Serpent (32 page)

Bhrodi was too confident; that arrogance he displayed so easily was readily apparent. “Your father loves you more than he loves Edward,” he said. “He will not let the man destroy you, and me along with you.”

Penelope stared at him a very long time. She was thinking many things at that moment and not all of them good or complementary where Bhrodi was concerned. Yanking her hand out of his grip, she stood up from the bed.

“So that was what this was all about?” she asked somewhat
heatedly. “You married me because you wanted William de Wolfe as your ally?”

He could see that she was growing increasingly upset and hastened to ease her. “That was true, at first,” he said. “But the moment I saw you, I knew I had to have you no matter if your father became my ally or not.”

She crossed her arms stubbornly. “And if my father does not side with you?”

Bhrodi lifted his big shoulders. “Then Edward will bring his army down around me and I will be executed,” he said. “You, however, will be a very rich widow and the Countess of Coventry, which should make you an excellent prospect for a future husband.”

He sounded so callous and matter of fact about it. Penelope stood there for several long moments, trying not to let his words hurt her, but somehow they did. It was all so easy for him to say these things;
you will be a very rich widow and an excellent prospect for a future husband.
Damn the man; he had hurt her feelings with such words. She didn’t want to be a wealthy widow. But he had made it very clear that the entire marriage had been a calculated move on his part; he had wanted her, that was true, but his reasons were all his own. There had been no emotion involved, not true interest or feeling. She didn’t know why she had expected differently. De Shera had only wanted her father and used her to get him.

She lost her stubborn stance and sat heavily on the bed, facing away from him
. She was starting to feel very hollow and sad.

“Of course,” she finally muttered. “I will be well taken care of in
any case.”

Bhrodi heard the sorrow in her tone and it made his heart beat a little faster; there was emotion in her tone, something he hadn’t expected. Penelope had, since he’d known her, displayed an attitude that she truly didn’t care about him one way or the other
. There had been times when he thought she had warmed to him, that was true, but she had spent more time being distant and disinterested. Now he heard something from her that suggested she was, in fact, interested. He could only hope.

“Does the thought of my death distress you, then?” he asked, praying he didn’t sound too hopeful.

She was still facing away from him but she nodded her head, unsteadily, as if she wasn’t entirely sure. Or if she was sure but had no idea how to convey it.

“I have only just married you,” she said. “I have heard that it is rare in any marriage for two people who have just met to actually… tolerate one another
. But I am coming to tolerate you more and more every day.”

He was so very glad to hear that.
It made his heart sing. Reaching out, he pulled her to him again, embracing her against his broad, naked chest. She was stiff at first but quickly relaxed as their heat and flesh began to meld together. When their eyes met, he smiled sweetly at her.

“You have done something that I did not believe possible,” he murmured. “You have made me feel something again, Penny. When Sian died… I was positive I had lost the ability to feel anything at all, but you have awoken things in me that I thought were long dead
. When I first saw you, I wanted you because you were beautiful, but now that I have come to know you, I want you because you are intelligent and sweet, and you are trying very hard to be the kind of wife you think I want. You have no idea how much that touches me. Your efforts have nicked my heart and all of that emotion I thought to have died with Sian has come pouring through.”

Because he was smiling, Penelope smiled. She was timid at first but as she began to realize what he meant, the smile turned genuine.

“You are arrogant and you are frustrating at times,” she said, watching him laugh, “but you are also kind and generous and gentle. I think… I think my heart has been nicked, too. It has never been nicked before.”

Of all of the words he had ever heard in his lifetime, those were about the sweetest
. Leaning forward, he kissed her tenderly on her freckled nose.

“You have made me very happy,” he whispered.

Penelope closed her eyes as his lips drifted across her cheek. “I am glad,” she murmured. “But as happy as we are, there is still the trouble with Edward. What are you planning on doing?”

He stopped kissing her and looked at her. “You truly want to discuss that now?”

She was fairly naïve in lovemaking and had no real idea what he meant, so she nodded her head unsteadily. “Aye,” she said, wondering why he suddenly looked perturbed. “Did you not wish to resolve this? You have a serious problem, Bhrodi. What do you intend to do about it?”

He sighed sharply. “If I tell you, can I continue to kiss you without discussing the damn English king?”

She bit her lip to keep from grinning. “Aye.”

“Will you support my decision no matter what it is?”

He was serious; therefore, she grew serious. “I will,” she said. “I am your wife and that is my duty.”

“Swear it?”

“I do.”

He could see she meant it. Penelope understood what it meant to give one’s word of honor.
A knight’s daughter, she was a knight herself. She understood a vow given. Taking a deep breath as he shifted his thoughts from her sweet flesh and back to Edward, he reached out and cupped her face with one hand, his thumb stroking her soft cheek.

“No matter what I do, Edward will come for me,” he muttered. “He has come for Dafydd and he will come for me. Therefore, I must defend myself. I will not lay down and
let the man destroy me.”
              Penelope had known his answer even before he said it and she was, in fact, in full support. Somehow, it didn’t seem right to see Bhrodi paying homage to Edward, becoming the puppet of a greedy king. Bhrodi was a Welsh king himself, strong and proud, and it hurt her heart to think of him being subjected to English laws, governed by men who thought themselves better than him, and caged by an English monarch because of covetousness. Nay, it wasn’t right at all.

“What will you do?” she asked.

Bhrodi continued to stroke her cheek. “My chieftains will be here on the morrow,” he said. “I will discuss Dafydd’s situation with them and ask for their support. Since I will be leading them into battle, they can no longer question my loyalty to Wales or my marriage to you. I will be risking my life on behalf of my country.”

Penelope was thoughtful. “When do you suppose you will leave?”

“Immediately.”

That struck her with disappointment but she didn’t question him further. It seemed to her that all of her questions were answered but she truthfully didn’t like the thought of him going into battle, not now when they were just coming to know each other
. She knew that bad things happened in battle and there was every possibility that he would not return to her. Still, she understood, perhaps more than any other woman would have. Penelope understood a warrior’s heart. But she also understood something else.

“Let me go with you,” she begged softly. “I can fight as well as any man. Let me fight with you.”

Bhrodi wasn’t surprised by the request; he thought it would have come sooner than it had. He cupped her face with both big hands, looking into her eyes.

“As flattered as I am that you would risk your life for me, I must
deny you,” he said softly. “Were you to go to battle with me, my thoughts would be only of you and not on my duties. It would distract me so grievously that I would make an excellent target for the enemy. Distracted knights do not live very long.”

She knew it would be
his answer but she was disappointed just the same. “My father has taken me into battle with him before,” she insisted. “I am….”

He cut her off, though it was gently. “You will remain here in command of Rhydilian,” he told her. “I will leave you with a skeleton guard and it will be up to you to keep my castle safe. Will you do this for me?”

It was a compromise like the ones they had discussed earlier. She wanted to go to war with him, but he would not allow it. He didn’t particularly want her in command of his fortress because, in his mind, she should be bottled up safely in the keep and not worrying over such things, but he suspected her military instincts were impeccable given her training and would therefore let her do something she was trained to do. He would let her command.

Penelope saw the request as the least desirable of all options but agreed to it anyway. “If you wish it,” she said
, resigned. “But I very much want a broadsword. I would feel naked in command without one.”

He smiled faintly. “I will give you my father’s broadsword until we can have one commissioned for you,” he said. “I do not carry it because he had a special broadsword
commissioned for me when I received my spurs. It is that broadsword I carry into battle, but I am sure my father would be very happy to permit you to use his.”

That brightened Penelope up considerably
. “Then I will be happy to remain in command of Rhydilian while you go to help Dafydd.”

His smile broadened as he stroked her cheeks with both thumbs. “Good,” he said. “Now that everything is settled, can we stop taking about Edward?”

She giggled and nodded. It was enough of a prompt for Bhrodi to lean forward and kiss her very sweetly. His lips suckled hers, gently at first, but with increasing ardor. His tongue licked at her lips, carefully pushing its way into her mouth as his hands left her face and his arms went tightly about her. Penelope gave herself over to him in every way.

Her shift came off swiftly and he tossed it to the floor, his naked flesh coming
into contact with hers as he lay on top of her. His hands gently fondled her breasts, pinching the nipples and listening to her groan with excitement. His lust overwhelmed him as he pushed her legs apart, settling between them, and wasting no time in rubbing the tip of his phallus against her unfurled lips. She was wet, he could feel it, and he carefully thrust into her.

Penelope lay on her back, experiencing this second coupling with more excitement than she had the first.
Each successive second seemed to bring more excitement, causing her body to arch against him as she met him thrust for thrust. Bhrodi held her tightly at first but released her, sitting back on his heels and holding her knees aloft as he thrust into her heated and slick body. Penelope opened her eyes to watch him, curious and aroused, and the sight of his powerful body as it joined with hers was enough to send her heart racing. Everything about the man sent her heart racing.

The bloom of heat in her loins, kindled by the friction of his manhood, grew into a fireball and exploded quite soon this time. As Penelope gasped with the thrill of her
release, Bhrodi answered her with a powerful release of his own, spilling his seed deep. It was pleasure and passion and emotion all blended into one, and he hoped that a son with his strength and her sensibilities had been planted this night. He was going to war and it was quiet possible he would not return. If God was merciful, he had left something of himself behind. The Serpent would have a legacy.

Gathering Penelope into his arms, Bhrodi lay down beside her in silence. In truth, he didn’t want to speak; words seemed so trivial at this point. Moreover, he wasn’t sure he could verbalize what he was feeling.

Something had happened to him in the past several days, ever since he literally ran into the girl who had fought the great beast of the marsh. It was as if he couldn’t remember his life before Penelope came, that dark and dreadful abyss where the days and nights seemed to run into one another in a great, horrible block of endless hours. Then Penelope entered that world and brought joy and light with her.

He never knew his heart could be so full but he was terrified to tell her, terrified he would overwhelm her with his happiness. So he kept his mouth shut and kept his feelings to himself. Perhaps someday, when he was a little braver, he might just tell her what he was thinking. Perhaps she would even respond
. It was a little dream he had.

The
y slept.

⌘