Kathryn Kramer (26 page)

Chapter Thirty-Three

Muted rays of sunlight fluttered through an opening in the inn's shutters.  From beneath the window the sound of the first cock's crow reminded Alandra all too jarringly that morning had come.  She stretched her arms and opened her eyes as her hand made contact with solid flesh.  Christopher. Last night he had come, making  good on his promise of "tomorrow". Now his arm. lay heavy across her stomach, the heat of his body warming hers as they lay entwined.

The sound of his steady breathing made her heart begin to pound wildly.  A flush of color stained her cheeks as she remembered the words she had said, the things she had done. 
Closing her eyes, she remembered that moment vividly when he had knocked at her door three times in signal, and she had opened it to him giggling like a naughty child.  His kiss had silenced her laughter, growing deeper as he wooed her with his lips.

Her senses had responded to him immediately. Beneath his hands and mouth, her body had come alive
, and she had been lost in a heat of desire that she had never believed possible. His hands against her aching breasts had warmed her through the fabric of her gown. Never had she removed her garments so quickly or so frantically. A pain had formed so taut in her belly that she had feared she would explode with wanting him.

Undeniably she had been bold last night, but caring about him so deeply had made her brazen. It seemed a wanton lived inside her body, an ardent woman who responded unashamedly to Christopher. Despite the heat of their passion, however, he had been gentle with her, hurrying nothing, taking his time. He had savored her body, his fingers sliding over her skin so tenderly that she had tingled with prickly fire. But when he had touched the softness between her legs, she could wait no longer. Arching upward, straining against him, she had parted her thighs, and he had entered her so smoothly, so easily that she wondered
if she were dreaming. But it was no dream. The heated lovemaking that had followed had been too gloriously real.

"Lover...." she whispered.

Once Alandra might have thought the word to have a tawdry ring to it, but feeling as she did about him, she couldn't believe that the passion and joy they found together was wrong.  She couldn’t help  feeling happy and content, Life couldn’t get any better than his.

The world was a much happier place when two people were in love. Love was intangible, yet Alandra thought at times that she could nearly reach out and touch it. It seemed to enfold her, warm her. The feelings that stirred inside her breast for Christopher were certain to plunge her into turbulent waters, and yet wasn’t it worth the risk?

Determinedly, she shoved aside the misgivings that entered her mind and clung to her optimistic feelings. She did love him. Right now that was the only important thing. Her mind, her heart, the very core of her being, longed for him.

The moments she spent with Christopher were the most blissful and contented of her life.   Just being with him made her smile.  The hours seeming to fly by as the sweet harmony that had first blossomed between them now flourished. There was a romantic side to Christopher that deeply touched her.  When she was with him she felt special.  He said over and over again that there was just one "Alandra" and that she belonged to him.

Rising up on one elbow, she looked at him now with aching tenderness. He looked so much younger and vulnerable when asleep, not at all like England's foremost swordsman.  He snuggled up against her, his powerful body sprawled across the bed as if he didn't have a worry in the world.  Touching a lock of dark hair that had fallen across his brow, she felt just as protective of him as he felt of her. She would never let anyone harm him. 

Above all she wante
d to make him happy.  And it certainly seemed as though she had succeeded.  His face had the calm peace of a contented man.             

"Christopher
loves me!"  She whispered, and that thought brought a smile to her lips as she again stretched languorously. To Christopher she had given her whole heart because with him she was incapable of holding the tide of her feelings in reserve. Though she longed for a firmer commitment from him, wanted with all her heart to be his wife, his love was enough for now. Whatever happened she would never be sorry for what had passed between them.  It would have been far more unsettling if she had never  experienced the ultimate joy of his love.

Leaning forward, she touched his mouth lightly in a kiss, laughing softly as his lips began to twitch. 

"Alandra?"  Nicholas cherished the blessing of finding her cradled in his arms, her mane of dark hair spread like a cloak over her shoulders.  He felt an aching tenderness and drew her closer.  "Good morrow, fair lady.  What a welcome surprise."

"For me as well as for you."  She snuggled into his arms, laying her head on his shoulder, curling into his hard, strong body.  "I trust you slept well, without the feathers of the bed and pillows tickling your nose," she said with a laugh.

"Aye, I slept very well.  Such enjoyable activity as we partook of last night made me sleep like a babe."  He did in fact feel quite warm and content.  He belonged with Alandra, there wasn't any question of that now.

His hand moved lightly over her hip and down her leg as he spoke.  Weeks of frustration and worry just seemed to have melted away.  She was his!  At last he had come to know the glorious sweetness of her body.  Oh
, but her body had been pure heaven, her genuine outpouring of love a precious gift.  Whenever they were together, she  made him the happiest man alive. 

"I'd like to wake up every morning and find you next to me,"  he confided, nibbling at her earlobe playfully.  But he was not sure just what destiny had in store for him.  He wanted to hide out from the world forever, but could he?  Despite his smile
, there was just a hint of a furl to his brow.  "Alandra......"

"Hush!"  She didn't want to spoil the morning by letting reality intrude upon her dreams.  She knew just what he was going to say, that he wanted so much to marry her but couldn't ask her now when his future was unknown.  "We must content ourselves with the moments that we do have."

"Then come here temptress."  He reached for her, a primal growl in his throat.  Cupping her chin in his hands he kissed her hard.  Pleasure jolted through him, a rush of emotion.  As she arched her body and sighed, he knew it to be the same for her and her response to him gave him a heady feeling.  He had been able to bring her  deep satisfaction not once but several times during the night.

Nicholas moved his hands over her body, stroking lightly
. With reverence, he moved his hands over her breasts, gently and slowly, until they swelled beneath his fingers.  He outlined the rosy-peaked mound watching as the velvet flesh hardened.

Alandra closed her eyes to the sensations she was becoming familiar with now.  Wanting
to bring him the same pleasure, she touched him, one hand sliding down over the muscles of his chest, sensuously stroking him.

"And to think I sought
to protect you from that hostler when it seems I really should have protected you from myself," he whispered in her ear.

"I didn't want to be protected
from you.  We were meant to be together, Christopher."

Their eyes met and held as an unspoken communication passed between them.  He was ready for lovemaking and so was sh
e.  In a surge of passion, he rolled her under him. Then they were rolling over and over in the bed, sinking into the warmth and softness.  Alandra sighed in delight at the feel of his hard, lithe body atop hers.             

A flicker of arousal spread  to the core of her body.  Being with Christopher encompassed every emotion she had ever known.  She was passionately in love, recklessly so. 

"Alandra my love..." he said again, his voice thick with desire. Slowly, sensuously, Nicholas let his hand slid up her thigh, his fingers questing, seeking that most intimate part of her. His legs moved between hers and pressed to spread her thighs.

Alandra moved her body against him, feeling the burning flesh touching hers.  He inflamed more than just her body.  Indeed he sparked a flame in her  heart and soul.  Caressing her, kissing her, he left no part of her free from his touch
, and she responded with a natural passion that was kindled by his love.  Her entire body quivered with the intoxicating sensations he always aroused in her.  She would never get tired of feeling Christopher's hands on her skin, of tasting his kisses. 

Before when they had made love, Alandra had been just a bit shy, holding a small bit of herself back from her pleasure.  Now she held nothing back.  Reaching out she boldly explored Nicholas'
s body as he had done to hers--his hard-muscled  chest and arms, his stomach. His flesh was warm to her touch, pulsating with the strength of his maleness. 

As her fingers closed around him, Nicholas groaned.

"Alandra!"  Desire raged like an inferno, pounding hotly in his veins.  His whole body throbbed with the fierce compulsion to plunge himself into her sweet softness, and yet he held himself back, caressing her once more, teasing the petals of her womanhood until he could tell that she was fully prepared for his entry.  Her skin felt hot against his as he entwined his legs with hers.

"Love me.
Love me now," she whispered.  Her frantic desire for him was nearly unbearable.  Parting her thighs, she guided him to her with an ardor she had never shown before.   Her body arched up to his, searing him with the heat of her passion. Warm, damp and inviting, she welcomed him as he entered her.

Writhing in pleasure
, she was silken fire beneath him, rising and falling with him as he moved with the relentless rhythm of their love.  They were spiraling together into the ultimate passion.  Climbing together.  Soaring.  Sweet, hot desire fused their bodies together, yet there was an aching sweetness mingling with the fury and the fire. They spoke with their hearts and hands and bodies words they had never uttered before in the final outpouring of their love.

In the aftermath, when all their passion had ebbed and they lay entwined, they sealed their vows of love with whispered words.  Sighing
with happiness, Alandra rested within the cradle of Nicholas's arms, happy and content. 

"I love you....."  Nicholas placed soft kisses on her forehead.  She mumbled sleepily and stretched lazily, her soft thighs brushing against his hair-roughened ones in a m
otion which stirred him again. "That was pure heaven.  Shall we try it again," he breathed mischievously.             

 
A loud pounding at the door interrupted their pleasure. 

"Bloody damn!"  Nicholas's oath was muffled by Alandra's hand.

Rising up from the bed, she cast a worried look in the direction of the sound.                 

"Alandra?"  It was
Murray.

"What is it, Father?"  Alandra did her best to sound sleepy.

"Open up!  I've got something important to tell you!"

"BiGod!"  Nicholas rasped.  He had no liking for being found stark naked in
Murray's daughter's bed.  This was not the place, the time, nor the way to announce that they were lovers.  In consideration of Alandra's good name, he had done his utmost to be discreet.

"Come back later, Father."  Alandra looked towards the door
, then at Nicholas, then back at the door again.  "I want to go back to sleep."

"Sleep?  It's morning, Alandra."

"Aye, so it is." Alandra was always an early riser.  To try to send her father away would only pique his suspicions.  Undoubtedly, if she insisted she wanted to stay abed, Murray would think her ill and bring some tight-lipped physician to see her.  "Give me a moment.  I'm coming."

Nicholas gave Alandra a regretful look.  Groaning he  bounded out of bed, his ardor cooled.  Hastily donning his hosen, trunk hose and doublet, he searched around for a hiding place.  The bedroom was sparsely furnished with but a small table, one chair and the bed.   Escape through the window? Alandra's room was on the second floor and overlooked the courtyard.  Too much risk of
his being seen.  It would be best to wait out Murray's visit, but the only spot able to accommodate Nicholas's well-muscled frame was underneath the wooden bed frame.

"Alandra!  What is taking you so long, girl?  I'm st
anding out in the hallway in my nightshirt."

"I'm coming!"  Raising up on tip toe, Alandra quickly gave Nicholas a kiss on the cheek.  "I'll get rid of him as soon as I can
."

"Be about it quickly.  I have e
re been an impatient lover."  He patted her on the behind, then with a grumble, got down upon his knees as if in prayer.

Taking a deep breath
, he managed to squeeze under the bed and lay there as silently and unmoving as he could while Alandra shrugged into her nightgown and crossed the wooden floor to let Murray in.              

"Merry-go-up, daughter!  Wait until you hear what has happened." 

Pushing through the door, Murray walked into the room, granting Nicholas a look at his knobby knees as he passed by the bed.

"Tell me!"  For just a moment Alandra panicked, fearing her father had something to tell her abou
t Christopher. What if someone had somehow learned he was in Dover.