Gem of Gravane (The Northern Knights) (24 page)

She smiled with a devilish gleam in
her eyes. “Aric.” She whispered softly back. Her warm breath sent shock waves
of pleasure over his lower half. 

“Come here.”

“Nay.” She responded. Aric reached
for her but she scooted out of his reach. Her bare breasts jostled slightly and
his mouth watered at the sight of her erect nipples.

“Danielle.” He hissed when she
gripped his hardness in both her warm hands. He spoke on a ragged breath and
was surprised to hear the shakiness in his tone. “Let go.” 

“Does that hurt you?” She tightened
her hold. 

Her teasing tone drove him mad with
want and need. He was going to lose this game. Her touch was hot, silky on his
flesh. On a strangled breath, he said, “Nay.”

She slid her hand down. “That?”

“Nay.” He growled through clenched
teeth. 

“Good.” Danielle slid her hand up
and down a few more times and all Aric could do was lay there and tremble. It
felt so good. But as her fingers circled the head of his shaft sending ripples
of rapture though him, he knew if she continued her ministrations, he would
certainly spill his seed in her hands.

“Danielle.” He roared and flipped
her onto her back. He heard her laugh and he slid his cheek against her face
and soft hair. “Vixen,” he murmured near her ear.

Danielle heard the smile in his
voice and fisting her hands in his hair, she spread her thighs eagerly. “Now,
Aric. I am ready.”

“Are you?”

Aric slid his tongue down the side
of her neck to her chest, taking a nipple into his mouth. She arched into him.
He lifted his head after a moment. 

She was panting and answered. “Yea.
Now.” 

He smiled at her impatient tone.
“Let me see.”  He watched her eyes widen with confusion then ecstasy when
his fingers slid along her wet folds. Aye, she was quite ready. He held her
gaze as he found her swollen center.

“Aric!” Danielle exclaimed moving
against him. Her hands pulled at him. “Now, please. I beg you stop teasing me
so!”

“As you wish.”

Aric moved over her and was all too
ready himself to be inside her.  She welcomed him and he lay there with
his head pressed against her forehead for a moment as he fought to control his
breathing. Her tremors were going to undo him. Her gasps and fast panting
fanned his face and he raised his head.

“Are you alright?”

“Aye.” Danielle licked her lips.
“Don’t stop. Please don’t-Oh- that’s it.”

Aric marveled as he thrust and she
writhed beneath him in the throes of pleasure as the first wave took her.
Watching her soon sent him over the edge into a shattering and pleasurable
release.   His plan had been to wear her out, but he found it was the
opposite. 

He was truly worn when it seemed
only just moments ago that he’d closed his eyes and pulled her sleeping, sated
form against his when the light incessant nose Balwain was wreaking roused
 him. Aric woke fully when the tenth rock fell closer to the foot of the bed.
He rose and after a quick gaze out the chamber window to his second-in-command
below, he gazed back at Danielle’s sleeping form. If he was not careful, she
truly would be the death of him yet.

Balwain knew better than to say
anything as he scanned his lord’s tired and weary face. But it did not stop him
from giving Aric a raised brow of knowing. Aric in turn gave him a dark
glare.  Balwain’s mouth split into a grin by the time they entered the
thick forest with their steeds and he had to use his arm to muffle the hearty
guffaws that were choking him.  All the while ignoring his lord’s ever
darkening glare. The soldiers that followed looked on with baffled expressions
as they followed behind the two giant warriors deeper into the dark and thick
marshes.

Chapter 25

Morning light woke
Danielle and she groaned.  She did not want to get up just yet, her body
spent. She rolled over to bury her face in Aric’s chest. She met nothing. Her
eyes opened.

He had already risen. Sitting up,
rubbing away the sleep, her tired eyes scanned the room. His sword was
gone. 

She may as well get up. She got out
of bed with a glare at the half covered window. One side of the window covering
hung free from its wooden peg. The other lay on the stone floor. 

She bent to retrieve it and
something dug into her arch. She looked down and saw a stone. Picking it up,
Danielle ran her fingers over the smooth piece. It looked like a part of the
stones from the yard below. 

She hefted herself up and peered
out of the window. Something niggled at the back of her neck.  The
courtyard below was not quite busy yet. There were a few early risers beginning
their chores and the soldiers were at their posts. She looked below the window.

How had the stone from there got up
here? 

She turned back and her gaze swept
the floor. A feeling in her grew and she barely brushed her hair out when she
dressed and flung open the chamber door. 

The guard was not at his post.
Heaviness in her heart sent Danielle’s legs flying down the stone steps. Sounds
from the hall and kitchen wafted through as servants moved about doing their
chores. But it was the lack of the other guard’s presence at the bottom of the
stairs that caused Danielle to continue on to the manor doors. There she saw
five of her husband’s trained soldiers with their backs to her. 

“You there.” She called out,
surprised to hear the tremble in her voice. 

The men turned, their expressions
full of worry, but the look was quickly masked. However, too late. She’d
already seen it. Something was wrong and Danielle faltered in her step as she
came outside.

“Milady!” A young knight from the
group stepped forward to block her path. “You need to remain indoors.”

Those words caused Danielle to
freeze mid-step and the unease within her to blossom. She looked down at the
knight. He was about a foot shorter than she. She knew even before she asked
what the answer would be. Yet, she needed to hear it.

“I take it, by my husband’s orders?
Hmmm?”

“Aye, milady.” The knight swallowed
and Danielle watched his Adam’s apple bob within his neck as he glanced
nervously over his shoulder to his fellow comrades. All of them seemed anxious
and uncomfortable under the glare she was giving them.

Where was Aric? What was going on?

“Where is my lord, then, young man?”
She demanded.

“My orders, milady, was to hold
guard. He will be back shortly.” 

She knew Balwain would be at Aric’s
side. Still it did not stop the sick feeling from thickening in her gut.
Perhaps it was the odd behavior of this group of his men. They knew more than
what they were telling or could tell her.  Danielle could feel it in her
bones. She wanted to drill the knight further, but what good would it do. 
He was just doing as Aric had bid. 

Perhaps it was she who was
overreacting. 

Aric probably was just out
searching the perimeters again for Thomas and would indeed return shortly. He
had probably thought not to wake her with the knowledge. After all they had
been up most of the night. 

She wanted to believe that. 

Yet the strange feelings inside of
her weren’t cooperating. Something was not right.

“Where are the guards inside the
manor, outside my chamber and hall?” She questioned the knight.  His
demeanor and reddening face confirmed something was indeed afoot. She could see
the thoughts run over his reddening face as he considered what to voice next.

“Milady. I beg you, milord is due
back shortly.” 

“Oh!” Danielle screeched and the
knight flinched. She gazed around the inner courtyard and all appeared normal.
She wished that she felt that way.

Entering the hall, the servants
were moving about doing their daily chores. Even here all appeared
normal. 

By noon with still no word or sight
of Aric, that foreboding feeling only had grown stronger and Danielle was ready
to go. She peeked out the great doors and turned away.  His group of men
were still gathered there. 

She turned and made her way through
the manor, only having to stop once when she spied Edie and the page coming
from the lower level with a skinned fowl in each of their hands. 

In no time, she made it to the
stables undetected and seeing the new stable master the feeling of dread
churned her stomach anew.

Where was Harvey? 

To her relief the new stable master
was out front chatting with a few soldiers. 

She clucked to her mare and drew
the animal out through the rear of the building. Just as she mounted it a bit
away from the back of the stables near the woods out of sight, she felt thunder
under her feet. 

The ground shook as the sound came
closer. 

Riders and they were coming hard
and fast. 

Danielle froze and held the reins
tighter in her grip as the first rider burst through the clearing on the side
in front of the manor. It was one of Aric’s men, soon followed by a group of
more soldiers and Balwain. Her sigh of relief died in her throat.

Two large knights she did not
recognize, dressed in chain mail, rode with him. Danielle did not know that she
moved the mare closer.

She saw that the larger of the two
knights had a pallet of some sort attached to his giant black warhorse. The
twine tied to its pommel and around the giant rider’s waist and fist
that pulled it behind him with a figure on it. But ‘twas not
that that held Danielle’s attention. It was the prone figure on the
pallet. 

The feeling she had been plagued
with all day slammed into her gut and Danielle found herself galloping over
behind the men with her hair loose, flying out behind her. The soldiers in the
rear spotted her first and gave way to allow her to the front. Danielle reached
the front of the group just as Balwain and the two large knights dismounted and
to see her husband’s men carrying the pallet into the manor. 

She heard a scream and would have
turned to see who had cried out when she saw that all eyes were on her. The cry
of despair had come from her when she recognized Aric’s still form on the
pallet. Danielle’s heart exploded and got her feet running.

 Ignoring all, she was at the
side of the makeshift pallet pulling Aric’s still hand into hers. She pressed
it tight to her rapidly beating heart.  The warmth that clung to his skin
sent a ripple of relief through her. A good sign.  

He was not dead, although spots of
blood soaked down into the side of his tunic. 

She turned her teary gaze upon
Balwain, seeing the two large knights next to him. She opened her mouth but
words failed her. Balwain’s brows creased as he came to her side and she saw
his concern, his hands fisted at his sides.

His words were gentle.
“Milady.”  

Danielle turned her gaze from him
back to Aric. His shallow breathing did little to raise his large chest. She
uttered a single word. “Thomas?”

Balwain’s angry voice drilled into
her back. “Nay, milady. He was thrown from Thunder’s back.”

Danielle’s head whipped back to him
at that, her brows wrinkled in confusion. Her husband was an expert rider.
“That does not make sense.”

“Aye. True. This is what we found
under the saddle, milady.” Balwain pressed something cold and hard into her
outstretched hand. 

Danielle looked down to see a white
and gray sharp peg with a roughhewn and sharpened tip.  Stains of blood
lay in the grooving. Aric’s blood or Thunder’s. The object looked like a mini
dagger fashioned from animal bone. 

Lifting her gaze back to Balwain,
he read her questions there. 

“’Twas placed well against the
horse’s skin so that were the lord to move a certain way, ‘twould cause the
beast real pain. It did. The other bit sunk deeply into milord’s thigh.
Unfortunately, it happened when we’d reached the top of a high ridge. When
Thunder reared, milord was too close to the edge and took a hard hit to his
skull when he fell.” Balwain lowered his head.
Danielle closed her fist around the piece, before slipping it within the folds
of her girdle and bit out with knowing. “Harvey.” 

“’Tis what we have suspected,
milady.” He nodded and moved to the hall’s entranceway. 

She heard him say something to the
two large knights standing there, their fixed gazes locked on her. 
Danielle let her fingers glide over the material wrapped tightly around Aric’s
right thigh. A spot of blood had made its way to the surface. This wound would
not kill him. ‘Twas what had him locked away from her in deep sleep that
worried her most.

Something soft touched her shoulder
and she turned, seeing Edie’s small hand and she was glad for her support.

 Balwain’s strong voice turned
her back to face him and the two knights. “These are the men that helped us
retrieve milord, your husband, from the ravine, milady. “ 

Danielle did not want to leave her
husband’s side, but she knew she had to swallow her own distress for him at the
moment and address the two giants.  

She gave the order for Aric to be
carried up to their chamber, and then she sent Edie to retrieve the items she
would need to see to his head wound. She straightened her back, blinked back
her tears and after another quick glance at her husband, she walked over to the
men.

Her step faltered as she drew
closer and really looked at them. 

She thought Aric and Balwain were
the largest men she’d ever seen and Aric the most beautiful.  But she
would have to say the men in front of her gave challenge to that. They were
both as large, but the one in the middle was taller than any and his pleasant
features were close to those of Aric’s, right down to his scowling.  Her
brows furrowed. 

Guess scowling was part of the
Norman warriors training or the way of it, Danielle thought, because they all
seemed to wear that same fierce look. It worked she was sure on their enemies,
for she found her knees wobbling as the taller one held her stare until she was
right in front of him.