THE BAIRNS ARE all tucked in bed,” Perrin told Elspeth as she joined her in the family’s dining room. She noted the laird’s wife had not only finished all the bread and pottage the men had brought up for their evening meal, but now nibbled on an oatcake. “It’s lovely to see you finally eat something.”

“I cannae stop myself,” Elspeth admitted, and finished the cake. “’Tis as if I dinnae carry a child at all. Even with all this dire news, my belly hasnae churned once this day.” She glanced at Perrin as if uncertain of what to say next.

She sat down beside her. “You can tell me if you ate all the oatcakes in the castle.”

“No’ yet. I would tell you this, as you’ll no’ think me mad. Or you’ll be kind and no’ say so.” She sighed. “Before you exposed her, Ana brought all my trays to me at night. My sickness began the same week she came to work for us.” She paused to take a sip from her mug of calming brew. “’Tis addled my thinking. If she meant to poison me, by now I’d be no more.”

The thought of the evil druidess dosing the laird’s wife with something to make her sick every day revolted Perrin, but it also added another clue to the mystery of why Oriana had posed as a maid.

“If you’d kept being sick, what would the laird have done about it?”

Elspeth thought for a moment. “Some days before you and Cousin Emeline came, Maddock spoke of taking me through a sacred grove portal to heal my sickness. He thought if I went to Dun Mor with Emeline, and returned, ’twould end the boaking. I told him no’ to be foolish, that ’twas natural for a female with child.”

Perrin tapped her cheek. “Wonder where he got that idea.”

“Och, one of the maid–” Elspeth stopped and gave her a horrified look. “He said one of the maids suggested it to him. That the notion came to her after she heard our cousin speak of how the portal healed her.”

“Emeline would never talk about that, not in front of a maid. That’s very private clan business.” So, the real reason Oriana had come to work at the castle involved creating a reason to send Lady Elspeth through a portal to Dun Mor. “I don’t know why she would try to get you into a portal, though. Could she have put a spell on it, and sent you somewhere else? That seems to be happening a lot lately.”

“I cannae tell you. I wish Bhaltair Flen hadnae left us,” the lady said, and rubbed her temple. “He’d ken better than anyone what manner of dark purpose the druidess had.”

Perrin nodded, but she knew exactly why Bhaltair had left. He’d taken her vision seriously, at least she hoped he had.

“Elspeth, I’d like to tell you about something. You might think I’m crazy, but you should know. Then again, I don’t want to burden or upset you either, which is why I haven’t said anything.”

The laird’s wife regarded her steadily. “My dear lass, I’ve managed daily purgings, burned villages, terrified poor folk, a near-drowning, a cowardly, hateful murder, my husband turned drunkard from guilt, a near-murder of the chieftain’s brother, another near-attack on a member of the druid conclave, and now the famhairean make ready to kill us all. You cannae upend me.” She rested her hands on the top curve of her belly. “Besides that, I’m much too fat.”

A short time later Perrin left the solar, satisfied that she had done all she could to prevent a disaster that might never happen now. Since the laird had sequestered the household staff to the garrison she didn’t expect to find a tub of hot water waiting for her in her chambers. Elspeth must have arranged the bath, as well as the clean, warm robe and nightdress that had been left on her bed. Once she’d scrubbed herself pink and dried off Perrin put on a few things she’d brought with her, and then shrugged into the robe and grabbed her last clean gown.

She had everything she needed, except Kanyth.

From what Elspeth had told her he’d worked all day in the forge, and was still there finishing up the last of the fortifications they needed for the attack. The laird’s wife had also casually pointed out where to locate the blacksmith’s workroom, in the event that Perrin ever wished to see it.

Somehow Lady McAra knew what was going on with her and Kanyth. Or maybe she’d realized that this might be the last night they could spend together. If they survived, Perrin was going to be her BF for life.

Feeling excitement bubbling inside her, Perrin went downstairs and followed Elspeth’s directions until she entered a short, wide passage with three large rooms. Heat rolled out of the center chamber in palpable waves, so she peeked in that one first.

Like the forge at Dun Mor, the big room had been designed for hard, hot work. The walls and floors had been cased with thick stone, and a half-dozen odd-shaped tables and benches sat arranged neatly around a massive standing anvil. Everything smelled of fire and iron and wood, with a hint of Kanyth’s spicy scent binding it into an arousing aroma. Tubs of dark water sat beside the benches and under the holes cut in the tables, probably to extinguish any stray embers or molten metal fragments. Long wooden racks held rows of hammers, tongs, picks and other large, heavy tools.

Perrin felt oddly at home there. While absolutely a masculine domain she could appreciate the clean, simple logic of the space. As she studied the tools she noticed they had been grouped by type and then size, and had the rugged look of things well-used without being worn down. Things might be all work and no play in the forge, but she sensed a kind of beauty to it, too. Here men like Ka took lumps of metal and turned them into practical art.

Since no one but her occupied the room she turned to check out the other two, and walked straight into a big, hard, sweaty bare chest.

“Perrin.” Just as he had every time since they’d been together Kanyth purred her name. “I didnae expect a visit.”

“That’s why it’s a surprise.” She glanced around him, hoping no more sweaty chests would appear. “Are you working by yourself?”

“Aye, Alec and I placed most of the fortifications. I sent him to find his bed after he nodded off hammering.” He drew her into the center room. “Come and sit. I’ve only to anneal one last bracket, and I’ll be finished.”

He guided her over to a stool by the hearth, where she sat and watched as he opened two large, round metal doors and reached into a blazing fire. She almost shrieked, only to remember his power, and pressed her hand over her mouth.

He hauled out what looked like part of a heavy cage made of glowing gold, and carried it over to the largest table, the top of which had been covered in flat, blackened stones. He turned, bent and plunged his hands into one of the buckets, sending up a waft of steam. Wisps of smoke rose from the cage lattice as the color of its bars darkened to amber-red.

“Has there been any sign of the giants?” she asked.

“No, but they cannae attack in darkness.” Kanyth splashed his face and chest with more water, then dried off with large, rough-looking woven cloth. “If they’re to come for us, and I reckon they shall, ’twill be just after sunrising.”

Perrin saw him move in front of the open furnace doors, and fire flared up behind him, illuminating his massive upper torso. She glanced down at the pile of furs sitting in front of the furnace. It was all happening again, just as it had in her vision…only it was different.

We didn’t mate. We became lovers. Different choice, different future.

The one thing she was sure of was what she’d come here to do, so she’d go with that.

“Could you please bolt the door so no one wanders in here?”

Kanyth frowned but did as she’d asked. “We should go up to our chamber.”

“It’s too far away.” She shrugged out of the robe, hanging it out of the way on a wall hook. “I like it here.”

Kanyth took in the bra and panties Perrin wore, which showed plainly through the scanty linen shift. The gray leg warmers she wore weren’t silk stockings, but they were trimmed in white lace.

He took a step toward her, paused and folded his arms. “You had but a robe over that as you scampered through the keepe?” he demanded, and gestured toward the gown. “Why didnae you wear that?”

“The gown is for tomorrow, I never scamper, and that robe is very warm,” she chided.

She picked up the stool and placed it in the center of the largest space in the room.

“What are you about, lass?” He didn’t sound stern anymore.

“You said that someday you hoped I would dance for you. Well I’m not waiting for someday. Come and sit.” She backed away as he did, and thought of the sexiest song she knew, and let it play in her memory. “I need you tonight…to watch me dance for you.”

Feeling the beat of the song vibrating through her, Perrin let it flow out through her limbs, and let her spine slip into a slow curving undulation. Doing a slow-motion half-back flip made the shift float down around her shoulders. She caught the hem as she came back up, tugging it over her head. With a sultry saunter she approached him, draping the shift around his neck. He reached to touch her, but she glided away.

“Last night was for me,” Perrin said as she stretched out one leg, bracing the ball of her foot on his thigh. “This is all for you.”

She eased down the leg warmer, making a slow, sexy production of it, and then lifted her foot to let it fall in his lap. Now she understood the power of a striptease, the naughtiest dance of all time, because it held Kanyth utterly riveted. He’d already kissed and touched and caressed practically every inch of her body, yet now he looked at her as if he’d never seen her.

Perrin relished each move she made, taking her time and adding drama to the slow shedding of what little she wore. She came close enough to rub her bottom against his upper arm, and whisper his name on the back of his neck. When she unclipped the front of her bra, she held the cups over her until she could pose her breasts just under his chin.

“Take it off for me,” she breathed against his hair, and moaned as his fingers deftly peeled back the silky material to bare her nipples. She turned, extended her arms behind for him to slide the straps down, and then rolled into a tumble that she ended in a full split.

Her high-cut panties she left on until the very end, when she straddled his lap and reached for the tiny seams on each hip. Splitting them took only two yanks. She captured his hand with hers and drew the torn swatch of gossamer fabric from between her thighs.

“There.” Perrin drew the panties from his fingers to blot the new sweat away from his brow. “One more thing. Think of it as a lap dance.”

She slid off his thighs and went down on her knees. Snaking her hands around to the back of his trousers, she tugged loose the laces and then eased down the front panel over the stupendous erection he’d grown.

“Lass,” he murmured, his eyes narrowing. “I’d dance inside you now.”

She smiled up at him. “Oh, you will.”

Perrin loved this part of him. Aside from all the pleasure it gave her, it had its own rude, masculine beauty. She stroked the heavy shaft with her finger tips, tracing the thick veins and feeling him throb in response. A tiny pearl of his come formed a drop atop the swollen head, gleaming and tantalizing her. Last night he hadn’t given her a chance to taste him here. Last night she’d thought he would stay inside her forever.

But there were other places for him to take.

Looking up at him, she parted her lips over his cockhead and kissed him, lapping away the bead of semen. Kanyth’s eyelids drooped as he shuddered, and his hands came up to tangle in her hair.

Perrin let her lips imprison him, capturing the thick plum of his tip and sucking it lightly. The scent of him, the taste, the feel of his cock as she took him in, all combined to fill her with more heat and lust. Slowly she worked her way down his broad length, finding the rhythm that matched what he did when he came into her. Using her tongue to rub and tease him as she made love to him with her mouth, she took him as deeply as she could. What simply wouldn’t fit she clasped with her fingers and gently squeezed as she tugged with her lips.

The more she sucked Kanyth, the deeper he groaned. His thighs knotted under her forearms, and as his cock swelled he shook as if he might come apart.

His torn emotions were telegraphed to her through his touch. He wanted to come, so badly it would happen any moment, but he’d never done this, and didn’t know how it ended. When he tried to lift her face, she held onto him and sucked his cock steadily, giving him the final push over the edge.

Kanyth came like a fountain, his body jerking under her as his seed pulsed over her tongue. Perrin swallowed again and again that delicious gift, relishing the spicy-salt taste of him. On some level she felt as if she’d enslaved him, and yet on another she’d become his devoted servant. She wanted a hundred nights with him to do this again, a thousand. Knowing they might never get that chance made it all the more precious.

Perrin used her tongue to caress him as she released him at last, and looked up to see the stunned pleasure glowing in his eyes.

“I loved that,” she said. “I love you.” There went her mouth again, off and running on its own, but Perrin didn’t regret saying how she felt. She’d never been in love, but if it wasn’t this then she didn’t want to take the fall. “That would probably be more convincing if I hadn’t done all that yelling at you in front of the druid. I felt awful when you didn’t come back that first night. It hurt my pride. I got used and dumped before, and I flashed back to that, I guess. I never got to rip his face off so I probably took it out on you. Say something now before I tell you about all the things that don’t matter anymore.”

Kanyth lifted her from the floor onto his thigh, and looked at her so sternly that for a second, she thought she’d said or done something wrong.

“You’ll stay with me. In chains, if I must use them to keep you. You’re my wench now.” His eyes softened. “My lover.”

“I don’t mind wench. Chains could be fun.” Delighted, she linked her hands behind his neck. “So, while it’s not a tradition yet, you’re supposed to give me a tip for dancing for you. It’s like a reward. I don’t think there are any dollar bills in the fourteenth century, though, and gold coins are so heavy.” She leaned in to give him an airy kiss. “Maybe we could work it out another way.”

“I’ve something for you.” He swept her off his lap and into his arms, and carried her over to the pile of furs.

The heat and light from the furnace spilled over Perrin, who stretched out as she watched Kanyth strip out of his boots and trousers. Despite her best efforts he’d grown hard again, and when he knelt over her, his thighs hard against the outside of hers, she reached for him.

“No’ so fast, wench.” He caught her hands and reached for something over her.

Perrin laughed as she felt him wrap a heavy chain around her wrists. “You’re a very bad man.”

“Aye, and you’re no’ dancing away from me again.” Once he had her restrained he shifted back, moving his legs between hers now. His big hands went under her to lift her up so that her buttocks rested against his knees, and she lay open and bare to his gaze.

Perrin felt even more sexy than she had stripping. “Still waiting for my reward here.”

“’Tis coming.” He brought his hand to cup her sex, stirring the soft apricot curls over it. “I feel this against my cock when I fack you. So soft.” He found her clit, and parted her folds to study it. “And this.” He gave her a stroke with his thumb, and looked up when she shivered. “I’ve heard my brothers speak of this hiding jewel.” He kept caressing it as he watched her face. “They claim ’tis good to touch, for it brings a wench pleasure. ’Tis truth?”

That he didn’t know made her happy and furious, all at once. To be the first woman he’d explored so thoroughly pleased her, but to think he’d been kept from doing so made her wish she could kick some ignorant druid ass.

“Maybe you should try it, and find out,” she told him, her voice shaking a little.

“I forget your tip.” He moved again, reaching down to guide his straining cockhead to her folds. He penetrated her with just his dome, moving it in and out while he rubbed her clit steadily. He began circling it with his thumb as it grew harder. “Or mayhap you wish more.”

She tried to pull him inside her, but he kept teasing her with only short, shallow pumps. Frustrated and writhing with need, she begged him, “Ka, come on.”

“I’ve come on your tongue, in your mouth.” He bent down and ravaged her with an almost brutal kiss. “I taste myself in you. ’Twas hotter than the forge, beholding you do that to me.” He pulled out of her, and took his hand from her pussy. “I’ll have you thus, wench.”

Before Perrin could blink he had his head between her thighs and his mouth on her, his tongue licking from her clenching opening to the swollen nub of her clit. He held her hips down as he kissed her pussy, and she couldn’t work her hands out of the heavy chains. It added an element of helplessness that thrilled her until she was gasping. Like this, he really could do whatever he liked to her, and she couldn’t stop him.

The way he loved her with his mouth felt so good she never wanted him to stop.

He took to it like kissing her lips, as if he’d been born to do just that, and then went above and beyond. Perrin cried out as she felt him work two long, thick fingers into her opening, pumping them in and out as he suckled her clit. Then his thumb rubbed against her rosebud, pressing in as he fucked her with his fingers, and every nerve in her body went into overload.

He brought her to a heart-bursting climax, making her come so hard her ears buzzed and her head spun. He brought her down by nuzzling her, and then back up to a second peak, so fast and hard it was as if the first had never happened. Only when she went limp did he kiss her still-tingling clit one last time, and lay down beside her to hold her close.

“Perrin.” When she managed to open her eyes he kissed her, letting her taste herself on his mouth. “’Twas truth, then.”

She nodded and kissed him back. “You should listen more to your brothers.”