Seduced (6 page)

He sighed with relief, for never had he felt
so hard-pressed to control his lust. 'Twas as if his whole body
burned to be buried in the lovely flesh beneath him.

"Ye speak true, lass? I canna abide anyone
who would lie to me. If I found ye did so, I would likely beat ye
for it."

"'Tis true."

Still little more than a whisper of sound,
yet enough that her voice sent shivers through him. Hot desire
raced through his veins. He hungered for her, to feel her flesh in
his mouth, to be inside her soon. If he held back longer, he would
shatter like ice falling from the parapets in the dead of winter,
its gleaming splinters covering the cobblestones.

He blinked, sending the shivering lights
hovering around her to light up her breasts. His lips dove for the
succulent nipple waiting there, pulled it gently then stronger
until his mouth filled with the tip of her silky breast.

Sweet.

Never had he tasted a woman as succulent as
this. He tended each breast, hearing her breathing become more
ragged.

He moved to cover her and met resistance.

"Open for me, sweetness." He made shushing
sounds when she caught her breath, then little by little, he felt
her muscles relax and his knee slid between as she widened her legs
for him.

He nestled his hips there, bumping the tip of
his cock against her, teasing her flesh. He kissed her for the
first time. Such marvelous lips. Firm at first, then softening to
let him play and tease them. He rested on his left elbow, keeping
his weight from crushing her. He slipped his right hand between her
legs.

She was moist, ready. His breath hitched.

He guided himself into her at the same time
as his tongue plunged to claim her mouth. She was tight, and at
first, he hesitated, going slowly in case she had not told him the
truth. When he met no barrier, he eased his long length into her.
Her body wasna used to his size. He waited at each thrust until she
opened around him.

She took a deep, shuddering breath.

He stilled.

"Do I hurt ye?"

In answer, she tightened her legs around his
hips to grip him, raising her body to meet his cock. She welcomed
him into her flesh.

It was as erotic as the strongest love
potion.

She matched him, thrust for thrust. Soon,
they both panted. Their arms and legs locked around each other. The
sheets tangled around them as they struggled to reach their peak.
Their frenzied coupling sent the pillows off the side of the bed.
Finally, her stomach tightened. Her muscles started to quiver. She
was near her peak.

He would wait until she gained her full
pleasure before he withdrew to spend his own seed.

Her head pressed back onto the bed, her body
arched against him. He fought to keep himself inside her as she
thrashed in a mighty climax. Fearing she would cry out, and not
wanting de Burgh to know he was swiving one of the keep's women, he
tried to cover her mouth with his. Instead, he found she held her
breath and clamped her teeth together to keep silent.

Finally, she slowly relaxed and a whoosh of
air exploded from her lips.

He held himself still until her spasms
calmed. The strain near blew the top of his head off as her muscles
milked at his cock. Feeling his seed begin its travel, he raised
his hips to withdraw.

She locked her legs around his buttocks. He
tensed his own and rose upward again. She lifted with him. He
shoved up on his arm and tried to calm his raging desire for
release. A light touch of her fingers on his ballocks was his
undoing.

His seed burst forth.

'Twas something he had not done inside a
woman in the past ten years.

Anger streaked through him. He wanted to rage
at her.

Suddenly, Raik was as weak as a youngling. He
blinked and tried to keep his eyes wide. Colors swirled around him
once more. He rolled onto his back, his eyes too heavy to open.

Sighing, he fell into a deep sleep.

Letia held her breath, listening. At first,
she feared Maud had dosed him too heavily. The fear was
short-lived. He turned to his side and threw his right leg across
her stomach. The air whooshed from her.

Bit by bit, she freed her lower body from
beneath his heavy thigh. When her hip slid along his flaccid tarse,
she startled. It moved of its own, filling and growing again to an
impressive size.

Were all young men ready to swive so soon
after such heated bed sport? Or did it depend on good health? Maybe
both? Would that Warin had been young and healthy. On their wedding
night, he had suffered with chest pains.

Keeping one eye on the snoring man, she
grabbed her smock off the floor and slipped it over her head. She
must hurry. Should he awaken, she would likely need aid in escaping
the room. Trembling, she pulled the woolen cloak across her
shoulders and clutched it to her neck.

Glancing around, Letia probed the darkness
for anything she had missed. A moment later, she grasped the door
latch. When it moved beneath her fingers, she bit her tongue to
keep silent.

The door inched open.

"Shh, 'tis only me."

Maud's voice. Letia's jaw relaxed and she
sighed softly as tension drained from her. She hurried out of the
chamber then closed the door so slowly it did not make a sound.

"Lovey, I left your bath as it was. The water
is cold, but I could not have it heated lest someone might wonder
about it."

"Warin?"

"Color has returned to his cheeks." Maud
patted Letia's back and urged her forward. "Go now. We will talk
later."

Both women froze when someone cloaked in
black moved from the shadows, the hood pulled low over her face.
When she drew near, they saw 'twas Letia's sister.

Letia froze. What must she think of her?

Sybilla put her arms around her and squeezed
gently.

"Do not look so," she whispered. "I knew
something was afoot when Warin brought the Scotsman back to the
keep. That he had a purpose. The baron always has a purpose."

She gave Letia a swift hug then stepped
back.

"I will help Maud so our guest will think
'twas all a lovely dream."

Letia choked back a sob. Her bare feet flew
across the floor leading back to her solar.

Drawing off her clothes, she stepped into the
bathing tub. Shivering from the cold water, she snatched up the
cloth and lathered from her face to her knees, then knelt and
splashed water over her flesh until she'd rinsed off the soap.

As she straightened, she heard the same
strange howls and shrieks come from the woods as she had heard the
night before Ranald arrived. Surely, it was the same creature. No
other animal could sound so frightening. Everyone in the keep had
made comment on it. Most were certain it was Cerberus, the hound of
Hades, come to steal a life for Lucifer.

She hastened to dry as her eyes probed the
midnight black corners of the room. Taking a shuddering breath, she
grabbed the warm smock Maud had placed on a nearby stool then
tiptoed into the sleeping chamber. After she eased herself into
bed, she waited for her body to warm before she moved to press
herself against Warin's back. Careful not to wake him, she put her
arm over his waist and kissed his bare skin.

She could not sleep. What woman could after
doing such a thing? She held tight to him and tried to make sense
of her feelings.

Warin had always been gentle with her. He
took time to assure she was ready to receive him so she would have
no pain. But not once had their coupling been as the one tonight.
On hearing young servants giggle with excitement when they talked
of swiving, she had not understood. Nor why they would cast such
admiring looks at the warriors they had bedded the night
before.

Tonight, she had learned why.

Never had she sensed Warin needed a tight
rein on his ardor. Tears came to her eyes realizing now how ill he
had been since they wed.

She had feared coupling with Raik, feared he
would mistreat her. The moment he sensed her afore him, she had
expected him to throw her to the floor, mount and thrust into her.
Instead, he had gently drawn her to the bed and taken time to make
slow, passionate love.

Would he have been so caring and gentle had
he known who lay beneath him?

At first, when he stoked her passion to such
great heights, her feelings frightened her. Would she harm herself
with the pressure, the tension, when it exploded? She couldn't
catch her breath; her body had become rigid. Then she had started
to quake. Lights flashed in her mind.

Aye, she exploded for certes. But not the way
she'd feared.

'Twas the saddest thing of all. The worst
kind of betrayal.

She had known ecstasy.

o0o

Warin knew Leofwan had believed he slept, but
he had not. He had schooled his body to relax, his breathing to
slow, even to snore gently. He stared up at the forest green canopy
above the bed. They had not pulled the bed curtains, for he
preferred a bit of light in the room. Tonight it made no
difference, for the sky remained dark and gloomy.

Like his thoughts.

His clenched fingers near drew blood from
nails digging into his palms as he waited to know Letia was
unharmed.

Not that he believed Raik would harm her. If
he had harbored any such doubt, he would have killed him in the
forest. He'd ordered Maud to stand outside Raik's door, just in
case Letia became upset and wanted to flee. She would be there to
aid her.

To be truthful, he hoped Raik was half the
man he had heard from his cautious inquiries. Every woman he had
ever coupled with wanted to repeat the act. He prayed it was true,
that Letia would finally know the fulfillment of being a woman.

His own careful loving had brought her to a
climax, but it had taken his skillful fingers and kisses to do so.
His body had begun to betray him even before he had wed Letia. When
his heart pained him so. The healers had said 'twas because his
blood did not flow as it should.

He near stopped breathing, hearing her
entering the solar. He barely heard the soft sounds of splashing
water. Soon after, the chamber door opened. It would be best to
feign sleep. Let her compose herself, for she would feel more shame
if she had to face him.

He pressed his eyes tight when her arm snaked
around him, when he felt her sweet kiss on his back.

Ah. She did not hate him.

He had feared she would.

Finally, after what seemed half the night, he
knew she slept. He slowly turned and gathered her in his arms and
pulled the soft blanket up around her back. He cradled the back of
her head in his big hand and buried his face in the curls atop her
head.

Silent tears fell as he kissed her and
prayed.

Please God. Do not let her sacrifice to
have been for naught
.

Raik squinted and forced his eyes to open
when a shaft of sunlight flowed through the window opening. He
gripped his pillow and rose on his elbow to peer around for the
woman. She wasn't there. His brows arched as he noted the bed.

The sheets were neat and tidy as if he had
slept quietly. The pillow on the opposite side of the bed still lay
as plump and without a hint of a crease as when the laundry girl
had freshened his bedding the day before.

Not one thing lingered that suggested anyone
had entered after he settled for the night.

Nothing.

o0o

In the main bedchamber, Letia opened her eyes
to find Warin had already risen. A bright array of clothing spread
over two massive chairs beside the fireplace, caught her gaze. Her
beautifully carved, dark wooden chest stood open to the right of
the bed. A sky blue kirtle near spilled from it.

"Maud?"

Maud startled, then looked at the bed.
"Lovey, you did not rest long enough. Look at you." She bustled
over, worry creasing her brow. "Your eyes have moons beneath them
so dark we must dust them with flour."

"Flour?" Letia reached up and ran a fingertip
beneath her eyes.

"Aye. 'Tis all I can think of at present.
Mayhap one of the other women would know what to use. Hm, cannot
ask them, can I? They would be suspicious of why yer eyes are
shadowed."

"I could tell them truthfully that the
terrible howls during the night kept me awake."

"Aye. Your sister near died of fright when
the sounds first began. Ye know how terrified she is of strange
doings."

"It did not waken Sir Raik?"

"Not all the way. He started moving about on
the sheets. We dropped down and hugged the floor praying he would
not rise."

"You are sure he knew nothing?"

Maud shook her head and wagged her hand back
and forth to match.

"He sat upright for a breath or two, muttered
and patted the bed then fell back and started snoring again."

"I tried to keep silent while I was there.
Are you sure he will think it a dream?"

"Aye. He will. The draught causes colorful
dreams." She rolled her eyes. "For men, 'tis mostly of
swiving."

"But what if he knows I came to him?"

"He cannot. We took away even the cup he
drank from and replaced it with water. We changed the bed linens
and plumped all the pillows. Except his."

"Why not his?

"We could not pry it from him. He held it to
his face as a bairn does its blanket." She shook her head and
grinned at the notion. "Nothing remains that would even hint that
anyone but he was in the room."

Letia sighed with relief and turned her
attention to the clothing strewn about. "Mayhap the bright green
kirtle with the pale green smock will make everyone look to it and
not my eyes?"

"Aye. It will to my way of thinking."

Letia freshened up behind the washstand
screen. She felt her face flush when she became aware of soreness
for the first time.