Her Lord and Protector (formerly titled On Silent Wings) (22 page)

There was more,
though, something wild inside her that cried out for release. She clutched him,
her entire body alive with the all-consuming sensation of his mouth moving over
the most intimate and sensitive parts of her. His hands caressed her like
feathers, then gently squeezed her flesh until she didn’t even know where she
was anymore.

Sweet heaven,
how could he know exactly where to stroke her with his tongue and hands until
she thought she would faint away?

Emboldened, she
explored him, touching, tasting his golden skin, nuzzling the tickling hair on
his chest. She listened to his soft sighs and whispers of endearment, kissed
the rippling, candle-shadowed muscles of his arms and back. Her hand lowering,
she found him and glided her fingers along his hard shaft.

She found her
power there, her ability to make him gasp and moan and call out her name, to
render him unable to move.

She delighted in
him.

That deep aching
within her longed for release, and instinctively she pulled at his shoulders
until he moved on top of her. His body was a warm heavy blanket over her,
delightfully weighing her down onto the feather mattress.

“My beloved,”
Alex whispered, and spread her legs with his.

Beloved. The
word burned through her intense pleasure. He might not love her with his heart,
but he adored her with his body.

He pushed
himself into her.

Katherine
stiffened with the sudden, sharp pain.
Stop
, she cried out in her mind,
and tried to move out from beneath him.

He had frozen,
was watching her. “There, love, there, ’tis all right. The pain will leave you.
Shhh, now, ’tis all right.”

He kissed the
tears from her eyes, then remained poised above her, waiting, his face a mask
of concentrated control.

After a moment
the pain did subside, and Katherine relaxed. He shifted within her. She gasped
at the sensation.

He began to move
slowly, rhythmically, watching her all the while until he closed his eyes, and
Katherine marveled that her body could cause him such pleasure.

At the same time
she noticed that his hips did indeed fit between her thighs perfectly, and that
he filled her without hurting her. She lifted her legs and wrapped them around
him.

Alex drew in a
ragged breath, and grunted his pleasure.

Now that the
pain had subsided, Katherine found that he was reaching a pleasurable spot deep
within her that she never knew existed.

Until now. And
he was moving much too slowly. She squirmed to lift her hips.

“Yes.” It was a
guttural sound. He drove in deeper, his thrusts becoming more rapid and powerful,
his muscular body hard and hot and tense.

Katherine
spiraled upwards. Her breath came shallower, faster. After a time her entire
body began to stiffen as if she approached the brink of learning some wondrous
secret.

She reached it,
gasping, arching her neck. What on earth was happening?

And then, that
damnable cough broke through her throat and severed whatever pleasure might lay
beyond the edge.

A second later,
Alex’s body stiffened. With a primal cry, he throbbed his release deep within
her womb.

Katherine turned
her head and covered her face with her hand. She didn’t know whether to cry in
humiliation or pound on Alex’s back with frustrated whacks.

He lay still for
a time, breathing hard, and then raised his head and gave her gentle kisses on
her cheek while he smoothed her tangled hair. “I am sorry. I should have
waited.” He slid off her and pulled her into his arms. “But I couldn’t.
Katherine, ’twas the strangest feeling. You coughed, and you just...gripped and
pulled at me somehow.” He smiled sheepishly. “Not that I want you coughing
every time I make love to you, but I tell you that it sent me straight over the
top.”

Katherine gave a
silent, sardonic laugh and closed her eyes. At least she had found a use for
her affliction.

“How do you
feel?” he asked.

Good. Wonderful.
But incomplete. She opened her eyes, wondering how to put in written words the
not-quite-there frustration that screamed within her right now, but she didn’t
understand it enough to describe it. So she simply shrugged and nodded.

“Hmmm.” He slid
his hand between her legs and touched her on her sensitive little nub.

Katherine arched
her back and sucked in breath in sudden, hot pleasure. She felt him against her
leg, hardening again, and she wanted him inside her.

“I thought so. I
have not satisfied you,” he murmured, stroking her gently and kissing her neck.
“I shall remedy that right away, my lovely wife.”

And he did. Oh,
yes, he did.

****

Deep into the
night, Alex raised himself on one elbow and gazed upon his slumbering beauty.
She lay on her side facing him, hair loose and tousled, her face peaceful, her
lips well-kissed. His wife.

Bless her, Alex
thought. Bless the fates—her father’s treachery, the fire, Rochester’s bootlicking
deeds—for bringing Katherine into his arms. He searched deep within himself and
found absolutely no regrets.

“Thank you, dear
Katherine,” he whispered, and gave her a gentle kiss on one smooth shoulder.
“Thank you.”

That afternoon,
her heart pounding with hope and anxiety, Katherine paced the inn room while
Millie stood watch at the window. Alex had gone for the doctor.

Katherine paused
every so often with tiny, shivering gasps, recalling last night and early this
morning. Ah, what wonderful things Alex had done to her with the most virile
part of him that she had at first feared would tear her up inside.

But oh, even
though her body ached in her most tender, secretive places, she wanted him
again, right now. He’d done something to her that second time, and again a
third, something that made her explode in hot pleasure and lose all sense of
the world.

“They’re here!”
Millie turned from the window with a wide smile that showed all three gaps
between her front teeth.

A moment later,
Alex and a tall, thin man wearing all black entered the room.

When Alex came
to stand by her side, his eyes hungry and possessive, Katherine’s tender
nipples burned.

Alex made
introductions, and Katherine lowered a curtsy on her wobbly legs. He placed a
hand on her elbow and, with a knowing sparkle and warmth that lit his eyes,
helped her back up.

The doctor set a
large brown leather bag on the floor, then regarded her with kindly features
and intelligent gaze. “You lost your voice by breathing in heated smoke, is
that correct?”

Katherine
nodded.

“And you have tried
to speak since then?”

Of course she
had. She nodded again as impatience nipped at her.

“The king’s
physician pronounced her permanently mute,” Alex said. “And the Earl of
Rochester had two other doctors examine her.”

The doctor
nodded slowly, his eyes on Katherine. “Yes. And they also found nothing?”

Katherine
hesitated, sensing hope seep away. Three doctors had concluded her condition as
permanent, and one was the king’s own physician. Who would question an authority
such as he?

“No, nothing,”
Alex answered for her.

“Did they give
recommendations despite their findings?” the doctor asked.

At the writing
table Katherine wrote,
Said try to sing
.
Shout
.
They used
leeches
.
Arsenic and bismuth
.
King
’
s touch
. Disgust
curled her lips at this last as she recalled His Majesty first stroking her
throat like a lover, then slipping his hand into her bodice to squeeze her
breast. Over her shoulder, she heard Alex’s grunt of displeasure.

“Fools. How
could they want you to sing and shout if you couldn’t even speak?” he asked.

“And you
mentioned a cough, Lord Drayton,” the doctor said.

“She coughed a
great deal when she arrived at my home, but it seems to have subsided somewhat.”
Alex paused. “Except for last night.”

Her head
lowered, Katherine tried to hide the blush that burned her cheeks.

“The clean
country air has helped, I presume,” said the doctor, either ignoring or unaware
of the implication of that statement. “And this cough began when?”

The fire—smoke
.

“Ah. Do you see
blood when you cough?”

Katherine
frowned and shook her head.

“Good.” The
doctor leaned down and snapped opened his bag. “I shall now examine you. Please
take a seat.”

Millie’s eyes
shone as she looked from Alex to Katherine. “Come, m’lady, let’s get ye seated
here,” she said. She pulled up a chair near the window.

While Katherine
sat, the doctor removed a strange contraption from his brown leather bag. It
resembled a lantern, yet was attached with a long brass tube with a curved end.
The tube narrowed until it was no more than the width of Katherine’s pinkie.

“Interesting,”
Alex said, standing beside Katherine’s chair. “What is it?” His fingers brushed
the back of her neck, and she gave a little shiver of pleasure.

The doctor
smiled and held it toward him. “An illuminator. My brother and I created it.
Look here, into this eyepiece.”

Alex peered into
the top of the lantern. “Mirrors!” he exclaimed, his face boyish in his
excitement. “Katherine, see inside!”

Fighting the
urge to slide her hand up Alex’s inner thigh, Katherine looked into the eyepiece,
and gasped in wonder. Within the tube, dozens of tiny, angled mirrors reflected
upon each other in sparkling splendor. Even at its thinnest point, the mirrors
extended around the narrow curve.

“I will insert
the tube into your mouth,” the doctor said, “and slide it back as far as possible.
The light will shine down the tube and allow me to see deep into your throat.”

Katherine
nodded, and renewed hope warmed her. This man would see what had happened more
clearly than the other doctors, who had only taken her out into the sunshine to
peer into her mouth.

The doctor lit
the candle inside the lantern. The wick blazed with a brilliant white light,
and Katherine heard Alex’s quick intake of breath. She found herself mesmerized
by the fire’s radiance.

“There is a
powder in the wax that makes the flame more intense,” Doctor Whittleby explained,
“but it burns quickly. Do not stare at the light.” He brought the lantern near
Katherine’s face.

Despite his
warning, Katherine riveted her gaze on the radiant beam until she had to close
her eyes. Behind her lids, white dots danced as if she’d stared too long at the
sun.

“Open, now,
please. Relax your jaw. Stay perfectly still.”

Slowly he
inserted the cold, hard brass tube into Katherine’s mouth.

The other
doctors had, with importance and finality, determined that her voice was completely
gone. Now, as she closed her eyes and felt the tube slide along her tongue, she
knew exactly what this doctor would say. ‘I have determined, after much study
and on account of my vast experience, that you shall never speak again.’

She almost
halted the procedure, unwilling to face more disappointment. Instead, she
reached for Alex’s hand.

More than
anything he had ever wished for, more than life itself, Alex yearned to hear
Katherine voice.

He enclosed her
cold hand in both of his and willed her all the courage he possessed.

“Now tilt back
your head a bit,” the doctor said. “I will stop if you begin to gag, to give
you time to become used to it.”

Alex wanted to
help her as no one else had. He needed to prove that everything he touched was
not destroyed. And she deserved to be helped even if her father had been a
traitor to the king.

But another
reason to help her regain her voice fought its way to the front of his mind,
and no matter how much he denied it, this one took precedence over all the
others.

If she could
speak, she could tell him she loved him.

The thought
jolted him. He considered the thought as he watched her take in the tube. Her
eyes were squeezed shut.

Would she ever
love him? Or did their marriage mean only that she would have the security she
so had desperately sought?

The tube slid
deeper into her mouth. Her hand in his became stiff and clammy.

“Calm yourself,”
he said quietly, stroking her hand. “Doctor, do you see anything yet?”

“Too soon,” the
doctor said, his brows creased in concentration. “Wait.” He moved the tube
forward very slowly. “You may feel it deep in your throat now. I will move it
down as far as I can. Just relax.”

Katherine’s hand
went limp. Alex traced his fingers across the scar on her palm, and kept his
eyes glued to the tube.