Master of Swords (20 page)

“Dream on!” Caroline shouted, apparently still arguing with her husband.

Galahad left the line of knights and stalked toward them, a gleam of heated determination in his eyes, a half-smile on his lips. The crowd around them broke into cheers.

“Yeep!” Caroline retreated, holding out a hand to ward him off. “Keep your distance, Kermie!” She squealed when he pounced, snatching her into his arms. “You put me down right this minute, or I swear you'll be looking for a froggy wheelchair!”

“We'll just see who eats whom, Miss Piggy,” he rumbled, striding away. “I find I have a sudden craving for witch.”

Lark wasn't at all surprised when Caroline twined her arms around her husband's muscular neck and kissed his ear, giggling boozily.

Grinning, Lark turned to see Gawain step to the center of the circle. His eyes were fixed on hers, so hot and male with sexual demand, she forgot her amusement in a surge of instant heat.

He swung his sword up in an arc over his head, and as he did, Kel spilled a river of sparks in his wake.

“Show off!” Arthur shouted.

Gawain laughed, but he didn't stop, spinning the sword over his head and around his body. With every move he made, sparks fell over his rocking hips, or the bunch and play of his thighs under his jeans.

In contrast to the frenetic athleticism the other knights had displayed, Gawain moved almost lazily, forcing the music to slow into a suggestive, rocking beat.

And his eyes never left hers.

Lark stared back at him, enthralled by the play of muscle in his arms and shoulders as he spun the sword. The drifting flecks of light illuminated his face, throwing the strong facial bones into stark relief. His mouth parted, and she felt the sheer sexual kick of it all the way to her heart.

Still rotating the sword, he turned his back, leaving her to stare at the sweeping line formed by broad shoulders and narrow waist. The muscled cheeks of his backside worked as he danced, each rock of his hips reminding her of the sensation of his cock sliding deep into her sex in a long, thick glide. Her nipples peaked and her mouth went dry.

Slowly, he pivoted to face Lark again. His gaze locked on hers. She gasped at the blatant sexual promise in his eyes.

“Dammit,” some Maja in the crowd said, “he never looked at me that way!”

Everyone laughed—except Lark and Gawain. She was too hypnotized by him, by each move and flex of his big body. She barely noticed as the lights of the square began to go out one by one, extinguished by Kel's magic, until the only illumination came from the slowly rotating sword.

The laughter died to silence as a mood of thick, heavy sensuality descended over the Magekind crowd. Behind Gawain, even the knights had gone still, their attention focused on their chosen partners in the crowd.

The music swelled to a crescendo as Gawain suddenly thrust the sword over his head. Kel stopped spilling sparks and began to glow like a torch, so bright Lark's eyes stung.

Abruptly the light went out, plunging the square into darkness.

A sound rose, a kind of collective male growl, starkly sexual with hunger. A woman gasped a man's name. Another woman squealed as her partner grabbed her.

Lark's heart was pounding. She blinked hard, trying to clear her dazzled vision.

By the time her eyes adjusted, Gawain was standing right in front of her, stark hunger in his eyes.

“Run,” he breathed.

Without thinking, she obeyed, whirling to push her way through the crowd with him right behind her. Somebody laughed. “In a hurry, Gawain?”

She ignored the woman and kept going until she shoved her way clear.

“Run,” he rumbled again.

Lark flung herself into a sprint, not questioning why, knowing only that her entire body throbbed with erotic heat. Behind her, she heard the swift pad of his running feet. Her nipples drew into tight points as she imagined what he'd do when he caught her.

And he would catch her.

The racing thud of his feet grew closer as he gained on her with every step. Her heart began to pound in the hard rhythm of arousal. He'd pounce on her in a moment, just take her down and…

Lark sensed him grab. Instinctively she veered, grinning at his growled curse as he missed. Shooting through a stone gateway, she fled into the park that lay beyond it. The air smelled sweetly potent with the scent of Mageverse flowers. Banks of pale blossoms nodded in the cool breeze as she ran, and a fountain tinkled somewhere nearby. Hearing the crunch of a footstep right behind her, she darted behind an oak. A big hand flashed past, barely missing her as she ducked. Laughing, she whirled around the tree—

And ran right into Gawain's brawny arms. They snapped around her like a trap springing shut, strong and warm.

His grin at her startled yelp was more than a little predatory. “Dinnertime.”

“Not quite.” Lark grabbed him around one shoulder, hooked an ankle behind his, and tried to throw him as she'd been taught. It was like trying to toss a marble statue.

Gawain's grin only broadened. “You must be joking.”

The next thing she knew, she was the one on the ground, pinned under his hard strength. Lark gasped, helplessly, impossibly turned on.

He reared over her and flipped her onto her belly. Something rattled, and Lark felt metal encircle her wrists and click shut.

“Hey!” She squirmed, but Gawain had already hauled one of her feet up and back.
Click.
Lark glowered over her shoulder and saw he'd locked one cuff of a set of shackles around her ankle. “Are you chaining me up?”

Gawain grabbed her left foot and clicked another cuff around it. Chains rattled musically. “Yep.” His eyes glittered at her. “If you'll recall, I told you I would when you tied
me
up.”

Kel must have conjured the bonds for him; he hadn't had them earlier. Her gaze flicked to the sword, but the dragon had gone stiff and metallic again.

Gawain grabbed the back of Lark's T-shirt and pulled.
Riiiiiiip.

“Cut that out!” She tried to kick at him, but with her ankles and wrists bound, she couldn't move. “You're not stripping me in public!”

“Yes….”
Snap.
Her right bra strap collapsed. “I am.” He pulled again, and her left strap dropped to the grass in front of her eyes.

We'll just see about that, buddy.
Lark concentrated, trying to dissolve Kel's cuffs with her magic, but the steel remained stubbornly solid.

Another series of tugs and ripping fabric, and Gawain calmly pulled off her bra. She thought about conjuring a new one, but a blade of grass stroked over one hard nipple.

Oh, what the hell. Everybody in Avalon was off getting laid anyhow.

Riiiiiiiip.
Gawain had started work on her jeans.

“You know, I could make those disappear for you.”

“But I want to tear them off.” Desire and wicked humor deepened his voice to a rumble of lust. A minute later, he tossed the last scraps of fabric aside.

And Lark was definitely creaming.

He turned her over on her back, and she tensed, waiting for his touch. Instead he rose to his feet and reached for the hem of his shirt. As she watched, he pulled it off over his head, revealing the ripple and play of tanned muscle across his broad, powerful chest. Toeing off his running shoes, he reached for the fly of his jeans.

A long, magnificent erection angled upward under the tough fabric. Lark licked her lips as his zipper hissed. His eyes never left her face as he grabbed his waistband and pulled jeans and boxers down. His cock thrust free, bobbing hungrily as he pushed his pants down his brawny thighs.

Lark's heart was pounding like a kettledrum by the time he threw his jeans aside. She swallowed. “What exactly do you have in mind?”

Gawain sat down on the grass beside her and calmly took off his socks. His green eyes were hot with hunger and pure possessive male satisfaction as he looked over her bound nudity. “Payback.”

That was what she'd been afraid of. She licked her lips. “What kind of payback?”

Gawain flipped her across his thighs and lifted one big hand over her ass. He grinned toothily. “What do you think?”

Lark stared at him, outraged. “You are
not
going to spank me!”

“Actually, I am.” His palm smacked down. She jolted against his legs with a yelp born more of astonishment than pain. The swat had been too light to really hurt.

Another swat, this one stinging. She yowled in earnest. “I'm going to turn you into a rabbit!”

“Not a frog?” Another meaty slap.

She tried to kick with her bound feet. “Poetic justice. All you want to do is fuck!”

“Not so.” A rain of quick smacks hot enough to make her squirm. “I also like to bite.”

“Ooow! I'm warning you, Bunnicula…”

“I should have asked Kel for a gag.”
Smack!

“Jerk!”

“Jerk? Is that the best you can do?”
Smack!
“No threatening to turn me into rabbit stew?”
Smack!
“A rabbit fur coat?”
Smack!
“A rabbit's foot?”
Smack!

Panting, she managed, “How about a rabbit-shaped vibrator? That way I can shove a D-battery up your…”
WHACK!
“Oooww!”

“If anybody's going to shove anything anywhere, it's going to be me.” He ran caressing fingertips over her backside, soothing the sting. Lark drew in a quick breath at the sensation. “You know, your ass has turned a really pretty pink. It's giving me an erection.”

“What
doesn't
give you an erection?”

“Where you're concerned, not much.” He ran a hand down her bottom and between her thighs. A finger stroked, probed. She moaned as it slid deep. “Why, you kinky little witch! You're creaming.”

“Duh.” Another deep stroke. She laid her cheek against the grass and groaned.

“I think I've made an error in judgment.”

Oh, God, please don't stop!
“Yeah, you've pissed off a witch.”

“No.” Another delicious stroke. “I chained your legs
together
.”

She grinned into the grass. “Dummy.”

He caught her by one calf and pulled her legs up until he could reach the chain around her ankles. But instead of freeing them both, he only unfastened the right cuff.

A moment later, he had her left wrist chained to her left ankle. Her jaw dropped in outrage. “You are
so
not hog-tying me!”

“Don't bet on it, Miss Piggy.” He was already repeating the process with her right arm and leg.

“I'm going to get you for this. I'm plotting my revenge right now!”

“I really should have asked Kel for that gag.” He turned her over on her back. “Well, at least I know one way to shut you up.”

She glowered at him, halfway between laughter and arousal. “Only if you want me to bite it off.”

He pushed her knees apart and settled between her thighs. As he lowered his head toward her deliciously spread sex, he lifted a blond brow. “Want to reconsider that suggestion?”

Her eyes widened as he swirled his tongue over her clit. “Sir Gawain, I promise I would never, ever bite any—Oh, God!—sensitive parts of your anatomy.” His next long lick had her throwing her head back. Panting, she added, “And I really hope you won't use those big, sharp teeth on mine!”

Gawain grinned wickedly as he caught her nipples in both hands. “Would I do that to you?” Tracing the tip of his tongue around her clit in a delicious figure eight, he tugged the captured peaks. The stark pleasure made her squirm, despite the friction of the grass against her well-paddled butt. He drew back, twisting her nipples delicately. Green eyes glittered up at her. “Especially after the way you teased me and tormented me and wouldn't let me come?”

“What was I thinking?”

“You were thinking I wouldn't do this.” His stiffened tongue thrust up her core in a long, taunting stroke.

Her spine arched. “Actually, I kind of hoped you would.”

“Bad girl.” Another delicious, liquid tongue swirl as he teased and stroked her breasts.

Lark lifted her head and smiled hopefully. “Maybe you should punish me with your cock until I beg for mercy?”

His head lifted, revealing a truly evil grin. “Now, there's a thought.”

One minute his face was between her thighs. The next, he loomed over her, his body covering hers. She blinked up at him as he reached down to aim himself. “You're fast.”

He lifted a brow. “Not that fast.”

He proved it as he slid into her one slow, delicious inch at a time, in a seductive satin glide. “Oh, Merlin's Beard!”

“You know…” Another inch. “…he didn't really have a beard.”

“Who cares?”
She threw her head back. “God!”

Gawain's balls rested against her backside now, and she could feel his entire length stuffing her. Slowly, he began to pull out. She writhed against him, pulling helplessly at her bonds.

With a dark smile, he settled down over her until every inch of his hard, powerful body pressed against every inch of her soft one. Taking his time, he pumped, slow and deep at first, each stroke teasing her tight, creaming channel. The fingers of one hand threaded through her hair, pulling her head back and to the side. He breathed against her neck and drove his cock a little deeper, a little harder, a little faster.

Lark shivered, knowing what he was going to do, feeling the first hot pulses of her orgasm. She tried to wrap her arms around him, but she was still trussed and helpless.

And he was anything but, pumping that massive cock in and out as he slowly licked the pulse in her throat.

She was so close, she couldn't stand it. “Gawain, oh! Please…”

Pump. Pump. Pump. Relentless as a machine. The tips of his fangs brushed her skin as he opened his mouth.