Unbidden (The Evolution Series) (20 page)

She set a fast but comfortable pace, gradually easing Denes into a gentle gallop
. The horses both warmed to the run, though David held Woden safely back and to the side. She looked over her shoulder several times to make sure he was still with her, but kept moving too fast for conversation.

After dinner David left the hall with Rochelle for her evening rounds. He had watched her carefully every second after she finished eating, and had risen the moment she made for the door. She hadn’t tried to dissuade him. She hadn’t wanted to, really. As the time had approached to leave, unease crept over her. She squashed her nerves, recognizing how ridiculous it was to worry about walking outside her own house. Yet the memory of men grabbing her from behind, dragging her, muffling her uncontrollable screams swept over her in a quick torrent as she stepped through the front door into the deepening dusk. No one would try to abduct her tonight. In her mind, she knew this. But, the unbidden thought niggled in:  if anyone
did
try, David would stop them.

It irked her, this needing and wanting of him
. She couldn’t take her evening walk without feeling better that he was with her. She’d wasted her entire afternoon kissing and napping by the river. Something about him made her lose sight of her reason and her responsibilities. She could see only him. She didn’t really want to make sure the tenants were ready for winter. She wanted only him. His comfort. His kisses. His…God help her she was doing it again. She was supposed to be checking the buildings for the night, yet that strange feeling was trickling into her pelvis again.

She glanced at him
. The setting sun made his brown hair glow around his face. He looked down at her and she could not help but stare at his mouth, the lips that could drive her to forget everything else about her life.

She jerked her head to face forward again, concentrating on the storage building. As much as she longed for kissing again, she knew she was in danger
. Such a man, with such a talent for it, would be just the type for a silly girl to fall in love with and marry. She had been telling herself before dinner how lucky she was to be a levelheaded young woman, immune to fanciful ideas about love and marriage. If she pointedly kept her body away from his, she could certainly return to the thorough, driven, motivated person she knew herself to be.

She lengthened her stride to reach the storage door well ahead of him, determined to perform one simple task without thinking about him
.

As she shoved the door open, a burst of sound erupted behind it followed by a simultaneous streak of motion and sensation at her feet
. She shrieked and leaped back, slamming into David who pushed her behind him with one hand while drawing his spata with the other.

They both stared, panting, at the cat which, freed from the storage building, stopped at the corner of the stable to watch them, tail twitching toward the first stars in the sky.

Rochelle shoved herself away from her guardian who was still tensed with his blade forward. She paced away, angry at herself and circumstances and his unending calm in every situation. The cat arched as she approached. She hissed at it viciously, taking little satisfaction in its hasty retreat around the back of the stable.

“Fire and smoke,” David muttered behind her
. “I have never drawn my blade at a barncat before.”

She whirled
. “How do you think I feel?  If you were not here, I would be laughing at myself, but now I look like an idiot.”

He blinked
. “You are not an idiot.”

“I know I am not
. I do not need you to tell me that!”

She
slammed the door shut before she stalked to the stable, not really wanting to see his reaction. She flung that door open. Denes and Woden shifted in their stalls at her abrupt entrance. After a quick glance around, she backed up, right into the tower of David in the doorway.

She spun
away to glare at him from the darkness of the stable. “Would you stop shadowing me so closely?” she growled.

He held his hands out to his sides
. “What is going on?”

“I will tell you what is going on!  You are using every opportunity to convince me I need your beknighted protection, that is what!”

“Opportunity!  I do not view having my heart in my throat as an opportunity!”

“Well, it is certainly advantageous to your cause.”

“And what cause would that be?”

“That I need a husband to defend me against a dangerous world.”

“And cats.”

“Yes, how convenient for you.”

His lips quirked in a smile he tried to hide. “You think I closed a cat in your storeroom to prove you need me?”

Her eyes slid away from his to the corner of the stable and she crossed her arms peevishly
. “No. But I never used to shriek or need an escort on my own estate.”

“It is natural to be nervous after what happened last night.”

“I do not have to like it.”  She turned to Denes, stroking his soft nose for solace.

“Are you afraid now, with me here with you?”

“No, and I do not have to like that either.”

David said nothing for a long time, but she felt his eyes on her back, even through the nearly complete darkness
. When his voice came, it was harsh. “We keep having the same circular conversation, Rochelle. You say you do not want to lose your independence, I say you will not. I say I want to marry you, you say you will not. Last night you wanted my comfort, today we took a
nap
together, but tonight you want nothing to do with me. You bring me to my knees with desire then push me away, and we start all over. It is getting tiresome.”

She closed her eyes, hating to see
the truth in what he said. “I know,” she agreed wearily. “I am tired of it too, believe me. Just because everything is clear as spring water to you doesn’t mean it is to me. I cannot think clearly. I cannot focus on my work. I screamed like a child at a cat, for heaven’s sake. You have stolen my wits and I do not like it.”

“You sound just like you did after the bandits
. You promised when we were traveling you would think about marriage to me. But you are not thinking about it, you are still just fighting it.”

“I do think about it,” she whispered.

“Think harder,” he said harshly.

She turned on him
. “I do not know what I am doing half the time, do you understand that?  I have never done this before. No one ever noticed me or Alda. No man ever wanted to marry me. I have never been kissed or touched or even looked at by a man.”  She waved at the air between them. “I never knew any of this needfulness existed until Louis the Pious put me in your path.”  She bit her bottom lip, instantly regretting all she had revealed.

He leapt on it
. “Needfulness?”  He toyed with the word, obviously liking that she had said it. “You feel needful?”

Her miserable expression answered him.

“Then we are even on that score.”

“We are not even
. You know exactly what you want — me! — and you are using all manner of guilt and coercion to get me.” 

“How am I coercing you?”

“All this kissing and touching!  You know exactly what you are doing. I will wager I am not the first girl you have dallied in a stable with.”  The thought brought a stab of pain she could only identify as jealousy and that just made her madder.

“I will not wager on or eve
n discuss who came before. As to whom will be the last girl I visit a stable with, now that is a bet I would be willing to take. I intend for it to be you and I intend to use every weapon at hand to win the right.”  He took a step toward her. She threw her hand up to stop him.

“No kissing.”

“Why?”

“Because you do not like it when we must stop.”

David shook his head. “No, I do not. I feel I am being led on a merry chase. While I know where it will end, only you know when. That is the blade I ride the edge of.”

“T
here is the guilt. I cannot lead you on a chase if I do not know where I am going. And I
do not
, David.”

He studied her, his eyes barely visible in the deep shadows of the stable
. “Fair enough. I ride a blade of my own making,” he finally admitted. “I would still rather kiss you than not,” he said gruffly as he held his hand out to her.

She stared at it, wanting to touch him so badly it was like needing to breathe
. Oh yes, she, the levelheaded mistress of Alda, was in great danger from this man. “I do not think that is a good idea,” she whispered. She slipped past him out the door.

Chapter Sixteen

A drenching rain began during the night and continued into the next day
. David acted entirely normal at breakfast when Rochelle assured him she had no intention of riding on Alda today. She retreated to the office to catch up on her bookkeeping but she let the door open so she could listen to the conversation of the three men as they relaxed in the hall. It was such an unfamiliar thing to hear male camaraderie in her home. They talked of shared experiences long past and teased each other mercilessly while cleaning their saddles and sharpening their weapons. Rochelle smiled at her ledger more than once.

They inc
luded her in the fun at the midday meal, telling increasingly unbelievable tales of their prowess on the battlefield until she was laughing so hard she could not eat. “Please, no more,” she begged.

Marian wiped her eyes with the hem of her sleeve
. “Ye three are a motley set of soldiers if I have seen them.”

David, Theo and Doeg laughed together
. For the first time, Rochelle could understand David’s loyalty to his brother and Theo’s continued kinship with him as well. Doeg was a different person, sitting here relaxed at her fire. His jokes were funny, but never malicious or cruel. His blue eyes sparkled with mirth until he noticed Rochelle studying him, then they frosted over and he sat up so stiffly in his chair that Theo asked him where he’d found the iron rod in his back.

Rochelle returned to the office but accomplished little as she juxtaposed these two halves of David’s brother, and even more vigorously forgetting her argument with David last night
. What a distraction these Bavarians were!

A knock at the front door further interrupted her work
. She walked into the hall to see who would visit on such a dreary day. David opened the door to a man she did not recognize. The visitor was invited to the fire. He declined. He asked specifically for Theo, spoke with him quietly for a moment, then handed him a leather pouch that clinked with coins. Theo asked several questions and, seemingly satisfied with the answers he received, discharged him.

Theo turned to them, his grim expression breaking the happy mood of the day
. He carried the pouch to Marian at the table. “Twenty-four sous,” he said as he placed it in her hand. “Your daughter was wronged and as the parent, you collect the fine.”

She looked at it like a snake had coiled in her palm
, then dropped it to the tabletop with a jangle. “And what of those two miscreants?” she asked worriedly. “Their dirty money does not keep them away from Rochelle.”

“They have been taken in hand by some family elders
. Besides, Fardulf’s leg has become infected. He may or may not survive it.” 

Rochelle’s hand flew to her throat, horrified that the wound she inflicted might cause the young man to die.

Theo continued. “Sewell is healing but he is no threat, especially if David and Rochelle marry. No one will bother her once they are married.”

All eyes turned to her, full of expectation, believing that her marriage would solve everything
. She looked at each of them in turn, her mother’s bright green eyes, Doeg’s now sarcastic blue, Theo’s expectant hazel, and finally settling on the steady brown gaze of her betrothed who still stood near the front door. Last night’s argument had not been mentioned. In fact, it had evaporated with the merriment of the day. Now it loomed between them.

Do not ask it of me
, she pleaded in her mind.
Not here, not in front of all these people
.

“That is a private matt
er,” he said succinctly. “This discussion of the attempted abduction has reminded me of something.”  He strolled toward the fire. “Doeg,” he said, effectively transferring everyone’s attention to his brother, “I wanted to ask you about your whereabouts that night.”

Rochelle carefully blanked her expression
. From the corner of her eye, she saw Theo listening as attentively as she.

“What would you like to know, dear brother?” Doeg asked as he crossed his ankles in front of him, the picture of a relaxed gentleman.

“I remember that when Rochelle was going outside, you went to the kitchen.”

“To the latrine, to be precise.”

“You were actually outside the house?  Even better,” David said. “Did you see anyone?  Or hear anything?  The gate must have been closed during the time you were out back.”

Doeg shook his head slowly, as if considering the question
. “I do not remember anything out of the ordinary.”

“The interior kitchen door
was closed. Did you close it?”

“Why would I close it?” he shrugged
. “One of the servants must have done.”

“I cannot make sense of that
. I have not seen it shut at any other time.”  David paced, deep in thought. “It is as if someone deliberately closed Magnus in the kitchen.”  He turned to Marian. “Did you have anyone unusual helping in the kitchen or house that night?”

As Marian replied, Rochelle glanced over at Theo who rolled his eyes dramatically at her
. She shook her head in shared disappointment. When she looked back at David, he was watching her. His eyes narrowed, then slid to Theo who stared unabashedly back at him.

“I will question the servants,” David announced as he marched toward the kitchen.

Rochelle opened her mouth to protest then snapped it closed. If he wished to interview Gilbert, Ruthie and the cook, so be it. She returned to her ledgers, the figuring of the wheat yields finally absorbing her thoughts after a quarter hour or so.

David again accompanied her on her evening walk. They had not even cleared the gate when David blurted, “What was that look you and Theo shared today?”

“When?” she replied evasively.

“Do not feign innocence with me. You and Theo definitely looked at each other and I want to know what it was about.”

“Why does it have to be about anything?” she asked defensively, not wanting to be drawn into a conversation about Doeg.

“So, you admit to a lingering look, but you expect me to believe there was no meaning behind it?”

Rochelle laughed uncomfortably, trying to dismiss
the idea. “It was not lingering. It was merely an acknowledgement of shared frustration. Let us just leave it at that.”  She walked for a few steps before realizing David no longer walked beside her.

Turning, she saw him a few paces back, his expression thunderous
. “Did you just say shared frustration?  What in the name of all that is holy do the two of you have to be frustrated about?”

“It is just something he and I discussed at breakfast the other day.”  Rochelle was trying diligently to avoid another argument, but felt her own irritation beginning to rise.

“Oh yes, breakfast, when you were gazing and smiling across the table at each other?  What did you talk about at breakfast?”

“I do not owe you a description of every conversation I ever hold!”

“I am not asking about every conversation. You are practically my
wife
. You should not be sharing looks of frustration with other men, especially ones you cannot explain to me.”

Rochelle tilted her chin up
. “I am not your wife.”

“And if you were Theo’s wife, would you tell him about your shared frustration?”

As inexperienced as she was, incredulous understanding dawned. “You are jealous.”

“Of course I am jealous
. I have been purposely attentive and companionable and damned seductive. Yet you have gone cold on me and started making moon eyes at my best friend!”

Rochelle cocked her head to one side then walked back to stand two steps away from him
. She studied his face, finding the unloved boy lurking in his eyes, and seeking her reassurance. “Theo and I did not make moon eyes. We are in agreement about something that came up this afternoon. It has nothing to do with,” she waved her hand around dismissively, ”with man and woman things. It is just a shared opinion that you do not want to hear.”

He began to protest, then stopped to rub his chin thoughtfully, his fingers making a delightful rasping sound on the stubble of his beard
. “I think I see where this is going. Theo has been filling your head with nonsense about Doeg.”

“Actually, I became suspicious of your brother on my own and am the one who approached Theo with my questions.”

“You went to him with your concern instead of me?”

“Oh
, for pity’s sake,” she exclaimed in exasperation. “Of course I did. You made it quite clear that you will hear no criticism of your precious brother.”

“I trust Doeg implicitly and I expect the same from you.”

Whatever softening she felt a few moments before disappeared. “That is an impossible and irrational request. First of all, because you have no right to make such a demand, and secondly, because I can think for myself. I can make my own observations and come to logical conclusions that are completely obvious to anyone not blinded by family loyalty!”

“I am not blinded
. Even if you do not trust Doeg, I expect you to trust me, to have some faith in
my
judgment.”

“Yet you will not reciprocate that honor.”

“What makes you say that?” he retorted as he flung his arms out, palms toward the sky.

Rochelle poked her finger into his chest
. “I told you that I trust my servants. I may not have used the word
implicitly
but I think it was understood. And yet, whom did you spend the afternoon questioning?  Ruthie, who was born at Alda, Gilbert, who has been in my family’s service for decades, and the cook, who is so afraid of being outside alone at after dark she sleeps in the cooking alcove all winter instead of her own house. The only unusual, unknown, and potentially untrustworthy people in my house that night were you, Theo, and Doeg!”  She saw his brown eyes already hardening against her and bit her tongue on the list of accusations she wanted to level at Doeg. “Do not lecture me on whom I should trust within my own household, especially when you will not listen to me about who I
do not
trust.”

David gripped her hand to stop it from prodding him, then closed the distance between them by half
. “First of all, milady, I think that
you
are lecturing
me
. Secondly, I do not suspect your servants of anything,” he said as he pressed her knuckles to his lips.

“But you also do not suspect Doeg,” she sighed.

“Doeg would not do anything against me.”

“It was not you who was almost dragged off into the night,” she said grumpily.

“What I mean is that Doeg knows a plot against you is a plot against me.”  He turned her hand over to kiss her palm, sending unwelcome prickles of pleasure up her arm. “Besides, why would Doeg want to see you abducted?”

Rochelle weighed her options, and quickly decided to share what Theo suspected
. She pulled her hand away and backed up a step. “Because he does not want you to marry me,” she said simply.

David crossed his arms over his chest, clearly expecting more details.

“He does not want you to have this estate.”

“That is ridiculous.”

Now Rochelle crossed
her
arms expectantly.

David huffed out a beleaguered sigh
. “Our marriage is advantageous for Doeg. My father’s estate is not wealthy enough to divide. Doeg’s life is materially improved if I do not require a portion of the land.”

Rochelle chewed her lip
. “But what if he thinks Alda is better than your father’s estate.”

A twinge of vexation narrowed David’s eyes
. “Rochelle. Alda is a fine property but Doeg’s house is just as big as yours.”

Rochelle shook her head in frustration
. “You are twisting my words to make me sound like an egotist.”

He reached for and lifted her hand again
. He kissed the tip of each finger. “I like you. He knows I like you. So I say again, he would not do anything to you, knowing how I feel about you and that I plan to marry you.”

Rochelle sighed
. Why did it touch her heart to hear that he liked her?  Because it rang with honesty. Because she liked him too, against her own better judgment. There was no reasoning with the man. And her ability to reason at all was being seriously hindered by his attention to her hand, and now the soft skin of her wrist.

“I do not trust him, David
. And I have had to judge enough men in my life to know that he despises me.”

He at least had the decency to stop brushing his lips over her wrist to speak directly to her
. “I believe you are a good judge of people, but just as you have known your servants for years, so I have known Doeg. While he can be abrasive and cold, he is incapable of inflicting true harm on an innocent woman, especially one I consider to be under my protection.”  He paused for a moment then asked, “If I acknowledge that you were right about your servants, then might you acknowledge that I know my own brother better than you, and even better than Theo?”