The Succubus (11 page)

After she had dried his back with pats and swipes of a soft cloth, he stepped out of the tub and took the cloth from her. “I'll finish.”

She smiled sweetly. “I'll be glad to do it for you.”

He shook his head and she turned away and began to gather clean clothing for him. He didn't know why she was being so agreeable but decided he might as well make the most of it. When she came back carrying fresh braies and hose, he said, “Why redress?”

“Don't you want to go down for the evening meal? If not, I'll have the servants bring food up here.”

Just a few hours ago she was arguing against sharing this room with him.
Why is she now eager to stay with me? Of course.
She doesn't want our liaison paraded in front of the other residents of Tewsbarrow. Too bad.
This was the perfect opportunity to proclaim Isabel's true nature. It would also let everyone, like that young jackanapes Robert, know the lord of the manor had claimed her for his own.

“You're right,” he said. “Bring on the clothes.”

After attempting to get the folds of his braies over his still-erect cock, she said, “Would you like for me to help you relax with a massage?”

“No,” he snapped, taking the tapes from her hands and tying them himself. She stooped to slip one of his hose over his foot. “Why are you doing this? Where is my squire?”

“I told him his services wouldn't be needed tonight.”

“Why?”

She looked up at him, her eyes wide with false innocence. “I thought you wanted to be alone with me tonight. Was I wrong?”

“I got the impression earlier that you weren't happy with my plan.”

She dipped her head as if embarrassed. “Well—” She raised her eyelids just enough to look up at him. “There are so many reasons we shouldn't be together that I felt compelled to object, but the memories of what we had before made it hard for me to say no.”

“So, you haven't forgotten what we had before?”

She smoothed one of his hose, bringing her hand to a stop on the inside of this thigh, just above his knee, causing a new surge of excitement in his cock. “No woman could forget you,” she said in a husky voice.

“Why not?”

“You're like a raging stallion.” She stared up at him with an invitation in her eyes.

He remembered an old saying, “Rule the woman or she rules you,” and fought against his attraction for her, knowing this was the perfect time to establish his mastery over their relationship. “I fear my supper is growing cold.”

She shrugged and turned to fetch his tunic. Once he was dressed, she covered her undergown with a bright blue tunic with gold embroidery around the neck and sleeves. After removing the cloth from her hair, she placed a white linen wimple under her chin and started to pin it to her hair.

“Don't wear that,” he said.

She cast it aside and placed a simple veil over her hair.

* * * *

Isabel had found playing the adoring strumpet in the privacy of Daniel's bedchamber relatively easy. Strolling into the hall with her hand lightly resting on his arm and everyone watching was another matter. She felt heat flow to her cheeks and found it difficult to keep her head up. When they reached the head table, and Daniel led her to the chair beside his, she finally dared to glance about her.

Some of the soldiers from the lower tables leered at her. Father Clemens would not meet her gaze. Lady Lavinia looked at her with a small smile of pity. Isabel sat motionless as servants served the food. Of course, she and Daniel shared a trencher, and she should have continued to play the courtesan by seeing he had the best of everything, but she couldn't make herself do it. So he took on the role of selecting choice bits of meat and signaling the servant for more wine.

Lady Lavinia finally included Isabel in the stilted conversation about the table by asking how Lady Chloe liked her new nursery. Isabel forced herself to reply with inane comments about the child adjusting well. She even sipped her wine and accepted a bite of mutton Daniel offered her. The small degree of relaxation this introduced disappeared when Daniel asked Sir Robert if he had attempted to teach his horse any of the maneuvers Daniel had demonstrated that afternoon.

“No,” echoed along the table. Not
no, my lord
or even
no, sir
, but a simple, harsh,
no
.

One look at the young man's twisted features told Isabel he was furious.
Had he just learned of the living arrangements in the tower?
Poor Sir Robert took his knighthood seriously and looked upon her as a fragile woman who must be protected. She feared he might challenge Daniel to a duel, one that would forever brand him an outlaw even if he succeeded in defeating Daniel, which was highly unlikely.

Wanting to distraction attention from Sir Robert, she turned toward Daniel and laid her hand on his wrist. “So you were playing with horses this afternoon rather than helping me move.” She patted his wrist lightly. “You naughty man.”

Daniel turned his full attention to her. “I am a soldier and do not consider training my warhorse play.”

“And what do you consider play?” she asked with a teasing air.

He followed her lead and smiled wickedly. “I shall discuss that matter with you at a later time, my lady.”

She heard rustling of the floor rushes as someone hurriedly pushed away from the table and stomped out of the hall. Isabel breathed a sign of relief. Sir Robert was safe, at least for the moment.

Daniel took an apple from a bowl on the table and began to peel it, casting occasional glances at Isabel. She'd been subdued in front of the people in the hall but had roused herself to protect the young knight from, at the very least, a serious humiliation. Young Robert was evidently enamored of her.
What had she done to encourage his feelings?
While Daniel liked the knight, he might be forced to banish Sir Robert from Tewsbarrow.
If Isabel has been as promiscuous as I suspect, how many other men will I lose?

“Would you care for a slice of apple, Lady Isabel?”

“You are too kind, my lord.” She'd slipped back into her seductive voice, showing her true colors once again.

By now the tension in the hall had grown until the great room was as silent as it had been in Kendrick's time. Daniel was irritated at the number of hostile glances coming his way.
Can't these fools see what Isabel truly is?

After inquiring politely if Isabel had finished her meal, Daniel excused himself to the others at the table and stood, offering Isabel his hand. She rose willingly, apparently as eager to leave their surly dining companions as he.

They'd taken no more than two steps toward the solar when a voice rang out. “Stop!”

Daniel grunted with exasperation when he saw Robert striding toward them, a determined look on his face and a sword strapped to his body. “Don't be a fool,” Daniel warned him.

“Someone has to protect this lady.” Robert raised the leather and steel glove he was carrying obviously intent on casting it at Daniel's feet.

Isabel moved so quickly Daniel had no chance to restrain her. She threw herself at Robert catching his arm and stopping him from flinging the gauntlet. “No,” she cried. “I don't need anyone's protection. I made a choice. Do you understand? This is my choice.”

Robert looked at her with dawning horror. Daniel feared the young man might totally disgrace himself by bursting into tears. Then he regained control and stepped away from her. “I beg your pardon,” he said in a subdued voice and walked out of the hall with his back as stiff as a jousting lance.

Isabel also turned and marched past Daniel toward the solar. He followed after her, telling himself he should feel triumphant. She'd just announced to the entire population of Tewsbarrow that she was nothing more than a wanton. But she'd done it to save Robert. At first she'd been so embarrassed by her situation she could barely lift her head until Robert had blundered into danger, and then she'd thought of nothing but protecting him.

He caught up with her when they were halfway across the solar and grabbed her arm. “Why is he so important to you?” he demanded.

She blinked up at him. “He's a foolish young man who still believes in chivalry. I couldn't let him destroy himself.”

“Are you in love with him?”

She glared at him. “Don't be ridiculous.”

He tightened his grip on her arm. “Is he Chloe's father?”

Her lip curled in disdain. “Let go of my arm,” she said as if it were a threat and a big
or else
was coming.

He realized his grip was most likely hurting her and released her. She walked with determined strides over to the door of the nursery. “I'm going to check on Chloe.”

He followed her into the room and stood beside her as she looked down on the sleeping child.
Can I see any resemblance to my family in Chloe's face?
Her chubby cheeks and stub of a nose didn't look like anyone he knew.

After Isabel tucked the cover more firmly around the babe, she nodded to the wet nurse and started up the stairs. Daniel followed her. Noting her stiff back, he feared his accusations had ruined the chances of going back to the sensual mood she'd been weaving before they went down to the evening meal.

In the chamber, she removed her veil and sat on a low stool near the fireplace. After turning her back toward him, she began to run a coarse-toothed comb through her hair. Daniel watched for a moment, mesmerized by the candlelight reflecting off the black, silky cascade. Then he moved so he could see her face. Her tightly compressed lips were quite different from the sultry smiles she'd showered on him earlier.

“You can't be surprised that I might think there's something between you and Robert.”

Without looking up, she said, “I'm not surprised at anything you think, my lord.”

“Chloe showed a clear preference for him yesterday. Why?”

She looked up. “Perhaps because Sir Robert didn't glower at her as you did.” Then she stood and threw the comb onto a nearby chest. “I quite understand why you doubt me, but do you honestly believe an idealistic young knight like Robert would sleep with his liege lord's wife?”

“He might, if the wife seduced him.”

“As I did you?”

“Exactly.”

She stared at him for a moment as if unable to decide what to say next. Finally she took a deep, steadying breath. “Do you want to spend the night accusing me of being a whore or do you want to enjoy the pleasures a whore can give you?”

She'd made a good point. He shouldn't criticize her for being what she was and then take advantage of those qualities. “Come here,” he commanded.

As he watched, she became a different person. The angry frown melted. The stiffness left her shoulders. She came toward him slowly, her hips swaying with each step. She spoke in a soft, sultry voice, “And what do you want from me, my lord?”

When she was within reach, he clamped an arm around her waist and pulled her body firmly against his. “You know damn well what I want.”

“Speak and I will obey.”

He released her. “Remove your clothes.”

As brazen as a camp follower, she removed her clothing one piece at a time, moving deliberately, almost as if she were dancing. He wanted to hate her for her brazenness but was so stricken by her beauty that he could think of little else. When her tunic and undergown were gone, the outline of her figure clearly showed through her thin chemise. Her hips and breasts were rounder than he remembered. Then the chemise was gone and he felt a constriction in his chest at the full revelation of her glowing body.

“Do you like my bigger breasts?” she asked as she lifted both of the heavy globes up and toward him, emphasizing the blue veins that laced through them and the red, almost angry nipples.

He wanted her so badly he feared his hands would shake if he reached for her.

“Now what about your clothes?” Still standing very close, she untied the girdle at his waist. When that was loose she dropped it and tugged his tunic over his head, slowly working the tight sleeves over his hands. He stood as if he were in a daze, almost as if he'd been drugged again.

She pushed him into a chair and removed his boots and then pulled apart the laces that held his hose and his braies. Brushing the linen of his braies aside, she knelt before him and gently caressed his erect cock. She cooed as if she were speaking to it. The blood pounded through Daniel's veins. He'd never felt such need for a woman.

With a hoarse cry, he caught Isabel under the arms and pulled her up and over him. His efforts were so frantic they were ineffective. She laughed and told him to slow down as she positioned her knees around his thighs and gripped his cock with one hand. She led him to her opening. He felt her slick heat.

The piercing cry of a babe sounded from the floor below. She stopped and pulled away from their intimate contact.

“No, no.” He held her hips trying to push her down.

“Chloe is hungry.” She struggled to get away from him.

“The nurse will feed her.”

The crying became more frantic.

“She's frightened. She wants me.” Isabel pushed against his arms trying to free herself. A second babe's wail joined the first. Evidently Chloe's crying had set off the wet nurse's child.

Isabel's breasts bobbed just in front of his face, and he saw beads of mother's milk seeping from the nipples. He cursed and released her. She hopped off of him, grabbed up a robe and raced out the door.
Damn all women and their cursed babes
.

Daniel gritted his teeth and slapped a fist against his thigh. He was so hard he ached. Finally, he struggled to his feet and kicked aside the clothing that still clung to his body. He strode about the room trying to calm himself.
Is Isabel deliberately driving me mad?

The din from below stopped. Daniel grabbed up a robe and went downstairs, determined to see exactly what Isabel was up to. Only one flickering candle lit the nursery, but Daniel could see two women sitting with babes held to their breasts. The wet nurse was turned away from him, but Isabel faced the doorway. Not that she noticed him, for her attention was fastened on the babe lustily suckling at her breast. Isabel rubbed her back and crooned, “Don't cry, darling Chloe. Mama's here. Mama's here.”