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  Lore felt the sincerity of her words and yet he couldn’t find peace in them.

  Her hips thrust on his lap in rhythm with his thumbs’ movements over her breasts’ swollen peaks. The desire to talk was fading as he met her erotic needs with needs of his own. She felt his determined control of the demanding lust between them. He intended to spend the entire hour making her crazy, just to prove he could. At this point, she had no arguments with that plan. Their situation was growing more serious, and time in a secure environment was stolen at best.

  His dark head bent to her breast and his tongue flicked out to leisurely circle an engorged nipple. He gave her a low hum as he did it, almost an animal purr that entered her flesh and dragged its sexual approval across every nerve.

  Kenna’s head dropped back and her eyes squeezed shut. She hadn’t thought he could up the sensuality of his touch, she’d been wrong. The slow licking was wickedly consuming, it pushed all else out of her mind. There was only Lore, his mouth moving over her in achingly tender homage.

  He lifted her gently under her arms and laid her on the wide seat. Slowly he drew the skirt off her, his hands caressing the outside of her legs all the way to her toes. He didn’t say a word, just looked at her reclining form as he swiftly removed his unbuttoned shirt and straining slacks. Socks and shoes followed. He didn’t spread her legs as he then crouched over her, his body suspended above hers, one knee on the seat, the other foot on the floor, his hands on either side of her.

  Lowering his mouth, he continued the nibbling, licking investigation, only touching her with lips and tongue. It was unhurried and deliberate. He sampled, tasted, kissed and nipped every inch of her neck, upper chest and finally down over soft, round mounds of trembling breasts. Reaching the apex of her breast, his mouth opened over a straining berry nipple and he sucked in hard.

  Kenna’s back came off the seat as her body jerked in shock at the demanding suckling of her teased flesh. She’d been so enthralled she’d not seen it coming, and the corresponding gush of liquid onto plump folds filled the back of the limousine with the scent of her arousal.

  He allowed her breast to pull out of his mouth with a pop and went directly to the other. This time she knew it was coming, but that didn’t curtail her reaction. Her body’s sensuous approval dripped down her shifting thighs onto the seat beneath her. Acute embarrassment flicked through her mind at the thought of others seeing a puddle when the door was opened, not to mention the thick aroma of sex in the closed vehicle.

  Lore chuckled as he nibbled down the sensitive underside to her trembling midriff. “The privacy partition is up. I assure you, they don’t think we’re back here discussing the theory of relativity,” he chided her embarrassment.

  Suspended above her, his thick erection dragged its tip over her body as he moved. The silky evidence of his arousal trailed across her, adding his scent to the mix in the air.

  In his mind she could see his satisfaction at marking her newly washed skin with his intimate scent. He wanted the knowledge of his possession to be evident to every male she came in contact with. That embarrassing and animalistic desire to mark her was making her squirm. Her hips rocked and her legs shifted as his tongue now ran around her left hipbone. His stance would not let her open more than a little as he licked across the top of her pubic mound.

  “You’re planning on torturing me, aren’t you?” Kenna moaned as his mouth moved over her.

  “Torture? If worshiping every inch of the woman whose heartbeats are the measure of my existence, then yes,” he returned mentally, unwilling it interrupt his busy mouth.

  “Oh good Lord! Poetry too?” Kenna was already panting in air harshly. “That’s not fair, you know.”

  Slowly his hands slid between her legs, shifting them apart as his mouth moved up a sensitive inner thigh. “Fair has nothing to do with this, us. You know that.”

  Gently he lifted her leg over his broad shoulder, opening her center to his pleasure. The smile on his lips added to her sensations as he continued. “I should warn you, if ever you suspect I’m playing fair, it’s because I’m making a deal with a hidden agenda. Especially when it comes to getting more of this.” His mouth was over her opening and he lapped the evidence of her arousal. Insistent strokes designed to drive her body to sensitized extremes without allowing her release.

  “So I should expect ulterior motives?” Kenna continued the conversation because she knew he wasn’t about to give her an orgasm yet. Reading his intentions was explicitly pleasurable, but not as good as experiencing them.

  “I wouldn’t worry about it, baby. I have one motive, this is it.” He gave her the push she wasn’t expecting, flicking over her clit in ruthless strokes and sending her into convulsing orgasm.

  As her body shot into pleasure, he shifted over her, placing her other leg over his shoulder as well. The position opened her completely as powerful hips lowered his thick erection to her. Pushing in slowly intensified her response as hard flesh entered that contracting pleasure center and forced her to a new plane of sensation.

  Kenna screamed her approval. His body’s controlled entry stretched her sensitive channel into submitting. He was relentless as he invaded her and she was helplessly consumed with each slow inch of him. He expanded willing nerves around him in excruciating pleasure. Ensuring she felt every sensation they’d missed the first time.

  His complete control of her body in this position drove her to an unexpected high. He was taking her even as he gave her everything he could. His demands were ruthless, he’d accept nothing less than every bit of sensation she could possibly feel. Tilted up and spread for him with her ankles on either side of his head gave him the freedom to ensure he got what he wanted.

  “That’s right, baby. Take all of it,” he encouraged her as the press into her body seemed to go on forever. “Feel me in you, deep inside, my sweet witch. You’re mine, this is mine.”

  His knees drew up on either side of her hips, allowing powerful thighs to control the deep, hard thrusts as his hands slid under her shoulders to hook over them, pulling her down on each penetration. Kenna’s head thrashed in abandon as he took her with slow, thick deliberation, until pleasure skittered along the sharp edge of pain. Never going over that line, he gave her more every time her need threatened to drive her past it. She came for him, over and over again. Losing track of time as he pounded into her body with growing intensity, she had no control and no sensation other than the extreme pleasure he could give her.

  Knowing they were near their destination, Lore allowed himself to drink in her passion with all his senses. Her soul pushed him over into release as he knew it would. Driving his hips into her harder, answering the instinct to mark her with his seed, Lore fell off the world with her again. They were bursting into a universe that burned with a million stars.

  He was sure opening his eyes would mean realizing he was just dizzy and deprived of oxygen, but why bother? Collapsing down on her as her legs slid off his shoulders and settled around his back, he indulged in the addictive pleasure of coming in Kenna.

  The car came to a halt and Kenna’s eyes popped open. “Oh. My. God. We’re here! Get off me. I have to dress!”

  Lore raised his head and chuckled at the panic in her face. “It’s not like anyone’s going to open the door, baby.”

  “What!” Kenna exclaimed while pushing at his heavy chest and squirming beneath him.

  “Remember, we can talk to them without having to see them? I’ve threatened bodily harm to the man who dares come near the car.”

  “You didn’t!” Kenna froze and stared into his eyes in embarrassment. “Did you tell them we’re naked too? ’Coz if you didn’t, it doesn’t matter, everyone out there knows it.”

  “Hell, woman, they knew that as soon as the divider went up.” Lore rolled off her to sit on the wide floor between the seats. Elbows on knees, he watched her in amusement.

  Kenna scrambled up and started grabbing her clothes from around him on the floor. “
Doesn’t mean it’s not embarrassing.”

  “There’s no reason to be embarrassed. For God’s sake, we are so much more than married and they know it.”

  Kenna frowned at his logic as she struggled to get her bra on. “I need a towel.” She shifted in the damp spot beneath her butt. “I need several towels! And some seat cleaner and some air freshener. Stop laughing at me. This is serious!”

  “Relax.” He was still chuckling. “I’m sure we’ll find whatever you need in here somewhere.” Casually his long arm reached under the seat and pulled out a drawer. In it were neatly folded towels. The next drawer had cleaning supplies for the car. The space under the bench seats provided Kenna with everything she needed, but that didn’t cure her embarrassment over the now-used towels.

  They both were dressed and pretty much looked as fresh as they could get in the limo when Lore finally insisted on putting everything away and getting out. The first step out of the car was tough, but nothing prepared Kenna for the overwhelming scene she found there.

  Kenna forgot the depth of her embarrassment as she gazed at the distinctly twelfth-century castle in the center of the old bailey. The wall around the grounds was now barely more than several mounds in a large circle. The castle seemed untouched by decay and age, except for a gray, weathered look to it.

  The impression of waiting grew as Kenna moved slowly up the front steps with Lore close behind her. The great front doors had a very substantial chain through large iron handles. There was a huge lock holding the chain ends together. The others stood at the bottom of the stairs and watched.

  Kenna couldn’t resist the urge to touch the chained door handle.

  Lore, watching closely within her, felt the flood of recognition from Kenna as her hand closed around the cold metal. Her other hand reached up to pet weathered wood and she laughed. The light sound floated out into the grounds and infused it with joy. Even the birds took up the chorus where their chirping had been unnoticed a moment before.

  Everyone moved at once. Kenna turned from the door to call down to Boris.

  “Boris, get your talented self up here and help me with my front door.” She was smiling widely as he bounded up the steps, already reaching into his suit pocket for the mysterious little leather case.

  Into the renewed energy flowing around the grounds they all felt the start of recognition and shock from an older couple eating breakfast about a mile away. They were the caretaker and his wife, members of the Keeper society. Kenna tried to soothe them into finishing their meal as she had the door open already. They would not have it and were rushing to assist.

  Yuri directed the two limo drivers to scout the grounds while he and another guard sprinted up the steps to be the first to enter and secure the castle. They realized securing it was a relative term right now. The old structure was not large by modern standards but she was a lady with several petticoats. There were secrets here, but they didn’t feel wrong, just old.

  Julianna helped Landor, the second chef, lift baskets out of the trunk of one of the limos and they all were standing impatiently on the front step when Yuri appeared in the door again. Bowing, he did manage a rare smile as he swept his arm to usher Kenna in. “My lady, your castle, such as it is.”

  Just then an ancient mini car sputtered up the drive. Kenna turned and smiled at the two caretakers. In their early nineties, even though they could only be called spry for their age, the wait for them to reach the top of the stairs was a few minutes.

  “My lady,” the elderly gentleman gasped as he topped the steps. “Please let us welcome you home at last,” he greeted in very respectable English as he tried to bow. “And, your highness, welcome,” he addressed Lore.

  “Please, Mr. and Mrs. Toth,” Kenna reached out to them to put an end to the bowing, which anyone could tell was painful. “We really don’t need to stand on formality, do we?” She beamed at them. “I believe you two have much to tell me. Shall we go in so you can start?”

  No one needed to make formal introductions in this unique society. They were known on the common path of communication.

  “Yes, yes. Please, my lady, after you,” Mr. Toth invited. “And call me Janos. This is my wife Mariska.”

  They moved into the great hall. It wasn’t as large as the one in Lore’s castle, but its vaulted ceiling and mammoth fireplace were impressive. The room was entirely bare except for the layer of dust covering the floor. Hanging at the center of the ceiling on a long chain was an enormous wheel chandelier for candles. Around the wall were empty sconces that had once held torches, attested by the spots blackened above them. The group stood in silence, scanning the empty space.

  Julianna spoke up. “Grandfather Janos, please direct us to the kitchen,” she requested, indicating the heavy basket in her hands and the one Landor carried.

  “Oh, this way. Come, come. The table is still there. Too big to fit out a door. Vultures couldn’t find a way to steal it.” His staccato sentences trailed behind him as if they should all know what he was talking about as he led the way to one of the archways off the great hall.

  Mariska waved her hand to encompass the room. “They took it all. Long ago,” she stated as her slow steps moved her across the room to the fireplace. Kenna paced beside her, trying not to be obvious about being ready to catch Mariska if she started to tip over.

  “First the stupid thieves responsible. The only family left said they owned it. They couldn’t live here, you know,” Mariska confided. A chuckle that sounded like a cackle came out of her as she said the last. She’d made it to the fireplace and turned around to back her bottom to the raised stone hearth. It happened to be the perfect height for her to sit as she talked to Lore and Kenna.

  “The next-cousins to your family.” Mariska pointed at Kenna. “Could not sleep one night in the Gray Lady. No, no. The Gray Lady spit them out. That’s what she did. So they took everything and shut her up. No one entered her until the communists come,” Mariska laughed again as Kenna and Lore waited impatiently for her to finish what she felt she needed to say.

  “Janos and Mariska see that one. He so excited. Perfect medieval castle for him. He open and clean, bring electric, but no can put plumbing. He very mad. He move in anyway but no stay a night. He leave.” More cackling laugher. “He very mad. Lock door and go away.” Mariska waved her hand at them as she added, “Go, look. Gray Lady happy to have you. Can you feel her smile? I sit.”

  “Is the Gray Lady haunted?” Lore asked Mariska.

  Mariska shrugged. “I never see spirit but I no try to own her. Janos and Mariska just watch her. She like us.”

  Janos, Julianna and Landor returned to the great room. Yuri and Boris were standing off on either side of it where they could view the front entrance through tall, narrow windows. The two limo drivers were strolling the exterior property after having done their initial search.

  “Mariska, Janos, will you be here after we look around?” Kenna asked politely. “I’d like to ask you some questions.”

  Janos had sat beside his wife and was now holding her hand as he beamed at them. “Yes, yes, we are here,” he nodded. “Much to tell. Mariska tell you why mostly empty, why strange new things in some rooms. Communist governor take nothing out he put in. He leave very mad.”

  “Yes,” Lore mused. “Time to see what the Gray Lady has to tell us.”

  “I have a question,” Celina’s soft voice spoke up from beside the door where she’d been standing since they all entered. “Why is the glass in the windows not broken if this castle is so old? There doesn’t seem to be any protection over them, no boards one would usually find in a closed building. Did the communists install it?”

  Janos leaned over to look around Lore at Celina. “No, glass belongs to Gray Lady. She protects it.”

  “It’s original?” Lore asked in surprise. “They had glass in the twelfth century but certainly not that big or strong enough to last this long.”

  “Interesting.” Celina moved to study a window. “The g
lass is slid into grooves in the stone. It could only be done during construction before the cap stones were placed across the top.” Her hand traced the seam where the glass disappeared into stone. There was no caulking or wood slats to seal it in. “The only way to replace the panel would be to remove the cap stones and enough of the wall to slide another sheet down. Why would anyone in the twelfth century build like that? Glass was costly and fragile, never rolled this thin. They had to expect such big pieces to break.”

  “Your Gray Lady has much secrets. She will tell you.” Janos beamed at them. “She no tell me.”

  “Just what we need, another building full of mysteries,” Lore growled. Then louder, “Spread out and look at as much of the castle as we can. No one go alone. It’s too old to be safe. We will meet in two hours in the kitchen.”

  Two hours later they gathered in the relatively large castle kitchen. Indeed there was a huge wooden table in center of the room. The top slab was a solid piece of wood and of such mammoth proportions it made one think of primordial plant life. It had tree trunks for legs and glowed the deep maroon black of aged wood that had just been cleaned.

  The lure of an almost untouched medieval kitchen was too much for Landor. He’d excused himself from the search on the grounds that he must prepare lunch and had spent his time in the kitchen instead of looking around the castle. He had a personal problem with all the dust and dirt in there.

  There were no modern appliances except a hand pump protruding from the floor by the back door. Amazingly it worked with minimal groaning, producing what appeared clear well water. The cooking hearth boasted a number of hooks at varying heights from the fire pit. It even had a small oven cubby beside it with a space for a separate fire under that. It was an advanced cooking center for its time, able to handle the preparation of a feast.