The Lady's Choice (15 page)

The doubts she had felt when trying to mend Flaire's leg were less now. She had healed her horse; certainly she could fix Ramón. First the bleeding must be stopped. It was a simple matter to apply pressure and knit the vessel that trickled blood into the space. Next, she wove a net around the swelling, compressing it. Ramón's chest filled with air and he coughed again. His heart beat more steadily. Benae used her powers to delve into the vessel again to ensure the healing would be able to withstand the increased pressure the heart would place upon it. All was well. Last of all were the bones. She wove a web of spirit that settled over the injury and the bone fragments knitted together.

It was dark now and the storm howled from the southeast. Soon there would be rain. Ramón stirred, muttering.

‘Ramón, I need your help,' she said, struggling to untie the wet rope from her waist. He turned his head. ‘Benae?'

‘Yes, I am here. You hit your head but all is well now.'

‘I remember.'

Benae sagged with relief. The last test had been passed. He had retained his memory. Perhaps his brain had been spared permanent injury. It had been a close-run thing. ‘Where can we seek shelter, Ramón? We are at the base of the causeway.'

‘Hut, a little further south along the beach. On a small rise above the high tide mark.'

‘Can you walk?'

He didn't respond and Benae seized his shoulders and shook gently. ‘Ramón!'

‘Mm?'

‘We must seek shelter.' She gripped his arm and hauled him upright. ‘You must help. I cannot lift you.'

Ramón rolled onto his hands and knees and pushed himself to his feet. Benae guided him to Flaire's side.

‘You must mount. Flaire will keep you safe.' She helped him place his left foot in the stirrup and gave his buttocks a shove as he hauled himself up. He landed in the saddle and Benae gripped his leg to steady him but all was well. She gave her stallion a pat on the nose and walked to the other horse, mounted and steered him to Flaire's side.

‘Gently now; Ramón, Flaire was injured and is not capable of speed. You must take care.'

‘He is not the only one incapable of speed. But, truly, I can walk if needed.'

Benae's heart sang at his lucidity. Perhaps all was well. ‘He pulled us from the ocean so he is able, just take care.'

She kicked off and sent Flaire a request to find the hut in the dunes, directing him south of their location. He was calm now and she was confident he would locate the sanctuary, his vision superior to that of humans. Not for the first time, she was glad of her link with the horse.

A mere two hundred paces along the beach, Flaire suddenly turned inland and soon stopped before a dark structure. Benae dismounted and came to Ramón's side, tugging on his left foot. ‘We are here, Ramón; you must dismount.'

He obeyed, landing beside her awkwardly. His arms curled around her and butterflies danced in her stomach. His hands slid lower until they rested on her hips, his fingers curling around her buttocks. She swallowed the lump of emotion that leapt into her throat.

‘This is some giddy dream, just like my dreams of Alecia.'

Benae's butterflies turned to bubbles that vanished, leaving her cold. It always came back to that woman. One day she hoped she had the opportunity to meet the princess and claw her eyes out. But Ramón's next words explained everything.

‘You, Alecia, the mermaid who saved me: all are dreams to torment me.'

It was his head injury talking. He did not know what he was saying, what he was doing. Mermaid indeed! A fleeting memory of a tail amidst the waves came to her but she tossed it aside. This was no time for foolish fancies. Ramón needed rest and warmth.

She pushed him away, momentarily bereft as his hands left her body. Clutching his fingers, she led him over to the hut and felt along the wall until she came to the door latch. The door swung open and the musty, pungent odour of fishing nets, mouse droppings and rotting seaweed assailed her. No matter; it was warm inside, or rather, less cold than the stormy beach. Benae settled Ramón on a pile of old netting then headed back outside.

She led the two horses to the rear of the shed, where she found a solid post to tie them to. It would have to do. She grabbed her flint box from her saddle and after a brief mind link to Flaire, she returned to Ramón.

The inside of the shed was almost pitch black but she had noted a stone chimney from the outside, so moved towards the spot where she assumed the fireplace must be. Miraculously, the tinderbox and flint were dry. The fireplace had been laid and Benae soon had a cheerful blaze going.

‘I came to save you,' Ramón said, ‘and instead you saved me.'

She turned to him and was startled by the frank admiration in his gaze.
Oh Goddess, I'm in my underwear!
But she stayed where she was, the fire at her back beginning to melt the block of ice that had formed inside her. ‘That makes a life for a life,' she said, suddenly awkward. ‘You really remember what happened?'

‘Most of it,' he said. ‘It was not only you who saved me. Something, someone, rolled me onto my back and held me there, even pushed me a little. I think it was a mermaid.'

She frowned at him, remembering the tail she had glimpsed from the corner of her eye, and nodded. ‘I heard a strange song. It lured me onto the causeway. But I had not heard that mermaids saved lives, rather the opposite.'

‘We will solve the mystery of the mermaid later. For now, let us see what provisions are stored here.' He rose, crossed the hut to a sack that was suspended from the rafters and untied it from its support. Inside they found dried mutton, hard cheese and pickled onions.

Ramón took a knife and cut the edges from the cheese then gave Benae a slice to nibble on. He did the same for himself.

While Benae perched in front of the fire, Ramón stripped the wet clothes from his body and laid them before the fire. She grew hot at the sight of the squire in his smalls. The firelight made his body glow golden. As his hair dried, it took on the halo that was unique to Ramón. He was so beautiful.

They ate in companionable silence, she on an old rickety chair and he on an empty barrel. The warmth of the fire and the cheery light it cast, along with a full stomach, helped to restore Benae's hope.

‘What were you doing, leaving the castle unescorted?' Ramón said, his tone disapproving.

‘It seemed the answer at the time. I had no one to talk to and I panicked about the wedding.'

‘What is there to panic about?'

‘I love you.' It had to be said, had to be faced. ‘The queen has urged me to take you as a lover. In fact, many believe us already to be lovers. It is only by your choice that we are not.'

‘We agreed to be friends.'

‘Yes, but agreeing to that was the only way I could have some kind of relationship with you. Better to have you in my life as a friend than not at all.' She paused. ‘Now I find that not to be the case.'

‘What do you mean by that?' Ramón asked, warily.

Benae stared at him, not certain what to do next. He had said no to her more than once before. The odds were not in her favour that he would succumb to her tonight. He was so much stronger than she. Benae reached for the top button of her chemise and slowly undid each and every fastening from her neck to her waist until she could slowly pull the garment from her shoulders. It slid to the stone floor.
Goddess grant he cannot deny me this time.

Ramón swallowed hard, his eyes wide as they devoured her bare chest. His breathing picked up pace.

‘Benae—'

‘Hush, beloved,' she said, reaching to place her finger against his lips.

She did not shift her gaze from Ramón. He seemed mesmerised by her, his eyes following as her fingers caressed her bared breasts and rolled back and forwards over her nipples. He swallowed, his tongue moistening his lips. Benae imagined that tongue against her nipples and they became hard points of need.

Once she had allowed Ramón to feast upon her naked torso for long moments with only the rolling waves and the crackling fire to serenade them, she stood and stepped from her pantaloons. ‘This night is ours, Ramón. Whatever happens tomorrow, we will have this night.' She stepped closer to him so that she could run her hands across his shoulders and through the fine golden hairs of his chest. He shivered beneath her fingers. ‘I want to know you, Ramón. I need that and I think you do as well.'

Benae gripped his hands and brought them to rest on her hips. Just the feel of his hands on her bare skin was almost enough to make her lose control but she knew she must be strong. With him seated on the upright barrel, they were the same height. His gaze dropped to explore her body and she moved her hands up either side of his face and kissed him tenderly, briefly. She could feel the longing in his full lips, sensed that he held himself aloof by the merest shred of control. But still she could not force this. He must be fully willing to cast his feelings for Alecia, and his loyalty to the prince, aside.

She kissed him again, this time deepening the kiss, her tongue questing, his lips parting so that she could explore the depths of his mouth. His hands gripped her hips tighter and his tongue forced its way into her mouth, tangling with hers, igniting a fierce need in Benae. She arched her hips against him and he groaned.
Slowly, slowly
. Ramón wrenched his lips from hers and Benae nearly sobbed but her dismay was short-lived as his mouth found first one nipple and then the other, sucking them just short of pain until she strained against him, desperate for release. She stepped back, breaking the contact and took his right hand and brought it to her mouth, moistening his fingers and then guiding them to the core of her pleasure. Benae showed him how to stimulate her, her body moving with the rhythm of his hand, tightening and building. As his fingers pleasured her, his lips worked their magic on her nipples until she climaxed, shudders ripping through her body over and over as she sagged against him.

Her skin against his felt so right, their chests resting together, their breathing ragged. They stayed like that, Benae lost in the ferocity of her orgasm, wondering if they would now consummate their love – for love it was. Surely he could not deny what lay between them. He could not let honour deprive them of this moment, whatever happened in the future.

Ramón stood and looked down at her, both his hands now encircling her waist. His pupils were huge, dark, almost obscuring the blue of his irises. He wanted her but there was a haunted look to his gaze, almost reluctance, and fear. Passion drove him and he was unaccustomed to the war within. Would he allow passion to rule or would he succumb to honour yet again? She could not let him back out now.

Benae gently stripped off his smalls until the extent of his arousal was exposed. The underwear dropped to the floor and she pulled him towards her. She gripped his erection in her right hand and squeezed. His eyes closed and he shuddered. She gripped again and he thrust a little towards her.

‘We should not,' he said.

‘Who is to say we should not?' She knelt before him. ‘Does this not feel right to you?' Benae took his rod into her mouth and sucked, pulling him in and out of her mouth with her hand, forcing his erection to the back of her mouth and then withdrawing him, repeating the movement until she thought he was at the point of climax, his head thrown back, his eyes closed, his body tight with need.

Benae pulled him from her mouth and lay down on the clothes Ramón had laid before the fire, knees bent, legs parted so that he could see she was ready for him.

It took Ramón a few moments to realise Benae was no longer pleasuring him. Goddess, what sensations she evoked! Of course he had felt the need to relieve his tension from time to time but more often he found relief in a weapons session or a run. This was altogether different. He opened his eyes and found her spread on his clothes, her left hand dangling between her legs, playing with herself. Moisture glistened on her soft folds and Ramón lost all thought of resistance. He flung himself down and crawled between her legs, his erection brushing her moist warmth. His mouth found hers and there was no restraint, his tongue slipping past her lips to explore her mouth, her hips straining against his, reaching to accommodate him. His rod seemed to move of its own volition, seeking Benae's inner pleasure centre, but it was not as simple as it seemed. Need drove him but his shaft seemed not to be able to find its target. He groaned with frustration.

‘Do not fear, lover,' she said, her hands guiding him, her fingers parting her folds so that he slid within, Benae's slippery warmth enveloping him. He began to thrust, Benae meeting him each time, her hands on his buttocks, letting out small gasps at each thrust. The tempo increased and Ramón's climax built, zeroing in upon his groin as Benae gave one last thrust against him and shuddered, her whole body tightening around him, his name shrieking from her lips. His seed burst within her and he thrust again and again until he felt he had emptied the whole of himself into her. He relaxed onto her and then rolled to the side, pulling Benae with him so they stayed joined.

‘That was wondrous,' he said, smiling at her and gently pushing a strand of dark hair away from her glorious emerald eyes. ‘Thank you.'

She stiffened in his arms. ‘Why should you thank me? It was a giving and receiving between two people who have feelings for each other.'

Why was she angry? ‘You made my first time special. I had always wondered how it would be. I thought—' He felt her stiffen further as if she anticipated Alecia's name on his lips. No, that would not do. ‘Never mind what I thought. I will always treasure this night and hold it in my heart. It will be something to remember when I cannot hold you.'

Her serious eyes studied him. ‘I will not allow you to walk away from me, Ramón. You and I are joined forever. Your seed lies within me. It might result in a child. I would welcome such an event. To bear your son or daughter would make sense of this cruel world.'