Master at Arms (Dragon Knights #2.5) Read online

  “I confess, I’m very jealous. And intrigued.” He bit down gently on her earlobe, making her jump a little as hot sensations began to roll over her body.

  “It was one magical night,” Tristan said, his slightly accented voice making her tremble as he began untying her belt and unlacing her skirts. “But I didn’t know she was the lady of the keep. I thought she was a warrior woman. I would not have touched her had I realized who she truly was, but I can never regret the greatest pleasure I have ever known.” Tristan dropped to his knees as her skirts fell around her ankles.

  He stroked the skin of her legs and her knees almost gave out when his skilled hands slid between them. She still wore her pantalets, but the soft fabric was thin and getting moist as her arousal kicked into high gear. As his fingers worked at the bows that held up the pantalets, Thorn was removing her corset and blouse. She allowed him to raise her arms and undress her like a doll. She wanted nothing more than to be naked with these two amazing, arousing men. If that made her a hussy, she didn’t particularly care. She wanted them. Both.

  Tristan did away with her pantalets and his fingers parted her folds. The next thing she knew, his mouth was on her clit, sucking and licking in a way guaranteed to make her knees buckle. But Thorn held her up, his arms surrounding her from behind, her bare breasts spilling out over his big hands. He seemed to enjoy her nipples, rolling them in just the right way, as if he were made to pleasure her and already knew how she liked to be touched.

  A scandalous thought crossed her mind. Had the two men discussed this seduction in advance? Had Tristan told Thorn things about her body? Had they plotted and planned how they would work her?

  If so, she was all in favor of their battle plan so far.

  When her body shuddered in a tiny completion against Tristan’s warm lips, the men laid her out on the room’s long, wide bench. Tristan spread the mounds of fabric of her clothes under her so the surface of the wooden bench wasn’t hard against her back. Considerate of him, she thought, but she didn’t have time to say anything as Thorn spread her legs and knelt between them. He’d undressed and Cara’s first glance at Thorn’s slightly furred chest made her want to stroke him like a cat.

  He had scars. Old and new. His body was built on the massive side, more muscular than she’d expected, with a sharply defined abdomen and a light dusting of hair that arrowed downward to a very impressive cock. A cock that was hard and waiting to give her pleasure. She wanted that cock and she wanted it now.

  Cara lay back and spread her thighs even wider, inviting him in. She saw no reason to be coy when the instrument of her desire was ready and waiting. She knew what she wanted and she didn’t want to wait.

  Tristan had moved off to the side and she met his gaze for a moment, looking back at Thorn at the moment his cock slid home, taking her in one, long, amazing sweep. Oh, yes. He fit perfectly. Longer than Tristan and wider at the base, his cock curved slightly. She appreciated that little curve when he began to move and the head rubbed over a spot inside her that made her gasp.

  Over and over, she felt the sensation that drove her wild and she clutched his shoulders while he pushed into her, making her breasts dance merrily as his pace increased. He grunted her name as he pistoned inside her, making her feel as if she were the only woman in his universe. But he was one of two men who inspired her. Cara looked over at Tristan when Thorn sank lower over her body, his teeth biting gently at the skin of her neck. No man had bitten her before and she found she liked it. A lot.

  Tristan was naked, his thick cock in his hand as he watched Thorn fucking her. His golden eyes glowed with arousal and she understood in that moment that this triad could work. Really work. They’d have to work on the mechanics so all three found pleasure together—she still wasn’t sure of the logistics on that—but there was no jealousy, no guilt. No anger or shame. Just pleasure and passion and a love that expanded inside her heart. The heart that held both men in it, never to be removed.

  She stifled her scream of pleasure, holding Tristan’s eyes as Thorn bit into her shoulder. They came together and it was a wild ride as he bucked inside her. She wrapped her legs around him, clutching him to her straining body as fireworks went off inside her pussy, their fire working through her whole body.

  When they were both breathing steadier, Thorn sat up, careful to keep his cock tightly embedded inside her body. The glow of completion was rising into desire again as she felt him harden and lengthen, the head of his cock rubbing over that special place in her pussy as she caught her breath. Tristan hadn’t come. He still stroked himself, watching all.

  “Come over here,” Thorn called to the other man, as if it were a prearranged signal they had worked out. Tristan stepped up, close to where Cara sat impaled on Thorn’s cock. “Will you suck him off while I fuck you this time, Princess?” Thorn nearly growled in her ear. “I want to watch you take him in your mouth while I possess your pussy. Are you up for it?”

  Thorn drew back to look into her eyes. She looked from Thorn to Tristan. The height of the bench positioned her at the perfect level. She was in exactly the right spot to turn her head and take Tristan’s cock the way Thorn suggested.

  Dare she?

  Chapter Nine

  Yes, she decided. Right at that moment, there was nothing she wanted more than to give both of these men pleasure.

  She reached out to Tristan, pushing his hand away from his hard cock and grasping it. She gave it a few strokes as he stepped nearer and then she leaned out a short way to lick him from balls to head, taking her time while Thorn began to move under her. He would have to take care of the bottom half of this triad for both of them. She would see to Tristan while Thorn rocked them to completion.

  Oh, yes. This could work.

  They bounced and fucked and sucked together for long moments of intense pleasure and when they came, it was in unison. As it should be. Tristan let loose in her mouth and she swallowed every drop while Thorn shot into her from below, filling her pussy with his come. She shuddered and shook against them both, glad her cries of pleasure were stifled by Tristan’s cock in her mouth. It wouldn’t do for passersby to hear her scream and storm the armory at this particular moment.

  No, this was a moment for the three of them to share alone. Just them. Learning each other and discovering the intricacies of each other’s bodies and needs.

  They spent hours in the armory. After they recovered a bit, they reversed places. Tristan took Cara from behind while Thorn thrust into her mouth in front. Thorn reached over her back, shocking her when he slid one finger inside her anus. The sensations released by that finger made her curious about how other things might feel and she began to understand how both men might take her at the same time.

  Her suspicions were confirmed later, when she found breath to ask him about it. Thorn told her about many different ways they could all come together, and when the talk made her hot again, they tried out a few of them.

  Thorn showed her a small bag of supplies—salve and soft cloths—they had to have stashed in the armory beforehand. That sealed their conspiracy in her mind.

  “You two planned all this, didn’t you? Don’t try to deny it,” she teased when Tristan retrieved a bag from a dark corner.

  Thorn laughed while Tristan smiled a bit sheepishly.

  “I got him drunk last night,” Thorn confessed as he lazily stroked her breasts. “We talked about all the ways we could take you and he told me how you liked to be squeezed here.” He pinched her nipple. “And here.” His fingers teased her clit, tapping, then pushing in a rhythm that made her breath catch. “I stroked myself to sleep in my lonely bed dreaming of making love to you, Princess. And last night wasn’t the first time. I’ve fantasized about you since the first time we met.”

  “You have?” She liked the sound of that. She’d thought of him often enough since that first meeting.

  He nodded in response, taking a jar of salve from Tristan and turning her over so she was across his lap, ass up in
the air. When he spread her cheeks, she looked back over her shoulder, intrigued and a little embarrassed by her position.

  “What are you doing?” She gasped when he placed a large dollop of cold salve in the crevice of her ass. His fingers soon warmed the cream and her body as well, working the slippery substance into the small opening that grew wider and much warmer under his ministrations.

  He slid one finger inside her and she moaned.

  It felt surprisingly good.

  Thorn nodded to Tristan and the Master at Arms sat on the bench, his hard cock close to her head. She knew, after the past hour, what he wanted. What they both wanted.

  She opened her mouth and took him inside as Thorn added another finger in her ass, stretching her in a way that started out slightly uncomfortable, but soon became a desperate need for more. And he gave her more, stretching her beyond what she thought was possible, the cream seeming to dull some of the twinges as soon as they happened. Perhaps the salve had medicinal qualities? She’d have to check that out. Later. Much, much later.

  Before too much longer, Thorn had slid his cock right up her ass and she didn’t mind in the least. Far from it. It felt really good and when the men positioned her so that Tristan could join them, sliding into her pussy, the sensations were like nothing she could have ever expected.

  It didn’t take long for the first explosion of pleasure to overcome her senses. But it didn’t stop there. No, the men kept at her until she was coming and coming, over and over. She lost count of the orgasms as they overtook her, stretching into one long, long climax that seemed to have no end.

  Finally, it did end, when both men had come in her body, groaning as they joined her in that state of sated bliss.

  They emerged from the armory late in the afternoon. The dragoness Sharlis had been enlisted as a lookout, communicating to them when the coast was clear. The men were adamant that Cara’s reputation remain intact. No one but the dragons would know about their afternoon tryst.

  After seeing her safely inside, Cara knew Tristan would go to Rath. Things were coming together. Tristan would become Rath’s knight and Cara would share their lives as their wife. They’d spent the afternoon making love and making plans as well.

  She wasn’t sure what Thorn was doing at the moment, but he’d asked her where to find the keep’s archives before he’d left her in the hall with a chaste kiss. She was curious but didn’t really have the energy to question him further. She had to clean up, change her gown and prepare for dinner in the great hall with the retainers. The outlying families had come to live in the keep for protection when the skirmishes started escalating. Nobody wanted to be caught alone on a farm with little protection when the enemy started herding skiths at them.

  As a result, dinner had become a much larger affair than she was used to. It had been nice in the beginning, having folk around to talk to and help through tough times. Anything to break the uneasy silence that reigned between herself and her brother.

  She wasn’t sure, but Envard might demand to come down for dinner now that he was lucid, and she had to prepare for the inevitable confrontation. It could happen this very eve.

  Sure enough, when she entered the great hall after bathing and changing into a fresh gown, Envard was already there, holding court as if he was the king himself. He liked lording it over everyone and making the retainers bow and scrape. That was something her father had never done and she knew she didn’t imagine the dirty looks some of the older retainers gave Envard behind his back. They didn’t like him but were powerless in the face of his inheritance. Only the king could remove him from the seat of power now, and King Roland had much more important things to worry about with war on the horizon.

  Taking a deep breath, Cara took her seat beside her brother. Thorn and Tristan swept into the room only a moment later. Thorn sat next to Cara while Tristan took the chair on Envard’s other side. It was a bold move, but Envard didn’t seem to realize the men had upset the normal seating plan as Tristan engaged him in conversation about the men at arms.

  Thorn took Cara’s hand under the table. “Are you ready? There are bound to be fireworks in this hall tonight.” His smile reassured her that he would protect her from the worst of her brother’s wrath as he squeezed her hand.

  “Ready as I’ll ever be, I suppose.” She offered him a weak smile. She was not looking forward to what must be done.

  “That’s the spirit.” Thorn winked at her before standing and going to the stained-glass window behind the dais on which they all sat. “It is a bit stuffy in here. Does this window open?” he seemed to ask rhetorically as he proceeded to open the window as wide as it would go.

  The moment he stepped back from the wide opening, the female dragon’s head slid through the window and craned downward, toward those sitting at the dais. Thorn patted her neck and made a show of surprise that didn’t fool Cara one bit. They were up to something.

  “It appears Lady Sharlis wants to join us,” he stated with a teasing smile for Cara.

  The dragon began making the rounds, starting with Thorn. She sniffed and licked her way over every person on the dais. Cara felt the tip of the dragon’s tongue on her skin and jumped with a laughing squeak. It tickled.

  “Good evening, Lady Sharlis,” Cara said politely as the dragon made eye contact with her.

  “Good evening, Princess. If I had tasted your skin before, I would have known you were of royal blood. Forgive me. It is a joyous thing for one of your line to join with my knight. The royal blood must be preserved.”

  Sharlis’s words surprised Cara, but she tried not to show it. Only those the dragon intended to hear her words—those capable of it—heard her. Tristan’s eyes widened as he looked from Cara to the dragon and back, but the moment was lost as Sharlis moved on to Envard.

  He tried to duck away from her, but with his injury he was unable to move far without assistance. The dragon had her way, sniffing and licking his skin before moving on to Tristan. The Master at Arms welcomed her touch, greeting her as a friend, and then the dragoness lifted her head, framed by the ornate window opening. She looked at all assembled and then to her knight, Sir Thorn.

  “Well, what is your verdict, milady?” Thorn asked theatrically. Cara had no idea what was going on.

  “As you suspected, he is not of House Fadoral, nor is he related to Princess Cara in any way.”

  The dragon’s words, were broadcast wide, so that anyone with the ability to hear dragons would know what she’d discovered. A few gasps from the large audience of retainers and men at arms caught Cara’s attention and she realized that more than a few were able to understand the dragon’s speech. There were witnesses other than Thorn, Tristan and Cara, which would help their case.

  “I spent some hours this afternoon searching through the keep’s archives,” Thorn said conversationally. “I discovered a series of personal journals of Lord Harald and his late wives hidden among a group of exceedingly dusty estate ledgers. Two volumes in particular were of great interest.” Thorn motioned to Tristan and the Master at Arms lifted two small journals from inside one of his many pockets.

  “I have read these at Sir Thorn’s request and found evidence, written in both the lord’s and lady’s hands, that Envard is not the legitimate heir to House Fadoral. Lord Harald’s second wife, Lady Mariar was already pregnant when they wed. He took her to wife as the result of a series of agreements with her father, his old friend, Lord Tharliss of Jenra. The lady’s own words confirm it. Envard is the son of a visiting minstrel, not Lord Harald.”

  Shocked gasps came from the rest of the audience who had not heard the dragoness’s pronouncement.

  “Lies!” Envard cried out.

  “Why would they make a record of such a damning secret?” Cara wanted to know. “And why would Father agree to such a marriage in the first place?”

  “The lady’s diary records her undying—if rather foolish—love for a wayward minstrel. She agreed to the marriage arranged by her father, Lor
d Tharliss, because it was made clear to her that she had no other recourse. Tharliss’s men had chased the minstrel right out of the country,” Thorn replied, holding up one of the journals. “She seemed to think the minstrel would return for her and wanted her son to know who his father was. Such were her reasons for writing the tale in her diary.”

  Thorn then held up the other journal. “Lord Harald agreed to the marriage out of infatuation with the young lady and greed. He speaks frankly in his private writings about being willing to overlook the child she already carried in exchange for a great deal of land and riches that came with the lady by way of Lord Tharliss. The dowry was much larger than it should have been. More than enough to make up for the inconvenient child. And who knows? Perhaps an older man would want to be thought virile enough to have a babe so soon after wedding a young miss. Such things are not unheard of.”

  Murmurs sounded throughout those assembled.

  “My partner, Lady Sharlis, has also confirmed it. Those of you who heard her will tell the others what she said, I’m sure. And if you did hear her, I’d like to talk to you later. It is a rare gift to be able to speak with dragons. One that should be cultivated if at all possible,” Thorn went on in a friendly voice. “Dragons can taste and smell subtle differences in all beings that tell them who is related to whom. It is one of their lesser skills, part of their natural abilities.” He patted Sharlis’s neck with obvious affection.

  “Did you know, Envard?” Cara asked in a small, hurt voice.

  Her brother turned away without answering.

  “He knew,” Thorn said with disgust. “Both of these diaries were not found in the archives. Only empty spaces where they should have been shelved. I had to search for them. They were in Envard’s room, hidden among his personal belongings.” The murmurs grew louder at his revelation. “This evidence and Sharlis’s findings will be brought to the king as soon as possible,” Thorn added. “For now, by my authority as a knight of the realm, I order Envard taken into custody and held until the king can decide the matter.”