A Storm of Passion Read Free Page B

honey, and always just before one of his visions.
    ‘Twas said that he was irresistible then, even enchanted. ’Twas said that no woman could refuse him. ’Twas said he was kind to the women he bedded, sometimes giving them baubles or a few coins to ease their way. She’d learned the truth of several of those rumors in the last hours.
    Just as she’d learned early in her quest for vengeance that a woman with nothing had only one thing to barter.
    Moira had no qualms over using her body to gain whatever supplies or information she needed. Surprised by how men lost their minds when a woman opened her legs or took their pricks into her mouth, she’d used it to find out the identity of the Seer and where he lived. More recently, it had gotten her a place to work in the laundry here and kept her fed and alive while planning her attack. The sex that had just happened between them was simply that. Currency of the fleshly kind.
    Yet, as she made her way to leave him, she knew that for the lie it was. This had become something much different, more dangerous, than joining with a man to get something in return.
    If she’d been prepared for this unexpected opportunity, if she’d had her dagger with her when she went seeking a look at his chambers and kept her reason about her while with him, then her life’s task would have been a joyful end to the spirited bed play between them.
    Her body ached within and out, from their vigorous efforts, and even now the muscles in that place between her legs throbbed from the aggressive attention he’d given there with hands and mouth and teeth and prick. Tempted for one heart-stopping moment to crawl back into his bed and allow him his way one more time, Moira shook off the clutching feeling that surrounded her and walked to the door.
    Sighing, she slid the bar from its brackets on the door and placed it on the floor next to it. It might be months before she got this chance again. Mayhap, she would never get this close to him, and her goal would be thwarted. Opening the door just a crack, she looked outside the chamber to see if anyone waited. Seeing no one, she crept out and pulled the door closed behind her. She leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. Exhaling slowly, she closed her eyes and remembered the last hours.
    He was a challenging lover, demanding everything from her while taking nothing that she would not give, instead driving her to heights of pleasure she’d not experienced before. Oh, her body enjoyed the results of desire and lust, but she was always careful to never let it affect her mind or her soul or her heart…or her purpose.
    Moira made her way down the long hallway away from his chambers, her head tilted down to avoid anyone getting a clear look at her, should she pass someone. It wasn’t until she reached the small room she shared with several other women that the feeling of dread turned her stomach. Almost as though some veil or stupor was lifting from her, horror and shame covered her as she remembered her actions with the Seer.
    What had seemed and felt so right just moments ago now screamed out its treacherous truth at her. Falling to her knees on the straw pallet in the corner she called her own, she doubled over in pain as she realized that she had done more than simply allow him to take his ease on her body. She’d enjoyed it and, for those hours, had lost herself in the passion he offered, never once thinking about her real purpose there.
    Her stomach clenched and burned, and her chest pounded in pain as her body and will became her own once more and she knew the genuineness of the rumors about the Seer’s true powers. He could ensorcell women into losing their abilities to think and choose freely. He ensnared her into his trap of pleasure and passion, and she’d gone willingly, never even fighting back or struggling, losing sight of everything important to her.
    He plied her body with his kisses and his caresses and his forceful mastery of all