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  Sir Bryant abruptly released her nipple and straightened. Riana snapped open her eyes and dragged in a harsh breath. He stared as though she was the most beautiful woman in the world…the only woman in the world. The only woman in the room. But she wasn’t. Another woman, the woman who had imprisoned her in this madhouse, was present, and slaking her perverted desires at Riana’s expense. Pain flickered in his eyes. Was that regret? Riana searched his gaze, but he suddenly lowered his head and kissed her. She remained motionless while he moved his mouth over hers.

  He broke the kiss and trailed wet lips along her neck to her ear. “Do not fear,” he whispered.

  She jerked, but he held her firm as he closed his mouth over her earlobe and gently bit down. She jerked again, but this time with pleasure. He grasped her shoulders with warm fingers and pulled her dress down her arms. Riana stood motionless as the dress slid past her hips and pooled on the carpet at her feet. A low fire burnt in the hearth, yet gooseflesh rose and spread like wildfire down her arms. She couldn’t prevent a shiver.

  “Spread your legs,” he said in a whisper she knew was meant to be heard by the duchess.

  Riana jammed her eyes shut and widened her stance. He reached between her legs and slipped a finger into her folds. Pleasure rippled through her. Tears pressed against the insides of her eyelids. She could not—would not—feel desire. He gently massaged her sensitive bead of flesh with his thumb. Riana clenched her hands at her sides against the tightening in her center. He thrust a thick finger inside her slick channel.

  “You are so wet,” he whispered, and she opened her eyes.

  He stared, eyes dark, and she was struck with the thought that he had momentarily forgotten the duchess was watching…participating. He thrust harder. Pleasure spiked, but she forced her hands to remain at her sides.

  You want me, he mouthed.

  He covered her breast with his free hand and pressed his palm against the hardened areola. The urge to grind her nub against the finger Sir Bryant was moving in and out of her channel clenched her stomach muscles. Riana bit down on her lip. If she gave in, the duchess would have her satisfaction, her pleasure. How would Riana keep the bile from rising when the older woman cried out in her release?

  Sir Bryant abruptly yanked his finger from inside Riana. She threw her arms around his neck when he swept her into his arms. She caught sight of the duchess, her dress now lying in a puddle at her feet as Riana’s was, and buried her head in Sir Bryant’s chest. He took three steps and she felt herself being lowered, then the velvet of the couch arm brushed the back of her legs.

  Riana opened her eyes as he laid her on the cushion. He straightened, and her pulse spiked when he pulled off his gambeson, then the shirt beneath, baring his broad chest. Her heart lurched. He was beautiful. He shoved down his hose and his cock sprang forward. The duchess’ sharp intake of breath jarred Riana.

  A moment later, Sir Bryant stood naked and he climbed onto the couch, straddling Riana’s stomach. Her heart leapt into a gallop with his shaft only inches from her mouth. Pre- cum glistened on the mushroom tip, begging for her to lap up the tangy juice.

  “Taste me,” he said.

  Riana swung her gaze up to his. Was she so transparent that he could so easily read her mind? He grasped her shoulders and moved closer. The scent of musk that radiated from his shaft assaulted her senses. Why was he doing this? Why not just shove his cock inside her and be done with the deed? The duchess hadn’t stipulated that he need draw out Riana’s humiliation. She would belong to him whether he fucked her in one minute or one hour.

  He wrapped his fingers around his shaft and desire streaked through her at sight of the long, brown digits firmly gripping the thick shaft. He shifted closer to her mouth and brushed the velvety-soft tip across her lips. She reflexively licked at her lips and tasted his sharp tang. Sir Bryant gently pushed the shaft past her lips, then released his cock as she sucked him deep into her mouth.

  He groaned, muscles in his chest flexing as he began a rhythm. Riana grasped his shaft, keeping him steady. He moved in and out and the memory flashed into her mind of kneeling before him in the chapel, his cock in her mouth as it was now, the desire that had flooded her at thought of him filling her channel. In those few moments, her hopes had been high.

  She choked back a sob and he stilled, his eyes snapping open. He stared for an instant, then turned and straddled her so that his arse faced her. She blinked, then realized his intent when he stretched out on top of her, bracing his weight with one leg, and buried his face between her legs. His erection laid a hair’s breadth from her mouth. She clamped her mouth shut, determined not to allow him entrance, then drew in a sharp breath when his tongue delved between her folds. He lapped at her cream, his tongue dipping inside her quivering walls. When he sucked her nub into his mouth, her chest tightened and she thrust against his mouth. Shame rolled over her. What was wrong with her? She couldn’t care for him, couldn’t trust this man who would sacrifice her for his own ends.

  His cock jerked, then lay heavy on her chest. He sucked harder on her sex. She trembled, her body reaching for release. She wanted, needed, his cock in her mouth while his mouth claimed her. She took him inside and he groaned, the sound rumbling through her sex straight to her core. Her heart twisted in unison with the building pressure. This would be the last time he touched her. He held a power over her she’d never experienced with another man, a power that would prove her undoing. But she wouldn’t allow her lust to destroy Siusan. When this charade was finished, she would slip away with her sister and take what little chance they had for escape.

  His tongue abruptly flicked at her nub, the feather-light touch enough to keep her teetering on the edge, but not enough to push her into spasm. She rocked against his mouth and was surprised to hear his low chuckle. Did he delight in torturing her, bringing her to the brink only to keep the prize out of reach? What sort of monster was he? She could play the same game. Riana sucked him deep into her mouth. His tongue faltered, and satisfaction emboldened her. She sucked him hard, and the flicks of his tongue quickened.

  A moan slipped past her lips. Riana cursed her lack of control, but the admonition was forgotten as quickly as it had come with the pleasure that spiked. She bucked against his mouth. He closed his lips around her sex and began to suck again. His cock slipped from her mouth as release rolled over her. She cried out. Sir Bryant abruptly sprang to his feet. Her head reeled. She grabbed for him, but he easily broke free and moved around to the arm of the couch and grasped her legs, pulling them over the arm

  She blinked. “What—”

  He cut her off with a kiss and grabbed the pillow from the couch. When he broke the kiss, he lifted her hips and placed it beneath her buttocks so that her cunt angled up on the arm without discomfort to her back. Sir Bryant grasped her thighs and spread them so that her sex lay bare to him. The duchess stepped up beside him. Riana’s heart twisted. She’d almost forgotten the older woman was present. Sir Bryant brought his cock to the mouth of Riana’s channel and looked at the duchess.

  “This is the final step.”

  Before either of them could respond, he shoved his cock inside her. Riana gasped at the sudden invasion, her walls closing around the rod as pleasure quickly built again. No. Not with the duchess in sight. But he thrust into her, hard and fast, clearly intending to push her over the edge. His chest strained with each measured thrust. Riana shook her head, but he locked eyes with her, willing—commanding—her to submit. He slammed into her. The muscle in his jaw tensed.

  He gripped her hips, digging his fingers hard into the flesh with each plunge of his cock. Pleasure rolled over her and she knew she wouldn’t be able to prevent her release. Sir Bryant released her hips and pulled her up onto the arm, hugging her close as he pounded into her. She clung to his neck and buried her face in his chest. If she could stop this now, she would. The memories would be painful enough without this final humiliation.

  Warm breath on her ear startled her
.

  “Trust me,” he said in the barest of whispers that made her wonder if she’d heard correctly. “I will not fail you.”

  And he didn’t. Her walls convulsed around him, and he groaned his release in unison with her cry.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Riana didn't miss the tightening of Sir Bryant’s mouth when the duchess instructed her to go directly to her chambers and prepare to leave. He clearly didn’t want her left to her own devices while he and the duchess sought an audience with the duke. He had good reason to worry.

  She gave a nod of acquiescence to the duchess’ order that she be ready to leave within the hour. She would be ready to go, only not as expected. Her hand shook on the latch as she stepped into the hallway and clicked the door shut, leaving them to await the duke. Her knees weakened, the feel of Sir Bryant’s cock lodged inside her as her walls closed around him in pleasure so close to the surface that her sex still ached. She forced her legs into submission and hurried down the hall toward the stairs leading to the fourth floor and her sister’s chambers.

  Sir Bryant's touch had been light, sweet, then demanding and passionate to the point that she had nearly gone out of her mind with need. A shiver snaked down her back. She had lost control even knowing the duchess was in the room…even knowing Sir Bryant was only using her. Riana turned a bend in the hallway and made a quick right turn up the third floor stairs. It wasn’t that she could perform while the duchess looked on that bothered her, but that she had enjoyed it for the second time.

  Riana gave a mirthless laugh. The noble knight had married her because he believed she held secrets that could harm the duchess. But the question still remained—why marry her before finding out what she knew? Did he plan on using Siusan as the duchess had? At the third floor, Riana turned right again and started up the stairs. Determination churned her stomach. She tired of living in fear. One way or another, she was going to find a way to get Siusan out of Arundel before Sir Bryant and the duchess finished with the duke.

  She stepped from the stairs into the hallway and slowed when she saw no guard outside Siusan’s door. Surely the duchess wouldn’t leave her unguarded? She inched open the door and stepped into the anteroom.

  “Siusan?”

  No answer.

  Other than the tiny fire that burned in the hearth, the room looked as if no one had been there. Riana crossed to the door leading to Siusan’s bedchamber and entered. This room, too, was empty and, aside from the goblet of ale on the small desk, looked unused. Where could Siusan be? Fear swept through her. Had the duke decided he’d waited long enough to have her? Riana whirled. Something in the corner of her eye caught her attention and she started toward the bed. A man’s boot peeked from behind the thick leg of the bed. She took three more paces and stopped. One of the duke’s men lay unconscious on the carpet.

  Riana dropped to her knees at his side and pressed two fingers to his neck. A strong pulse beat. He wasn’t dead, only rendered unconscious. Why? She rose and scanned the room. Nothing looked out of place. She hurried to Siusan’s armoire and yanked open the doors above the drawers. Siusan’s woolen dress and cloak were gone. By all that was holy, had Siusan left Arundel? Riana turned. Aside from the unconscious guard, there was no sign of a struggle or ransacking of the room. Had Glen escaped prison and returned? Even if some miracle had freed him, he couldn’t have entered Arundel undetected, and he wouldn’t take Siusan without telling her.

  If the duke had come for Siusan, he wouldn’t have taken her clothes. In fact, he would probably have taken her virginity here in this bed. Riana shifted her attention back to the unconscious man. Only someone who wasn’t supposed to be here would leave him in this condition. A memory flashed through her mind of Sir Dunbar’s wink when he’d excuse himself from the room earlier. “I have business to attend to.”

  Riana drew a sharp breath. His business had been Siusan. Her mind reeled. Sir Bryant had fucked her while in the presence of the duchess as a distraction—just as Riana had used him as a distraction. He was rescuing Siusan. Not rescuing. Ensuring Riana’s cooperation. Siusan was Sir Bryant’s leverage, just as she’d been the duchess’ leverage.

  A dozen questions rushed to the surface, but the most important was, was being owned by Sir Bryant better than being owned by the duchess? His ownership brought with it his touch. A flutter brushed the inside her stomach. Sir Bryant saw her as an opportunity to better his station in life. How could he elicit such deep emotion in her? Once she outlived her usefulness, he would lose interest. Her heart twisted at the thought of him abandoning her for another woman. Riana forced aside her riotous emotions. Being discarded by Sir Bryant was the lesser of two evils. He would not force her into the bed of other men and, more important, he would not take Siusan into his bed either.

  ****

  Relief and trepidation flooded Bryant when he took the final step down the stairs into the great hall and found Riana seated at the table, ready to go. He met her gaze and read in her eyes that she knew her sister was no longer at Arundel. He remained quiet and escorted her to the horses that stood ready and, surrounded by fifty of his men, they rode through the gates of Arundel. They would remain in sight of the guards on the battlements until they reached the trees, so he kept their pace leisurely.

  Bryant fell back from the lead to come up alongside Riana. “How did you know?”

  Gaze straight ahead, she pulled her cloak more tightly about her. “I found the guard unconscious in Siusan’s bedchamber.”

  Bryant wondered that Sir Dunbar hadn't killed the man, but his mentor was probably right in not giving the duke reason to accuse them of murder.

  “Where is she?” Riana asked.

  Her voice was cool, strong, but he didn’t miss the worry. “They have a two hour head start. They will ride to Chilgoriam Castle.”

  She snapped her head in his direction. “That is a day’s ride.”

  Bryant nodded. “We cannot risk the duchess catching us before we reach the safety of the castle.”

  “You play a dangerous game, knight.”

  He laughed. “Aye, Lady. We are well matched.”

  Surprise flickered in her eyes. “I will not give you any information until I am certain Siusan is safe.”

  Her reply implied she knew something, but would she admit otherwise? Her reaction when they were with the duchess had told him she understood he meant to have her secrets. Had that knowledge given her time to form the reply she believed he wanted?

  “We will both benefit, Riana.”

  She remained silent, and he hesitated, wanting to speak of what had happened with the duchess. Did she now understand that the consummation had simply been the best ploy to keep the duchess distracted while Sir Dunbar whisked away her sister? Would she loathe him if she knew how much he’d wanted her, despite the fact the duchess looked on? Even now he grew hard with the memory of how she had ground her mound against his mouth as he devoured her. The way her mouth had closed around his shaft while he sucked her sex had driven him mad. He wouldn’t have cared if the whole world watched while they tasted each other. He shifted in his saddle, his erection suddenly uncomfortable. He had fucked her only an hour ago, yet he wanted her again.

  Deep in the night, Bryant realized Riana had fallen asleep on her horse, and brought his mount up alongside hers. He grasped her waist and pulled her across his thighs. She cried out and fisted his gambeson.

  “You are safe,” he whispered into her hair, and cursed his foolishness in not insisting she acquiesce when he’d suggested earlier that she ride with him.

  She pushed at his chest in an obvious effort to straighten, but he pulled her trembling body closer.

  “I can ride,” she said into his chest.

  “Be still,” he growled.

  She hesitated, then relaxed in his arms. “How much longer?”

  “It is nearly dawn,” he replied. “Four, maybe five hours, yet.”

  She snuggled closer and he pulled her cloak more tightly around h
er. After a moment’s silence, she said, “Mayhap the duchess has not given chase because she is sure my mother will bear a son. If she believes Fyvie Castle will remain hers, she may let us go.”

  Bryant didn’t believe the duchess would take such a gamble, and was surprised Riana would be so naïve. But he only replied, “Perhaps,” and breathed deeply of her hair. A hint of vanilla still lingered. He could get lost in that smell. His cock pulsed. If she noticed his arousal—he laughed mentally. In a moment she would be unable to miss his desire. His shaft would be hard as a rock and screaming for attention.

  A soft snort brought him up short and he realized Riana had fallen asleep again. Bryant released a slow breath. This would be the longest four hours of his life.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Emotion tightened Riana’s chest when Chilgoriam Castle came into view in the distance. Fast-moving clouds swung low on the horizon and seemed to skim the round towers that stretched heavenwards. If God himself stepped from the mist onto the battlements that would be no greater miracle than the fact they had encountered no trouble since leaving Arundel. Was it possible the duchess had truly let her go? Was Chilgoriam Castle now home? She glanced at Sir Bryant.

  He smiled gently. “We are home,” he said, as though he had read her mind.

  Her heart fluttered and she couldn’t stop her gaze from dropping when she felt her cheeks heat. He edged his horse closer and he grasped her chin, tilting her face upwards so that she was forced to meet his gaze.

  “You are safe,” he said.

  He released her and, before she had realized his intention, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her from her horse and across his lap.