Daughters of the Dagger 04 - Amethyst (17 page)

“I didn’t say that.” It was exactly what she was thinking, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it, after seeing in his eyes how much it hurt him the last time she’d said it.

“Well, mayhap, you’d better go check on your prisoners before you start calling me names.” He stepped away from her and pulled a key from his waist and unlocked the cell door. Then he pulled it open with a squeak and held his arm out
ward. “Shall we?” He motioned for her to go into the dungeon in front of him.

She didn’t know what he was up to, but she did as he instructed and head
ed for the cells that held the women. She stopped in front of the cell, not seeing anyone within, and realized it was empty.

“They’re gone,” she said in shock and looked up to him. In the light of the torch from the wall, she could see a glimmer in his eyes and one corner
of his mouth lifted up into a half-smile.

“Didn’t you notice how quiet it was without the child crying?”

“That’s right,” she said, not having even realized it until now.

“Let us out too,” came a voice from the next cell, and she looked over to see that the men were still there.

“Come on, lassie, help us out th’ way yer husband helped the Scottish lassies and the bairn.”

“You?” she asked, not believing it was true. “You set the women and the child free?”

“Isn’t that what you wanted?” he asked.

“
Yes. But … why did you do it?”

“Because I realized you were right and that I never wanted to take them prisoners in the first place.
That was all my father’s idea.”

Her heart soared that he’d do such a thing, and she coul
dn’t stop herself from smiling.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Don’t thank someone for merely doing their job,” he replied, and this time he smiled so wide that she could see his teeth.

“Well,” she said, looking back at the men still in the cell. “What
about those three? Are you going to set them free as well?”

“Aye, set us free,” said one, and before she knew it, they were all causing a ruckus and banging on the bars of the cell door.

“I do that, and you’ll really see a horrible side of my father that you’ll wish you hadn’t,” said Marcus, pulling her away from the cell and back toward the main door. “It’s going to be hell enough dealing with my father once he finds out what I’ve done. And while I set free women and a child, I’m not even considering doing the same for the men.”

She reached up and grabbed him and pulled him to her, and kissed him boldly on the lips. His arms came around her, and he looked into her eyes as the kiss ended.

“What was that for?” he asked.

“For being such a good, fair, honorable, and noble man,” she said.

“I don’t know if I’d go that far, but I like the way it sounds. So … then I’m no longer a horse’s ass?” he asked, looking at her with a cocked head and from the corner of his eyes.

She laughed and pulled him to her in a hug and laid her cheek against his chest.

“Nay, you are not a horse’s ass,” she said. “And if you’ll let me make it up to you that I ever called you that in the first place, I’d be very happy.”

“Well, if that means you’re going to start sleeping with me again and I will start feelin
g like a married man instead of a lustful loner, then I’ll take it.”

She reached out and touched him softly on the cheek and then let her hand trail down his chest and below his belt.

He grabbed her hand, and looked back toward the prisoners, then pulled her out the door. “Let’s get the hell out of here already, as I can’t wait any longer to make amends.”

They ran like two randy
youths, sneaking away to have a secret tryst, dodging anyone that happened to be in the courtyard or leaving the great hall.

They tiptoed
up the stairs, and Amethyst looked back to the great hall where the meal was being served. She could see their two empty spots at the dais. Marcus’s father had a scowl on his face and Matilda looked lost with no one to talk to. Amethyst and Marcus managed to keep from being seen and didn’t stop until they were in the solar and the door was barred behind them.

“That was fun,” she said with a laugh. “I feel like I am a child again, sneaking behind my father’s back, doing something I shouldn’t.”

“Well, I assure you, that you are not a child, and will know you are a woman when we are finished, because I plan on making you never forget it.” He reached out and pulled her to him, pressing his lips upon hers in a passionate kiss. It lasted long, and she gasped for breath when he finally pulled away. “And I assure you also, we are doing nothing that we shouldn’t, as we are married, and this is expected of a married couple.”

He reached behind her, his fingers expertly unbuttoning her gown, as he pressed his lips to hers once more. Then he pulled her gown from her shoulders, and it dropped to the floor at her feet, leaving her standing in naught but her shift and undergarments.

“You are shaking,” he said, rubbing his hands up and down her arms. “Do I frighten you, sweetheart?”

“Nay,” she said.
“’Tis not fear that makes me shake but rather my body longs for you and it is naught else than anticipation.”

“Then lets not make your body wait any longer.” He
removed his clothing so quickly that she was surprised he was not hurting from his wounds.

“Your stitches are gone and your wounds are healing
nicely,” she said, walking to him and laying her hand on his chest.

“I
had my squire-in-training learn about caring for wounds today,” he said. “And I do believe I have healed so quickly due to the amethyst stone you left me.” He walked over to the table next to the bed and held it up for her to see.

“Well, then, I would guess I don’t need to be gentle with you this time,” she said, pulling off her shift and undergarments and letting them fall to the floor. She noticed his eyes scan down her body and she knew he was aroused when his manhood straightened.

“I don’t want you to be gentle with me at all,” he said. “Actually, I was hoping we could try some new positions.”

“I love to learn new things,” she told him. “Actually, I live to learn, so teach
me, please.” She ran to him then and jumped into his arms, and he pulled her up and twirled her around until they both became dizzy. Then he finally dropped her atop the bed and fell over her, using his arms to hold himself up to keep from smashing her.

“I want you more than I’ve ever wanted any woman,” he said, pos
itioning himself over her.

She laughed and
flipped over and started to crawl away over the bed.

“You’re teasing
me, wife,” he said, crawling after her. Then he grabbed her hips and pulled her to him, entering her like she’d seen the hounds or the cats mate.

“Is this one of those new positions?” she asked, loving the way it felt as he pushed into her, his hands coming around under her to fondle her breasts as they coupled.

“This is one of them,” he said, sliding in and out, and when he did it, she felt her body releasing, and muffled her face in the pillow as she let out a scream of passion.

“I want to see you when you scream out your passion,” he said, pulling out and flipping her over. He covered her with his body this time, and
when he continued making love, she found herself getting very excited.

“I not only want to see your face as you find your release, but I want to hear your passion for me as well. Don’t hold back, Amy, let me hear you let loose.”

That’s all he had to say, and she let loose with all her inhibitions. This felt so right to be making love with her husband and it meant the world to her that he’d released the prisoners because he knew how much it meant to her. He knew it was the right thing to do.

“
Ohhhh … Marcus!” she cried out as she reached her peak, and then he spilled his seed inside her, and he collapsed atop her as he found his release as well.

“Marcus?” she said in a small voice. “You are heavier than you look.”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he said, lying on his back and then pulling her atop him. “Amy, I didn’t think I’d ever say this to a woman, but I … I think I love you.”

“I love you, too, Marcus. And even if I don’t have my
jeweled dagger, I know I’ve found my true love after all.”

Chapter 17

Marcus spent the best night of his life making love with his beautiful wife. They’d both spent time getting to know each other more, and in between conversations, they made love several times. His squire had come to their door, and he’d sent him away, but not before he ordered him to bring them food and ale. They’d spent the night feeding each other by hand, and he’d delighted in licking off each of her fingers.

And the biggest surprise was when she decided to lick his face, saying she learned it from his hounds. It had excited him so much, that they’d then spent the rest of the evening doing very intimate things that all had to do with licking each other.

He woke now with Amethyst in his arms, both their naked bodies pressed up against each other. He ran a hand over her hair, smoothing it down, thinking how happy he was right now. But he knew he’d have hell to pay with his father as soon as he found out what he’d done, but he no longer cared. He did what he thought was the right thing to do. Not only because of Amethyst, but because he knew she had a good heart and truly cared for people. He had been that way once too, when his mother was alive. But since he’d been raised by his father as a hardened warlord ever since her death, that gentle side of him had died along with his mother.

He was a warlord and favored by the king, and now had a castle as well as the title of earl for what he’d done in the past. But that didn’t mean he had to be ruthless and crude in every aspect. He’d lost sight of who he really was years ago, and now, because of Amethyst, he was starting to
find his true self buried deep inside him once again.

“Good morning, sweetheart
,” he said with a smile. Her eyes fluttered open as a ray of sunlight streamed in the open window and hit her in the face.

“Marcus?” she said, looking up to him with her innocent indigo eyes. “Please tell me it wasn’t a dream that I just spent the best night of my life making love with you and that we’ve made amends.”

“It’s not a dream. I assure you. And if you don’t believe me, you can probably ask anyone in the castle, as you, my dear, scream in elation when you are in the midst of being satisfied.”

She laughed and hit him playfully on the arm.

“Amethyst, tell me more about your family, as I can’t wait to meet them.”

“Well,
my oldest sister is Ruby,” Amethyst explained. “She can ride a horse faster than any man, and she can also wield a sword as well as a man too. She is married. However, she birthed a stillborn, but is pregnant once again. She and her husband also have a son named Tibbar.”

“Tibbar?” he asked. “That’s an odd name.”

“It’s not her son, it’s … I’m not sure whose it is, but her husband, Nyle named the boy Tibbar, which is rabbit backwards.”

“That’s odd,” he said. “You do have an interesting family.”

“And the next in line is my sister, Sapphire, who loves children and wants a dozen. She is the beautiful one in the family, and has the best body out of all of us. She and her husband, Roe have a little newborn girl named Mirabelle, who was named after our mother.”

“I think you are the most beautiful
one,” he said, “and I love your body.”

“You’ve never even seen my sister, so how can you say that?”

“I don’t need to see anyone else to know you are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever met.” He reached over and kissed her on the mouth, and she felt the sincerity of his words.

“You know I have a twin sister, don’t you?”

“I do now,” he said.

“Her name is Amber, but
we are not identical twins.”

“I’m glad, because I wouldn’t want to share another you with anyone.”

“She just got married to her husband, Lucas, right before I came here,” she told him. “They live in Canterbury. Actually, she was going to be a nun.”

“And we can see how well that
worked out, can’t we?”

“I always thought she would be a nun, because every Christmas she never stopped praying, and even decorated the chapel in the castle, saying it was the birthday of Jesus, as well as ours.”

“Your birthday is on Christmas?” he asked in surprise.

“It is,” she said. “This
year I will be nine and ten years old. Actually, my brother who died was born a few days after our birthday. He would have been six and ten years.”

Marcus could see the sadness in her eyes and pulled her closer in
to his arms. “You seem as if you are saddened by his death.”

“I am,” she admitted
, “as I often wonder what it would have been like to have a brother. Don’t you miss your siblings?”

“I am saddened immensely by their deaths,
” he said, “but the death I mourn the most is that of my mother. I always thought she’d be here for my wedding day. She always talked about how she wanted me to get married in a rose garden. She loved roses and could grow them better than anyone. She had the gift of making them bloom almost all year round.”

“I thi
nk you have inherited that gift from her,” said Amethyst, “as I have seen the roses in your garden still blooming and it is already late in the year.”

“Well,” he laughed, “if you see any blooming at Christmas than you’ll be sure it’s my mother leaving us a message.”

A knock at the door startled both of them, and they just laid still and looked at each other with wide eyes.

“Mayhap if we’re quiet the
y’ll go away,” whispered Marcus. Amethyst hid her face in his armpit to muffle her laugh.

Now the knock turned into pounding, and then Marcus heard the very angry vo
ice of his father from the opposite side of the door.

“Open up, Marcus, I know you’re in there. And I’ll knock down this damned door if I have to
. Now open up before you force me to enter.”

“You’d better get dressed quickly,” he told her, scooting off the bed and handing her the clothes from the floor. He donned his as well, all the while his father banging on the door so hard
he thought for sure he’d push it in. He stood and fastened his weapons at his side, then walked across the room.

Marcu
s opened the door just as his father was raising his hand to rap upon it again.

“What is so urgent, Father that it could
n’t wait until I got out of bed?”

His father stormed into the room and stopped when he saw Amethyst.

“The women and the child are missing,” he growled. “And I know that she had something to do with freeing the prisoners.” He motioned with his hand and several of his men rushed in. “Take her to the dungeon,” he ordered.

As they hurried
forward to get her, Marcus pulled his sword from his waistbelt and held it to his father’s throat.

“They so much
as touch my wife and this sword goes into your neck.”

“What the hell are you doing?” asked his father, with wide eyes, not able to believe that Marcus was holding a sword to his throat. “This girl is responsible for letting the prisoners escape and she will be punished for it. By death if need be.”

“Nay, father, she is not the one responsible, and no one is going to harm a hair on her head. I am the one who let the prisoners go, and there is not a damned thing you can do about it.”