Heroes Live Forever (Knights in Time) (16 page)

He kissed her cheek and neck, "You can't leave me like this." His breath hot on her flesh, she heard him unzip his jeans. Nausea filled her. "You can see how much I want you. I know you're not a virgin. No woman your age nowadays is. So what's the problem?"

He found the hand she'd held tight at her side. She was no match for his strength. Unable to wrench herself free, he wrapped her hand over his erection.

She tried to reason with him. "Jeremy please don’t. I'm not ready." In the past, she always thought of herself as too proud to beg. "Please, please don't do this." She was wrong.

“You think it’s fun to lead a man on?”

“I didn’t.”

“You happily joined me the night we met at the grocery store. You acted as happy to go to dinner with me again the next night and again this evening. If you didn’t want to fuck me, you shouldn’t have gone out with me.”

Maybe, he was right. If she’d told him no when he called the other day, she wouldn’t be in this position now. She hated him but hated herself more.

His breathing changed as he began to move back and forth, crushing her fingers tighter around him. "You've got me so turned on. If you won't screw me, at least do this." His rapid pants sounded like a train in her ear, and he moved faster and faster in her palm, finally ejaculating. Elinor closed her eyes in revulsion as the warm, sticky fluid oozed between her fingers, dripping over her hand.

He dropped the arm that blocked her path and stepped back to zip himself up. Opening her eyes she stood frozen, wanting to slap him with the same hand he'd cum in. She started for the door when he placed a folded handkerchief into her palm.

He walked with her as she rummaged through her purse with the unsoiled hand. She shook with rage as she tried to get the key in the lock and fumbled.

"In spite of our little struggle I had a good time tonight. It didn’t have to be one-sided you know. I’d rather we had a head banging fuck. I'll call you soon."

He casually turned and headed for his car as she managed to unlock the door and dash inside.

Hard black eyes followed the vehicle down the road. "We'll meet another day, butcher."

Guy was stretched out on the sofa listening to music when Elinor came in and rushed upstairs.

A moment later Basil appeared, his image faded as he drew a fireplace poker from the stand. There was a flash of battle-hardened malice in the set of his jaw, dangerous determination in his eyes Guy hadn’t seen since Poitiers.

Basil sliced the air with a powerful downward stroke of the poker. His image disappeared completely with the blow. The jardinière shattered scattering potting soil and the dwarf palm Elinor had ordered from Scotland. With the same unseen fury he drove the iron rod into a log in the grate.

"What is amiss? I haven’t seen you like this since France, when you caught that man-at-arms raping a child.”

Basil related what had transpired. Guy sat up and shook his head. "I've never understood forcing a woman to do anything against her will. The world is filled with obliging women. Why compel one who is not?"

"The cur has no remorse. He thinks to call on her again. I won't allow it." His stronger image returned. Basil's large hands flexed over the arms of the chair, his eyes alive with renewed rage at the mention of Jeremy's intention.

Both knights looked up to the ceiling at the sound of Elinor's shower. "He mocked her when she refused, then bullied her, trying to instill doubt in her for saying no. Distressed as she is, I fear she’ll question her convictions."

"Why would she doubt herself? No, the butcher is the dishonorable one. He's a base and common man without a shred of chivalry, nothing to do with her."

Basil rose and lingered near the stairs. "I heard Lucy say it didn't matter if a woman was a wanton. In this day and age, no one judges her badly. She said Elinor's attitude was silly." Basil started to pace. "I should talk to her."

"No, you should not. I will." Guy didn't give Basil the chance to argue. "It would shame her to know you witnessed what happened. I've perceived of late, the relationship between the two of you has...changed."

Arms crossed over his chest, Basil refused to make eye contact focusing on the staircase instead.

"I see I'm correct. I'll be most interested to hear how this was accomplished. Surely, it has to be better than any bard's tale ever told."

“Do you intend to speak to Elinor or tarry here, plaguing me with questions until the next millennium?”

Guy ignored the withering look he got. "I'll go and speak with her now. But don't think to escape the telling of this recent closeness with the lady."

Basil nodded curtly, and Guy headed for Elinor's room.

****

Elinor sat on the edge of the bed in her robe with the towel in her lap.

“Elinor,” Guy called softly from the hall. “May I enter?”

She didn’t feel like seeing anyone.

“I’d like for us to talk,” he added.

With a heavy sigh, she said, “Come in.”

Guy walked through the door and joined her on the bed.

“What do you want to talk about?” She had a sinking feeling he knew what happened.

“You remember a week ago you asked me if I’d ever been in love and I told you about Lorraine.”

“Yes.”

“I told you when the campaign ended, I wanted to settle down.”

“Ah, huh.”

“We never got a chance to really finish that conversation.”

“Later perhaps. If it’s all right with you, I’d rather-”

Guy interrupted her. “Actually, I think tonight is a perfect night to talk.”

She couldn’t argue without going into details she’d prefer to keep to herself, so she relented. “Fine.”

He laid his hand over hers and it tingled from the fingertips to her wrist. “As you know, I had numerous liaisons with women. I can tell you without exception, I was happy to bed them, but reluctant to wed them. Once, I decided to search for a wife in earnest, I knew my choice would be a lady, like yourself. I’d give my name proudly to this woman who’d be a good example for our children.”

“By good example, you mean a virgin. Guy, I know what you are trying to say. Hundreds of years ago virgins were rampant and cherished. The times have changed. Besides, I’m not...”

He laughed. “Elinor, look at me.” He waited until she did. “Trust me. Virgins weren’t as plentiful as you believe. Would I have married a woman if I bedded her first? Yes, if I cared deeply for her. Like all men, I’d want to be her first. But if there had been another I’d understand. However, I couldn’t if she had been intimate with many.”

“Would you have married a woman if she carried another man’s child?”

Guy shook his head. “No. That I could not do. I had a title, lands, my heir needed to be mine and mine alone.”

“Of course.” Elinor was silent for a moment. “I’m not a virgin,” she confessed in a quiet voice. “When I was younger, I slept with two men because I thought they’d like me more. I never saw either again. Afterward I swore I’d never sleep with anyone for that reason again. There’s been one other since.”

“You’re not a wanton.”

“It’s difficult to know the right path.”

“Don’t change because others around you are or taunt you because your ethics are higher.”

“You know what happened, don’t you? If you know, Basil knows.” Mortified, she wanted to bury her head under a pillow and be alone in her embarrassment. She’d fought the tears, trying not to break down in front of him. Losing the battle, they streamed down her cheeks.

“So, you have known the occasional man.” He shrugged. “Let me tell you what Basil and I and all men know. No man wants to sit in a
crowded
room and wonder how many other men know what only he should about his lady.”

“I understand. I don’t mean to cry.”

“Shh, you’re being silly. It’s just the two of us. Cry if you need to.”

“I can’t help it. I keep thinking about that Beatles song,
Eleanor Rigby
. The words keep repeating in my head...lyrics about a woman who no one loves and who dies alone. Only the priest comes to her funeral. I’m afraid I’m going to wind up like that.”

Guy put his finger under her chin until she tipped her head up. He dabbed at her eyes with the towel. “I don’t know the song, but its dark with mean words. I have no idea why the...” he waved his hand in the air. “The bug group would sing such a hurtful tune. I do know that terrible fate would never happen to you. I’m six hundred years old and know a thing or two. You are not this tragic Eleanor Rigby. You are the delightful and lovely Elinor Hawthorne.”

His sweet reassurance made her smile. “Thank you for making me feel better.”

“Are you okay to sleep?”

She nodded.

“I’ll go then.” He rose and went to the door. “Stay as you are.” Guy disappeared.

The next morning Elinor called in sick when she wasn’t. Something she’d never done before. Guy's talk had brought her spirits up, but she awoke upset, still feeling soiled. Was he right? Was her lack of wantonness, as he charmingly put it, something to be treasured by a man? Or, were Lucy and Jeremy right? Was she a walking anachronism destined to be alone? Would Elinor Hawthorne become Eleanor Rigby?

Lyrics from the song tortured her as she dressed and went into the kitchen. Elinor wished she hadn't remembered it. She wished the Beatles hadn't written it.
Stupid song, stupid
Beatles.

After downing a couple of cups of coffee, she decided to take Guardian out for a pleasant ride. The distraction might help banish the specter of the song from her mind.

She'd yet to ride him across the nearby road. Only one narrow lane ran in each direction, but the country byway was heavily traveled as it connected to the main carriageway into King's Lynn. Guardian hadn't been ridden near traffic. The possibility he might spook worried her.

There was one house between hers and the roundabout. Elinor didn't know the family who lived there. Since moving in, she'd often seen the lady tending her flower beds. A variety of rosebushes, tea, floribunda, heirlooms and others she couldn’t name lined the fence surrounding the woman's garden. Their tops spilled over the picket points. Elinor glanced over as she rode by and hoped the shrubs in her favorite colors hadn’t been mysteriously stripped bare.

She stopped short of the road and waited for the opportunity to cross. So far, Guardian seemed unperturbed by the cars and the noise. She'd just eased him forward when a large truck came down the rise to her right. The noise from the heavy vehicle’s diesel engine was twice as loud as that of regular traffic. The skittish thoroughbred tossed his head back, crow-hopped, and spun. Startled, Elinor tightened hard on the reins, harder than necessary, until he halted. Once she was sure he’d sufficiently calmed, she trotted without trouble across the road.

She rode for a couple of hours in the peaceful woods when dark clouds filled the sky and thunder rumbled in the distance. Elinor didn't want another incident with the excitable gelding. She turned Guardian towards the house, taking a different path, one farther away from the blind rise in the road.

Elinor entered the grassy field behind her house as the thunder of the fast-moving storm grew nearer. She spurred Guardian into a canter, trying to beat the rain. Behind her, a gunshot loud backfire from a truck sounded. Guardian bolted, breaking into a full gallop. His neck stretched further forward with each stride as the reins slid through her gloves. Elinor clamped down onto his barrel with her legs. She tried to maintain a balanced seat against his powerful gallop over the uneven terrain. She grasped his mane with one hand and held on hard until she managed to gain control of the reins. Elinor yanked with all her might. Guardian refused to slow and flung his head around rebelling at the taut bit.