Warprize (Seven Brides for Seven Bastards, 5)(MFMMMMMM) Read Online Free

his pleasure wherever he may.
Dom believed strongly in all men being free to love, worship and
fight according to their own desires and beliefs—after all the
d'Anzeray lived with their own set of rules, which is why most folk
condemned their way of life—but he just happened to prefer pussy.
Always had and always would.
    However, even he could appreciate a
good-looking man. He could also, so he now discovered, feel
attracted to one.
     

Chapter Three
     
    Cedney feared he'd seen through her
disguise. When he looked at her there was nowhere to hide. His gaze
was intense, thorough, merciless.
    It was overpowering even to be seated
near his great size, to feel his body heat. She feared the struggle
to remain calm and impervious to his masculine allure had revealed
itself upon her face. Surely he would know what she was. He must.
Her entire body was afire. She could barely breathe let alone
speak. From the frenzied excitement taking hold of her reluctant
female parts and seizing them in a fiery, throbbing grip, anyone
might think she'd never had a man about the place
before.
    Certainly no man like this
one.
    Torvig would be envious, she mused,
for he was accustomed to being the handsomest man about the place,
the charmer no female could resist. Or so he liked to
think.
    The first rush of alarm
had now given way to a steady trickle of trepidation, waiting for
Rufus Barberousse to make an accusation. To stand up and say, "Why,
you're a woman! How could you think to fool me? "
    But seated on her right he tucked into
the food with relish, laying quick waste to a leg of pheasant
before moving on to another and another, his fingers and lips
shining with grease. On Cedney's left, Lady Rosamund talked
continually, her voice a monotonous drone, spewing nonsense
complaints in her own tongue. At least it was noise to cover the
fact that Cedney had fallen shy, so she nodded and smiled
periodically to encourage the woman in her endless list of
grievances.
    Meanwhile every one of her senses was
preoccupied with the uncle of her bride-to-be. There was a lusty
energy in everything he did, as if there was too much to be
contained, even within his massive frame. He ate and drank as if he
had a never-ending belly to fill and yet his stomach was not fat.
His dark hair shone like coal in the light of the fire and the
torches around the room.
    Odd that, she realized
suddenly. Now that she was thinking with greater clarity, it
occurred to her that he was entirely the wrong color. She looked at
him with narrowed eyes. "Tell me, sir, why do they call you Rufus
Barberousse? Does that not mean Redbeard ?"
    He rubbed his unshaven chin where dark
hairs, as black as those on his head, were in plain sight.
"Ah...because I am so dark." He laughed sheepishly and shrugged.
"'Tis a joke. Of sorts."
    Not a very amusing one, she
thought.
    "We have an odd sense of humor where I
come from, my lord," he muttered, apparently noting her doubtful
expression.
    "So it would seem." She watched him
cleaning up another plate of food and looked at the ring on his
finger. "You have the seal, I see. And the king's
letter?"
    He wiped his fingers down his tunic,
reached into the purse at his belt and handed her the document that
had secured his safe passage across the country and proved his
identity. Yes, according to these things he was indeed the bride's
uncle, Rufus Barberousse. Lady Rosamund had not said anything to
suggest he was an imposter either. But still something was amiss.
Perhaps she should not dig too hard, Cedney mused dourly. Her own
situation was not one that would withstand too much
scrutiny.
    As she watched Rufus drain his cup,
she wondered suddenly what he would do if he knew the truth of her
sex. Would he arrest her and take her to the king? Would he rape
and slaughter her on the spot?
    Earlier, when Lady Rosamund's old
nurse had stumbled on the slick cobbles of the yard, Cedney
witnessed Rufus offer a helping hand to keep the poor, haggard lady
upright.