Virginblood (Seven Brides for Seven Bastards, 4) by Georgia Fox Read Free Book Online

foolishness. How could it be romantic to have seven
husbands and not know which was the father of one’s
child?
    Now she pondered what
Princesa had told her about the past and how she and Aelfa came to
be there. She supposed there were some things, some places and some men worse than
this after all.
     
    * * * *
     
    It was a month since he first laid
eyes on Jeanne when she arrived there with her mistress. Ram had
thought her the most beautiful creature he ever saw. But, of
course, he said nothing to his brothers. He would not know how to
say it without sounding like an addle-pated fool. Instead he
watched her closely, unable to take his eyes off her, trying to
make sense of something he eventually realized was
unfathomable.
    She was a proud, angry little thing.
All tightly closed off, clutching her religion like a shield to
keep them at bay. But it didn't chase him off.
    After the public spanking, Ram called
a counsel of his brothers. For once they were all present, and it
would be a good opportunity to stake his claim.
    "I want Jeanne, the maid," he stated
as soon as they were all assembled around their father's
bed.
    Salvador slouched by the door. "Then
take her. What are you waiting for?"
    "No. I want her for a
wife."
    Silence fell over the chamber. Even
the puttering candles seemed muted.
    Their father sat up, pressing his
knuckles into the bed for leverage. "She's got no dowry, no family,
no land."
    "Neither did Princesa, or Aelfa," he
pointed out sharply, glancing over at Raul and Sebastien, who had
brought those wives home. "And she works hard."
    "And she has lovely big titties,"
added Nino, the brother closest to Ram in age. He grinned. "Isn't
that why you want her most of all?"
    "I don't know why you don't just fuck
her and get it out of your system," said Salvador with a
sniff.
    Ram looked at his eldest brother. Sal
wouldn't understand, of course. He didn't really believe wives were
necessary, although he would never say that before their father.
Guillaume wanted his sons to get wives, and what Guillaume wanted
he usually got. "I want to marry her, Sal. I want to make her a
wife."
    Until that moment he'd never realized
that his feelings for Jeanne were deeper than lust. Watching her
pray had frustrated him, not because he did not believe in her god,
but because he wanted that devotion and loyalty for himself. He was
jealous.
    Their father looked around the
chamber, pausing briefly on each of his sons. "Well, it is up to
the seven of you. Do you want her as a wife? If so, I tell you now,
the rest of you had better bring home the richest damn women in the
land to make up for these impoverished beauties I keep welcoming as
daughters-in-law."
    Ram followed his father's gaze,
circling the room looking for approval from his
brothers.
    One by one they said,
"Aye."
    The last to speak was Sal, who rubbed
his chin, seemingly mystified by Ram's decision. "I can see why you
want to fuck her. I just don't know why you think she'd make a good
wife when her god will always come first," he said
dourly.
    Dominigo spoke up before Ram could.
"Her god comes first because she's still a virgin. At least, that
is how nuns think. They keep themselves chaste for their god, don't
they? In which case, the man who takes her maidenhead will become
her new master." It was evident Dom had been giving it all a great
deal of thought and that was the best he could come up
with.
    "I do not even try to get into the
mind of a nun," grumbled their father, "but I daresay young Ram
here looks forward to claiming her virginity." He leaned back,
frowning and half-laughing. "I'm surprised virgins still exist
outside a convent. I know I haven't seen one in a great many years.
Are you sure she is what she claims to be?"
    Ram nodded. "She's a virgin. I would
stake my life upon it."
    "I say we make certain," Sal muttered
peevishly. "Prove she's a virgin and then I'll believe she's worth
taking to wife. I suppose it'll make a change from whores, slaves
and