A Dark Guardian (22 page)

“Bernard is seeing to readying the dungeons so the villagers can stay in there tonight,” Hugh said.

He raised his eyes to find both men staring at him. “What?”

“Did you speak to Mina?” Gabriel asked.

Hugh lowered his eyes. “Aye.”

“Well?” Cole prompted. “What happened?”

“You know our way of life,” Hugh said. “We live solitary lives with only each other for company.”

Gabriel crossed his arms over his chest. “No one blames you for what happened with that woman. It was many years ago.”

“Besides,” Cole said. “We all deserve some happiness when we can get it.”

“I don’t see either of you with any women here,” Hugh pointed out.

Cole shrugged. “None have gained my interest.”

“Mine either,” Gabriel said.

“It doesn’t matter,” Hugh said. “She isn’t interested in more than what we shared last night, and that’s just the way I want it.”

“Right,” Cole said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “I must get back to watching Theresa.”

Hugh watched him leave before he turned to Gabriel. “You don’t believe me either?”

“I don’t know,” Gabriel answered. “But I do know that if you continue with that line of dung-filled words you just gave us, you will be lying to yourself.” Hugh couldn’t stand to be by himself once Gabriel left. Being alone made him think of things he had no business thinking, like a future with Mina in it.

“Who am I kidding?” he asked the empty chamber. “I’ll be lucky if I leave here alive, much less with my heart intact.”

Hugh got no farther than his door when he found Gabriel standing there. “I thought you left.”

“I need to look at your back,” Gabriel said.

Hugh stood aside and let him in. He took off his shirt and straddled the chair backwards.

Gabriel whistled when he glimpsed Hugh’s back. “That creature likes leaving you with scars.”

“This set deeper?”

“Aye, but they healed well. I wish I would have gotten to take care of them earlier,” he said as he cleaned off the caked blood. “But it looks like that journey to the Fae realm did something to help them.”

Hugh gritted his teeth as Gabriel poked around the fresh wounds. They had bothered him since he woke, but he hadn’t had time to see to them. He hissed when Gabriel smeared some foul smelling cream on the wounds.

“I’m amazed you were in any condition to make love last night,” Gabriel murmured.

“It was the bloodlust.”

Gabriel straightened and came to stand in front of Hugh. “You didn’t.” Hugh looked away from the scorn in his friend’s eyes. “I tried to get her to leave, but she wouldn’t. She threw herself at me.” He sighed. “I would ask if she was a virgin, but I can almost guarantee she was.”

“She was,” Hugh agreed.

Gabriel returned to Hugh’s back. “If I hadn’t seen with my own eyes her smile at you this afternoon, I would tell you to watch yourself. But she was glad to see you.” Hugh recalled her smile as well. “She said she enjoyed it.”

“Well,” Gabriel laughed, “that’s a good thing, my friend.”

“I could have hurt her.”

“But you didn’t.”

Hugh laid his head on his arms. “I’ve got to stay away from her.” This time Gabriel laughed loudly. “I wish you luck, because frankly, I think you’re fighting a losing battle.”

Mina pushed up her sleeves as she helped clean the dungeons. They hadn’t been used in more than a score of years and the musty, damp walls were no place for the elderly or the young.

But they had need of it for the night to come and who knew after that.

She pushed a lock of hair from her face with the back of her hand and bent down to pick up more of the old rushes that lined the floor. Women were going behind her sweeping and mopping the floors before placing new rushes down.

They had much to do before nightfall, and she doubted if all of it would be accomplished. The kitchen was alive with women cooking while men gathered what they could and began stacking it in the great hall to be moved down once the dungeons were clean.

She had no idea how long she had been hunched over cleaning, and when someone came to offer her water she gladly accepted it. But when she tried to rise she cried out from the pain in her back.

Immediately strong hands came around her. She looked up to find Hugh holding her.

“Drink,” he ordered.

When she had drunk her full and replaced the ladle, Hugh straightened her into a standing position.

“You should take more breaks.”

“There isn’t time for that,” she said.

He stared at her a moment. “Take more breaks,” he said and walked off.

She watched as he went to stand with some other men who were carrying up the bundles of old rushes. It amazed her at how he helped them.

A movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She turned to find Theresa at the top of the dungeon stairs looking down at everyone. She wasn’t surprised to find her sister as far away from work as possible.

She bent down to pick up more rushes and glanced around for Bernard. Sure enough, he stood with some other men cleaning. Her brother had made a drastic turn-around. Too bad Theresa couldn’t do the same.

Sweat poured down Mina’s face and her hair clung to her face and neck and rolled between her breasts making it itch. She promised herself a nice long bath once the dungeons were clean. That bath might not be until tomorrow, but she would have one.

“Hello, milady,” an older woman said as she came to work beside Mina.

“Hello,” Mina said and offered her a smile.

The woman smiled in return. “’Tis good to see you smiling, milady. For many years we all despaired of ever seeing the light in your beautiful eyes again.” Mina sat in stunned silence as the woman worked. Had it also been a lie when she had been told that no one in the castle wanted to have anything to do with her? That no one would be her lady’s maid? Since it had been Theresa that had told her, Mina seriously doubted if any of it had been true.

Anger began to well inside her because she would never know the answers. She had always thought her parents good, kind people, but now she didn’t know anymore.

Suddenly, the dungeon walls began to close in on her. She could barely catch a breath as her world began to spin around her.

From a distance, she heard someone call her name, but all she could think of was the lies she had believed. She grabbed hold of the wall and not even the sticky damp stone could snap her out of her anger.

She ran for the stairs and fell as she started up them. Theresa’s mocking laughter only spurred her anger more. She slowly rose to her feet and faced her sister.

“What’s the matter,” Theresa taunted. “No one to help you? ‘Tis no wonder looking the way you do.”

Mina pushed past her and ran for the castle doors. She needed some air. Once she was in the bailey, all she could think about was the ruins. She needed their warmth and compassion, but someone blocked her way.

“Move, Gabriel,” she said.

“Nay.”

Tears welled up in her eyes, but she refused to allow him to see them. “I need to go to the ruins.”

“It isn’t safe, Mina, and you know it.”

“Mina,” Bernard called out as he reached her. “Are you all right?” She turned away from her brother. “I’m fine,” she said and hurriedly wiped the tears away. When she raised her face it was to find Hugh staring at her.

“What happened?” Hugh asked.

“Nothing,” she lied. “I’m just tired, and I needed some air. The dungeon is very hot.”

Before they could question her more, she turned and retraced her steps back to the dungeon. She would cry later, but her village needed her, and she would finish what she started.

Hugh watched her departing back. “What did she want?” he asked Gabriel.

“She wanted to go to the ruins.”

Bernard sighed. “She only wants to go there when she is upset.” Hugh waited for Cole to join them. “What happened between Theresa and Mina?”

“The usual,” he said. “Theresa taunted her and Mina ignored her. Nothing different.”

“Something happened in the dungeon,” Hugh said. “She looked ready to faint one moment, then the next she was racing up the stairs.”

“Was it something you said to her?” Bernard asked. “I saw you talking to her while she took a drink of water.”

Hugh shook his head. “I only told her to take more breaks.” Bernard shrugged. “I’ll keep an eye on her while we are down there.” Hugh nodded and followed him back to the dungeon. He wanted to know what had happened, but if he pressed any harder Bernard would begin to wonder why he was interested.

[_Why are you interested? _]

__

[_Because I can’t stand to see anyone upset. _]

__

[_If that’s not a lie, I’m a donkey’s hairy arse. _]

__

It had been a long time since he hadn’t been truthful with himself. So, why was he so concerned?

I made love to her.

__

Another lie. He groaned silently. God help him, but he was in way over his head.

Finally, it was done. Mina helped place the last bag of belongings in the dungeon as families gathered into the open cells. She stretched her back and walked up the stairs.

One look out the window showed her she had time for a bath before she would need to return to the dungeon for the night.

She retrieved a clean gown from her chamber and hurried to the bathing chamber.

Fortunately, it was empty. She stripped and climbed into the hot water.

A sigh escaped her as she lowered herself into the water and submerged. She rose and wiped the water from her face. Without pause she picked up the soap and began to scrub the grime and sweat from her body. She washed her body twice and her hair three times.

She was just about to leave the tub when Hugh walked into the chamber. He stopped in mid-step, water dripping from his hair and down his shirtless chest. He must have gone for a swim in the stream before coming here.

“Hello,” she said.

“I didn’t realize you were in here,” he said.

She smiled. “I was just about to leave.” Although she knew he didn’t want to have anything more to do with her she couldn’t stop the desire from throbbing in her body.

“It must be Fate that we continue to meet here.”

“I should go,” he said.

She rose from the water. “Stay.”

Hugh knew he was a fool. But knowing it didn’t make it easier to bear. He dropped his boots and shirt and in two steps had reached the tub. He grabbed hold of Mina and lifted her from the water.

Her legs wrapped around him as he sat her on a table beneath the window. He leaned back and looked into her blue-green eyes. “No matter how hard I try, I cannot stay away from you.”

His body hungered for her gentle touch and her sweet mouth. He jerked her against his chest and leaned down to devour her mouth. He swept his tongue inside and explored every nuance of her mouth.

A surge of pure desire rushed through him as she sighed into his mouth. His hands moved toward her buttocks and squeezed. She moaned and broke the kiss.

“Hugh,” she said as she kissed his neck.

Ripples of pleasure raced across his skin. It had been so long since he had allowed himself to bed a woman. But it wasn’t just any woman in his arms. This woman gentled him in his most volatile moments, and she didn’t even know it.

He leaned his head back and closed his eyes as her hands roamed over his chest.

His stomach quivered in anticipation when her fingers slid into the waist of his trousers.

But it was her hot mouth on his chest that was nearly his undoing.

With a flick of his wrist he unlaced his trousers and quickly shed them. Her welcoming smile only intensified his desire. He moved between her legs and felt the wetness against his rod. She was ready for him.

He moved his hands to either side of her head until he cupped her cheeks. He leaned down and tasted her mouth wanting to go slow and gentle, but her hands reached down and wrapped around his rod. He moaned and whispered her name as she slid him into her.

A hunger like he had never known consumed him once her flesh surrounded him.

He wrapped his arms around her and thrust into her tight, hot sheath.

“I need you,” she whispered into his ear.

He leaned back, wanting to look into her eyes. “You have me.” Her smile was bittersweet, but he didn’t allow that for long. He held onto her with one arm while his other hand came around to cup her breast.

Mina held onto him as if her life depended on it. The desire began to throb and grow with each of Hugh’s thrusts. He thrust long and slow, then quick and short, but with every movement her body climbed higher and higher. She squeezed her legs tight around his waist to bring him closer to her. He was never close enough for her way of thinking.

His fingers skimmed over her nipples, wringing a cry of pleasure from deep inside her. Her breasts were full and heavy as they eagerly awaited his touch. Each roll of her nipples between his fingers ignited her already heated sex until she was mindless with need.

But when he raised his hand to his mouth and licked his finger before moving between their bodies to touch her clit, she nearly climaxed right then. He must have sensed it, because he stilled and held her tightly. After a few moments, his thumb found her swollen clit and moved back and forth across it as he thrust inside of her.

Her hands gripped his shoulders, ready to reach the pinnacle, when he removed his hand and pulled her tight against him. His thrusts became slower, longer as his hands roamed over her back to her hips and across her buttocks. Mina’s mouth had found Hugh’s neck and placed kisses on his flesh as his hands roamed over her bottom. When his finger dipped between her plump cheeks, she jerked.

“Trust me,” he whispered.

Mina knew he would never hurt her, that he had only brought her pleasure, so she gave in the delicious feel of his hands on her. And even when his finger touched the tight blossom and his thrust quickened, she relaxed her body and reveled in the sensations of his finger as he entered her. Her head fell back as the release came hard and intense.

She didn’t complain when his lips silenced her moans as he thrust into her then held on tightly as his climax engulfed him. She buried her head in his neck and sighed.