Sorceress Read Online Free Page B

over a slinking cat that yowled, hissed, then shot into the darkness to hide behind the mason’s hod. “Miserable beast.” He hurried up the steps to the great hall, stung with rage that, like the cat, he had become a creature of darkness.
    “Good evening, m’lord,” a guard greeted him as he opened the door. Hallyd strode inside to the smells of smoke, garlic, and pork fat, scents lingering from the last meal. Up the stairs he strode, his long legs taking the steps two at a time, his black mantle billowing behind him. ’Twas now, in the middle of the night, when he felt most alive, most vital.
    He hurried along the corridor as the candles burned low and his boots rang hollowly on the stone floors. At the end of the long hall, he turned into his chamber, a large high-ceilinged room where the rafters were exposed and a feeling of emptiness pervaded. The fire had turned to embers and in the bloodred half-light he strode to an alcove where his old cleric’s robes hung by a peg, gathering dust, the rosary dull and still stained with Kambria’s blood.
    “Liar,” he whispered now, his fingers curling over the sharp beads as her image invaded his mind. By the gods how she had haunted him, her curse forever ringing in his ears.
    You shall live in darkness forever. . . . Your black soul condemned for all eternity. . . .
    Nay, not forever, though the past sixteen years had seemed several lifetimes.
    Think not of the past. Consider what is to come.
    Starting with Bryanna . . .
    Remember what you will do to her, how much pleasure you will find, all upon her tender flesh. . . .
    His bad mood dissipated into the cold night air as he disrobed and returned to envisioning the pleasures he would force from her body, the satisfaction he would gain.
    He tossed his mantle over a corner bench, then worked at the lacings of his breeches. He was getting hard again, his cock straining against the leather at the thought of the ways this sorceress would transform his life. She would restore magick to the dagger, thus ending his painful blindness. She would deliver the Sacred Dagger unto his hands, bringing him power over all of the kingdoms in Wales.
    He rubbed the tips of his fingers on his thumbs at the thought, and his cock swelled ever more thickly.
    The dagger.
    The power.
    And another red-haired sorceress to defile.
    The image of their primitive mating was so clear he had to bite down hard upon his lip, drawing blood. Desire pulsed through his eager body, but he fought his own searing lust.
    ’Twas not yet time.
    “Bryanna,” he whispered, tasting his own blood as through the window he heard the creak of the windmill and the call of a night bird.
    His breathing was shallow and fast, nearly a pant.
    He’d waited what seemed a thousand years for this . . . for her.
    Bryanna.
    Chosen by the Fates.
    Only she had the power to lift the curse of darkness.
    Only she could deliver the charmed weapon that would elevate him to the highest throne.
    His fingers played lightly upon his hardness. Sweat dampened his brow. Closing his eyes, he felt her heartbeat in his own, heard the thunder of her horse’s hooves racing ever nearer, and oh, so distinctly, as if she were truly lying with him at this moment, he imagined her hot, sweet breath against his skin.
    Aye, the pleasure would come soon enough.
    As would the power.

CHAPTER TWO
    B ryanna rode on, ever northward.
    Her teeth chattered and her fingers turned icy as she held her cowl tightly over her head against the cold winter wind.
    After three days of riding away from Calon, Bryanna knew that if it weren’t for the ugly fact that she was running away because she was half in love with her sister’s husband, she would never have listened to the voices in her head. Never!
    But what about the visions? The strange dreams?
    She gritted her teeth and pushed away thoughts of the images that flowed through her head. Gems raining from the sky and a red-haired woman on a galloping horse. Absently,