Read Online By Right of Arms by Robyn Carr - Free Book Online Page A

truly regret Giles? Dislike killing? Detest the ugliness of war? She tried to suppress such speculation. His feelings did not matter. He
had
killed … and captured her home. But the desire she had learned to suppress began to rise in her, causing her flesh to tingle from his touch.
    She looked up at his bearded face above her. His eyes, black in the dimness of the room, glowed in passion. “You must not …” she heard herself whisper, though she knew it would be foolish to resist. He laughed softly, and the sound was cruel to her ears. He was forcing her spirit in lieu of her flesh and her agony worsened with every moment.
    “Please,” she whispered. “Have your way quickly and be done with me.”
    His eyes burned brighter and his smile was illuminated in the moonlight. “Nay,” he breathed. “I married you to protect your fortune and keep you safe from future ills. I would have better than thorns, Aurélie.”
    “You wed me to work in this hall,” she countered.
    His lips touched her brow. “Your labors will be handsomely rewarded, if you would but cease to wound me with your spiteful tongue.”
    His hands deftly pulled the gown over her shoulders and it was instantly gathered around her feet. Her chemise quickly followed and before she could gasp at her sudden nakedness, he lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bed. Feeling his naked strength gently pressing her down, she opened her eyes wide, as if in wait for the worst. But he kissed her, caressed her, and murmured words he could not have meant, words spoken only between lovers.
    His hands, gentle on her body, stirred her. His mouth, warm and moist and insistent, lured away her fears, and the demon desire ruthlessly possessed her. With a moan of despair, she allowed her arms to embrace him and she returned his kisses. Her breasts firmed eagerly under his hand and her body rose to his with a will of its own.
    “Hyatt,” she breathed in a sob, “do not do this to me. Do your worst and be gone.”
    “Our life need not be all pain,
chérie …”
    “I beg you,” she cried. “Do not shame me so. Have done.”
    His laughter was soft and mocking. “A husband’s right,” he murmured.
    “Right of arms,” she answered him.
    “Do I hurt you,
petite?
I would have better than your hatred … if only here … if only in my bed …”
    She sobbed, but her mouth met his and her body strained toward him. She felt his hand gently part her legs and she despised his smooth experience. Better he should brutally force her than to throw her own weakness at her in this way. Her response gave lie to her earlier rejections.
    Drifting, helpless in the wild sensations his touch brought, she contemplated the many women he must have loved. Thousands, she thought distractedly. He knew how to arouse, he knew the art of sweet torment. She knew nothing of this intimacy and could do naught but float in the rapture of his carnal skill. She longed for the end of this torture and felt it near as his gentle tempting was replaced with eagerness. His hands began to demand roughly, his body was hot with urgency as he entered her. She gasped as the pain, as sharp and searing as any dagger, flooded her womb and spread through her. Her eyes clouded with tears and she could barely see Hyatt’s face as he rose above her. He loomed over her, motionless and astonished. As her vision slowly cleared, she could see the shock in his eyes. She turned her face from him and quietly wept.
    His fingers gently brushed her hair from her face. He carefully lowered himself, moving with great temperance, but the pain was no more and neither was the hunger. Aurélie’s struggle with shameful desire was gone, for his startled discovery left her listless. She neither aided nor discouraged him, but passively let him have his way.
    It was a long while before he eased his weight from her, and she rolled onto her side. He did not completely release her, but curved his body around her back, raising himself