Pillaging Elinor's Castle [Elinor's Stronghold 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Read online

  The day concluded with a modified melee. Hammond and Rhys had wanted the final event to include as many people as possible, so horses were not permitted, only hand-to-hand fighting. All the participants were divided into two teams, red and blue, with equal numbers of soldiers and freed men on each, and the melee began.

  It was a wonderful spectacle to watch, although Elinor’s stomach tied itself in knots worrying that people might be badly hurt. Several times, a man went down under a rush of people, but each time, men from his team hauled him to his feet again, and the battle continued. She had no way of discerning who was winning, but the soldiers seemed to know, and Rhys declared the blue team to be the winner about an hour later.

  Because everyone had been watching the tourney, dinner was very late and consisted of bread baked the day before and cold meats and vegetables. But no one complained. The peasants and freed men helped tidy the field while women prepared the food, and then the day ended with a celebratory meal together. Elinor permitted no strong wine or ale to be served. Only the everyday watered barrels were used, but no complaints were heard.

  Elinor watched Hammond, Rhys, and Albin take Wade outside and speak to him. She wondered what he’d learned and hoped Rhys offered him some reward for his day’s work. She also noted that Lord Devon, who’d done so well in the jousting, remained all day, and that both Wade and Albin had spent time talking to him. I wonder if he no longer wishes to work for Lord Jeffrey. Or perhaps he’s here to see how prepared we are for an attack.

  She beckoned the steward to her.

  “Yes, Lady Elinor?”

  “Byram, what is the name of the girl child who did so well in the messenger test? Whose family does she belong to? I don’t recognize her at all.”

  “That is Nerida, lady. Her father, William, is a free man with no other child and has reared her more as boy than girl. But she honored him with her success this day. I saw him holding her oranges as if they were a purse full of gold.”

  “So he should. She proved that girls can run and remember as well as boys, at least at that young age. She will make a fine messenger for Wade’s little soldiers. Has Wade spoken to her father about her becoming one of his messengers?”

  “Yes, indeed, my lady. William nearly burst with pride at her being included in that group.”

  “Good. She is a child worth watching. I shall take an interest in her future. The boys may grow to become soldiers or guards. She may grow to become housekeeper or chatelaine.”

  “May I tell William that, Lady Elinor?”

  “You may tell him I am pleased with Nerida and wish to hear of her progress as she grows. Her future will be greater than marrying a peasant as soon as she becomes a woman. She has the potential to rise much higher than that.”

  “Thank you, my lady.”

  If William really had reared her more as boy than girl, he wouldn’t be rushing to bestow her on the first man who offered for her anyway, but it was good to let him know that Nerida showed promise of the ability to greatly increase her status.

  Elinor hated it when girls were married too young. Too many of them died. When a family had too many girls to support, she much preferred them sending a couple of daughters to a convent. At least there girls would learn skills in growing crops and plants, cooking and preserving food, caring for the sick, and some even learned to read and write. The brightest of them managed the lands and wealth of the convent, and the lives of dozens of people. An abbess had more power than many ladies, far more power, status, and authority than a peasant girl could even imagine.

  Elinor shook off her thoughts. It was almost the end of the day, and the men had promised something special for this night. She could hardly wait.

  Chapter Three

  Hammond had to force himself not to run up the stairs to Lady Elinor’s solar. Tonight they were double fucking her. He’d been waiting for this night for so long, and his prick was ready to burst at the thought. He didn’t care whether he got her cunt or her ass. Both felt so good when they gripped his prick as she shared her body with him.

  He’d bought a tiny vial of oil with him. Although usually she sucked the cock of whoever would take her ass to make it wet, with two of them inside her together, Hammond had decided oil might be needed for her to accept them both. He’d never double fucked before but had heard a man who’d done it say it was the best night of his life.

  Another soldier had talked of fucking two sisters at the same time, but to Hammond that was a waste. A man had only one prick, so what use were two cunts, excerpt to take one after the other.

  He knocked on the solar door and entered to find Rhys already there, sitting before the fire. The solar was always warm as it shared the same chimney as the great hall, so even when the solar fire died out at night, there was heat rising into the room from the great hall below.

  Lord Rhys nodded to him. “Bar the door, my friend.”

  “Wade said Lord Devon told him that when Lord Jeffrey burned Rhys’s manor house defenses, the fire was more than they’d expected. Some of the household grain and meat stores were burned as well, so he has not got enough to last through winter, even with the new crops to be harvested soon.” Elinor’s eyes were filled with worry. Hammond wanted to smooth her face until the worry lines disappeared and tell her all would be well. Unfortunately, there were battles to be fought before that could be true.

  “That is bad news indeed, but it changes nothing. We always knew he’ll attack as soon as the harvest is reaped. However, we may bring forward our plans for hunting. We don’t want to wait until his men have hunted through the woods and no bigger beasts are left. Netting birds is all very well, but it talks a lot of birds to feed a castle.”

  “Exactly. Tomorrow we’ll plan a boar hunt. Two or three large boars will feed the stronghold for many weeks,” said Lord Rhys.

  “I was wondering about that. Can you capture a sow’s piglets? You may kill the sow as well if you wish, but I think we could try to raise some piglets,” said Lady Elinor.

  “How are we going to feed three or even four piglets all winter?” asked Lord Rhys.

  “They eat insects and grubs, and worms. The children can dig them from the edges of the fishponds and fields until it snows. After that, they’ll have to eat vegetable scraps along with the chickens and ducks. There’s always far more than the birds need. In the end, if we have to use grain for them and we don’t have extra grain, we’ll kill and eat them then. But I’d like to try. By next year, we could be breeding our own pigs.”

  Hammond smiled. Lady Elinor was excited and happy about keeping piglets. Well, as she’d said, it wouldn’t hurt to see if they could survive.

  Lord Rhys nodded. “Very well. A boar or two, a sow, and capture some piglets. Consider it done. Now, let’s get to what we came here for. Double fucking.”

  At those words, Hammond’s prick, which had gone soft, suddenly almost broke its way out of his breeches. His hand automatically went down to loosen the fabric around his balls, and his legs widened instinctively. He saw Lord Rhys grin, so cleared his throat and said, “I bought a vial of oil in case we’d need it.”

  “Good idea. You may have her ass since the oil is yours and you’ll need it on your cock. At least the first time. I’d like to do this twice tonight, if we can.”

  “Twice!” Lady Elinor gasped and blushed.

  Hammond’s prick began to throb against his breeches. Hastily he put down his sword and unbuckled his belt, pulling his boots off so he could lower his breeches before the pain in his prick killed him.

  When he looked up, the others were undressing, too, Lady Elinor laying the pretty blue gown she’d worn for the tourney in her carved, wooden storage chest, and Lord Rhys putting his sword beside the bed, as he often did.

  Carefully, Hammond set the tiny stone vial of oil beside the pillows on the bed and finished undressing. He wasn’t sure how they’d work this, usually they only did things as they arose, but tonight was special.

  “Sit again
st the wall with your legs apart and your cock upright,” said Lord Rhys.

  Hammond felt relieved. Now he understood how they’d be fucking. Grasping the oil, he did as instructed and opened the stopper so he could pour a little oil onto his cock then rub it down the shaft. Before replacing the stopper, he put a few more drops of oil on his fingers to oil Lady Elinor’s opening.

  “Sit on his cock, facing me,” Lord Rhys told Lady Elinor, and obediently she moved to the bed.

  “Wait. Stick your ass in my face, first,” said Hammond.

  She did, and he thrust his oily fingers inside her pink rosette, smearing the expensive oil around her entry and massaging the tight ring as he so often had done in the past. It never ceased to arouse him. Touching her skin anywhere was good, but for some reason, her ass excited him even more than her cunt or her breasts, though both were wonderful to sample.

  He guided her down onto his prick. He had to push to gain entry, but she didn’t flinch, and then he slid into her heat. Such heat. It warmed him through and through and made him burn to swive her with every inch of his prick, over and over again.

  But first he had to wait for Lord Rhys. His liege lord spat on his fingers and wiped them on his prick, then spat and wiped again before he crawled across the bed, lifting Lady Elinor’s thighs up and inserting his own muscular legs on top of Hammond’s and under Lady Elinor’s. There was some wiggling and pushing until they were all in place, their bodies so tightly together they might almost have been one person.

  “Like a saw,” gasped Lord Rhys. Hammond understood that as Lord Rhys pulled out he was to push in, as if they were two men working a saw to chop down a large tree. Instead, they were two men working on something much better than timber—although his prick was as hard a tree trunk. It had been for days, weeks even.

  Watching his lord, Hammond timed his strokes to complement the other man’s, pulling out as he pushed in, pushing in as he withdrew. Lady Elinor’s ass was a wonderful place for a man to rest his weapon. She was hot and wet, her muscles clenching his prick hard enough to excite him unbearably. Yet as he plowed her deeply, his prick rubbed against Lord Rhys’s. God’s truth, it was the best thing he’d ever felt. Even the very first time he’d fucked her hadn’t been as good as this was. His balls were drawn tight against his body, his prick was full to bursting with his seed, his entire body was burning to fill her with everything he had, but he had to wait until she was ready.

  Hammond kissed along her neck, lifting her thick, reddish-brown hair to lick and suck the soft, sensitive skin usually hidden from sight. She was a little salty, but altogether delicious, and like the finest wine, sucking her there made him a tiny bit drunk with the pleasure of it. He had to concentrate to keep plowing her steadily, every stroke matching that of his lord, but his lord was also highly aroused and they were moving faster now, harder, deeper, their pricks sliding against each other and slamming into their lady.

  Suddenly, her muscles gripped him so hard he thought his prick might snap in two like an old sword blade. Instead, her body shook and shuddered against his chest, and with relief, he released his control and let his aching prick fill her ass with his seed. Again and again, he pounded into her, his essence jetting from him in an endless flood. He realized with shock that he could feel Lord Rhys’s seed, too, hot against the thin wall dividing their cocks from each other. That knowledge sent another burst of liquid from him, filling her again.

  Hours later, his lord shook Hammond awake. “Again. This time I get her ass.”

  Lady Elinor seemed sleepy but willing, so this time they lay side by side with her facing him so he could push his prick deep into her cunt, pressing his pelvis hard against her nubbin, determined to stroke it as often as possible.

  Lord Rhys moved behind her, lifting her leg high and using the oil before holding her ass cheeks open and slamming his prick hard and deep.

  Hammond felt it move in, every inch of it, and then it lay against his own prick. God’s truth, that was arousing. If his prick hadn’t stood up at the very thought of fucking her again, the feel of Lord Rhys’s prick against his would have been all it took to have his little soldier ready for battle.

  Lady Elinor wiggled between them, pushing them deeper into her, moving her hips this way and that, urging them on. Then he needed no urging, he was slamming into her, copying the fast pace set by his liege lord, both of them together this time, hard, fast, harder, faster, ramming into her in a race that quickly came to an end. Her cream poured over his prick, covering it with her heat and dampness, as her muscles grabbed him tight. His seed burst from his prick, and matching heat penetrated the wall between him and Lord Rhys. It was over so fast, yet his prick was fulfilled, sliding from her as his seed and her cream dripped onto her thighs.

  He rested his hands on her breast, but it wasn’t enough. He sucked first one nipple then the other into his mouth, moving back and forth, back and forth, gradually taking the whole areola as well as just the nipple.

  “Lie on her,” came a hoarse instruction from behind him. Willingly, he did so, pushing his limp sword into her, knowing it would rise again soon.

  Then rough fingers were in his ass, and he knew what his lord wanted. “Use the oil. It’s been a very long time,” he whispered.

  Men alone on the battlefield fucked this way, affirming their right to life and finding closeness with their fellow soldiers, but it was not much spoken of. He was quite sure the church didn’t approve but had no plans to confess to Father Augustus. Rather, he thought he’d enjoy a woman under him and a man over him.

  Instantly, his little soldier stood to attention. He widened his legs and enjoyed the remembered feeling of fingers in his ass. Lord Rhys was in a hurry as scarcely had the oil covered his entry than a prick was forcing its way in. Lord Rhys had oiled his cock, but it still burned on the way inside, pushing his flesh wide apart such as hadn’t happened in years.

  The pain was a pleasurable one, one that spoke of men in battle together, men caring for each other as best they could. Having Lady Elinor under him as well was amazing. His prick was full and ready to go into action again. As soon as Lord Rhys began plowing his ass, he copied the movements in Lady Elinor, balancing his weight on his forearms and knees so she wasn’t hurt by the heaviness of the two men piled on top of her.

  She made happy little noises, so he knew she wasn’t offended by her husband fucking his Captain of the Guard. Nevertheless, he did his very best to make it as good for her as he possibly could. But it was hard when he wanted to press back into Lord Rhys’s heavy pounding strokes instead of leading forward into Lady Elinor. After a little while, he got the rhythm coordinated, and events moved swiftly then, with Lord Rhys soon blasting his seed into Hammond’s ass and Hammond filling Lady Elinor with his own release.

  They untangled their bodies, tucking Lady Elinor between them, then slept.

  * * * *

  The next few weeks were ferociously busy. Every man not needed in the fields was kept digging, extending the fishponds, and building an extra animal barn. Every day, women and older children went out with two guards and the wagon, collecting firewood and any edibles they could find in the forested land at the edge of the estate.

  When the women found a patch of berries, or mushrooms, or nuts, they all stopped to collect them in a bucket, before continuing on their search for firewood.

  In the evenings, Hammond and Lord Rhys planned their hunting expeditions. Hunting boar was dangerous, but a few large animals would be of great help to their meat supply. Such a large household needed meat and the fat with it to live through the winter months.

  The first day after the barn was finished, several guards went searching for tracks. On the second day, a group of men went hunting, returning with a boar, but also with news of a sow and piglets. The following day, they killed not just the sow, but also a second boar and captured five piglets.

  Elinor was very excited as she moved the animals into a pen that’d been hastily constructed for t
hem next to the fishpond. “There’ll be plenty of natural food for them here,” said the guard who was hammering the last support into the fence.

  “Oh yes, thank you,” she said, smiling up at him. “I’m not sure if they’ll survive, but there’s only one way to find out!”

  Meanwhile, Wade was training older children how to tell if enemies were approaching. He held competitions between them as to who could see sunlight glinting off metal first or discern when things were out of place in the forest. “They’re very good, my lady. They understand what it means if the forest noises stop and there is silence, and they know to look for trails of smoke and other signs,” he reported to her.

  Rhys and Hammond began planning to hunt a small herd of deer, but Elinor’s thoughts had turned to what would happen if her people were attacked in their small hamlets. If they ran to the forest, the soldiers would easily track them down and pick them off one at a time. Yet there was no guarantee the people would have time to escape to the safety of the castle.

  Where else—how else—could they be safe?

  * * * *

  Elinor was leaning over the fire, stirring a huge pot of berries, boiling them down to be preserved in meats and puddings, when a child skidded into the kitchen calling loudly, “Lady Elinor! Lady Elinor! A lady on a horse with two guards!”

  Elinor straightened her back and smiled at the child. He had given her his message perfectly. His manners might not be acceptable at Court, but he’d told her exactly what she needed to know, in very few words and without wasting time.