Conquering the Dark Axe (21 page)

He would not make it to them in time. His only hope
was that Alexa would release her hold on the maid. But she didn’t and Rourke
could only watch in horror as both women, locked in a fierce battle, came off
the plank and seemed suspended in the air for a frozen moment before they came
crashing down in a  flurry of hair and skirts.  He felt Goran rush up
near him as he braced himself and aimed to catch Alexa.

He had no chance as his wife twisted midair to land
a punch square to the maids face just as their entwined bodies hit the ground
with a hard, sickening thud. Rourke dropped to his knees next to them. Both
were so still and his heart fell to his stomach. Alexa was not moving.

TWENTY
SIX

Jacob's scream was loud enough to wake the dead when
the boy spotted Camm. 

Rourke growled without looking up, "Take him to
the dungeons."

Jacob yelled concern for his own life in his tone
and wide eyes, “You are a knight. Show mercy!”

Rourke turned a murderous look upon him as Goran
shoved the boy toward two guards that dragged him away kicking and screaming.

Rourke turned his attention back to the bodies.

The blood pouring out of the back of Camm’s skull
told them all life had gone. Rourke didn't know where to touch Alexa first. His
heart twisted. She was so still but no blood came from anywhere he could yet
see. He reached out with a hand under her neck and the other under her knees.
When he lifted her, she did not stir but for the soft moan that escaped her
parted lips. Relief like he'd never known surged through him and Rourke strode
toward the manor. 

Dipping the soft cloth in the cool water, Rourke
bathed Alexa’s brow once again before setting it back in the bowl next to the
bed. It was night and she had not shown any signs yet of awakening. He’d sent
for the healer and she had checked every inch of his wife’s body as he'd done.
No broken bones.

A lump, the size of a goose egg sat on the side of
her temple, and a black and purple bruise on her right hip. But what scared him
the most was that she might not wake up. Often upon the battlefield he'd seen
many that had taken a hard hit to the head, never to awake again or those that
did had woken to addled brains. His mind whirled back to when he first met her
and everything that happened since. He let his fingers slide over her neck and
jaw. She looked like she was lost in a pleasant sleep. She was so different
than the person Jacqueline had been and he whispered hoarsely, “Come back to
me.”

He knelt next to the bed, her hand in his and
prayed. 

Something hit him in his back and he groaned. 
When it came again, it was softer and Rourke woke up to find Alexa leaning over
him and daylight flooding the chamber. He shot up.

She stared at him with a frown and her hand
out.  "Ohhh. Not so fast."

He dragged her into his arms up against his bare
chest. "Alexa!" he breathed near her ear. A rush of relief flooded
him again.

She mumbled something. He pulled away and she took a
deep breath.

"I need breathe to be able to answer
you."  Her voice was strained.

"Are you well?" Rourke asked her as he
settled the fur around her only to have her push it off.  He had dressed
her in a shift. She looked over his naked frame then to his face.

"A bit dizzy. But I am fine."  She
made to move off the bed and his hand on her elbow stopped her.

"Are you sure? Where do you go?" he asked
worried.

"A drink."

"Stay. I will get it."  He reached
over to the pitcher he had set next to the bed and filled the small cup. 
After her second cup, she seemed like her old self and Rourke hesitated. Almost
afraid to hope. He reached out to feel her temple; she flinched under his soft
ministrations.

"Camm?" she muttered looking at him as she
pulled her legs under her to lean into his chest. His arms circled her.

"Dead."  And he wished he could kill
the maid over again.  "When you are ready will you tell me what
happened up there?"

"I am ready."  Alexa told him what
Camm had said and when she got to the last of the maid's words.

“Think you what she said was true?”

“All that could say any different are dead. So we
will never know.”  Rourke tightened his arms around her and told her about
Jacob being imprisoned and he would be hanged for his part in it.

Alexa balked at that. But Rourke refused to back
down.

After a while she said, quietly, "You were
right all along."

Rourke cupped her face and lifted it so he could
look in her eyes. "‘Tis over now. That's all that matters."  She
nodded and gave him a weak smile.

"Do you have a sister or brother?" 

He shook his head no and she nodded.  His heart
twisted and he planted a light kiss on her upturned mouth. When he pulled back,
he saw tears in her eyes and he hugged her. Goran had been right, she’d not
grieved for her sister. Alexa cried long and hard into the afternoon in his
arms.

Nigh an entire week had passed and still Alexa was
distraught and plagued by Camm’s betrayal. Her father and sister lay dead
because of her. Grief weighed heavy in Alexa’s chest.

She blinked back the deep melancholy that had
gripped her since the awful scene days ago.

Today was the day Jacob would be hanged. She did not
wholly agree but his crimes deemed it his end in plotting with Camm and Rourke
would see no less. He had wanted to behead the boy.  That was all he’d
bent on. Rourke was an honorable man and as overlord here now, he determined the
punishment. Camm and Jacob had committed unforgivable crimes upon her family.

Alexa had sequestered herself in their chamber not
even venturing out for practice the whole week.

The changes in Rourke had been noticeable, but she’d
been so preoccupied with her losses and the deep ache within she could not see
past it. He was there every time she looked up. His gentle and soft touches.
His deep timbre soothing in an attempt to calm. Seeing to her needs, asking
after her well-being. He smiled more, awkwardly, but a smile nonetheless, even
that did not lift the black cloud over her head. He’d sought the healer twice.
The crushed medicinal herbs and drink only seemed to make her sleep without
dreams. But not aught else. Alexa grieved night and day and since Rourke had
come to her manor doors, for the first time she had no desire to leave their
chamber.

Rourke was beside himself. She was wilting away
right in front of him. He understood her deep grief. Or so he thought he did.
She spoke of her father and sister at length and he listened. She’d never
spoken Camm’s name again since that night. He had tried what he could to break
her out of her dark place. Oh, she gave him a faint smile here and there, but
she was not the same.

He wanted his feisty hellion back.

Goran said to give it more time as had the healer.
Rourke knew it was his own impatience. She lay curled against him each night,
her softness driving him mad, but he had not tried to take their closeness any
further than kissing. His body was wound tight. But he could wait. ‘Twas not
his first concern. Her well-being was and God’s wounds! He would try again
today and hoped he got somewhere. The cold snap had broken and the sun was high
this day. ‘Twas still a heavy chill in the air, but he hoped to get her
outside, even if he had to carry her out.

It didn’t work out as easily as he’d planned. He
wanted his hellion back, but not in this way. At the mention of going outside,
Alexa had remained quiet and turned into a wildcat when he’d approached to
carry her.

They ended up on the bed, breathless, with him on
top of her. He was glad to see the fight in her. But her refusal to go outside
of the chamber scared him. Something was terribly wrong. His gaze burned into
hers and she for the first time in days stared back with an unwavering angry
glare of her own.

“Let me up,” she demanded.

Alexa was surprised when he moved off her quickly
and she found she was stung by the odd look he shot her way. He went to the
window, his broad back to her. Tears blurred her vision at his frigid stance.
She crossed her arms and asked sarcastically, “May I get off the bed now?”

“Of course.” His voice sounded as though it pained
him.

After a moment she rose and straightened her
clothing before going to the window to stand beside him.

“Is the deed done?” she asked him.

“Aye.”

Despair seized her and Alexa let out a piercing
wail.  Rourke had his arms around her in seconds.

“Alexa! Pray tell me what is wrong and so that I may
fix it. I can handle anything, but your tears and you like this, I fear
cannot.”

She turned and laid her hands on his forearms. “’Tis
truly…over.” Her wide eyes searched his face and Rourke almost panicked at the
faraway look in those amber depths until her hands fisted in the sleeves of his
tunic at the odd look he was giving her. Her words came out firm. “Now my
family can rest in peace. I need to visit their graves and the chapel. I need
to pray.” 

He’d thought she was losing her mind. But she
wasn’t. Jacob’s death was the end of it. She let out a sigh when he gave her a
reassuring nod.

TWENTY-SEVEN

Two more days later and Rourke noticed that Alexa
was back to herself. The heavy grief had not left her completely, but she was
functioning better.  He found he wanted to do something for her. The urge
was strong within him and he’d not remembered feeling this way since that day
long ago with Jacqueline. But this time it was different.

This was Alexa.

She was too proud to throw herself off the side of a
cliff.  With his mind made up, Rourke did not realize he was grinning as
he passed the servants in the hall and the guards outside. Smiles came to their
faces as they started to hum a light tune as they worked.  The dark cloud
over their lord and lady’s head had begun to lift.

Alexa waited for Rourke to meet her in the kitchen
as his order had been given. She had found it odd, but had come here anyway.
Lina entered and halted. Alexa stared hard at the maid.

“My lady,” Lina said with a curtsy and backed out of
the kitchen.

Jealousy flared in Alexa. She knew what this woman
was to her husband. She shook it off and thought of the past week. She was
still trying to work out many things in her head and this new and gentler side
to him was going to take some getting used to. She was not so sure she even
liked him this way. Soft.

She missed his deep bellow and roughness she found.
She didn’t like the feelings that he stirred in her in the night by just
holding her against his side as they slept. He’d not tried to be intimate with
her and she missed that too. She needed something else. Something more. What
that was yet, Alexa did not know.

“There you are.”

Alexa turned to see his giant frame walking toward
her. He was dressed in light colors today, a heavy cloak around his shoulders
only made him appear broader and she inhaled sharply as something tingled
inside her. His golden hair was tied back away from his face and he was smiling
at her. The lines around his mouth drew her attention there. He was a beautiful
man.

“What is it that is of such import, I had to wait
here?”

The hand he’d been holding behind his back, he
brought to the front. A basket covered by a linen cloth. It looked so tiny and
awkward in his large hand. Alexa frowned.

“I have an errand and I wish for you to ride with
me. We will be gone for most of the day, so Cook packed us treats. Ready
yourself.”

“But-“Alexa started and was cut off as he walked
right past her.

“Be ready in half past the hour.” He threw over his
shoulder with a loud bellow and Alexa’s belly warmed over the curt command. She
snapped her mouth closed and peeked under the linen cloth of the basket he’d
left next to her on the table. A smile lit her face. A ride would do her good
and she hurried from the kitchen.

The day couldn’t be any more perfect! Not a dark
cloud sullied the noon sky and the sun was as bright as the light Rourke had
lit in her heart.  The cool air brushed her face. Goran stood beside
Rourke’s horse, Black. Dressed to ride in a tunic and breeches, a cloak over
her, Alexa came to a halt when she spied her husband walking out of the stables
with something bundled under his arm.  She took in the sight of him. His
broad back faced her as he spoke softly to his animal with one of those large
hands that had rested on her hip last night now stroking the black mane on the
beautiful creature’s neck.

Delightful tingles of pleasure beset her and a moan
escaped her lips as he turned.  An ache formed between her thighs under
his heated gaze and when he smiled at her, Alexa had to force her weak legs to
move forward. 

“Are you ready?” Rourke asked her.

 "Aye." Alexa said and returned the
bright smile Goran shot her way. She looked for her gelding.