Kiss of the Rose (15 page)

His moment of optimism faded. Even if his uncle was tiring of his responsibilities to the Vampires, he was unlikely to challenge them, or tell Christopher if he did. It would be better to consider the problem at hand rather than worry about the future. He’d just been given permission to seduce the object of his desire, and yet he couldn’t enjoy it at all.

Chapter 10

R
osalind sighed and moved closer until her thigh was aligned with Christopher’s. He seemed less selfassured than usual, and far less charming. Tension sang through his entire frame, making Rosalind ill at ease. She really had no idea how to go about enticing him.

“Stop wiggling,” Christopher murmured.

“I’m not. It’s just that this is a small space.”

Rosalind fixed her gaze on the entrance to the queen’s chambers. She and Christopher were situated within a small copse close to the main door. A ragged tangle of pruned rosebushes and bushy sage covered the ground in front of them, offering even more protection.

“I’m still not sure why I have to spend my nights out here with you in the cold, when I could guard the queen quite adequately from the warmth of her private chamber.”

“Because we want to apprehend the Vampire
before
she reaches the queen, and the queen might grow suspicious if you always want to stay with her at night. Didn’t they teach you anything when you trained as a slayer?”

Rosalind pivoted and pressed the tip of her dagger to his lower lip. “Enough to cut out your tongue.”

He cursed as the sharp blade caressed his skin and knocked her hand away. “God help the man who marries you, Rosalind. He had better guard his prick with his life.”

She glanced down at the shadows of his groin. “You are right, sir. Should I be displeased with a man, there is apt to be a terrible accident.”

He flinched and drew his knees tightly together.“Perhaps it
would
be better for you to be inside the palace. Then we would have two separate vantage points.”

Rosalind glowered at his averted profile. Here she was, trying to think of ways to allow herself to be seduced, and he was trying to get
rid
of her. “There’s a reversal indeed. You don’t usually want me to go.”

His quick smile was strained. “I know. I’m not quite sure what’s come over me.”

“You no longer find me to your liking?”

His only response was a muttered curse and she poked his upper arm. “It’s not like you to be silent. Is something wrong?”

He finally turned to look at her, his teeth bared, his eyes a vivid blue. “Nothing that a night of fornication wouldn’t cure.”

“Don’t let me stop you!” She tried to make her laugh sound genuine. “I’m quite capable of defeating this Vampire by myself while you go and fornicate.”

He moved so quickly that she could only gasp as his hand cupped the back of her head and his mouth covered hers. He kissed her hard, his tongue voracious, and she kissed him back, wrapping her left arm around his neck to keep him close.

He pulled her into his lap so that she straddled him. One of his hands dropped from her waist to curve over her buttocks and pressed her into the driving rhythm of his kiss. Heat gathered in her lower belly as his leather codpiece notched against the soft mound between her legs.

She dragged her mouth away from his. “We’re supposed to be watching for the Vampire!”

His answer was a growl as his mouth descended once more and he licked and nipped his way down her throat. She moaned as he undid the top three buttons of her old doublet and shoved his hand deep to cup her breast. His fingers brushed over her bound nipple. It hardened into a tight, thrusting bud that ached for his touch.

His teeth grazed the soft skin of her throat, and then he licked her ear and bit down on the lobe. Her body was on fire, her hips moving in helpless circles trying to merge with the hardness she sensed behind his clothing. She wanted to rip off his hose and—

When he drew back, she was panting and so was he. She bit back a protest when he set her firmly away and scowled down at her. “I’m sure it will amuse you greatly to hear that I am not interested in fornicating with any other woman. The only wench I want naked and writhing under me is you.”

Rosalind pictured that and shivered.

He frowned at her. “Don’t do that.”

“What?”

“Look as though you quite like the idea.”

Rosalind hesitated for only a moment before reaching her arms out to him. He shot to his feet, all thought of remaining hidden gone. “You were right. You should spend the night in the queen’s chambers.”

“What? Why?”

He looked grim. “Because I’m a fool.”

Now he was making no sense at all, Rosalind thought as she set her clothing to rights. “You
want
me to leave?”

“Aye. The sooner the better.”

Rosalind scrambled to her feet. “There’s no need to be unpleasant, Sir Christopher.”

He towered over her, his expression furious. “By God’s teeth, there is. Now go inside!”

She stared up at him for a long moment. “Elias told me that you met with your uncle this morning.Whatever did he say to put you in such a bad temper?”

“Do you really want to know?”

“Of course I do.”

A muscle flicked in his cheek. “He told me to seduce you.”

A hysterical desire to laugh bubbled in Rosalind’s chest.“How strange.That’s exactly what my grandfather told me to do to you.” She bobbed a curtsy.“Good night, Sir Christopher.”

His hand shot out and he took hold of her upper arm. “He told you to do
what
?”

“You heard me, sir.”

“Then why the devil are we standing here instead of enjoying each other in my bed?”

Rosalind swallowed hard. “Because neither of us likes being told what to do?”

His breath hissed out and coalesced in the rapidly freezing night air. “By all the saints, I want you, Rosalind.”

She couldn’t help herself. “And I want you.”

His eyes glinted with satisfaction as he slid his fingers down her arm and took her hand instead. “I would like to say I told you so, but I fear for my tongue.”

“You fear nothing.” She gazed up at him wonderingly. “You have already proved that you are capable of overpowering me. Why do you not push me to the ground and take what you desire?”

He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her fingertips. “The same thing that stops you, I imagine. The desire to be freely welcomed into a lover’s arms without artifice or deceit.”

Rosalind studied their clasped hands. “And I cannot offer you that, because our families and the Vampires have manipulated us both. How can we know if we truly desire each other when we are trapped together in a web of deceit?”

His smile was wry. “Exactly.” He let go of her hand. “You should go.”

She grabbed his hand and kissed his knuckles, almost afraid to speak because of the emotion rising inside her.

He pulled gently out of her grasp and turned away from her. “Sleep well, my lady, and God keep you safe.”

“And you, sir.”

She whispered the words as she ran toward the palace. She was a fool. She should be taking his hand and following him to bed rather than keeping watch on the queen. Her body throbbed a lament that echoed the numbness in her mind. She’d done the right thing and so had he, but it felt like a double betrayal.

She paused at the bottom of the stairs, and wrapped her arms around herself as if she’d been injured. Walking away from the lustful promise in Christopher’s blue eyes hurt more than any physical wound ever had. Did he feel the same, or would he salve his hurt in another woman’s bed? He said he only wanted her… She fingered her dagger and hoped he had spoken the truth.

When she reached the door to her chamber, she paused and took off her boots. There was no need to awaken Margaret, who was spending her last night with Rosalind before her husband’s return.

What on earth would she tell her grandfather? If she refused to seduce Christopher, would he demand her instant return and instruct Rhys to take over her mission? Although he wasn’t a Llewellyn and didn’t have her access to the king, Rhys was more than capable of killing the Vampire. But then there was the matter of the prophecy…

Rosalind stared into the darkness and listened to Margaret’s slow, even breathing. If she was clever, perhaps they would be able to find a way to kill the Vampire… before they succumbed to the temptation to bed each other after all.

Christopher brushed the dirt and dried rose petals from the knees of his hose and stood back against the nearest tree trunk. At least, with the temptation of Rosalind removed, he stood a chance of keeping his mind on his mission. He licked his lips and tasted her sweetness. Then he imagined her mouth on his chest, his belly, his prick…

A whisper of sensation above him set all his instincts clamoring and he looked around, behind him, and up at the leafy branches above him. Something as gossamer-light as spider silk brushed his neck, and he went still. He knew there was no one there, but he also knew he wasn’t alone. He inhaled the scent of orange blossom and inched his fingers toward the sheath of his dagger.

“
Canst thou hear me, blood of my blood?”

The chilling whisper echoed inside his head, but went no further. Christopher closed his eyes, and concentrated on the strangely familiar accent. “Yes,” he murmured hesitantly. “I can hear you.”

A sense of gloating satisfaction flowed through his mind.
“Why dost thou hunt me?”

“I have no choice.You have violated the rules set out by the Vampire Council.”

“
But thou dost not wish to harm me.”

“How can that be true?” he whispered.“I don’t know who you are.”

Soft laughter stirred the hairs on the back of his neck.
“Thou knowest me. We are kin.”

He spun around, but there was nothing there— only the echo of her laughter in his head. He was shivering, and perspiration had broken out on his forehead. What in the name of all the saints was happening to him?

With a groan, he fell to his knees and pounded the ground with his fists. The Vampire had spoken to him, and she’d sounded as familiar as his soul. Her voice carried the same soft cadences as his Spanish childhood, of his mother…

Christopher looked back at the queen’s chambers, then reached out to pick up his dagger, which lay abandoned on the ground. He had no idea how it had gotten there— not that the blade would’ve been much use to him. It wasn’t as if he could cut out his own ability to think.

His childish terror threatened to break through the iron bands of his memory. He’d feared something like this his whole life, and now it was finally upon him. But he was a man now, not a child, and it was up to him whether he used the truth wisely, or continued to run from it.

Christopher began to pray, his words stumbling at first but then stronger, and more comforting than he could ever have imagined.

Chapter 11

“S
omeone’s out early and is in a hurry.”

At Rhys’s laconic words, Rosalind glanced up to see another rider emerge from the mist that enclosed the ancient forest and head straight for them. It was shortly before the sun was due to rise. The ground was hard and laced with frost as was the very air they struggled to breathe. Rhys drew his dagger and Rosalind did the same. She brought her horse around to face the threat more directly, and then relaxed.

“It’s Sir Christopher.”

“Aye,” replied Rhys. “He can’t seem to leave us in peace, can he?”

When he drew closer, Christopher doffed his black cap to them and dropped his horse into a walk. “Good morning to you both. I apologize for disturbing your ride, but there is something important I need to tell you.”

Rhys glanced at Rosalind and then nodded. “We can dismount by the edge of that field and talk there. I doubt we will be seen through all this mist.”

Rosalind stole another quick look at Christopher’s expression. She found it hard to reconcile this hard-faced man with the smiling charmer who had danced with her in the Great Hall. He concealed his abilities almost as well as she did, hid both his strength and vulnerability behind a gracious social mask.

She swung her leg over the saddle and paused as both men strode toward her to help her dismount. She tried not to sigh at their ridiculous male posturing as Christopher deliberately shouldered Rhys out of the way and brought her down to the ground himself.

“Thank you.”

“You are welcome, my lady.” Christopher was slow to release his grip on her waist and step back.

Rhys’s low, musical voice intruded on her growing exasperation. “Now, what did you wish to tell us, Sir Christopher?”

Christopher sighed. “I fear you will think me mad. But on my oath I am telling the truth.”

“We are both accustomed to the strange and unusual, sir,” Rosalind said.

“Verily, I know that, but this…” Christopher shook his head. “This is like a fairy tale to frighten children.” He swallowed hard. “Last night, while I was watching the queen’s apartments, the Vampire spoke to me.”

“What do you mean, spoke to you?”

Rhys cut off Rosalind’s words with a disgusted sound. “Why didn’t you kill the thing?”

“Because I didn’t actually see it. I’m not even sure if she was there or not.”

Rosalind frowned as Christopher shifted his stance yet again.

“She spoke to me, in my mind.”

“You could hear her thoughts?”

“Aye.” He shivered. “It was the most peculiar sensation. I hope I never have to experience it again.”

Rosalind touched his arm. “But what did she say?”

“She said we were of the same blood and I should not be hunting her.”

“That makes no sense at all.” Rosalind frowned.“You are not a Vampire.”

Rhys stepped forward, his dagger drawn. “It makes perfect sense—is that not so, Sir Christopher?”

Rosalind stepped between the two men and placed her palm on Rhys’s broad chest. “What are you talking about?”

Rhys didn’t look down at her, his gaze still locked with Christopher’s. “I’ve heard it said that this Druid slayer is not of pure human blood.”