Rowena Through the Wall: Expanded Edition (19 page)

"Is Ivan with you?"

"Yes and no." He gave me an enigmatic smile. "Your ties with him are severed now in any case."

I didn't know what to say.

"How interesting this is." He reached out. "Your hair is a darker red than mine and your eyes a lighter green. We look like kin, that is certain. Distant cousins, which makes it acceptable, although I hardly care about that. If you were not a prize for the king, then you would come under my protection. I wonder if you are worth it."

Outraged, I clambered to my feet. I was halfway across the room when he caught my shoulders. Then he did the strangest thing. He leaned in close to my cheek and inhaled deeply.

"Jon was right. You
do
smell good. I wonder how you taste."

He put his mouth to mine.

I trembled, but he surprised me. His lips were gentle against mine. I relaxed. That startled him, but he drew me closer and kissed me deeply. So help me, I responded with eagerness. That lit a fuse in him. He grabbed me and I felt him grow hard against me.

I shoved him away.

Wow, oh wow. What was this?

"Great Thor, you are astonishing." His voice was hoarse. "You're ready for it even now. Does the king not keep you satisfied? By God, I would."

I blushed. "Stay back."

"I begin to see what all the fuss is about. And I love a fight."

I fled through the door. His laughter followed me.

I hurried along the corridor, down the stairs and into the Royal suite. Slamming the door, I leaned against it, panting.

My jeans were folded in the bottom of the wardrobe. I slipped them on under my dress, pulled on my boots and scurried to the stables. Lightning would save my sanity, as she had before.

Avery saddled my horse and I mounted with haste. I took the gate at a gallop and reached my secret field in minutes.

But I longed to go further, out of reach.

I turned Lightning west, toward the coastline where Sargon first took me. We traveled this route at a slower pace since the ground was unknown to me. I wasn't taking chances with my feisty filly.

We approached the cliff. The midnight sea rose up in the distance, meeting the azure sky. I dismounted, walked closer to the edge and listened to the surf roar. It matched my thoughts.

What was wrong with me? Why was I responding this way to every man who kissed me? Or was it just these powerful men who seemed to live on testosterone, the men of Land's End?

I was pretty sure I loathed Cedric. And yet the electricity that had coursed between us was like wildfire. What did this make me?

Some names came to mind that made me blush.

Thing is, I hadn't responded to Steve this way. Or any previous boyfriends. Sex had been nice, but not fundamentally necessary. Not an essential like eating and breathing, the way it was here.

I might as
well admit to being a bad girl and be done with it, I thought bitterly. What point is there in denying your true nature―once you know what that is?

Cedric's words were clear in my mind.

"Sargon's mother was a witch, who slept with wolves."

Could Sargon be
part wolf? Was such a thing possible?

It would explain his aversion to dogs. It would explain why I could see into his mind when he made love to me. I can touch the minds of animals.

There
was
magic in this world, heaven knows. Magic that I couldn't begin to understand.

The wind raced through my hair as I looked out to sea. I embraced the raw energy, let it coarse right though me.

In the distance, I thought I saw a ship. Now
that
was different. I squinted. The ship sailed behind a wave and out of sight.

"Ti
me to go back," I murmured. "Before they came looking for me."

Lightning was ready. We rode like the furies. When the castle was in sight, I slowed my horse and she trotted daintily through the gates―like the lady she is. I, on the other hand, looked wild
and windblown, like the creature I had become.

Much later, Sargon returned to the suite and we dressed for dinner. I wasn't looking forward to it. Cedric was still here and that meant that we would dine
en famille
, with both his relatives and mine at the table. This meant dressing with care.

I removed the sapphire gown from the wardrobe and slipped it on in front of the mirror. It was simply beautiful.

"Good God, wife, you take my breath away."

Sargon wrapped his arms around me and I tried to relax.

"I like this one too," I said. "It is a lovely gown."

He kissed my hair. "That color against your skin is most alluring. I'll need to keep you close tonight."

Through the window I could see the sun setting on the horizon.

"Why do you have your chambers on the main floor, Wolf? It seems unusual."

"Come," he said. "I'll show you."

Guiding me to the library next door, he pushed aside a set of shelves on wheels and revealed a hidden door. "I love that I can enter and exit without anyone knowing."

We stepped through the doorway, which led outside to a private courtyard hidden by a flying buttress.

"I come out here to think at night," he said. "My private shower is over there. You may use it. And these are not the only suites I have. When the tournament starts, we'll move to the tower."

I studied the side of the castle up to the battlements. "I was thinking that this castle is in the wrong location."

Sargon's brow raised in question. "Why is that?"

"If I were building a castle, I would locate one side against a seawall. That way I could see the enemy coming by sea and also have a way to escape if attacked."

He frowned. "What makes you think I would ever abandon this place if attacked?"

Oh yeah, there was that. This man would fight to the death rather than run.

"But what you say makes sense," he admitted. "I think this fortress was built before the threat of attack by sea. We've never had a sea advance. It's always been by land."

We walked back through the hidden door.

"I shall think about this," he said. "Maybe we should plan for a lookout tower by the coast."

I thought of the ship I'd seen, the one I couldn't tell him about lest I revealed my ride to the coast.

"If so, do it soon. Who knows what we may face shortly."

We entered the great hall at dusk and gathered at the center table. Rhys and Thane were already seated. Thane sat many seats away from mine, I noticed with disappointment. When he glanced my way, a hot flush swept through me.

"You look ethereally beautiful, my child," Grandfather said.

"Thank you." We hugged and he kissed my hand.

Kendra danced in, wearing the golden-brown dress. Logan was at her side. He still had the duty of bodyguard and took it most seriously. A pry bar between them would do no good.

Richard entered the hall and sat down beside Logan and Kendra. The three of them seemed fast friends.

Kendra smiled at me and gave Cedric a wary nod.

As my eldest cousin and guest of honor, he was placed next to me at the table. It was disturbing. I was aware of his every move next to me all night. I was also conscious of his intense stare.

I wondered if Sargon was aware of this too.

Our meal was the usual roasted meat and flatbread. I had introduced vegetables like asparagus to our cook and was planning more additions to the kitchen in the future.

Candlelight glowed and the ale flowed freely.

Partway through our meal, Cedric nudged me. "You ride like a Valkyrie racing across the sky to Valhalla."

I gasped. "You saw me?"

His smile was cryptic. "When will you realize that I see everything about you, Rowena?"

What exactly did he mean by that?

I scanned his face and he met me gaze for gaze.

Zap!

His eyes drifted lower, deliberately slow, so that I would see him linger on my curves.

My face grew warm and I lowered my eyes.

Talk around the table turned to the tournament and which contenders were likely to make the final cut. This led to many heated opinions.

I found my mind drifting.

During the discussion, Cedric leaned forward and his arm brushed mine. I sprang back. Shortly after, his thigh pressed against mine below th
e table and I could feel heat raging inside me.

When there was a lull in the conversation, Cedric turned to Sargon. "So what do you have planned as grand prize for the Champion of the tournament, Sire―a tryst with the queen?"

There was a communal gasp in t
he room. Richard and Thane cursed, while Kendra went chalk white.

I thought my heart had stopped.

Grandfather spoke first. "Cedric, you go too far."

I glanced at Sargon. His finger slowly traced the rim of his tankard. His expression was forbidding yet tempered.

"I would not joke about such things," he said coldly. "You would not care to share your brother's fate."

"My apologies, Sire―and to you, fair cousin," Cedric said in a smooth voice. "No offense was intended. I merely sought to point out the greatest prize in the kingdom."

I wanted to leave the room and would have given anything to disappear right then. I coul
d not look anywhere but at my plate.

The room defused, but the atmosphere was poisoned by animosity. A messenger came to the door to speak with Sargon, who rose and signaled for Thane and Rhys. They talked briefly, standing out of earshot.

"Forgive me," Cedric said to me.

"Why do you do that?" I whispered.

A pause. "I don't really know. I find it amusing. Don't you?"

I gawked at him. "You must have a death wish."

He laughed.

Sargon crossed the room. "They have discovered a scout, my queen. I must go now and could be away until the morrow."

I nodded.

When they left, I excused myself and rushed to the royal suite.

The night was hot and there were no moons in the sky as I slept on top of the bed sheets, on my side with one knee up.

I had a luscious dream.

I felt a presence in the room, but my eyes were heavy from too much ale and would not open. A shadowed figure joined me, curling into my back. A gentle touch and soft stroking between my legs made a sigh escape my throat.

Someone breathed in my ear and a tenor voice whispered, "Shhh...enjoy this."

Something hot and hard entered me, sliding, moving ever so slowly, filling me, while a warm hand fondled my breast.

My dream lover moved out of me.

"No…" I pleaded.

He returned and I sought to take him deeper. Now I was moving with him in a sweet, melodic rhythm, breathless, feeling his breath at my ear. I wanted more. When I bucked against him, I heard soft laughter. I grabbed his hand and bit it hard to keep from crying out. For one brief moment, he held me tight and then my dream faded as I slipped into a deeper sleep.

When I awoke, the shutters were open. The sun streamed in, glinting off something near my eyes.

A Roman coin was in my hand.

Chapter 22

I was still frozen to the bed when Kendra bounced in, looking pretty in light blue muslin. She plunked down beside me.

"Are you alright, Row? You look sick."

I shook my head.

"Ah! You're missing him, aren't you? He hasn't come back yet."

I let out a squeak, then a few strangled chortles, which was not bad considering the rampant hysteria I fought to control.

Inhale deeply. One…two…

"Row, what's wrong? Did you have a bad dream?"

That set me off. I laughed like a manic fool, gasping as tears rolled down my face.

"Sweetie, you don't know how funny you are," I said between breaths.

Kendra gave me a wounded pout. "I worry about you. This is all pretty heavy stuff we've been going through. Especially you. I never had an older sister. Or even much of a mother."

"Oh, honey," I said, hugging her. "If I could have any sister in t
he world, she would be you. I already feel prouder of you than if I had hatched you myself. And what you have done for Grandfather―God bless you for that."

"It's so nice to have a family now. How can you imagine I would ever leave this for Scottsdale?"

I f
rowned. "Kendra, do you have a cell phone?"

"Sure, in my fanny pack. I didn't even think to try it here."

"Go get it, will you? And don't let a soul see it."