Free Sword of Darkness by Kinley MacGregor

go of her instantly.
    Seren rubbed her wrist where she could see a perfect outline of his handprint. “Have you ever tried being nice to anyone?”
    He looked back at the fire. “Go to bed, Seren.”
    Before she could move or speak, she found herself lying in the bed. She tried to get up, but couldn’t move. “I am not your slave, Lord Kerrigan. I am my own person.”
    The next thing she knew, he appeared above her out of the shadows. His armor gone, he wore a loose black tunic and hose, with his sword still firmly buckled at his hip. The firelight flashed against the star medallion as it fell free of his shirt to hang in the empty space between them.
    He held himself above her as he stared down at her lips. He ran one cold finger down her cheek. “You are at my mercy, Lady Star. You are my slave.”
    She shivered even though a part of her found his weight strangely enticing. “I do not toil for you and I am not your property. I am freeborn and I shall remain that way.”
    One corner of his mouth curled up into a taunting expression. “And what of your apprenticeship?”
    It angered her that he threw that in her face. “I will pay Master Rufus back…eventually.”
    He cocked his head as he studied her. He moved his hand from her face to the satin laces that fell from the neck of her kirtle. He took one in his hand and rubbed it between his fingers. “Why are you so defiant of me?”
    “Should I not be?”
    Kerrigan was completely dumbfounded by her. No one had ever stood so strong against him. Not even Morgen. She knew when she was bested and she withdrew.
    Yet here was this…servant girl. She had no magic powers. No alliances. She had nothing to barter with. Nothing. And yet she stood strong before him even though he scared her.
    It was inconceivable to him.
    His gaze dipped to her small breasts that all but disappeared while she lay on her back. There was nothing about her really attractive. Nothing except those vivid green eyes that seared him with her spirit.
    There was a warmth inside her that reached out to him even more than the fire in his hearth. In his mind, he could imagine her naked beneath him. Imagine her sighs of pleasure as he took her until the boiling need in his blood was fully sated.
    Those green eyes of hers taunted and defied him even now.
    “Kiss me, Seren.”
    Still she didn’t flinch or flee. “Is that a master’s order to his slave?”
    One corner of his mouth quirked up into the first real smile he’d known in centuries. She was daring him. If he said aye, she would deny him. It was on the tip of his tongue to say so just to see her fire, and yet another part of him didn’t want to fight with her.
    It only wanted to taste her again.
    “Nay, lady. It is a simple request from a man to a woman.”
    “But you told me that you’re not a man.”
    He shook his head at her continued argument. “Kiss me, Seren…please.”
    Seren held her breath at that one word she was sure this man never spoke. The reason inside her said to push him away, and yet she didn’t dare to truly anger him. He could have his way with her, and she was lucky that so far he found her amusing and not annoying.
    What harm could come in just placating his one request?
    Her heart racing, she lifted her head up ever so slightly to place her lips to his.
    Kerrigan fisted his hand in the furs of his bed as her hesitant tongue swept against his. Cradling her head in his left hand, he laid his body down so that he could feel every inch of her body pressed against his.
    Aye, this was what he wanted. A warm woman to hold. A virgin mouth that had been tasted only by his. A guileless woman who spoke her mind without malice, slander, or fear.
    Most of all, a tender touch that didn’t demand or hurt.
    All it did was soothe.
    Closing his eyes, he savored the rich scent of rose and woman as she sank her soft hand into his hair. She didn’t pull at his hair, didn’t nip painfully at his lips. She stroked him with a gentle,