Candace C. Bowen - Knight Series 03 (9 page)

“Mylla, is everything right with you?”

Her eyes snapping open, she suddenly felt flushed despite the temperature of the water. Imagining Talan could read her racy thoughts, she searched for something to say. 

“Mylla?” There was concern discernible in Talan’s tone, “please answer me.”

“I am here,” she called. Hastily scrubbing her chilled skin with the rose scented soap, shivers completely wracked her body by the time she finished.

Toweled off and dressed, Talan called to her from the bank. “If you stay in much longer, you are bound to catch cold.”

“I am coming out.”

“I will leave you a cloth on the bank.”

“Please do not leave me.” Fear crept into Mylla’s voice.

“Never, mon coeur, I only intend to give you some privacy.”

Wading to the bank, Mylla quickly dried off. She joined him by the tree-line after she finished dressing. “Thank you for allowing me to bathe. I feel so much better for it.”

“There is no need to thank me.” Talan clasped her arm in the darkness to guide her through the trees. “You are shivering.”

“I am just a tad chilled.”

“I shall have you warm soon enough.” Retrieving Mylla’s cloak from her satchel, he wrapped it around her shoulders. “It will only take me a moment to start a fire. After which, I shall tend to the horses.”

“See to the horses first,” Mylla said. “They are bound to feel neglected after such a long journey.”

“Are you certain?”

“Aye, I can wait.”

“You truly are too good to be true.” Leaning down to kiss her cheek, he disappeared into the darkness.

Mylla spread coverlets on a patch of ground protected by a canopy of trees. Sitting in the center of the inviting pallet with her legs tucked beneath her she listened to Talan’s movements a short way off.

He returned with his arm laden with sticks. Dropping them into a pile beside their makeshift bed, he used rocks to form a fire barrier. Once he gathered some leaves and small twigs, he struck a piece of flint against a sliver of steel to create a spark. Gently blowing on the base of the pile at the first sign of smoke, he straightened with a look of satisfaction when the fire began to build.  

After Talan settled down beside Mylla the sound of the forest dwellers once again filled the night. The buzz and drone of insect mating calls carried to them on the brisk spring wind while nocturnal animals began to forage the woods for food. 

Mylla studied Talan’s solemn features in the flickering firelight as he added twigs to the growing flames. “It looks very inviting.”

Talan leaned back on his heels. “I suppose it does look inviting, especially if you are feeling chilled.”

“It is more than that.” Mylla fidgeted with the end of her flowing sleeve. “I think firelight has a way of making things look more appealing. I suppose that makes no sense at all.”

“It makes perfect sense.” Talan pulled a loaf of stale bread and a wedge of hard cheese from his pack. “Some of the more memorable moments in my life have happened around a fire such as this.”

“Will you tell me about them some time?”

“If you would like,” he said.

Mylla accepted a portion of the bread and took a bite. Gazing upward, she studied the star-laden sky. “I have never slept outdoors afore.”

“Does the thought frighten you?”

“I would never feel frightened with you by my side.” Mylla met his gaze. “Only the thought of it makes me feel very small.” 

“I have thought the same on many occasions.” Talan draped his cloak across her lap. “You may feel a chill during the night even with my tending to the fire.”

“What about you?” Mylla asked. “I would not see you go without in order to insure my comfort.”

“I am accustomed to the cold.” He chuckled. “In truth, I have spent more of my life sleeping without doors rather than within them.”

“Talan?”

Something in the tone of her voice caused him to tense. Meeting her tender gaze, he waited for her to speak.

“Will you kiss me?” She nervously glanced down at her hands. “Like you did earlier this day?”

Talan raked a hand through his damp hair. “Mylla, if I kiss you now, I fear that I will not be able to stop myself from doing more to you.”

“Is that such a bad thing? We love each other.”

“It is not a proper thing owing to the fact that we are not yet properly wed.”

“Does that mean you are chaste?” His surprised look had her add, “I have four older brothers who are fond of boasting about their conquests when it comes to the fairer sex.”

“They spoke of such things in your presence?”

“Let us say I often overheard things.”

“Meaning you eavesdropped on your brothers.” Talan grinned.

“After Lecie’s mother passed on, she was unable to spend much time with me. It was either that, or grow bored with the choices allotted me,” Mylla admitted, “I was not at all interested in feminine pursuits.” 

“Having four elder brothers you must have overheard quite a bit over the years.”

“Aye, I did. To my mother’s chagrin, my brothers do not believe the bonds of matrimony are necessary to lay with a woman. She believes she has failed in her upbringing of them, but my father says tis the way of men.”

“The women they refer to are not like you, Mylla.”

“Are you referring to the loose women who sell themselves in the tavern?”

Clearing his throat uncomfortably, Talan tossed his crust of bread into the darkness. “I had hoped you were unaware of such women.”

“Lecie is my closest friend. We have no secrets from each other. She was fond of the women who serviced the men at The Wounded Stag… most of them anyway. Betta had even become a sort of mother figure to her and the children.”

“You never cease to surprise me.”

“I appear far more innocent than I am,” she teased, “and you are avoiding my question.”  

“I am far from being chaste, mon coeur. I spent time with loose women to feel something during times I felt lonely. I did not…” He cupped her face. “I did not love any of them. Do you understand?”

“I know you love me.” Covering his hands with her own, she smiled. “And I love you.”

“Then you know why I wish to wed you first.”

“That I do not understand.”

Dropping his hands, Talan sat back. “I will not bring dishonor upon you, Mylla.”

“I do not believe there is dishonor in showing someone how much you love them. This time last night, I believed I would never see you again. If we are discovered, I would like it to be with no regrets for what could have been.”

Lightly kissing her brow, Talan closed his eyes. “Then I shall find a priest to marry us the moment we arrive in Reading.”

“You know we are bound by honor to inform the priest who we are and what we have done,” Mylla said. “Do you think it likely we will find one who will be willing to risk King Henry’s wrath were he to marry us?”

“Priests are first beholden to Pope Honorius II in Rome,” Talan said. “After I explain our plight, I am sure to find one who will marry us.” 

“Whilst I find it unlikely, I shall pray that we find such a man,” Mylla said.

“King Henry is not above God and bound by the laws of the church. And lest you forgot, my liege publicly defied the king and lived to tell the tale.” 

“Aside from Baron Erlegh, I have yet to hear of a man who would risk the king’s displeasure.” Mylla stubbornly refused to give up. “What if we are discovered prior to being wed?”

“Do you not have faith in me?”

“I believe in you, and you know it. Your turnabout on the subject is unfair, yet you know that as well.”

Talan surprised her by laughing.

“What do you find so amusing, might I ask?”

“This is the first time I have ever been seduced,” Talan said. “I find I quite like it.”

“Tease me all you will.” Turning her back to him, Mylla resumed her study of the night sky. “I know a rejection when I hear one.”

“Mon coeur, I was only jesting.” Talan shifted to draw her into his arms. “The last thing I would ever do is reject you.”

“Everything comes down to honor with you, does it not?” 

“It is who I am,” he said simply.

“I know it is.” Mylla swept a stray lock of dark hair from his brow. “I also know that if our union were to be consummated a priest is unlikely to refuse our request. Surely you can see the advantage in that?”

“When did you get so resolute?”

“The moment I realized my time with you could end at any moment.”

“When may I ask did this moment occur?”

“Whilst I lay hidden behind the tree near frantic that the knights we encountered on the road would slay you.”

Talan briefly closed his eyes. “I promised Leofrick I would make you my wife first.”

“Of all my brothers, Leofrick would understand.”

“I believe he would.”

“So now will you kiss me like you did earlier this day?”

“Aye,” he said softly before capturing lips. “I can refuse you nothing.” Talan kissed her and was lost. His good intentions forgotten, he followed her down on the coverlets. His hands slid from her throat to her breast where he caressed her through the cumbersome layers of clothing she wore. Raising his head, he took in her flushed cheeks in the firelight. “I need to feel your skin against mine.”

Mylla’s response was to grab the hem of his bliaud to assist in freeing him of it.

“We must take it slow, or I fear I will hurt you.” Rising on his knees, Talan pulled the bliaud over his head to toss it aside. Left in only a thin linen chainse, he worked the ties at his throat. Removing the garment, he drank in the adoration he glimpsed in her eyes.

Mylla unclasped her cloak to let it fall behind her. Her breath came in short bursts when her fumbling fingers ended up knotting the lacings. “My fingers are not cooperating.”

“Then mine shall lend assist.” Talan traced a fingertip along the line of her throat to where the lacings started beneath her arm. Deftly untying the knot her haste had created, he loosened the lacings. “Come, mon coeur.” He stood and held out his hand to assist her up. Slowly gathering the hem of her skirt, his hands skimmed along her shapely legs, and trim waist. Grazing her full breasts, he lifted the kirtle over her head. Standing before the fire, he caught his breath to see the silhouette of her naked body through the thin chemise she wore beneath. “You are so very beautiful.” Giving himself time to cool his ardor, he knelt to remove her boots.

Her hands trembled on his shoulders as she balanced herself. When she stood barefoot, she shyly ran her fingers through Talan’s thick sun-streaked hair.

Doffing his own boots, he stood to discard his chainse. When he stood bare-chested before her, he met her passion-filled gaze with his own. “Touch me, Mylla.”

Slowly running her fingers along his broad shoulders, she let them trail through the dark hair covering his chest, and down along the ridges of muscle leading to his abdomen. Pausing on each scar marring his flesh she traced its outline. “You have endured so much pain.”

“Seen or unseen, scars become our life story,” Talan said. “I would not be the man standing afore you without them.”

“And I would not have you any other way.” Slipping her arms around his waist, she slid her hands along the curve of his muscular backside. Breathless, she stood on tiptoe to mold herself against him. “Make me yours, Talan.”

Seizing her lips in a demanding kiss, he pulled back only long enough to free her of the chemise. His eyes darkened as he memorized every inch of her supple body. More beautiful than he had ever envisioned, he was stunned that it was he she wanted. Untying his breeches, he hastily removed them. He stilled in the process of removing his braies. “I do not want to frighten you.”

“Nothing you do will ever frighten me.” Mylla stepped closer to finish what he had started. Untying his braies, she slid them down over his hips. “Let me see you, Talan. All of you.” Her eyes flared with desire when his fully erect manhood sprung free. Lightly stroking the length of him, she moistened her lips in anticipation of what was to come. 

In response, Talan shoved his braies the rest of the way down in order to step out of them. Her intense gaze upon him had his inflamed manhood jerking upwards seeking relief. “If this is not what you want tell me now.”

“I have never wanted anything more.” Mylla lay down on the coverlet and opened her arms in invitation.

Gently nudging her knees apart, he knelt down. Supporting his weight on his elbows, he lowered himself to nestle between her legs. Nearly driven to the brink by the warm wetness of her womanhood pressing against his inflamed manhood, he inhaled a deep breath to cool his ardor. “There will be pain the first time, mon coeur. I would endure it for you if I could.”

“Just love me, Talan.” Stroking his taught biceps with her fingertips, she raised her knees off the coverlet to accommodate him better.

“I fully intend to,” he said cradling her beloved face with his hands. “I will not take you until you tell me you are ready.”