My wench?" He laughed and grabbed her buttocks through the thin breeches she wore as he pulled her tight against him.
Sierra knew they took a great risk. Lord Aeglech's decree for himself and his guards was that no Saxon was to join with a Briton woman. He did not want the bloodline marred by a Celt bastard; if one of his guards disobeyed his rule, the woman would have to be killed. Though Cearl was not a guard, she feared what would happen to them if they were found out.
"Your wench would imply that I serve only you," she teased.
He stopped, his hands pressing into her upper arms as he studied her face. "Another is pleasing you, then?"
She cupped his unshaven jaw. Cearl was such an innocent. Though his body was that of a man, he often thought like a young boy. "Nay, Cearl, only you do that."
"All right then, let it remain so." He gave her a smile before he captured her mouth. She knew the routine well, and she accepted the rough manner of his tongue delving between her lips.
Sierra's breasts tingled beneath her bindings, and she longed to remove them so she could again feel Cearl's hands on her naked flesh, but today there was not enough time.
She felt safe around him. In all the years of her imprisonment, she had never had reason to fear him. Cearl had not the rules of the other men in her life. He had no need to dominate, perhaps because his place in life was to serve those of higher rank. He was the handsome son of a Saxon villager and helped in the kitchen, in addition to crafting the drums the Saxons used in battle. His hair was a mass of golden curls, the color of the summer sun, and his blue eyes danced with mischief when he was aroused. His smile was the only bright spot in Sierra's dreary existence.
He gave up on removing her tunic and reached beneath instead, yanking her breeches over her hips and pushing them to her ankles. While on bended knee, he leaned forward and pressed his lips against the soft patch of brown curls between her thighs. The brush of his thumb over her moist heat, followed by his eager tongue, prompted her to part her legs, offering him greater access.
He dug his fingers into the flesh of her hips. Sierra lifted her knee to his shoulder and threaded her fingers in his mop of hair, taking pleasure in his adoration. Her body grew tense as he probed deeper.
"Cearl, my need is great." Sierra stared at the thick wooden rafters above as she moved in rhythm to the heated taunting of his tongue.
"It only takes the thought of you, lass, to make me hard." He scrambled to his feet and tugged her close. With a wicked gleam, he captured her face in his hands and crushed his mouth to hers. "See for yerself," he growled.
Cearl grabbed her hand and pressed it against the bulge in his breeches. True it was that his length was firm. She smoothed her hand over the loose fabric, curling her fingers around his rigid shaft.
His strangled gasp pleased Sierra. Neither shared unrealistic notions that their needs were other than carnal. In this place, no one knew from day to day what would become of them. Their moments of stolen passion were not tainted by emotions, but were sparked by the pleasure of their joining.
Sierra pushed Cearl to the pile of hay. He appeared startled— he had not before seen her behave with such dominance. She usually allowed him to do what he would. Today though, something stirred within her. For years, she had gone without the menstrual courses that a woman usually has, but two months ago she had experienced some spotting that had renewed her determination to live. If she was still capable of bearing life, then perhaps she was not entirely as dead inside as she felt.
"This is new." He wiggled his brows as he shoved down his breeches and his cock sprang forth at the ready.
"I daresay a sheep's ass would make you ready, Cearl," Sierra said, planting a foot on either side of his hips. She fisted her hands to her sides and looked down at him.
He smiled and tucked his hands behind his head as he stared up at her, his hungry gaze focused on the prize between her legs. "'Tis your arse, Sierra, and your arse alone, that brings me such heavenly torture."
Once more, she scanned the stable to be sure they were alone. A goat bleated from a nearby pen and her heart tripped with concern.
"Do not worry, we are alone." His fingers found the warm opening between her legs, drawing her attention back to him.
"Balrogan wants one of those birds you have roasting over there and a pint of mead, as well." Sierra closed her eyes to the delicious sensation of his fingers stroking her quiver.
"Very well." He nodded impatiently as he motioned her to sit. "You can have two hens. You can have the whole lot. Come on, the guards will be heading out soon for the night watch. Have mercy, Sierra, I need to be inside you."
She dropped to her knees and pushed his tunic over his hard torso. She leaned forward, brushing her breasts against the rippled muscles of his stomach, enjoying the command she had over him. She loved the sinewy flesh beneath her palms and reveled in his low moan as she ran her tongue over the turgid brown nipples on his chest.
He had told her long ago, when they first met, that she might need a friend from time to time. Sex with Cearl had become her escape. Sex had become her friend, her sanity in this hellhole.
Slick and ready, Sierra eased onto his hard cock, parting her legs wide to accept him fully. She was fascinated by the changes on his face as he pushed into her. Sierra wondered if this was the expression lovers wore, or if it was merely a reaction to pleasure. For her, the line remained a blur. At one time, she thought she might have real feelings for Cearl. But it didn't take long for her to realize that it was the simple pleasure of joining and little else that drew them together. Emotions had nothing to do with it.
"Ah, yes, yes-s-s, that's my girl," he whispered, his eyes rolling back in ecstasy.
"I am not your girl." Anger, like the surly crack of a whip, snapped in Sierra's head, diffusing the hazy fog of lust. She stood up, brutally disengaging her body from his. She would not be anybody's "girl." Since her arrival as a prisoner, Lord Aeglech had delighted in calling her "his little Druid girl" meant to mock the fact that her mother had also acted as his spiritual adviser.
"Ah, come on now, Sierra, you know I do not mean it like that. You have nothing to fear from me, you know that." His eyes pleaded with hers. "Look how you have dominion over me. I am yours, Sierra, your slave. Do with me as you wish."
Her juices glistened on his proud cock. With a warning glance, Sierra relented, knowing well the pleasure that awaited. "Do not call me that again."
"Aye, the words shall never again pass my lips."
He wrapped his fingers around the backs of her legs, tugging until her knees buckled and she landed in his lap.
"Tell me you want me inside you, Sierra." He pressed her legs open, inching her back until her dewy quiver kissed his cock. "Do not be so sour. We both need this." He slid his hands along her inner thigh, his thumbs brazenly teasing.
He was right—she did want this. She needed this. "To be sure, this does grand things for me, Cearl." Sierra straddled his thighs, rocking against him as he slid deeper.
"Aye, it does, lass." The muscles in his neck bulged as he held her thighs firm, his hips rising to fill her completely.
Sweat broke out over Sierra's flesh. Beaded droplets skittered between her shoulder blades as she rode Cearl hard, their bodies engaged in a frenzied dance.
It was at this moment, when she felt the heat of her climax coursing through her blood, that she sensed a freedom beyond her dismal life.
Cearl clamped his hands over her covered breasts. "I wish we had time…"
She focused on the flexing of his stomach muscles each time he lifted his hips, pushing deep into her.
"Boy, where are you?" The gruff voice of one of Aeglech's kitchen help called from the other side of the stables.
"Piss," Cearl muttered and his body grew still. He scooped up a handful of straw and tossed it through the air.
Sierra grabbed her breeches and rolled behind the haystack, scrambling to get her pants on.
"Cearl, what are you doing, boy?" The man chuckled.
Sierra realized suddenly that he had not had time to pull up his breeches, leaving the cook with but one unspoken explanation.
The cook coughed. "Have you not heard that is bad for your health? Go find you a peasant wench and take care of your needs.
Be quick now, finish up and see to supper. The guards will be coming soon. And Lord Aeglech will need his supper as well."
Sierra peeked around the haystack. The man stood staring at Cearl with a look of keen interest on his face.
"I do not need an audience." Cearl shot an angry look at the man.
The cook muttered something under his breath and stomped away.
As she awaited Cearl's signal to come out from her hiding place, Sierra felt his hand on her shoulder.
"He is gone and I am desperate," he pleaded, staring at her.
"I have wasted enough of Balrogan's time as it is." Sierra scrambled to her feet. "I need to get back or he'll have my head, and yours as well." She bent for the bucket and he grabbed her wrist, yanking her down on his naked lap.
"You know what torment I will suffer if you leave me in this state." He ground his face into the curve of her neck, shifting her hips to prove his point.
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