Seduced (5 page)

"Nay!"

"Aye. The man said the proper words then
knelt docile as a lamb and kissed feet covered with mud and
shite."

"What did Lord Ranald's wife say to Sir
Raik?"

"Naught. She slipped away."

"Mayhap that explains it. Ye should have seen
the laundress when she brought clean linens for his bed. He smiled
and asked for his garments. The silly girl near melted to the
floor, she did! I had to pinch her ear to squash that dreamy look
from her eyes."

"You did not let..."

"Course not. The man may be crafty as
Lucifer, but I'm not witless."

"Oh, Maud. How can I get through this night?
Every time I think on it, I want to spew." Her old nanny was the
only person she had confided in, for they needed her help.

"Lovey, this night ye must pretend he is
Warin."

"What if he is cruel?"

"Sir Raik is a gentle man. Never would he
mistreat a woman. Now, Julian? Should he take over Seton, I fear he
would not even wait for the battle to end afore throwing ye to the
ground." Maud shuddered at the thought.

"'Tis not myself I fear for with Julian. I
would kill him afore I would let him toss the women and girls of
the keep to his men. Once the men tired of them, he would force
them from the castle. He has threatened he wouldn't spare food for
any but his own people."

Maud put her arm around Letia's shoulder and
hugged her as they walked to the solar. "Think on all the souls in
this castle ye are saving from the likes of him! Now, come. Take a
hot bath; drink a small cup of wine and it will be time."

Letia swallowed, hating that night was so
quickly falling. She took overlong to remove her blue kirtle and
smock. Bile rose to her throat when she stepped into the warm
water. She held the soap to her nose and breathed its Lily of the
Valley scent to try to settle her stomach.

While Maud washed her hair, Letia kept her
eyes closed, forcing herself to relax. It did no good. She worried
about Warin abed in the next room, for the skirmish with Raik had
been too much. He seemed to take longer to recover than ever
before.

"Maud? You will stay beside Warin's bed until
I return?" She twisted her head back and looked up at her. "I am
fearful for him. He was more pale than usual this day and often
pressed his chest."

"If Leofwan does not toss me from the room.
He's with him now. He saw to it the baron took the medicine that
Lord Ranald prepared from Hawthorne berries."

"Yes, he was asleep when I went in. You
didn't dose him with the white poppies, did you?"

"Nay, child. Not the baron. Now, the
other..."

Letia's heart pounded. "What if he senses
'tis me and throws me from the room?"

"Ye worry for naught. This day I let him have
as much wine as he asked for. He did say it had a strange taste.
The old crone from the forest prepared the love potion the master
spoke of." She filled a delicate goblet with wine and handed it to
Letia, motioning for her to drink.

"You are certain it will not poison him?"
Letia took a sip. Then deciding she needed the false courage wine
would lend her, she took a healthy swallow.

"I pressed her for what she put in it. All
she would reveal was a bit of basil, walnuts, saffron, sage and
savory."

"They are harmless enough. Mayhap it is the
combination that makes it work?"

"That, and a couple drops of the elixir of
white poppy in his wine. 'Tis said to give a man dreams that he has
pleasured a woman all the night through. When he awakes, he will
believe he dreamt a woman spent the night in his bed."

"Are you sure the armorer's daughter will not
come to his room this night?"

"Aye. She will be disappointed, but her man
will keep her well occupied. 'Twas clever to allow her to tempt Sir
Raik each night. She is as tall as ye, her hair as long. He will
think 'tis her that lies between the sheets with him."

Letia pressed her eyes closed, wishing that
when she opened them, it would be near dawn. She finished the last
of the wine and handed Maud the chalice.

Too soon, she sat wrapped in a drying cloth
while Maud combed her hair until it slipped through her fingers
like the rarest silk. A smock of pale yellow as soft as rose petals
slithered over her head and shoulders. Maud turned her and draped a
green wool cloak around her, then drew Letia's face down and kissed
her forehead.

"Lovey, do not think. I removed all candles
from his room. The sky is heavy with rain. Little or no light can
seep through the window openings. Ye must not let him glimpse yer
face."

"How will I get away when, um, when...?"

"He will fall asleep soon after. Slip from
the room when he begins to snore."

With that, she wrapped her arms around Letia
and hugged her. Taking a single lit candle, she led her to Raik's
door then pinched out the flame. She eased the latch up, pushed the
door wide enough for Letia to slip inside and gave her shoulder a
light pat of encouragement.

Earlier, Raik strode around the room,
enjoying the last of the wine. Dark red wines were usually too dry
for his taste. But not this. He must talk to the woman who brought
it to him a short time ago. Her name was Maud, wasn't it? She would
know where her master had purchased it.

It was a hearty brew, too, for he felt its
effects. He grinned and looked down at his body. Couldn't see it.
Too dark. But he sure as Hell felt his cock had enjoyed the wine as
much as he! He snickered then cleared his throat.

Ha! Or was his raging cockstand prodded by
remembering the armorer's daughter rubbing her breasts against his
arm each time she pretended to straighten his bedding? She was tall
and lithe with long hair flowing down her back. His fingers itched
to rake through it.

If he had read her aright, she would slip
into the bedchamber soon. She had murmured that her father made the
finest weapons in England, but Raik would have no need of them for
his own was mighty. When her hand strayed over the growing bulge
beneath the covers, Maud pinched her ear and sent her from the
room.

Just when things were getting
interesting.

He put his empty chalice on the bedside
table, stretched his left arm above his head and took a mighty
breath then let it out in a whoosh. Ah! It felt good. He probed the
muscles of his chest and right arm, testing them. He winced for the
effort. Fool. Did he expect to heal so quickly?

His cock throbbed bringing his thoughts back
to the parade of women that had come had come and gone from his
room in the last two days. Ranald had oft teased him that the
lasses flocked to him because he dressed in colors so brilliant he
rivaled the brightest birds. No bright colors on him now. Not since
his wound had stopped bleeding. In fact, no colors at all.

Just him in all his naked glory.

His leg bumped against the side of the bed.
Mayhap he was still a wee unsteady? He crawled between the covers
and sprawled on his back. The sheets would cool his heating body.
Was the fever returning? Nay. 'Twas not that type of fever.
Woman-fever built in him. It had been near a sennight since he had
coupled. He shoved the top covers off and slid his legs open and
closed over the cool sheets. Did de Burgh have so much coin he
covered all his beds in silk? 'Twas more likely the baron felt
guilty that one of his men had near killed him.

Such pretty lights. Lights? Nay. Yet colors
shimmered and swirled before his eyes, dancing around the blackness
of the room, eluding him if he tried to seek where they
started.

Had the door opened then closed but a breath
later, stirring a soft breeze?

He stilled. His skin tingled. The hair on his
body warned him to be wary. Someone moved through the colorful
haze, scattering it to fly about the room. He breathed deeply
through flaring nostrils.

Ahh. The scent. A woman. Silent. If he hadn't
felt the tiny stirring of the room's air, he would have missed
her.

"Come!"

The command in that one word would have made
even the unruliest of warriors heed him, yet the woman didn't move.
He sensed her stiffen. He stretched out both arms. Cupped his
fingers toward his palms, beckoning, demanding she come. Surely,
she would sense his order though she could not see his gestures? He
wanted her to crawl onto the bed. To straddle him. He was ready.
More than ready.

Truth was he quivered with need.

He sat up, too aroused to feel the slightest
pain in his shoulder and bruised body. Rising, he padded across the
cold floor, going to her as if she led him with an invisible rope
tied to his cock. He felt her, though they had not touched. He
stopped. 'Twas but a soft breeze of distance between them.

He needed her.

Had to have her.

His nose quivered, his breathing
quickened.

Reaching out, his hands found warm shoulders
covered in soft wool. He followed the cloth inward, tracing where
thin, silky ribbons held it together at the neck. He pulled the
ends. Felt the knot slither open. He spread his hands beneath the
cloth, sliding the wrap off silky shoulders. He heard it glide to
the floor.

He touched her hair, her face, her neck. His
fingers floated down her arms to her fingertips. Beyond them, a
whisper of cloth covered her hips. He captured it and started his
way back up. He growled. She lifted her arms.

The thin smock made no sound when it joined
her cloak at her feet.

Raik stared, though he could not see her. She
was tall. But not as tall as he. That pleased him.

His fingers combed through hair as warm as
sunlight. He imagined it a dark brown. Curly, too. It gripped his
fingers, closing around them in gentle hugs.

He stared at the haze, willing himself to see
her face. He felt a strong forehead. Ample brows. Lovely shaped
eyes beneath, tilted at the corners with full, long lashes. He
caressed silky cheeks. His thumb rubbed over plump, ripe lips.

He looked into eyes he could see only in his
mind. Brown, the color of dark earth.

A soft growl rumbled up from his throat when
his hands smoothed down over her neck and chest then came to the
soft swell of breasts made to fit perfectly in his hands. The
nipples hardened and pressed into his palms. Tickling. He moved his
hands in opposite circles, teasing the nubs with his calloused
palms.

Look into my eyes, lass. Though ye canna
see me, ye can feel my thoughts. Put yer arms around me, yer head
against my chest that I may feel yer flesh against mine.

He sighed, long and gusty, when her breasts
pressed against his stomach, her arms snaked around his waist. She
whimpered when her head rested against the firm flesh on his
chest.

He pulled her tight to his body. She
stiffened. He loosened his grip and waited until she softened again
then explored down her spine. His hands dipped in at her waist then
out as he stroked her hips. Finally, they slipped around to cup her
buttocks.

By all the saints! Her nether cheeks near set
him afire they were so firm and warm. Her thighs were strong and
muscled for he felt their tautness against his own.

"Come," he whispered.

Raik fought the urge to put an arm beneath
her knees and carry her to the bed, but he was sane enough to know
'twould tear his wound afresh. With an arm around her waist, he led
her there. She was hesitant. Fearful, no doubt, of bumping into
something, for she couldna see in the dark.

Strange, but it seemed a shimmering blue haze
outlined her body. 'Twas perfectly formed. Had the wine heightened
his senses? Or perchance the potions they dosed him with for the
fevers?

Silky sheets brushed the sides of his thighs.
He turned with her so his back was to the bed and eased down, his
hands pulling her with him. He feared not holding to her flesh, for
what if she floated away like the shifting lights?

Lying on the bed, he realized she pressed
against his right side. 'Twould not do. He grunted. Because of his
wound, he couldna roll to that side and explore her.

"What is yer name, love?" He spoke as he
straddled her to switch sides then shoved gently with his hands for
her to move over. Once she settled, he stretched back on the bed
alongside her.

She pressed her fingertips to his lips,
silencing him. So. The lady didna like talk with her bed sport?
From her? Or from him?

He rose on his elbow and nestled his face in
the curve or her neck, close to her left ear.

"Yer skin is soft as a newborn kit's downy
fur," he whispered.

Ah, she did not protest. 'Twas she who didna
want to speak. He nibbled her small lobe then kissed it, drawing it
into his mouth to savor the sweet, plump flesh.

His lips slid down her neck and found that
hollow below. He needed to touch her with his tongue, to taste her,
to know she was not some strange dream. Darting his tongue's tip
there, he felt her shiver. He trailed a moist line down her chest,
between he breasts, and felt her tense with expectation. He
grinned. She would have to wait. When she least expected, he would
suckle those perfect breasts he had felt earlier.

His exploring lips found a firm stomach, more
taut than most. So. She had not birthed a child. He gripped her
hips and buried his face there at the hair guarding her center. Her
legs pressed closer together.

Pray God she was not a virgin!

He stilled. Should he ask? By Lucifer's randy
cock, he had better! He didn't want de Burgh after his arse for
deflowering one of the women he protected here at his keep. His
anger would lead to more than a mere stab in his shoulder.

More than likely, 'twould be aimed at his
cock!

"Are ye untried, lass?" He held his breath,
waiting.

"Nay," came a whispered response.