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With a resurgence of his previous pique, he noted Faine,
for all his breast beating about the 'wrongness' of it, had no
trouble performing his 'duty'. Drake, of course, made no
pretense of coupling with her for the sake of the group. He
enjoyed her with lusty enthusiasm.
It didn't escape Caelin that she enjoyed him with equal
enthusiasm or please him in the least, particularly when he
realized Drake had outmaneuvered them all by suggesting
she lie down on his pallet. He didn't actually think about until
it occurred to him that he wouldn't mind sharing his own with
her.
Drake's eyes were gleaming with triumphant amusement
when he sent him an accusing look. "She is sleeping now
anyway, poor little dove," he murmured.
Caelin frowned, wrestling with the desire to couple with
her again and an equal certainty that his desire to do so was
evidence enough that he was in deep trouble. "You are
certain that it was enough?"
"I believe there is enough seed in her to float her
eyeballs," Drake retorted dryly. "If something does not take
root, then it cannot be done."
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Lamentation of Swans
by Goldie McBride
"We have made a mess of your pallet. You may take mine,
if you like."
Drake's eyes gleamed. "Thank you, youngling, but I
believe I will sleep well enough with my little pet curled
against me. She is delightfully cuddly even when she is
sticky."
Caelin swallowed the angry retort that rose to his tongue.
In truth, he knew Drake had done him a favor, regardless of
whether he'd meant to or not. It was becoming abundantly
clear to him that he could not maintain the distance of
strangers that would have given him some comfort. It wasn't
that it hadn't bothered him at all to think of sacrificing a
stranger to save his mother's soul. It had, and yet the woman
who had given him life meant far more to him than any
stranger possibly could.
Except Gwyneth was no longer a stranger. She was no
faceless, soulless being that meant nothing to him and he
could not put her back into the nothing that she had been.
The thought plagued him more each day.
He could not abandon his mother to her suffering. He could
not!
And he'd begun to realize that his own life would be a
torment to him forever more if he gave Gwyneth over to
Artimus.
* * * *
It was harder work balancing on the back of a horse,
Gwyneth reflected, than she would ever have thought. Not
that Faine was a horse, of course. Unicorns were far more
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Lamentation of Swans
by Goldie McBride
noble than mere horses, but she thought riding one was much
the same for she could not tell a great deal of difference in
the ache of her buttocks and legs.
Or her back.
Or her shoulders and arms.
She didn't think she had been as weary after a day of
working in the kitchens at the castle as she was from doing
nothing more than riding the livelong day, from sunrise until
it was nearing sunset.
They had been riding for nigh a week. She would've
thought that she would grow accustomed in that length of
time, or least begin to grow accustomed. Then again, she
thought with a touch of amusement, she supposed it might be
because she was not accustomed to being ridden hard every
night and then riding hard the next day.
She didn't feel inclined to object, even if she hadn't known
that objecting was never a good idea and generally useless
besides. They gave her pleasure. She had never known a
time in her life when she had felt such pleasure, and it wasn't
entirely the coupling. She enjoyed that far more than she
would ever have thought possible, but she also enjoyed
cuddling, and she had no lack of partners to cuddle her now.
She'd feared that Drake and Caelin might come to blows
over it the first time Caelin had insisted that she share his
pallet, but he'd only complained, glared at Caelin, and then
shrugged as if it didn't matter at all.
She'd been torn then, more than she would've thought
possible when she'd first joined them. It had hurt that Drake
didn't seem to care when he'd seemed so affectionate, and
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Lamentation of Swans
by Goldie McBride
yet she'd desperately wanted to know what it was like to
sleep in Caelin's arms.
Heaven! He'd loved her as Drake had, kissed her until she
was so dizzy from his kisses it had felt as if the world was
spinning, and then he'd coupled with her and afterwards he'd
held her in his arms.
She hungered for those moments almost more than the
coupling, as much as she enjoyed that. It made her feel loved
and protected and that was all that kept her sane when she
knew what she must face.
"Why do you not run along to the lake, my precious, and
bathe?" Drake suggested, giving Gwyneth a swat on her
bottom to send her on her way. "I can see that you are
weary. The water will ease your misery from the ride."
She glanced worriedly from him to Caelin and Faine,
knowing that they wanted her out of the way to discuss their
journey, or perhaps their plans. Finally, she nodded, glancing
back a time or two as she headed to the lake Drake had
pointed out.
Drake settled on the ground to watch her, propping himself
up on one elbow. "Be certain to scrub the smell of horse off, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]