Journeyman’s Ride Read online

  Still, he didn’t like the roil of emotion coursing through his veins. Even before Vi’s fucking wife, he’d had his share of women. Though he’d steered clear of attachments, he’d never misled a lover. Had never asked more of them than the pleasures of the flesh, which was all he’d been comfortable sharing. So why the hell was he suddenly empathizing with a woman he’d only just met, one who looked to make his life even more miserable than it had been?

  Miranda sighed and curled into a ball as the wind whispered over her damp hair. Danner swore under his breath and covered her with his blanket. He shivered as well and threw on his shirt.

  He glanced over at the flat bread he’d prepared and decided to leave it for the morning. After tucking it into the auton for safekeeping, he set the wagon on detection mode. Then he placed his rifle by his side and settled down under the blanket next to Miranda, hugging her close.

  She didn’t matter, not really. But he sympathized, he surely did. A bastard’s life wasn’t easy, on any level, in any world. She backed closer to him and eased into deep, steady breathing.

  A trusting reaction, and one that made his heart race. Danner frowned but didn’t push her away. Instead, he held her tight, hoping to keep the wind, and the bad dreams, away from the sexy young woman he suddenly found himself…liking.

  “Well, hell.”

  She turned in his arms, facing him in sleep. Her breath fanned his throat, and he cursed his stupid cock. It was going to be a long night, no doubt. But nothing could have pried him from her side. She deserved at least one night of calm. That was the only reason he held her so close. Or so he told himself.

  He sighed her name as he fell into sleep.

  Chapter Six

  Miranda hadn’t felt so good in years. She snuggled deeper into the warmth surrounding her. Safe. I feel safe. For so long, she’d had to watch everything she said and did, worried the king would find something else with which to tether her to the royal palace even after Clarissa wed. She couldn’t believe she’d been so frank with Danner. Tired and simply drained, she just hadn’t cared. It hadn’t seemed to matter what he did after her emotional breakdown. But to hug her? Offer comfort, when he could have taken what he clearly wanted?

  She slowly smiled. Danner might not be a gentleman in the traditional sense, but at heart he was one. Suddenly her bargain to give the man her body didn’t seem so one-sided. She’d wondered for years what it would feel like to belong to another, to know the pleasure that so many of the maids and footmen took in the shadowy alcoves, pantries and forgotten hallways in the serving quarters.

  Though real ladies waited for matrimony, Miranda didn’t kid herself. She’d been raised around the nobility, but she wasn’t one of them. And I never will be.

  She’d never had expectations of marriage or respectability, but she had dreamed of love. As if confessing her grief to Danner had opened a festering wound, Miranda now felt a freedom, a lightness of spirit, where before everything had been doom and gloom. Perhaps it was finally time to take what she wanted, especially in light of Clarissa’s disappearance. Who knew what the future held?

  Danner murmured under his breath and pulled her closer.

  Miranda had never slept with a man before. How extraordinary it felt.

  Danner’s body gave off heat like a furnace, and the clean smell of him made her entire body tingle. This close, she couldn’t ignore her excitement, nor could she forget what it had been like to kiss him.

  He seemed to desire her. Would he mind if she touched him? The urge to learn more about the strong, gruff man holding her beckoned, and she decided to do what she’d been wanting to.

  So very, very wicked of me, and I don’t care. She wanted to laugh out loud, giddy with the prospect of being herself. Not a maid, a bastard, or a servant. Miranda Anvers, a woman with choices.

  Miranda touched Danner’s chest, clad in a soft, calico-blue work shirt. He felt so strong and solid beneath her hand. His heartbeat remained steady. The thrum of his pulse was a soothing beat that drew her closer.

  Glancing up at his face, she noted the strength in his features, even at rest. That firm jaw, straight nose and uncompromising mouth didn’t soften. The planes of his face lay in shadow as the sun rose in the Eastern sky.

  She slowly unbuttoned his shirt to his navel, attuned to his movements. When he didn’t wake, she parted the material and gazed at his sculpted muscles. Danner didn’t have an ounce of fat on him anywhere. Built like a blacksmith, he had the height and brawn of a man used to commanding obeisance from those around him. Odd that he hadn’t been sterner with her. She stroked his chest, pleased at the light graze of dark hair under her palms. But nothing could detract from the solid flesh beneath her.

  He moaned and rolled his head on the ground. She took that as a sign of encouragement and pressed a kiss upon his chest.

  He froze, and she stopped immediately. A large hand cupped her head and drew her close again, and she opened her mouth in a sigh, taken with his taste. She grazed his chest with her lips, curious to see if he’d respond the way she did when he took her nipple in her mouth. Miranda planted soft kisses over his chest until she found his taut nub and closed her mouth around it.

  “Miranda.” Danner groaned her name and ran both of his hands through her hair, holding her in place. “Yes.”

  She sucked and nipped his flesh, the way he’d done to her. He arched into her touch, pleasing her to no end. When she leaned back from his body, she avoided looking at his face, still not totally comfortable letting him see her as she acted with such boldness. Instead she gauged his body for a telling response.

  “Oh my!” She gasped as she saw the large bulge beneath his trousers. Her hands itched to unbutton his dungarees and see him bare. Other than the pictures Philippe had forced her to watch, she’d never actually seen a man’s…most private part.

  “Do it,” he whispered thickly. “Unbutton me.”

  Biting her lip, Miranda did so. Danner angled himself to push his pants lower on his hips, freeing his member from confinement. The sight that met her eyes awed her. Danner’s shaft was thick, long and dusted with a thatch of black hair.

  “Touch me. Please.” He cupped himself for her, showcasing the fleshy sac beneath.

  The intimacy deepened as dawn crept over them, lighting their passion in the warmth of a new day. A new beginning.

  Between her legs, she felt an odd tingling, and the moisture there told her that though she wasn’t sure how to handle him, her body had an idea.

  Needing to feel him, she dragged his shirt off, baring him fully from the waist up. She ran her hand down his chest, following the trail of hair she found so fascinating. His breath hitched as she neared his member, until he hissed out another yes when she touched him there.

  “Hold my cock tight. Grip it.” He closed his hand around hers, molding her palm around his cock. The bold word took her breath, as did the movement of his hand. He showed her how to hold him, how to move her hand over him to bring him greater pleasure. Then he released her to let her touch him as she liked.

  She feathered her fingers over his veiny shaft, studied the beading dew gathered at his slit, and then moved lower to touch the smooth, yet hard balls under his organ. So interestingly male, and so very different from herself.

  “Do you like this?” She hoped he felt as much pleasure as she did from touching him.

  “Hell, yes. So good.” He moaned and thrust his hips up. She ran her fingers over the cream at his tip and smoothed it over the head of his shaft. Not his shaft, his cock. Just thinking the word made her feel shameless. But not only was she thinking it, she was holding it in her very hand. She added her other palm, wanting to fill her hands with him, touching him everywhere she could.

  Every tug and pull of his flesh stimulated her own hunger. She wanted to watch him find his release, to see if she could encourage him to such a state.

  “Fuck, Miranda. I’m going to come hard. Yeah, baby. Milk it, that’s it.” He panted and pum
ped his hips as she increased friction over his thick cock. And then he stilled and groaned loudly, and a well of seed shot from his body to cover her hands and his belly. She continued to pump him, wanting to see more, until he stopped her with a hiss.

  “Fuck. No more, honey. Shit.” He sounded shaky, and he shuddered when she finally let him go.

  Danner laid his head back and sighed, murmuring something under his breath that she couldn’t make out.

  Miranda took the opportunity to look her fill.

  To her surprise, his cock still remained somewhat hard. It glistened, shiny with his release, and the flushed shaft tempted her to lean closer and taste him. She’d often heard from the maids how much men seemed to like the oral aspect of sex. Frankly, Miranda had thought the idea disgusting. Yet Danner made the prospect inviting just by being his stubborn, handsome, sexy self.

  “Honey, grab me that bandanna off the auton, would you?” He had yet to look at her, lying still with one arm over his eyes. His chest and groin remained open to view.

  “Okay,” she said softly, absorbed with the sight of him. She stood on wobbly legs, conscious of the slick heat between her thighs. She said nothing, however, and found the bandanna he’d indicated.

  She used it to clean her hands, then returned to him and handed it over, watching every detail as he wiped the mess from his belly and cock. Miranda studied the velvety sac under his semihard shaft, wanting to feel him again. She hadn’t spent nearly enough time learning his body.

  “Come closer, darlin’.” Danner tossed the dirty bandana to the side and pulled up his jeans, obstructing her fine view.

  Blushing, Miranda knelt by his side. “I hope you don’t think I…I mean, I was curious. You always smell so good to me. And your body is magnificent.” She was making a blunder of herself. “Actually, Danner, perhaps I should apologize—”

  “Hell, no. Honey, that was the best wake-up I’ve had in seven damned years. Don’t you say you’re sorry for a lick of it.”

  She met his gaze, startled at the warmth in his deep gray eyes. “Okay, then.”

  “But there is something you could do for me.”

  “Oh?”

  “Lay down. There’s something I’ve been dying to do.”

  Miranda switched places with him and stared up at his handsome face, bemused. Just yesterday she would have told him to go soak his head if he’d ordered her to do anything. But now she felt a trust that hadn’t been there before. Despite the fact she owed him her body as payment for this trip, Miranda didn’t feel used or put upon. She wanted to pay him. In the worst way.

  He leaned over her, his eyes sparkling. “I gotta ask you something first.” His fingers toyed with the top button of her shirt, and her heart raced like a galloping horse.

  “Yes?”

  “You ever been touched before? Ever had a man, Miranda?” His husky drawl drew her ever closer, trapping her beneath his smoldering gaze.

  “N-no. I mean, I’ve been kissed once or twice, but nothing more than that.” She paused. “Well, except for what we did the other day.”

  He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “That’s what I thought. Now, here’s the thing. What you just did for me? I want you to feel it too.”

  “All right.”

  “Don’t get me wrong. This is just sex. Nothing more than that.”

  “Okay.”

  “I mean, I’m not promising you anything more than a few orgasms. And if you don’t want it, you can say no. This isn’t about paying for the trip.” He frowned. “In fact, I’d like to forget I ever mentioned the whole sex as payment thing. I was coming this way anyway, so really you’re just tagging along.”

  She wanted to smile. For a man with as much experience as Danner probably had, he seemed more nervous than she was about touching her. His unease soothed any lingering bit of anxiety.

  “Well?” He straddled her waist on his knees, his fingers poised over the buttons of her shirt, a dark frown on his face. To her bemusement, he hadn’t fastened his trousers, and she could see the dark hair at his groin.

  She stifled a moan. “Danner, I said okay.” She placed her hands over his thick fingers and nudged him to undo her buttons, eager to experience his touch. He bared the fabric to either side of her, exposing her torso to his gaze.

  He stared down at her, sparks of lightning in his eyes. “Now, if that ain’t the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.” He groaned and leaned close to kiss her.

  His mouth teased, promising to stoke the heat now sweltering in her body. He licked her lips and pushed his tongue through when she gasped. The touch of his tongue sent flames of need through her body, centering in the place between her legs. She pushed up against him, not surprised to feel him hard.

  Danner broke the kiss and pulled back enough to see her face. “I knew you were trouble. You’re downright addicting, girl. And so fucking hot.”

  The coarse language should have pulled her from the sensual haze enveloping them both, but instead it made her burn for him. Danner trailed kisses over her neck, collarbone and lower. He kissed the slopes of her breasts before sucking on her nipples, and the exquisite sensation made her ache all the more.

  She squirmed under him, throbbing between her legs. “Please,” she begged, knowing he could help soothe her.

  “Oh yeah. I love your breasts,” he murmured around a stiff peak. “So pretty and so tight. You’re slender all over, but nicely rounded here. And no corsets to screw up this fine body.” He continued to suck her nipples, alternately plumping and flicking her unattended breast until she wanted to scream.

  He kissed his way back up to her ear and whispered, “I bet you’re nice and wet, aren’t you? That’s your body readying for me.” He nipped her earlobe before shoving his tongue in her ear, and she bucked up in astonished desire.

  Miranda’s entire body felt like one giant exposed nerve. What had he done to her? “Danner, please. I want…I need you to…”

  “I know just what you need. Gods, yes.” He bit her earlobe again before shimmying down her body. In seconds he had her trousers and drawers unfastened and off her body. The cool air over her exposed sex made her shiver and blush.

  He spread her thighs wider and crouched there, between her legs, staring at her gathered moisture.

  “Fuck. I need to come again.” He shoved a hand into his trousers even as he lowered his head closer to her body.

  She watched him do it, but she hadn’t expected him to actually kiss her there. Right where it throbbed.

  Miranda groaned and closed her eyes, unable to think past the incredible sensation of Danner’s mouth. Her nipples ached, and her body trembled under Danner’s skilled hands and mouth with a will of its own. She couldn’t ignore the massive pleasure blossoming everywhere.

  “Oh yes, yes, please,” she begged as he licked and sucked on the ripe bud between her swollen folds.

  “Your clit is tasty, darlin’. So hard for me.” He growled.

  Her clit. Gods, the man made every dirty word sound like delightful sin.

  “I’m going to eat you up. All of you.” He returned to sucking and licking her, thrusting his tongue inside her channel and over her clit again and again, making her crazed.

  She pumped her hips, needing more. And then he inched a finger inside her while his lips tugged her flesh. Clenching around the sensual intrusion, she rode his finger. He pushed deeper inside her, then added another digit. He stopped when he came to a place inside her that tightened, and she felt the light pain of penetration.

  “Just a little pop,” he murmured and then pushed, breaking through a thin barrier.

  And then she felt nothing but full as he continued to tease her with his lips and fingers. Spiraled desire built and burned until she neared the pinnacle of ecstasy.

  “Danner!” He’d wound her so tight she feared she’d explode.

  He moaned and nipped her clit, and she burst apart, caught in the heady experience of bliss. A rush of energy consumed her, thoughts an
d images ceasing as a weightless euphoria took her outside her own body. She was dimly aware of his thrusting fingers until he stilled and removed them. The pleasure made everything so much sharper. The male scent of him, a heady perfume. His touch, like the most sensual rub. She could still taste the salty flesh of his lips from where he’d kissed her, and the sounds of their raspy breathing, a harmony of joy.

  Danner rose from his position between her legs and knelt, straddling her. He had himself in hand, his trousers parted to expose a flush cock, full and hard.

  “Watch me, yeah,” he said on a breath and pumped twice before a load of thick cream erupted to cover her belly. She couldn’t blink, taken with his seed all over her. He finished finally, shook himself, and rubbed his come into her skin. “Now you’ll smell like me.” He shoved a slick finger back inside her. “All over. We’re going to do this again, honey. Except next time I’m going to fill you up. With this.” He held his cock out to her.

  She nodded, agreeing with anything he said, still in a plane of pleasure where every touch and feel of Danner arched through her like a giant godbolt of lust.

  His eyes narrowed, and he rose to his feet. “I’m going to clean up. I’ll be back.”

  He walked away, leaving her breathless, mindless and almost naked on the blanket.

  Dear Freyja. She stared down at herself, at Danner’s seed upon her belly. A lady would never have succumbed to a man not her husband. A lady wouldn’t have enjoyed such crudity, and in the light of day! A lady would never have allowed a man to take her on the hard ground, for heaven’s sake.