The King's Warrior (Pict King Series Book 2) Read online

  Chapter Twenty-four

  “Verity!” he cried out again and hurried off her to hastily gather her in his arms and sit on the sleeping pallet with her cradled against him. He worried when the heat from his body did not stop her body from chilling. He reached out for the crumpled blanket and draped it over her, tucking it around her.

  He hated when a vision took hold of her. She turned so pale and her body was so limp that she felt lifeless. And he felt helpless. He commanded warriors, fought endless battles, faced death numerous times, and yet sitting here, holding his wife like this, unable to help her in anyway was the most terrifying thing he had ever had to face.

  “Hurry and be done, Verity,” he ordered. “I am not a patient man. Return to me now.” He did not know if she heard him or if his words helped her in any way, but he refused to sit there and do nothing.

  His worry grew when he felt her body suddenly chill more than it already had and he slipped his hand beneath the blanket to rub warmth back into her. He ran his hand up and down her arm and along her back. And when his fingers brushed her backside and he felt how cold it was, he not only gave her soft bottom a good rub, but squeezed it several times until it finally warmed.

  He spit out several oaths in anger. Her vision had robbed her of the special joining they had shared. The memory would always be tainted with the vision, not of the moment they had finally come together as one.

  One.

  He had never thought of becoming one with a woman when he had coupled. It was for the sheer pleasure of it. They would enjoy each other and part as he had done many times with Minn. Not so with Verity, he did not want to part from her, just the thought of them separating angered him. She belonged with him and no one could say differently.

  “Verity, return to me now,” he ordered. She was there with him yet she was not there with him and he would have none of it. He wanted her back this very moment. He continued calling her name, demanding she return to him. And when she did not respond, his worry grew his anger.

  ~~~

  Verity heard voices. They were in the distance and she was fearful of proceeding any further. Besides she was cold even with her cloak on and she stood in an unfamiliar forest. Where was she? Who did the voices belong to? She wanted this vision done. She wanted to return to Wrath.

  Sudden warmth shot through her and she was grateful for it as it gave her the courage to move closer to the voices. A few steps took her closer and she peered past a tree to see four men sitting around a campfire. She almost gasped when she saw that the two Northmen who had died was sitting with Lars and Ulric.

  “It will not be long before I revenge your deaths,” Ulric said. “This land will be drenched with the blood of the Picts. I will leave not one standing.”

  Verity turned away, pressing her back against the tree trunk. Ulric planned to war with the Picts. She had to return to Wrath. She had to tell him. She thought for a moment she heard him call out to her. If that was him, it would mean the vision was fading, she should be waking soon, though not soon enough for her.

  She waited, hoping to hear Wrath’s voice again only this time stronger. It would mean she would wake soon. When she heard him again, his voice was still faint. Her vision was not done. What was keeping her here? What more was there for her to see?

  ~~~

  Wrath wanted to shake her out of her vision, but he knew it would do no good and he worried it might cause her harm. The only thing left to him was to talk to her, let her know he was there waiting for her, and he would not leave her.

  “Though you try my patience, I will not leave you,” he said. “You are my wife—” He stopped abruptly about to say she was his responsibility. The thought made him realize she meant more to him. Or had mating with her made him realize that he felt more for her? Somehow, someway she had stolen his heart. He brought his lips to her ear and whispered strongly. “You have my heart, come back to me.”

  ~~~

  Verity never felt so present in a vision before. A vision usually came and faded fairly quickly. Lately the visions had lingered a bit longer and she had even talked with some of the people in the vision. The thought gave her pause. Was she to speak to someone in this vision? Surely, she was not here to speak with Ulric.

  Realizing the voices had gone silent, she peered around the tree to see that the four men had vanished. She was alone. Or was she? She dared not shut her eyes as she turned slowly and came face-to-face with Ulric. His hand quickly caught at her throat and he smashed her back against the tree. She struggled in vain to pull his hand off her, but she was no match for his superior strength.

  ~~~

  Fury raged in Wrath when his wife suddenly began grasping for air and her hands shot up to grab at her neck as if she was trying to pull hands off her. He was helpless to do anything, though it did not stop him from trying. He placed his hand on hers, adding his strength to hers and helped her yank at the hands he could not see, though when he found out who they belonged to, he would choke the life out of him.

  He brought his lips to her ear once again and whispered, “You have my strength—fight.”

  ~~~

  Verity knew Ulric and his ways well. She had watched along with others as Ulric choked a person to the brink of death only to release him and begin again. It was a slow torture, the person not knowing if the next time would be his last. And Ulric got such joy from it, as he did now, smiling as he squeezed the breath from her little by little.

  “I am not finished with you,” Ulric said.

  Suddenly, she felt as if a strong hand rested on hers, sharing its strength with her, and she thought she heard her husband whisper in her ear, “Fight.” She gladly obeyed and smiled when she saw the startled look on Ulric’s face as she pushed his hand off her neck. He began to fade then and she pushed at his hand harder and harder until...

  Verity’s eyes shot open and she gasped as breath began to return to her.

  “Slowly, slowly,” Wrath urged, his insides twisting as he watched her struggle to breathe. He rubbed her back gently and kept a hand at her waist and his eyes on every breath she took until she dropped her brow to rest on his chest, her breathing beginning to slow.

  Wrath was impatient to know what happened in her vision, but it was more important to feel her resting in his arms and to have her breathing more natural. So he said nothing. He let her be, for now, and kept his hands on her as if he could prevent a vision from taking her away from him once again.

  She dropped her head on his shoulder and rested her hand to his chest against the single swirl marking in the middle. The thump, thump, thump of his heart in his chest soothed her, though it was more rapid than usual. It made her recall something from her vision. She had thought she heard him say, you have my heart. Had he said it or was that what she wished to hear?

  The blanket came around her shoulder along with his arm and he pressed her closer against him. It was good to feel the strength of his strong arms wrap around her and while there were many things she wanted to tell him, there was one more important than all the others.

  She looked up at him. “Mating with you was more pleasurable than I ever imagined.”

  He could not keep a smile from his lips. With all she had been through that was her first thought to say to him? It stirred his heart and aroused him to know that mating with him was foremost on her mind.

  He brought his lips to hers and she shivered against him when he faintly brushed his lips over hers. “I feel the same and I intend to mate with you as often as possible.”

  “I would not mind that,” she said softly.

  He brushed his lips across hers and whispered, “You are mine now. Nothing will separate us.”

  Did he mean what she thought he did? Was he telling her they would remain wed? He had released inside her, truly uniting them. But had he meant to? She would learn in time.

  She captured his lips in a kiss before his mouth moved away from hers. She groaned softly with pleasure when he responded, taking
command and chasing the recent memories of her vision away with his forceful kiss. It was as if with that single kiss he claimed her. She belonged to him and he would never let her go, and knowing that left her feeling freer than she had ever felt. Her worry drained away and her body went completely limp in his arms.

  Wrath tensed and pulled his lips away from hers. Verity!”

  She was not sure if she jumped and her eyes turned wide because he had abruptly ended a kiss that had spurred that strange little ache between her legs to spread or because he had shouted her name so sharply that she thought she had done something wrong.

  “I forbid you to slip into another vision,” he ordered, his features turning stern.

  “No vision has command of me now—only you.” She took his face in her hands and brought his mouth to hers, but before she kissed him, she whispered, “I want you inside me.”

  Her words hardened Wrath’s manhood and he lifted her off his lap to lay her on the sleeping pallet, coming down beside her. That was when he noticed the blood on his manhood and he stilled. “Did I hurt you when I entered you for the first time?”

  “A slight pain, nothing more.”

  “You are sure?”

  She smiled. “I am sure.” Her arms went out to him. “Now do not keep your wife waiting or she will be most displeased.”

  “Displeased is something you will never be with me,” he said and as he lowered himself down beside her, he was pleased to know that he had taken her maidenhead. He had been her first and no other but him would ever touch her.

  His hand whispered across her breast, the palm skimming her nipple and turning it hard with one faint touch. His hand continued to skim over her flesh, touching so lightly it felt like a feather being brushed over her and she shivered when she felt his fingers brush between her legs.

  Her hips rose up when his hand disappeared between her legs and his fingers slipped into her.

  “You are ready for me,” he said and as she opened her mouth to respond, he settled his lips over hers and plunged his tongue into her mouth at the same moment his fingers plunged into her again.

  She gasped and soon found her tongue in a frenzy dance with his and it was not long before she felt herself ready to climax and she pushed at his chest, wanting to let him know so that he could slip inside her, but he paid her no heed. She pushed again, feeling herself getting ever closer and closer and his only response was to brush his thumb over the nub buried in the triangle of her sun-colored hair. Her passion almost exploded and if he touched her again like that she would.

  He did and she groaned against his mouth as she exploded in a blinding release.

  His mouth was off her in an instant and he slipped over and into her in one easy motion. He drove into her as her tingles were rushing through her and when she thought they would fade they came to life again and she found herself near the edge once more.

  “This time you come with me,” Wrath ordered as he dropped down over her, his hands braced on each side of her head as he slammed against her in a steady and rapid motion. She screamed out so loud that she feared the whole village would hear her, but he dropped his mouth on hers, capturing most of it. And his groan joined hers as he joined with her in a climax so powerful it left them both breathless.

  Wrath reluctantly slipped off her, knowing his limp body made it even harder for her to breathe and he lay next to her, his hand reaching out to take hold of hers.

  She closed her hand around his as tight as she could, but she was so spent, she barely had any strength left in her. When she was finally able to calm her breathing she said, “I like losing my breath that way much better than in my vision.”

  Wrath waited until he heard her breathing calm completely, then he turned on his side to face her and drew the blanket up over them to their waists. “Tell me what happened.”

  His voice held a demand, but it also held concern and, besides, Verity was pleased he wanted to know, wanted her to share it with him. It made her feel not so alone.

  She explained it all to him, from waking in an unfamiliar forest, to coming face-to-face with Ulric and what he had said to her. “I felt a powerful hand cover mine and I thought I heard you whisper, “Fight.”

  “I did whisper it to you and I placed my hand over yours where you were gripping your neck. It was the only way I could think of to help you.”

  Her eyes widened. “You broke through my vision and helped me.” Tears gathered in her eyes. “I was not alone. For the first time ever, I was not alone in my vision.” She threw her arms around him and pressed her face to his chest as she hugged him tight.

  Wrath’s arms circled her and he thought his heart would break as she wept against him, her tears falling on his chest. He had never given thought to how she must have felt when caught in a vision, alone and isolated with no one to help her. And to hide her visions all those years for fear of being discovered, he did not know where she had found the courage.

  He eased her gently away from him and onto her back. “Listen well to me, wife,” —he wiped away her tears with his thumb as he loomed over her— “you are no longer alone. You have me. You belong to me. You will never be alone again and you will never be alone in your visions again. I will be there with you—always.”

  Verity burst into tears again.

  Wrath slipped his arms beneath her and pulled her close. How this woman had worked her way into his heart he would never know, but she had and surprisingly he was glad she had. He did not want to think of a day where he would never see her lovely smile. He did not want to think of a day without her by his side. He did not want to think of his sleeping pallet without her in it.

  He eased her away from him again and once again wiped away her tears. “I do not know how I have come to care so deeply for you, but I have.” He shook his head. “It makes no sense.”

  Verity pressed her hand to his cheek. “It made no sense to me that I should care so strongly for a man I only met until I realized I knew you long before we met.”

  His brow narrowed in question. “How can that be?”

  “I met you in my visions. You frightened me at first, but I came to see that you would help me and that you were kinder than I first thought. You always protected me in the visions I have had of you and since we met you have not failed to do so, not even in my vision.”

  “I failed to protect you from Lars and you have the wounds to prove it.” He winced. “I should have been gentler with you. I gave no thought to them when we coupled.”

  “You saved me from a far worse fate with Lars and I felt no pain when we coupled, only pleasure.” She could not stop the yawn that rushed out of her.

  Wrath took hold of her hand and kissed her palm. “Another thing I failed to realize, how tired visions make you, besides coupling twice and suffering a beating.” He winced again, thinking of all she had been through. “You will sleep. We must leave at first light and we will take the direct path to the stronghold. King Talon must be told, without delay, of what you have seen. And Lars will be made to reveal the truth.”

  Verity yawned again, tiredness creeping up on her, as she said, “He would die before betraying Ulric.”

  “He wishes to speak to the King. He must have something to tell him,” Wrath said, pulling the blanket over them before tucking Verity in the crook of his arm to keep her snug against him.

  “I do not understand why Lars said that. He would never reveal anything to the King.”

  Wrath sprung up out of bed, cursing and reached for his garments. “He has no intentions of speaking to the King. His intention was to survive until he could be rescued.” He grabbed his cloak and turned to his wife. “Your vision showed Lars sitting next to Ulric. It foretold of his escape. I will see that a warrior stands guard at this door. Do not open it for anyone but me.”

  As soon as the door closed, Verity scrambled off the sleeping pallet and winced against the pain in her shoulder as she rushed into her garments, wanting to be prepared for whatever may happe
n. And part of her worried that Lars would attempt to abduct her once again.

  Moments later, the door flew open and Wrath entered with a rush of cold air. “Good, you are clothed.”

  He reached out to her and she took hold of his hand. He hurried her against him and the anger that glared in his dark eyes confirmed what she feared before her husband spoke.

  “Lars has escaped.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  No sun rose with the dawn just bleak sky and with the escaped Northman still at large, it was a solemn troop that left the Imray Tribe. Dalmeny suggested that a troop of his warriors accompany Wrath for added protection. Wrath refused the offer. It was bad enough Lars had managed to escape his men, but for him to return to the stronghold with support from another tribe would be an insult to the King’s warriors. An insult the King would not take lightly.

  “Lars and those who helped free him will not attack us,” Verity said, after watching how her husband kept intense focus on their surroundings since leaving the Imray village some time ago. “Ulric sent them here on a mission and that is what they will see done.”

  “Then why try to abduct you?” Wrath asked, keeping a firm arm around his wife’s waist. She had barely slept last night with all that had gone on and he was hoping she would sleep in his arms as they traveled. She needed the rest to recover from her vision and from the beating she had taken from Lars. His anger flared and grew every time he looked upon her bruised face and he thought about how Lars had gotten away before he could take his revenge.

  “Fear of my visions helping you rather than Ulric would be my guess, though whatever the reason it would seem their mission was more important or else Lars would have attempted to abduct me again.”

  “Their mission is in jeopardy now that we know they are here among us. And it will be difficult for Ulric to explain why Northmen are here on Pict soil without permission of the King.”

  “Ulric is no fool. I have seen him explain away things that other men are punished for and often severely.”

  “His father is an important chieftain and Ulric his only son. He will protect him at all costs,” Wrath said.