The Ballads of Cadarnle Collection Read online

  Married, betrothed, widowed, unattached, it mattered not to Dresdyn. He simply saw a beautiful woman that he wanted, and so he seduced them. He cared nothing for them, or for the repercussions their trysts would have on their lives. To Dresdyn, they were simply pleasurable distractions until he found his one, true mate...the one for whom he would forsake all others.

  And that was Klaryssa.

  When Dresdyn had gone out this morning for a hunt and a patrol, he had not expected to find his mate, and yet, he had. Dresdyn had smelled the magic in Klaryssa’s blood. It had added a spiciness to her sweet scent, and it called to him like nothing else in all of Cadarnle. Whether she knew it or not, Klaryssa belonged to Dresdyn now. She was his.

  And he was not giving her back!

  Dresdyn growled deeply, and his kiss became possessive as he crushed Klaryssa to him. The moment Klaryssa came running out at him from the bushes, her healthy and fertile scent had called to Dresdyn instantly in a deeply primal way, and every instinct in his body screamed for him to take her and mate Klaryssa right then and there. But, Klaryssa was no mere tryst to be forgotten the moment they parted ways.

  She was his mate!

  And, she was a virgin.

  Dresdyn could smell it.

  Klaryssa deserved better than being mounted in the forest, a mere few feet away from bloodied corpses. Such was hardly a fitting way to christen a lifetime of togetherness. Besides, there were traditions to uphold. First, Dresdyn would bring Klaryssa to his castle. He would feed her, clean her up, and dress her in clothing befitting of her new life and position. Then, when the clan gathered at his Keep seven days from now on the night of the hunter’s moon, he would officially present Klaryssa as his mate. Then, Dresdyn would mount her...again, and again, and again, until there was no longer any doubt in Klaryssa’s mind as to just whom she belonged.

  “Yes,” Klaryssa whispered breathlessly when their lips finally parted.

  “Yes, what?” Dresdyn growled as he moved his hands down and then effortlessly lifted Klaryssa into his arms.

  “Yes, I…” Klaryssa blinked in a desperate attempt to clear her head, but to no avail. She was adrift in a sea of passion the likes of which she had not even dared to dream. Her heart raced with unbridled excitement, and hot wetness pooled between her legs which now wrapped around Dresdyn’s waist of their own volition as an unfamiliar ache formed deep within her belly. “Yes, I…” She felt her spine turn to jelly as she gazed into Dresdyn’s smoldering eyes moments before her own eyes fluttered closed. “Yes,” she whispered before leaning in and tentatively brushing her lips against Dresdyn’s.

  Dresdyn smiled and growled in triumph as he heatedly and possessively claimed Klaryssa’s lips once more. She wanted him every bit as he wanted her. Even if Dresdyn had not been able to smell it, he could feel it in the way that the timid and delicate beauty clung to him now.

  Mine!

  Unaware as to the thoughts going through Dresdyn’s mind as he pressed her against a nearby tree, Klaryssa simply surrendered herself to her rescuer’s kiss and reveled in his strong embrace even as her inexperienced body screamed for more. While she knew that she would never speak of this encounter to anyone, Klaryssa also knew that she would never forget it. Never would she forget the passion and arousal of this stolen moment. Even when she was a bent and shriveled old woman living beside Bailey, this moment would be the deliciously sinful and decadent secret that Klaryssa would carry to her grave.

  When their lips parted once more, Dresdyn and Klaryssa gazed silently into one another’s eyes. Dresdyn could not help but marvel at how natural it felt for him to think only of Klaryssa once his soul had recognized her as his true mate. This morning when he awoke, the thought of settling down could not have been further from Dresdyn’s mind. But now, he was strongly motivated by instincts he had seen his late father perform time and time again with his mother. Though he and Klaryssa had only just met, all Dresdyn could think of was keeping her by his side forever and ensuring her continued comfort and happiness. All he could think of was protecting her, and of having children with her. Already, Dresdyn’s mind was filled with images of Klaryssa’s smooth, flat belly growing round and heavy with his offspring, and those visions were only burned into his mind when his unknowing mate shyly brushed her thumb over his lips.

  Dresdyn had to get her home. Now.

  “Come on,” Dresdyn murmured before carefully lowering Klaryssa to her feet and drawing away. “We must go,” he said while bending to retrieve his gauntlets and put them back on. “A storm is coming. I can smell it in the air.”

  Klaryssa chewed her bottom lip a little before nodding. “I can direct you to my father’s farm,” she said softly as she kept her eyes fixed on her worn shoes while nervously shuffling her feet. Her heart and body felt bereft without Dresdyn’s closeness, and her mind berated her for being unfaithful to Bailey. While she did not love him, Bailey was still her future husband. He deserved her fidelity.

  “And, why would you do that?” Dresdyn asked as he wrapped an arm around Klaryssa’s waist and drew her near.

  Klaryssa blinked and shifted her suddenly frightened gaze to Dresdyn’s face. Dynol save me! Now that he got what he wanted from me, he means to kill me! “Because you said we needed to go?” she answered with a questioning lilt.

  “Indeed, we do,” Dresdyn said with a nod, as he led Klaryssa towards his large steed and then effortlessly lifting her up onto the saddle. “But I have no intention of taking you back to your father.” He mounted the stallion and settled himself behind his woman.

  Klaryssa gulped softly. “Then…where are you taking me?” she asked with a hint of distress.

  “To my Keep, my lovely doe,” Dresdyn purred into Klaryssa’s ear before kissing where her neck and shoulder met—biting hard enough to leave an imprint of teeth but not hard enough to draw blood. He smiled when Klaryssa gasped and arched her back, and then Dresdyn kissed the mark before he placed his helmet back upon his head. His helm did nothing to diminish the palpable scent of Klaryssa’s arousal, and Dresdyn growled low in his throat.

  “Your Keep?”

  “Have you forgotten already, my timidly insatiable Klaryssa?” Dresdyn asked as he wrapped one arm tightly around Klaryssa’s waist while taking the reins in the other and driving his horse forward into the thick of the forest. “You promised to do anything in exchange for my help. You belong to me now.” He smiled behind the visor of his helm when he felt Klaryssa’s pulse quicken in excitement. “I declared it so. You’re mine, Klaryssa Derw. I hereby claim you as my bride.” My mate.

  Klaryssa’s eyes widened in panic. “But...my family. My father and sister,” she stammered. “They need me. How will they know what happened to me?”

  “I will send word to them,” Dresdyn’s voice reverberated from within his helmet. “Along with a substantial payment to compensate for your sudden departure from their lives...as is the tradition of my family.”

  “But I--”

  “Klaryssa Derw, my timid, little doe, I have claimed you as mine,” Dresdyn said firmly. “You will be taken from your provincial life of poverty and live out the remainder of your days in absolute comfort as my bride. You will be Lady of my lands, the Mistress of my home, and the mother of my children.”

  Klaryssa felt an odd stirring deep within her womb, and she fell silent as she thought over the edict Dresdyn had just declared over her life. Could she be happy? After a lifetime of scrimping and working long hours on the small plot of her family’s farm, a life of privilege certainly appealed to her; but, could she be happy with a man she did not know? She had spent the better part of their encounter together thinking Dresdyn to be a blackguard who would toss her aside without a care after ruining her and taking what he wanted, and yet...he had not ruined her. Dresdyn had instead aroused her beyond all reason while leaving her perfectly intact, and now he was whisking her off to his Keep to be his wife, his Lady, and mother of his future children.

  It was thrilling...yet terrifying…

  And it was to be her life now.

  “Dynol preserve me,” she whispered while shrinking into Dresdyn when she felt the first, large raindrops that signaled the start of the storm.

  Dresdyn’s arm tightened around Klaryssa’s waist and held her firmly against his armored body as he drove his stallion harder. “You are under my protection now, my little dove. If anyone will be preserving you from here on out, it will be me.”

  2

  “Cerridwyn?” rasped a man’s worried voice. “Cerridwyn, do you see any sign of your sister?”

  Cerridwyn, a gangly girl of thirteen, turned away from the doorway in which she had been holding a steady vigil for the past hour. She pushed a strand of golden hair behind her ear after it had fallen free from the knot at the nape of her neck, and her large green eyes were wide with panic and despair as they found the hunched figure sitting in an old chair by the fire. Cerridwyn pulled her worn, thin shawl tighter around her shoulders while sadly shaking her head, even while stubbornly blinking away her tears.

  “No, papa,” the young girl replied with a hitch in her voice. “I haven’t seen any sign of Klaryssa.”

  Coeden Derw hung his head, and it broke Cerridwyn’s heart to see her father in such a state. Once, he had been quite a handsome man and had been tall and strong like an oak. While he never sought out the company of another woman after his beloved wife died, Cerridwyn remembered even at the age of eight, the way that unattached women would fawn over her father before her mother was barely even cold in the ground. They simply had not been able to help themselves, for Coeden Derw had once been as vibrant and full of life as his farm.

  But, then things suddenly changed.

  Now, Coeden’s face was as gaunt as his now barren la
nds and looked far more aged and wizened than a man of his years. His once lustrous hair that used to be of the richest brown, now hung limply in shades of dark grey that nearly covered his green eyes. Having inherited her father’s eyes while Klaryssa had inherited the brown orbs of their mother, Cerridwyn remembered how her father’s eyes used to glimmer like multifaceted emeralds. Now, they were dull, flat, and beginning to milk over.

  Coeden was dying.

  Cerridwyn and Klaryssa had known that for some time; but, they had jointly agreed to not speak of it. The two sisters knew how deeply their father worried for the two of them, and how he blamed himself for being unable to turn their fortunes back around to the way they once were. Both Cerridwyn and Klaryssa had seen how heavily their father’s worries had weighed upon him, and so they tried valiantly to make the best out of their situation...no matter how dismal the circumstances. Their father was clearly suffering enough without having to worry about how his daughters would make their way in the world; and so, when Bailey from the neighboring farm propositioned marriage to Klaryssa, she had agreed.

  Klaryssa had played the part of the demure bride to be, but Cerridwyn knew the truth about how her sister really felt about the marriage. More times than she could count, she had seen Klaryssa remain stiff in Bailey’s arms when he kissed her; and, more often than not, she had caught her beloved sister finding covert ways to wipe her mouth after Bailey’s lips had released hers. Klaryssa was miserable, and yet, she endured her misery for the sake of her family. While it had sickened Cerridwyn to her core, she knew better than to try and convince Klaryssa to free herself from her fate.

  Especially since she had already tried convincing Klaryssa to no avail.

  But now, Klaryssa was gone. Klaryssa was gone, and Cerridwyn felt a different kind of sickness in the pit of her stomach as her mind became filled with images of every horrible fate that could have befallen sister. Even so, she stubbornly blinked away her tears and put on a brave front for her ever-ailing father.

  “The storm has let up, papa,” Cerridwyn began. “I can go out and search for her for a bit? Will you allow me to do that? I promise not to stay out long.”

  Coeden shook his head vehemently before falling prey to a violent coughing fit. Cerridwyn hurriedly rushed over to her father’s side and dropped to her knees while lifting a large ladle from a nearby bucket of water. She offered the cold drink to her father and carefully helped him to drink.

  “Please let me go, papa,” Cerridwyn entreated softly.

  Again, Coeden shook his head. “The storm has not yet had its fill of raging on,” he rasped weakly. “And I’ll not have my youngest girl getting lost in the dark and torrential rain.”

  “But, papa, what about Klaryssa?” Cerridwyn asked with an underlying franticness.

  “Your sister has sense enough to seek shelter,” Coeden replied not as convincingly as he would have liked before a series of rattling coughs shook his frail body. He did not speak again until he was able to draw a breath. “I have no doubt that she will come strolling up the path in the morning once the skies have cleared.”

  Even as he sought to comfort her, Cerridwyn could see the worried uncertainty in her father’s dulled eyes. Not knowing what else to do, Cerridwyn fixed what she hoped was a convincing smile to her face. “As you say, papa,” she said softly before rising and gently helping Coeden to his feet. “Come, let’s get you to bed,” she urged. “You’re tired.”

  “Such a good girl you are,” Coeden rasped with a weak smile as Cerridwyn helped him to shuffle towards the bed he had once shared with his beloved wife. “Both you and your sister are such wonderful girls, and I could not be prouder of the both of you and the way you have grown. I only wish that I could do more for the two of you now, my precious saplings,” he uttered sadly in a voice that was heavy with emotion. “But, alas...I am no longer the strong oak I once was. I am but a bent and gnarled stump barely clinging to life.”

  “Don’t talk like that, papa,” Cerridwyn admonished gently as she carefully helped her father into his bed and then pulled the blankets up to his chin. “There is life in you yet,” she encouraged while turning her head away and hurriedly wiping away the tears that threatened to fall.

  “Not for much longer, my little sapling,” Coeden replied sadly. “I feel my life and strength leaving me with every passing moment, and it saddens me like nothing else that I am powerless to help you and your sister.”

  Schooling her face into a smile, Cerridwyn turned to face her father one more before leaning down and pressing a loving kiss to his forehead. “Everything will be alright, papa. It will be just as you say, you’ll see. Come tomorrow, Klaryssa will return home, and all will be well.”

  “I love you, Cerridwyn, my little sapling,” Coeden murmured thickly as his eyes began to slowly drift closed. “But you have always been terrible at lying,” he added with a faint yet fond smile ghosting over his lips.

  “Then, that just means that I have to believe hard enough for the both of us,” Cerridwyn replied softly as she watched her father drift off to sleep. She watched Coeden silently for several moments before turning and slowly crossing over to the open door. Already, she could feel the wind picking up, and she knew that she would be forced to close the door and shutter the windows soon; but, that did not stop her from staring out into the growing darkness. “Please be alright, my sister,” she whispered while silently offering up prayers to Dynol. “Wherever you might be, please be safe.”

  3

  In a large, comfortable bedchamber, Klaryssa sat submerged in a deep stone tub of hot water that was scented with flower petals. Steam rose from the water that just came to the tops of Klaryssa’s breasts, and the blonde maiden sighed while letting her head fall lightly back against the edge of the tub as she reveled in the luxurious warmth of the bath.

  Never before had Klaryssa enjoyed a bath like this. The baths she had back on the farm were quick and oftentimes cold. They were not meant to simply rest in and enjoy. They were for removing the dirt and grime from a long day of toiling in the earth in desperate attempts of coaxing a crop to grow.

  Home...

  Klaryssa’s eyes snapped open, and she raised her head from where it rested before sitting up straight. She hugged her legs tightly to her while resting her chin atop her knees and slowly casting her gaze about the room. The stone floors were covered with heavy rugs, and walls were decorated with tapestries that ranged between ornate and simple. One thing that was shared between the differing tapestries was the wolf motif, and even the simpler ones were in possession of intricate stitching. Klaryssa had never before seen their like, and the tapestries were not the only things in the room that were in possession of a wolf’s visage. Wolves were carved into the stone of the massive hearth, as well as into the wood of the enormous, four-poster bed. In all her life, Klaryssa had never seen such finery and attention to detail, and to think that she would be mistress of it all.

  At least, if Dresdyn had his way.

  Klaryssa sensed that she had no choice in the matter, but she was surprised to realize that large part of her was not at all bothered by it. Dresdyn was handsome, passionate, and in becoming his wife, Klaryssa would spend the rest of her days exploring the myriad of feelings Dresdyn awoke and aroused within her while enjoying a life of comfort. By all accounts, Klaryssa should have been overjoyed by her sudden change in fortune; but, her dutiful and familial nature continued to bring her thoughts back to her father and sister.