De Warenne Dynasty 01 - The Conquerer (38 page)

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"I know, I saw him, he told me." "What else did he say?"Rolfe asked. "Nothing."

"He did not query your whereabouts last night?"

"No," she said hesitantly. "I feel guilty, my lord, even though I know he was himself with Lettie."

"When he returns,"Rolfe said, stroking his arm, "I will take care of this situation, I promise you."

Ceidre wanted to ask how, but was afraid to know what he intended. And indeed, what could he do?

He might askGuy to agree to seek to annul their marriage, or he might ask him to maintain their relations as chastely as they were. He certainly would not divorce his own wife and marry her. When Ceidre realized the direction her thoughts had taken, she was stunned. She certainly would never agree to marry theNorman , even if they were both free. He was the enemy! He might arouse her passions, but she was only his mistress to aid her brothers-and she must not forget it for a second. "Did"-she paused-"didAlice remark upon last night? Did she know we were together?"

"I do not know,"Rolfe said. "Aliceis confined to her chamber for what she did to you, Ceidre. I am sorely tried by her malicious will. I have warned her to cease her rude maneuverings and plottings.

Hopefully she realized I am being very lenient."

"You do this for me?" Ceidre breathed.

"Who else?" he said gruffly.

"She almost killed you!"

"But-but you confined her before I came to your bed last night."

"Her treatment of you had nothing to do with our relationship, and my punishment of her was independent as well." He smiled into her hair. "Now 'twould be worse, for I have marked you mine in my mind and my heart, and I am possessive and territorial, Ceidre. Anyone who harms you now harms me."

"I do not wantAlice to know I have become your mistress," she whispered. "Please."

"Do you think I am so crude as to toss it in her face?" He stiffened.

"She will find out," Ceidre said miserably. "Although no one saw me leave this morning, eventually what we do will become common knowledge. Secrets cannot be kept on a manor."

"It matters not. I am lord here, and no one will dare speak out against you for fear of my wrath."

Suddenly he smiled. "Only you dare to oppose me, Ceidre."

"Witches are not afraid of mere mortals." She sniffed.

He laughed, a loud roar.

"Hush," she cried, clapping her hand on his mouth. "You will bring the whole world down upon us!"

"Witch," he said affectionately, still chuckling. "The whole world is asleep, there is no one to hear us, no one but the mice and the horses, that is."

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"Is that what pressed against my thigh a moment ago? I thought it was you, but it was suspiciously small."

He grinned again, rolling onto his back and pulling her astride him "If 'twas small, you know it could not have been me." He placed her hand on his rising member.

"Arrogant," she breathed. "Your lance is not so huge."

"Huge enough to make you beg for mercy, weep with pleasure, and cry my name!"

"Did I do those things, my lord?" "Each and every one," he said smugly.

"And you think 'twas because of this?" She grabbed him.

The smug tone disappeared. He gasped. "I know-I know 'twas because of this."

"Conceited too," she said, sliding her palm down his length.

"You are speaking about," he managed, "your lord. Have you . . . no respect?"

Ceidre slid down his body and rubbed his penis between her breasts and against her nipples.Rolfe gasped. "Is this respectful enough for you, my lord?" There was smugness in her own breathy tone.

"You learn overly fast, witch," he said, flipping her and impaling her in one movement. "Now who is in control?"

"You." She gasped as he moved with tremendous restraint over her. "You."

Rolfewas distracted.

He sat his gray in the field, knowing Beltain questioned him, yet his gaze followed Ceidre as she moved down the path and then veered off it, into the orchard. It was the next day, afternoon . Where was the wench going?

"My lord, shall we commence?" Beltain repeated.

"Yes, yes,"Rolfe said impatiently. Ceidre had disappeared from his view among the trees and thigh-high grass. "You are in charge," he told Beltain, then spurred his destrier into a canter, toward the orchard.

Once inside, he reined in, looking around. Ceidre was nowhere to be seen. What is she up to? He wondered, not with suspicion, with curiosity. There was no sign of her, yet he knew she had to be there.

He urged his mount forward, his gaze roaming left and right repeatedly. "Ceidre?"

No answer.

He felt a touch of worry then. The woman could not just vanish. A terrible thought occurred. Had she purposefully hidden herself, mayhap to meet with a spy? Or had she tripped and fallen, hitting her head?

His tone was sharper. "Ceidre? Ceidre!"

No answer. He urged his mount into a faster walk, almost nearing the end of the orchard. He could see the forest across the road. Unless she had been running, she could not have crossed the orchard and disappeared into the forest so quickly. Maybe she had started to run once she had escaped common
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view. He felt a dread. If she was up to no good ...

A laugh sounded.

It was soft and fairylike and it was hers, he would know that musical, magical sound anywhere. Relief swept him. And with it, something else. He whipped his head around. "Ceidre? God's blood, wench, are you playing a game? Where are you?"

Another fey laugh, and then something hit his head, smack in the middle. It didn't hurt, but it didn't quite tickle either; it was an apple. Amazed, he jerked his gaze up to the treetop above him.

Ceidre smiled down at him. "Have you followed me, e,. lord?" she asked serenely.

She was a breathtaking vision of honey and gold up a that tree, and for a moment he couldn't answer.

He feingned annoyance. "What are you doing up there, Ceidre?"

"Picking apples, of course," she said sweetly. 'Would you care for another?" Before he could answer, she tossed one at him. He ducked, so it missed his shoulder in the nick of time.

Incredulous, he stared at her. "What in the hell are you doing?"

"Picking apples," she insisted, grinning. "Why have you followed me?"

"Why do you think, siren?" he muttered. "You lead, I follow!"

She laughed, pleased with his remark.

"Do not let it go to your head, and do not throw another apple at mine!"

"All right," she agreed.

He eyed one bare calf, exposed because her skirts were tangled around her. "Come down here," he said, softly now.

She raised a brow. "But I am not finished."

"Come down here," he repeated, his tone sensually coaxing.

"If you want me, you will have to come up and get me," she called, and she shimmied higher into the tree.

"Are you mad?" he said. "That tree cannot hold up weight!"

"If you want me," she said, and she gave him an utterly bold, provocative look, one that held his gaze '

then raked him thoroughly, "then you will have to come and get me, my lord!"

His breath caught at such seduction. Then, smiling with purpose, he reached up and hoisted himself into the tree. It groaned and swayed beneath his weight. ; The branch he was on cracked. Undeterred, he moved higher, reaching for her pretty little ankle. She eluded him deftly and, with the speed of a squirrel, shimmied , down past him, dropping easily the last bit of the way to the ground. She was laughing at his amazement, and she paused beneath him, hands on her hips. "You look silly in that tree, my lord, and it is
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about to break in two!"

She took off at a run just as he jumped to the ground. He darted after her. He lunged for her; she dodged, a tree between them. He reached right, she dodged left, he reached left, she dodged right, all the while laughing.Rolfe was grinning. He feinted left and waited for her to go right. She did, and he caught her with a cry of triumph.

"Put me down," she cried as he lifted her high in his arms and spun her in the air.

"But you like heights," he said innocently. "Is this not high enough for you?"

"You'll drop me," she cried, but she was laughing.

"Never," he replied, but nonetheless he clutched her to his chest. She wrapped her arms around his neck. "What kind of game was that, Ceidre?" he asked huskily.

Her violet eyes stroked the depths of his. "An amusing one," she said simply. "Were you not amused?"

He grunted, secretly having enjoyed such silly nonsense as thoroughly as if he were a boy of six. "This amuses me," he said, and he bit her chin, then claimed her mouth with hard, checked passion.

"Will you take me here?" Ceidre gasped as he knelt, pushing her onto the ground.

"Here, now, in the dirt," he said roughly, "as I have longed to do from the instant I first saw you."

Ceidre looked at him.

He lay on his back, his head propped up with their clothes and straw, gazing absently ahead. She was draped partly over him, her chin on his chest, her legs entwined with his. He had a hand on the small of her back, and it drifted lazily, stroking her flesh right down to the full curve of one buttock.

It was that night, and they had met in the stable.Rolfe was completely relaxed, and the hard line of his mouth was softer now, hinting at contentment. He was so unbearably beautiful, she thought, and her heart was so swollen it positively ached. He glanced at her, and his blue eyes were so uncharacteristically soft that Ceidre almost choked with the ripe, bursting sensations filling her.

"Why do you stare?" he asked, his hand moving up to tangle in the thick tresses of her hair.

"'Tis easy to stare at you, my lord," she said boldly. "You are a sight that takes a woman's breath away.

Of course, you know this."

He smiled. "You think me handsome, do you?"

"You know I do. 'Tis a most unfair distraction."

"Good," he said, caressing the hair of her head. He toyed with her ear. "Then we are even, because I have long since ceased to think straight around you."

His words brought her pleasure, and to hide it, she ducked her head, rubbing her nose into the thick hair of his chest. How could she be so contented? In the back of her mind, what was always there, nagging, niggling, annoying, and now wrenching, surged forward. This is not real, her inner voice said. You have
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seduced him for a purpose-and do not forget it!

She wanted to forget it, she realized, aching now in her entire being, her entire soul. Even if it was only to forget it until the day came when she must be a spy. When she had agreed with her brothers to become his mistress, she had never dreamed it would be like this; had never dreamed he would be like this. Oh, yes, he was arrogant, he was autocratic, he could be harsh and demanding, but he could also be infinitely gentle. She knew she no longer hated him. In fact, she could barely think about anything other than him when they were apart, she quickened at mere thoughts of him, much less the sight of him, and since she had come unbidden to his bed, she had discovered that she longed to be there, in his embrace, more than anywhere else.

She would not think of the future, she decided, and for now, she would pretend that this thing between them was real, unfettered by politics and treachery.

She was inadvertently caressing his arm, enjoying the many textures, the slightly coarse hair, the hard, hard bone, the nearly as hard muscle, the, silky skin. She propped her chin up. "My lord? Do you not grow bored?"

He smiled slightly. "Bored?" He grinned. "Have I acted bored this night? Are you not pleased? If not, that can be remedied instantly." His hand swept from her head to her buttocks and delved immediately lower.

She wiggled and caught his hand, stilling it. "I am most satisfied, my lord. Be serious."

"Serious? But you would have me spend all my time playing games," he said, and he nipped her ear.

"With you."

She pushed his jaw away. "I do not want to play games now. In all truth, you are not bored?"

He sat up, bringing her with him. "What is this about?"

"You do not want," she said cautiously, heart pumping, "me to send for another? Mayhap Lettie, orBeth

?" She looked at him.

"You wish to make a threesome?"

She punched his bicep softly. "You know I do not! Please"-and her tone was tinged with anxiety-"tell me the truth."

His smile faded. "I am not bored, Ceidre, not with you. I do not want Lettie, orBeth , or another. I want you."

Her heart leapt. She was exhilarated and she could not contain her feelings. She was beaming.

"This pleases you?" he asked softly, his thumb tracing her jaw.

She lowered her eyes. "Yes."

He shifted her abruptly, so she was on her knees astride his lap, one on each side of his thighs. "I like pleasing you, Ceidre," he said, low. "I like the way you have been looking at me this night."

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Her thoughts had started to spin away, for his shaft was tumescent again, and the tip was poised against her femininity. "Again?" She gasped.

"I wish to prove, beyond any doubt, that I am not bored," he said.

CHAPTER 50

"My lord? I beg a word with you,"Alice said, poised in the doorway of the solar, where she was confined.