Lords of Retribution (Lords of Avalon series) (9 page)

Trevan gave her a tender smile
. “Then if I see your light on, I shall look in on you after we conclude our business.”

Wenna smiled and nodded
. “Perfect.”

Trevan gave her a wink and a grin and
walked her back to join his female family members.

Gabriel found Senny sitting with a group of ladies. He leaned down to whisper to her, “How are you feeling?”

“Well.” Senny responded
with a smile.

Gabriel noted she wrung her hands and looked a little tense
. She sat with his Great Aunt Demelza and some of the younger, unmarried ladies, including his cousins, Tamsin and Tressa, Trevan’s younger sisters. The younger women were talking of balls and parties, things he knew Senny had no interest in.

His aunt leaned over and said, “Gabriel, I should like a bit of peace and solitude
. Can you wheel me into the small parlour?”

“Of course, Aunt!” Gabriel went to stand behind his aunt
, who sat in a Bath chair just like Robert’s.

“Sennen, perhaps you
would care to join me in the parlour, dear?”

Gabriel smiled inwardly
. Great Aunt Demelza had always been perceptive. He noted how Senny brightened.

“Yes, of course, Lady Weatherham.”

“You’ll call me, Aunt, Sennen, as everyone else here does!”

“Yes, Aunt, I would love to join you.” Senny
beamed at her.

“You’ve always been such a dear, sweet girl, Sennen.” Demelza smiled at her
. She looked back at Gabriel, “Don’t you think so, my good nephew?”

“I do, Aunt.
She’s a very dear lady.” Gabriel winked at Senny.

She
walked beside Gabriel as he pushed his aunt toward the parlour.

“Gabriel, could you have some good brandy sent to me
? From the Duke’s private cellar, of course! I could use a dram before I retire.”

“Of course, Aunt,
I will see to it.”

After Gabriel left his Aunt’s chair where she wanted it
and he tenderly kissed the elderly woman’s cheek, he walked toward the door. He paused to run his fingers along Senny’s arm, “Are you certain you feel well, Zenny?”

Senny smiled brightly
. “I am perfectly fine, Gabriel. Thank you.”

He whispered, “I am
in the room next to yours. Call out if you need me during the night, Zenny. I must join the other gentlemen in the library.”

Senny nodded
and moved forward to join Great Aunt Demelza.

“She’s in good hands, Gabriel
. Off with you now,” his Aunt shooed him away.

Gabriel smiled
after her and turned to head to the library. He stopped Diggory, Menadue’s butler, and gave him Aunt Demelza’s request on the way.

It was midnight when a soft knock sounded on her door. Wenna set her book down as she rose. She carefully opened the door a crack. She smiled when she saw Trevan waiting outside in the corridor. She opened the door and waved him in.

Once in her chamber, Trevan paused to lock the door
. When he turned back to face Wenna, she was right in front of him. He sighed with contentment as her arms wound around his neck and her warm, soft body molded against him. Their lips met. They kissed each other hungrily. Passion flamed quickly between them. Their hands explored each other’s bodies. Wenna began to undress him.

Trevan peeled her wrapper from her and left it in a pile
upon the floor. Wenna had removed his coat and waistcoat and proceeded to unfasten his shirt. Trevan shrugged out of the linen as Wenna busied herself with his trousers. Once they were open, she slid her hand inside and wrapped her fingers about his hard, rigid cock.

“Good God, Wenna, it’s been so long!” Trevan scrunched up her night rail and tugged it over her head
, flinging it off to the side. He bent and lifted her into his arms and carried her to the bed, all the while kissing her.

He deposited her onto the bed and
removed his boots and trousers.

Wenna watched as he
crawled up toward her from the foot of the bed. Her eyes rested on his large, thick erection. He was already fully engorged. No doubt, he’d been tortured with the anticipation of their union as she had.

As he came over her, his hand remained at the apex of her thighs
. His fingers teased her, increasing her pleasure. Trevan marveled at how, wet, slick and swollen she was. He bent his head and captured one pert nipple with his lips. His lips, teeth and tongue teased her. He sucked her breast into the warm cave of his mouth while he slipped a finger inside her warm sheath. He massaged her while his thumb worked her sensitive nub.

W
enna was on fire, near to release. Everywhere Trevan touched her she burned. Wenna tangled her hands in his curly, black hair, urging him to return to her. She kissed him passionately, raising her hips to meet the thrust of his fingers. When the powerful and delicious feeling came over her, she moaned deeply against his mouth. She lay panting beneath him after.

“
My a’th kar
. I love you, Wenna Penrose,” he whispered, his breath warm against her ear as he slid into her. “I always have. I always will.”

“I love you too, Trevan,
” Wenna whispered back as she raised her hips, allowing him to go deeper. She moaned softly as he began to move inside her.

Trevan covered her mouth with his own, mainly because he wanted to taste her, but also because he knew his lady was rather loud
and expressive when they made love. The memory of her passionate cries echoing over the lake as they made love in the summerhouse at Callywith on numerous occasions fanned the inferno of flames burning inside him. He groaned in pleasure as she wrapped her legs around him.

Their rhythm synchronized
. Each one of them strove to give the other pleasure. Their hands touched, caressed and worshipped as their fused bodies moved to the ancient primeval beat. The tension built and mounted, their bodies glowed moist as they continued the age-old dance of lovers.

He rose
above her, watching her facial expressions as he thrust deep inside her. Her hands worshipped the muscles on his chest, his arms, and moved down to his back and buttocks. He dipped his head and tasted her breasts. She cried out with pleasure as he lightly nipped the hardened pebbles with his teeth.

He was
elated. He was home, with his lady. Wenna was his and he’d do everything in his power to keep her here, with him. His eyes locked with hers. He knew she was close. He drove into her. It was heaven being inside Wenna, his love, again. He had feared she was lost to him.

Together, t
hey spiraled upward, climbing higher until at last they reached the peak of their passion. Together they surrendered. Pleasure raw and wild coursed through them in waves of ecstasy. He covered her mouth with his, swallowing her cry just as he was about to give his own kingly roar.

Spent, their breathing ragged, they clung to one another.
Long minutes passed. Trevan gathered his love into his arms and pulled the covers over them. “Let’s sleep, Wen Pen.” He placed a tender kiss to her temple as he drew her closer. My a’th kar.”

“My a’th kar,
” Wenna whispered groggily just before her eyelids fluttered closed.

Hearing the sound of Wenna’s even breathing he knew she slept
. He sighed in happiness and also in relief. Wenna was his again. He would keep her here, in his house, in his arms, and in his bed.

Gabriel
noted the light on in Senny’s room as he walked past her door in the corridor. This set of chambers had always belonged to the Earl of St. Mabyn when in residence at Menadue. Once inside his chamber, he decided he must check on her. The connecting door from the Lord’s chamber led to the Lady’s chamber, the room Senny now occupied. He walked toward the door. He knocked softly. “Zenny?”

“Y-yes, Gabriel?”

He regretted knocking. She sounded nervous. Had he made her so? “It’s late, Zenny and you’re still awake. Are you well?”

“N-no, I can’t sleep.
The men in brown coats and hats are outside. The ones I saw come through the windows in the vision. I can’t sleep because I can hear them talking.”

“I’m coming in
. Are you decent?”

“I-I need to get my w
-wrapper.”

“Tell me when you
’re covered.” He heard the rustling of fabric.

“I-I have my wrapper on
.”

He opened the door immediately.
Gabriel sucked in his breath as his eyes rested on Senny. He did not remember ever seeing her with her hair down and loose about her shoulders in her adult years. Her shiny, golden hair was straight and hung like a sheet of silk down her back and partially over one shoulder. The glow of the lamp light caught the subtle red highlights mixed in with the gold. A pale pink wrapper covered her fine lawn nightdress. She had tied it tightly about her, which emphasized her beautiful breasts. He distinctly noticed her pebbled nipples straining against the silk of her wrapper. Was she cold or was she reacting…no! He would not, could not think about that. He shook his head when he realized he had stood mute for possibly an entire minute.

“Is something wrong, G
abriel?” She fidgeted. Senny wrung her hands, and chewed on her lower lip with her white teeth.

“No, Z
enny, I apologize for staring. I’ve never seen you with your hair down. You look…beautiful.” Gabriel watched as pink stained her cheeks. Then she gave him a brilliant smile.

“You think I’m beautiful?
”

“I do, Z
enny.” Gabriel stepped closer to her. He grinned at her. He wanted to kiss her. Hell, he wanted to do more.

Remembering his reaction to her kiss in the alcove
earlier, he restrained himself. If he nearly backed her against the wall in an alcove downstairs in the main rooms with the household about, he simply could not trust himself to kiss her in her bedchamber, while they were utterly and completely alone in the quiet of the midnight hour.

He nearly reached out and pulled her against him
. Instead, he asked, “Zenny, tell me again why you can’t sleep. Did I understand you correctly, you hear men outside talking? We have men on watch. There are probably some below these rooms. Perhaps it is them you hear?”

“No.” Senny shook her head adamantly
. “You taught me earlier how to block out and focus on one thing. I tried it during dinner and I can block everything else out and concentrate on one area.” Senny grinned at him then. “I don’t have so much noise in my head anymore, Gabriel, it’s wonderful!”

He couldn’t help but return her smile.
“Tell me about the Brown Coats.” Gabriel was intrigued. It dawned on him that perhaps her hearing was so sensitive she heard sounds from a farther distance than most people did.

Senny went to the window and drew back one of the drape panels
. “Look there, past the garden and beyond the wall. They are on top of that hill, near those trees.” She pointed.

She continued,
“There are four of them. They said they are watching the house. There are others around too they speak of, but I can only see and hear those four. They say more men will join them tomorrow.”

Gabriel looked out the window in the direction
Senny was pointing. He could barely see the dark silhouettes of the men. Even if one was standing out on the grounds below these windows, they could not hear a conversation from that distance. The Brown Coats stood in the trees far beyond the grounds. The guards on the grounds below would not be able to see the Brown Coats for there were trees, shrubbery and a stone wall blocking the view.

“The
y seem to be conversing again, Zenny. Can you hear them now?”

She nodded
. After standing perfectly still and closing her eyes, she said, “They mention something about scrolls, and that they must get into the library. They saw you gentlemen meeting there earlier and they feel that’s where they must be. They guess you are translating them.”

There was no way Senny could have known about the scrolls, unless Trevan made mention of them to Wenna
. However, he knew that was unlikely. He believed Senny. He had no reason not to.

“I never knew I could do such a thing, Gabriel
. I am twenty and four. All my life the noise has been in my head, and today you taught me how to block it out. I can have quiet in my mind almost anytime I wish. I can concentrate on what is said in particular areas and block everything else out. I never knew I could do such a thing. Thank you, for showing me.”

Senny’s beaming
smile tugged at his heart. They were inches apart, both having stood together to peer out the window.

She seemed
much calmer. She was so happy. He could not stop himself from whisking a long stray lock of golden hair from her cheek and tucking it behind her ear.

His beautiful Senny had lived her life listening to unnecessary noise that ultimately overwhelmed her. No one ever knew, not even him, until today
. Gabriel was now aware.

“I’m proud of you
. You’ve done very well.” Gabriel smiled down at her. “My sweet Zenny, all these years, we, none of us, knew how noises truly affected you.”

“
To me, it was all I knew. I used to think everyone had noise in their head, until I got older. Then I realized I was different. Today everything changed. I’m better now, Gabriel. I can be calm, at least most of the time. It’s easier to think when I push away the noise. There are some things I haven’t been able to send away, but most of them I can.”

He wanted to kiss her, but he could not
. He didn’t trust himself when it came to being alone with sweet Senny. Just being close to her as he was now sent his blood pounding through his veins, among other places.

“I
t’s late. Will you try to sleep now? Don’t worry about the Brown Coats, as I said we have men on watch. I will send word down to them to keep an eye on the trees beyond the grounds. We are safe here within the walls of Menadue.”

“Y-yes, I will try.”
Senny wrung her hands.

Gabriel sensed
that she was nervous again. “What’s wrong, Zenny?”

“Every time I try to
go to sleep, I cannot,” she shrugged.

“Why can’t you sleep
?”

Senny never lied, and she certainly could not lie to Gabriel. “I-I keep remembering how I felt when you kissed me and then I can’t sleep.” Her cheeks grew hot, yet she
kept her eye contact with Gabriel

Her admission did not help his situation in the least
. The question came out in a thick, husky whisper before he could even think, “How do you feel when I kiss you, Zenny?”

Senny noted his voice sounded deeper, just as it had after he kissed her
. “Warm all over,” she breathed then added, “and tingly. Is that how one is supposed to feel when one is kissed?”

“Ah
, yes. One is supposed to feel, um, very pleasant,” he offered, acutely aware of the deepness of his voice.

“How did you fee
l when we kissed, Gabriel?”

“Warm.” Gabriel
offered. He swallowed. He had the urge to pull Senny into his arms right at that moment. He refrained from the temptation.

“All over?” Senny asked him sweetly.

She cocked her head as if she were trying to figure out the mysteries of sexual attraction, which apparently she was.

“What, Z
enny?”

“Did you feel warm all over
? When we kissed?”

“Yes, Ze
nny, I felt warm, um, all over.” Especially his cock, which was stiffening up, even now.

“Did you enjoy kissing me, Gabriel?” She looked up into his crystalline eyes
warily.

“Very much so,
my sweet Zenny.”

“When can we kiss again, Gabriel?”

“Soon.”

“Now?” Senny stepped closer to him.

“Zenny!”

“Yes?”

“I
want
to kiss you.”
He actually wanted to do so much more than kiss her!
“I find myself very attracted to you, Zenny, and I don’t trust myself to just kiss you.”

“There is more to do than kissing?”

Bleddy Hell
! He had quite bungled his attempt at an explanation.

“Yes.” He nodded. He
could say nothing more. No other words came to mind. None that he could speak in front of Senny, in any case. His thoughts were currently centered on his baser needs and what he longed to do to assuage them. Gabriel’s mouth felt dry. His cock was painfully hard, and damned if he could think straight. Again, his mind was clouded with thoughts of driving his cock into sweet Senny’s warmth and kissing her senseless. Caressing her breasts, suckling her, the list went on.

“What sorts of things?”
Senny asked him in confusion. No one had ever explained such things to her. She only knew that to make a baby, a man put his appendage inside a woman and spilled his seed and a baby grew. Her mother had told her that when she was young, after her brother Lanyon was born and she wanted to know what that thing was. And why her brother had one and she did not. After her mother died, Wenna had told her she must never let boys touch her anywhere private.

Gabriel placed his finger upon her warm
, full lips. “Things that a young, unmarried lady should not know about. I shall not tell you.”

When Senny’s lips
pressed against his finger, he thought he might die.

“Zenny
, I’m trying to remain a gentleman!” He pulled his finger away quickly.

“
Oh, I’m sorry, Gabriel. Did I do something wrong?” Senny asked as her eyes grew wide. “I know nothing of any of this. No one has ever explained…”

He realized she might have mistaken the
deepness of his tone for anger. He was so aroused, he feared he might lose control. He took a step toward her. His finger curled beneath her chin and he tilted her face upward. He gazed into her fathomless blue-green eyes that so resembled the ocean on a clear, sunny day along the Cornish coast.

The corners of his mouth turned up as he said,
“No, sweetheart. I am not angry. I find it more difficult each day to remain a gentleman with you. You – you tempt me Zenny. I am attracted to you. V
ery, very
attracted to you. I like being in your company, and I very much enjoy kissing you. As I said earlier, we must take things very slowly between us. We will take our time and get to know one another properly. I will not have you being overwhelmed because I lose my head when I’m near you. Now, you need your sleep, and I need mine. I believe you wanted a kiss.”

Senny’s frown turned into a
brilliant smile. She nodded.

“Only one kiss, my sweet,” he whispered.
His finger still beneath her chin, Gabriel bent his head and slanted his lips over hers. It was a tender, soft kiss. He meant to leave it at that and pull away, but Senny opened to him and God help him he had to taste her again. He probed her mouth with his tongue, the movement mimicking what he wanted his cock to do.

Senny curled her fingers into his lapels and felt her body melt against
his strong, muscled frame. His body heat, his spicy scent, his kiss affected her. Her legs trembled and she felt a rather warm, wet sensation between her legs along with a curious throbbing.

She sighed in disappointment when he lifted his head
.

“Will you try to sleep now, Zenny?”
his whisper was thick and husky.

“Yes, Gabriel.
I will try.” She smiled up at him.

It was a brilliant smile
. Her cheeks were flushed pink and her lips were swollen from his kiss. Her blue-green eyes had darkened to resemble stormy seas. It took every ounce of strength Gabriel had to tuck his sweet Senny into her bed, turn down her lamp and leave her to go into his room, alone.

The gentlemen met in the library immediately following breakfast.

Trevan began,
“I received a letter from Harry this morning. He sent it by messenger. The Brown Coats abducted Fitzlewis’ younger sister, Lady Elizabeth, four days ago from Roseland Abbey. The ransom letter says they want the Jesus the Younger scroll in exchange for her. I am in possession of that scroll. The fact that they are here surrounding Menadue tells me they believe it
could
be here.”