Chapter 6
Lars was ready for his reward. It had been a couple of days since he had run into Sarah down in the cellar. He had thought of nothing else and though she seemed to be avoiding him, he knew that as soon as their lips touched, she would be his again.
He went down into the kitchens the back way. He had waited until Mila was safely away from the castle. Though he was lord, she had been known to get rid of girls that she deemed too pretty in the past. He knew that it was to keep him from doing anything with them, but he would not be put off from Sarah and as long as she didn’t know about it, it would be one less thing that Mila could find fault in. Just thinking about her threatened to spoil his mood and he refused to let her ruin his day with her gone. Mila had become quite good at that.
Looking for Darlee, he spotted her and urged her over with a nod. She stopped chopping the vegetables in front of her and went to see what it was that he wanted. Darlee very rarely saw him in there and she had a good idea what he was there for.
“Yes, my lord?”
“Where is Sarah?”
“She went to pick some herbs for the chicken this evening, my lord. Would you like me to go get her?”
He nodded that he didn’t. It wasn’t the place and time. He needed to get himself ready for her, as well as take care of a few things. If he saw her right then, he was going to want her right then. There was no way around it and instead of risking him blowing the rest of his day in between her thighs, he told Darlee to make sure that Sarah was there to serve him that night.
“Of course, my lord.”
She didn’t say anything else, Darlee didn’t really have to. She had been there too long and knew him too well to ever think that saying something about any of it would be a good idea. A small smile went to her face as he walked away. It was clear then that he had more than just a passing liking for Sarah.
***
Sarah was unaware of her new duties. She was in the gardens just outside of the main walls. It had been a couple of days since she had been outside that much and even though she was happy to be out from underneath Mila’s thumb, she was even more revived by the sun. It was warm, beating on her face and arms as she picked the pointed leaves that looked much like pine needles and added so much flavor when cooked. Sarah wasn’t paying attention to what was going on around her. She didn’t hear or see anything out of the ordinary, until she heard something behind her.
“I have been looking for you, Sarah.”
She knew the voice instantly. It had been the voice that she had woken up with hearing in her mind at night. It was from the man that she had spent so much time thinking of, but now she didn’t feel the same shiver of want that she used to feel. It wasn’t that she didn’t miss Finn, but she had learned that though everything was great with him, there was more out there. Or there could be more if she really tried.
“Finn?” She turned around. “What are you doing here?”
He frowned for a moment, expecting her to rush into his arms. Finn had been expecting a kiss, not questions.
“I came here for you. I thought you would be happy.”
“I would be, I mean, I am. I just didn’t expect you, is all.”
“I see you are getting used to your surroundings. I haven’t heard you hum like that in a long time. Reminds me how much I miss you.”
Sarah looked down, not able to meet his eyes. It was what she had always dreamed about, him coming to rescue her, but now she didn’t know if she wanted to be saved. There was much more that was calling her to stay where she was with Lars.
“I have missed you too. I just can’t believe you are here. I always figured that you would forget about me. There were many women vying for your heart.”
He moved closer and her heart started to beat a little harder. But it wasn’t because she was in need, more afraid that he was about to kiss her. Before she would have welcomed it, welcomed almost anything that he had to offer, but it had all changed. There was nothing more that she could do, but take a step back and put her hands up to stop his advancing. “Wait, I can’t.”
Finn wasn’t going to take no for an answer, not sure if she was just saying that to play hard to get. It wouldn’t be the first time that she had refused him, but after everything that he had done to find her and be there, she was now his.
“Yes you can.”
He silenced any more issues she had with his actions with his mouth and she was left trying to break away from the kiss. It just felt wrong and finally she had to bring her knee up sharply to make the man understand that she was not going to do anything he wanted. He cursed as she made contact with his excitement and he raised his hand back to hit her. Sarah flinched, waiting for his hit.
She had closed her eyes, not wanting to see what was coming next. She heard a thud though and it made her open her eyes. Sarah gasped when she saw Lars standing over her and Finn was on the ground.
“Who is this man?”
Sarah looked down in shame, not wanting to tell him why she was really there and who he really was. All it was, all it did, was made her feel even worse about what she had done to get sent away in the first place.
“He is someone that I knew from my home village.”
“Why is he trying to kiss you?”
“We used to see each other.”
Lars knew that they hadn’t done much more than that, but he didn’t like the idea of another man kissing her, no matter how long ago it was and no matter if it was happening again. “Did you know that he was going to come here?”
She shook her head that she did not. There was a fear to see into his eyes and she was afraid of what she would find. Would he not want her anymore?