The Beast of Renald (The Northern Knights) (7 page)

Their first conversation had not been the best. But she was willing to make an effort, even though his large form was intimidating and distracted her as well as it excited her.

‘There is naught to discuss and neither is this the time for talk.’

Though his hard words sent a shiver through her, undeterred, Caroline blamed it on her fear and the other emotions clawing at her stomach. ‘Ther-There is always something to say.’

His deep sigh of exasperation told her that her request tested his patience. He jerked his dark head in the direction of the bed, his hair falling softly across his cheeks as he did so.

She climbed up on the raised bed and faced him.

Frowning, Caroline twisted her lips. She just wanted a different start than her first marriage. She moved to draw her knees up to her chest but thought better of it. Now was not the time for her modesty. That move might cause him to strike out or tell her to spread them like Lord Halvard had done.

The silence stretched between them.

Then he did something so unlike Lord Halvard and commanded. ‘Speak of what you wish to talk about and do so with much haste.’

Caroline wet her lips, a ray of hope lit inside her.

She really didn’t know quite where to start, so taken aback by his unexpected favor. Lord Halvard had whacked her for asking that question.

Helen had said once that all men were not the same. Norman he might be but he was still a man.

She need make an attempt to keep the peace and any harm away from herself and for her son.

She blurted what came to her first, detesting the tremor in her voice. ‘I-I will do my best to be a good wife to you.’

His hard-edged reply came without pause. ‘You will be. After this night I shall be away a great deal. The less we see of each other, the better a union it will make. You will have your freedom. You and your son.  A marriage of necessity, naught more.’

Caroline cringed under him as he leaned in closer. ‘Twas not exactly the response she’d hoped for. Her wanting to start off well seemed futile. Then again, he had given her his ear, albeit brief. Lord Halvard had beaten her for her talkativeness. Something he’d viewed as disobedience. She would have the beating out of the way now if the Norman aimed to do the same. Rather his ire on her than Kelbie.

But he could expect her to fight back as she’d done with Lord Halvard. Aye, though she’d lost, she’d left her mark on her first husband all the same.

‘I ask not for a marriage of love, my lord. I merely wish for one of mutual understanding.’

‘I’ve just spoken of that just now, did I not? Enough of this. Time to get on and finish this act. I
merely wish
to commence this union and you can go back to your son. Move closer,’ he ordered her.

Oh, she wasted her breath with this man!

Caroline scooted her bottom toward him on the feather bed. She did not know where to put her hands. She soon found she worried for naught for he placed them beside her on the bed. Fear and want warred inside her watching his long lashes and shimmering eyes watch her back.

He slid his large hands up and over her calves, knees and thighs.

She bit her lip to stop the sound that bubbled up in her throat, but she could not contain the shudder that shot through her from his restrained touch and at what those rough hands ignited.

She had survived Lord Halvard, she would survive him.

But she knew this was different.

This man was not older like her first husband had been.

He stirred a spark in her which Lord Halvard had failed to do miserably at each encounter.

His expression was one of displeasure and annoyance and it showed in his posture, his every gesture as his hands roamed her body.

He may not have beaten her, but he was still just as cold. Caroline waited. Worry of what was to come tightened her chest and made it hard for her to breath.

She gazed at that part of him to see if there was a change and there was not.  She tugged at her bottom lip with her teeth and tried to still the rising panic as she crawled backwards away from his touch. He made a face at her movement. 

She hoped something changed down there for if it did not he would blame her and she did not want that. When he placed both of his hands on her hips and pulled her back toward him, she bit back a scream and held her breath. His exasperated sigh told her his patience was quickly waning.   

He did not kiss her.

Neither had Lord Halvard indulged in the act, calling it silliness and for wet behind the ears young bucks that knew naught of what they were about.  Caroline hungered for a kiss and wondered for a brief second whence that surprising thought had come. But when she looked at his lips again, her wonder was answered and hunger replaced it. 

She had never wanted to kiss anyone after that first night with Lord Halvard and had not thought of it again until she had stood next to this man while taking their vows. No longer trying to analyze or rationalize her thoughts, Caroline wondered, would he kiss her now?

Nay, he was too busy pulling off her undergarments and she found herself blushing and disappointed. Lord Halvard had yanked down her drawers just like this and had started off right away with his cruelty.

Caroline gave up in frustration, braced herself and lay back, stiffly and waited for his next movement. Her attempt to make things different this time had failed. Her words to him had been cast aside and changed naught. Eyes burning, she squeezed them closed tightly.

Darc tensed above her. She was acting like a virgin. Sure they were strangers, but she had birthed Kelbie and now she aimed to play the innocent. She held her body so rigid he was afraid he would hurt her if she did not relax a little. The moment was awkward for them both. He’d not been with a woman in quite some time and he could not even dredge up the memory of it to his mind.

He was nervous enough, that his member had gone soft when she had continued to cry when she’d undressed and that the sound of grief had bothered him more than he’d cared to admit. The whole of the reason he’d allowed her shift to remain on.  But he would need it off now in order to grow hard for her rigidness was having an ill and continued effect upon him. Like when she thought he might strike her earlier. 

Darc swallowed back the spark of rage and raised his gaze from her shapely, pale thighs.  ‘You will have to remove this. I need to be roused.’

He was surprised at the speed of her movement.

He sucked in a breath at her nakedness. She was not bashful, though she was still rigid. But he no longer cared, for he was growing hard as he took in her length.

Her round breasts would fit nicely in each of his hands, her nipples were big, and extended in their growing state, no doubt long from her son’s suckling at birth.  Some women did not use a wet nurse and chose to do the act on their own.

A spark of anger flared in him at the sight of the fading bruises on her chest his men had caused.  Then his eyes lit on markings that looked older than them along the inner sides of her bare arms. He hesitated all of a moment and took a deep breath.

He did not want to think about what had happened before him. Not now. He could not.

Darc dropped his gaze, his eyes roamed over her stomach down to those chestnut curls that hid what he sought. Her thighs were clamped tightly together.  He found himself pleased with her body, supple and soft. 

Her belly had that soft paunch most women seemed to get after giving birth.  He touched her right breast and she expelled a long drawn out breath.  Her long nipple grew more under his touch and a moan escaped her. 

A good sign, yet it disturbed him. Another had tasted these before him. He shook the image of the other lord away. He needed to focus and try to rouse any passion she might possess.

Her rapid breathing deafened her own ears over the delightful sensations that shot through her while he fondled her breasts.  A warm flush spread over her. Lord Halvard had never touched her there other than to bring her pain. But Darc’s hands were stirring something surprising and pleasurable within her chest and belly that she’d not felt before. To her horror, Caroline found she liked the feeling.

Angling her head, she twisted it this way and that to peer down between them.

His words froze her blood.  ‘What are you doing?’ 

Crimson stained her cheeks, but she managed to utter, ‘Trying to see if you are ready.’

She felt him stiffen and she drew back fearing mayhap she should not have said aught and was pushing her luck. Yet she hurried on, ‘I just meant, well, I wanted to see if you were roused.” 

His brows furrowed and he gave her a strange look. ‘Nigh, I will be soon enough.’

His strangled words sounded almost painful and they did not ease her discomfort.  Caroline feared if he did not become
roused
soon he would strike out in anger. She stared at his mouth. Mayhap that had been the problem all along. A kiss.

A kiss of peace.

She leaned in. 

Darc almost drew back when she leaned forward for his mouth. He did not wish to make this anymore intimate if he didn’t have to, but he allowed her lips to brush against his anyway. Her plump softness pressed firmly to his and his shaft grew to full length. He was hard.   

After a moment he frowned over her timid kiss. She simply held her lips there not doing anything. He was ready now and nature took over. He wanted this night over and done with and he would do what needed to be done before he could not, and before she tried to talk again.

He fisted a hand at the back of her neck in her hair and coaxed her lips further apart. She moaned when his tongue slid into her mouth, he felt her pull back, but his grip held her where he wanted her.  His other hand went back to her breasts and soon she relaxed a little under his ravaging of her mouth.  Her hot mouth sent a surge of hot desire through him.

He was surprised and delighted in the same breath when the tiny moans of pleasure soon escaped her throat and she squirmed beneath him. He ended the dizzying kiss and let out a hard breath at her expression of disappointment. He moved to cover her, but her legs were still clamped together. 

‘Open your legs.’ He commanded his tone harsh.

 She hesitated, then spread her thighs and Darc settled himself between them.  He wanted this over. The awkwardness that had been at the start seemed to have fled them both. He did not pull back when she kissed him again.

He lost himself again and in between kisses he let his hands massage her upper body, and then he slid a hand down between them to see if she was ready.  She was slightly moist.

It was enough. 

Her sharp intake of breath pushed him on. He probed her entrance. The sooner he was in her he could spill his seed and she could return to her chamber and get her son. 

‘Bend your knees and open wider for me,’ he urged.

She did and he gritted his teeth at the silky and wet feel of her against his hardness.  Just as he moved to sheath himself inside her, he froze from the loud wailing that erupted from down the hall.

Her eyes grew even more round as she stared at him, her body slightly shaking and he knew not if it was from passion or the cry they’d heard.

With great effort, Darc stepped from between her spread thighs. ‘Cover yourself,’ he grunted as he heard his hounds baying loudly no doubt in response to the waling.

Caroline was not sure that she had heard him over for the loud thudding of her heartbeat in her ears. She took in a few breaths as she glanced to the door and at his naked backside. ‘My lord?’

‘Get dressed and see to your son.’

His tone was hard. She did not question his kindness further, so unlike Lord Halvard once again. She quickly donned her clothes and with the anxiety and   passion raging inside her, she tore the material. His soft hand covering hers made her jump.

‘Let me.’ he said next to her ear.

His warm breath stirred the hairs on the back of her neck. When her shoulders were covered, Caroline barely managed to get out a thank you before she exited the chamber and ran down the hall for Kelbie.

CHAPTER EIGHT

After she had gotten Kelbie to finally calm and back to sleep, Caroline laid down next to him, her eyes on the chamber door waiting for it to burst open with Darc’s large frame standing in the doorway, demanding she return to his chamber. Heat rose at the memory and feel of his calloused fingers across her bare skin and that male part of him which had been moments away from penetrating her. Her lips felt bruised from the delicious hot kisses he’d given her. What she had missed! Nay, she doubted Lord Halvard had been able to kiss like that. 

Heat burned her cheeks feeling the shame that rose in her to mix with her arousal and she closed her eyes tight as if in doing so it would banish the arousing images. Darc did not come. Caroline fell asleep with her emotions jumbled and haunting bloody dreams, and of him.

The following morning she broke her fast with Kelbie in the great hall. They sat off in the corner instead of at the lord’s table to eat their small meal. It did not matter for Darc was not about. She did not know where he was off to nor did she ask any of the servants milling about doing their chores all dressed in that mournful black.

The day was another cold one and looked like more snow would come, just as the king was due. The weather went with the visit for it surely would be a chilly one. 

She tried to keep her focus on what was to happen today so she could keep the memories of last night at bay.

However she was not having much success for the images of him and the dreams of death she had last night plagued her thoughts.

A feeling of foreboding had been with her all morning and she blamed it on the king’s visit.  

Kelbie’s whimper drew her attention back to him. He was not hungry and it surprised and worried her, for neither of them had eaten much over the past few days. If he did not eat, she feared he might get sick. She had not been able to save her cousin, Helen, but she would lay down her life to save Kelbie.