Through The Leaded Glass (28 page)

Thunder crashed again, slashes of lightning
turning the darkness into day. Alex arched back, pushing himself up
on his palms, staring down at her. His eyes blazed and a sheen of
sweat covered his body. Every cord in his neck stood out and his
arms shook. “Do. Not. Move.” he said through clenched
teeth.

That was like telling a starving person not to
eat the food before them. Kate could no more not move than she
could not breathe; she was too close.

Her hips rolled as another battering pulse of
thunder sounded and Alex dropped onto his elbows. He thrust into
her, his body frenzied like the storm swirling around them, over
and over, his arms shaking, his jaw clenched.

Kate thrust up to meet him, digging her heels
into his backside, her fingernails raking his back. The wind howled
around them, lightning split the night, rain pummeled the room and,
finally, Alex drove into her with every bit as much fury, and her
climax crashed over her, taking her out of herself, a moment of
solid, unadulterated
feeling
, and she called out his name
with each throbbing wave.

He fisted the sheets by her head, catching
some of her hair, but Kate didn’t care. He thrust deeply as twin
bolts of lightning blazed outside the chamber. Then he froze, every
muscle locked rigid as he pulsed inside of her.

She pressed down with her heels and he
groaned, deep and guttural. Thunder rumbled, rising with the wind.
Sweat slicked his skin and Kate ran her hands up his
arms.

He groaned again, unintelligible. Harsh. She
circled her hips and tremors seized him, fanning out from where
their bodies joined to every part of him and he came as thunder
again crescendo-ed through the room.

An eternity passed. The wind still howled, the
lightning still flashed, the growl of thunder vibrated through the
room. Rain still showered through the broken shutter and she raised
herself the necessary inch or so to kiss the strong column of his
throat.

He swallowed. Then his chest hitched and he
sucked in a huge breath. He lowered his forehead to hers and his
eyes slid open. A smile tugged at his mouth.

“
You are truly from beyond this
world, Kate.”

One she almost didn’t want to return
to…

***

Alex tucked Kate’s sleeping form closer to his
side. She’d drifted off almost immediately, and by rights, he
should be doing the same. But he couldn’t.

He’d gotten out of bed, half-heartedly, but
the shutters had needed to be closed. Then he’d pulled an extra fur
from a chest on the far wall and covered them with it. She fit in
his bed as perfectly and as right as if she should be
here.

She murmured something soft. He traced his
ring on her finger, then trailed up her arm, her skin so soft and
smooth. He kissed her shoulder softly, lingering over the faint
taste of salt there, the musky scent of their lovemaking weaving
between them. God, he loved her.

For all the good it’d do him. The window would
arrive tomorrow, and while he’d be a fool to give it to her, he
couldn’t
not
give it to her.

For what was a man but the strength of his
words?

***

Lightning arced through the shutter slats,
dancing off the yellow walls in the countess’s chamber, looking
like daylight gone mad. The man smirked and hefted the urn onto the
bedside table, relishing that it’d been Isobel who had unknowingly
helped him.

And wouldn’t that vex her if she
knew?

This time he couldn’t mask his
chuckle.

Not that the noise would matter with the
storm.

Ah, yes, everything was in place for his plan
to work.

He lifted the vessel and poured some of the
wine into a cup, then added that potion that would finally turn
events at Shelton to his favor. It would only take a sip or two.
Not much.

He returned the urn to its normal place beside
its twin, careful to wipe the evidence from the rim. He checked the
cup, giving it a swirl with his finger. The potion was odorless,
which hadn’t really been a problem with Lawrence, but the “lady”
might just be curious enough to sniff.

Not that it’d do her any good. He’d ground the
ingredients just so, and the extra cloves he’d added to the wine
would mask anything else. Now all he had to do was sit and
wait.

But wasn’t that what he’d been doing these
last years anyway? A few more hours, and it would all finally be
his.

Chapter
Twenty-Four

Alex had carried Kate back to her room because
he hadn’t wanted the servants to learn where she’d spent the night.
It was a nice, chivalric gesture, but Kate had a feeling everyone
already knew. From what she’d read in history books, there weren’t
many secrets in a communal living space like this. Plus, if they’d
gotten a look at Alex with his tunic hastily tossed over his head
and her in the bed furs, there’d be no doubt. Still, she did get a
warm and fuzzy feeling that he cared about her
reputation.

“
I’ll see you in a few hours,
Kate.” He kissed her softly before leavin.

She wanted to call him back. Last night had
been… Spectacular. Amazing. Unbelievable.

And over.

It had to be over. She had to get back to Emma
and her life.

She blew out a breath, fluffing her curls off
her forehead. Curls he’d had his hands buried in all night long.
Curls he’d traced over her skin with nerve-shivering
results.

She shrugged into her nightgown. She was never
going to get any sleep with thoughts like that running rampant. She
picked up the cup of wine on her bedside table. Five p.m., five
a.m., what did it matter?

She took a sip, trying to relax. Today could
be the day she’d go home. But what if it wasn’t? What if the window
didn’t do the job? What if she was stuck here until she saw
Alicia?

And what happened if she was stuck
period?

She took a bigger sip. Staying here… it
wouldn’t be terrible.

Because she loved him.

She took another sip of the wine and stared up
at the crimson canopy above her bed. She loved him. How could she
not? He was a good man. A compassionate and reasonable man. Just.
He listened to her and valued her opinion. Loved his son, his
friends, his people. And maybe even her.

Lord knew, he wanted her. Her body tingled at
the memory. Oh, yeah, he definitely wanted her and she hadn’t been
able to get enough of him. No, it definitely wouldn’t be a hardship
to stay, but was a good idea?

That was the million dollar question. Right
now, she had that choice. And, if window worked…?

Well, if it worked
and
she decided to
stay, that would be
her
decision. Not Fate’s, not Alex’s,
and not some time travelling window. Hers.

It was amazing how freeing and empowering a
thought that was.

***

Finally, the whore was asleep. It’d taken
longer than he’d expected and he needed to get her out of here
quickly.

He pushed open the false stone in the wall,
revealing a sallyport only a few knew of, for while the other ones
had been built for quick escape in the event of a siege, this one
had been designed specifically for nightly assignations.

And oh how it’d been used.

He stuffed pillows beneath the bed covers
beside Alex’s beloved, covering them to mimic her sleeping form,
then lifted her over his shoulder. He straightened to his full
height and took one last look around the room to make certain he’d
removed all proof of her existence from the room. His final act
needed careful staging for the full effect.

He lit a candle and entered the passageway,
closing the door behind him. It’d been expertly crafted to conceal
the entrance to his escape route. Alex would never think to look
for it.

Allowing himself a smug smile, he bypassed the
earl’s chamber and followed the corridor to its hidden connection
with one of the original sallyports, then followed that one to
climb out the chapel side of the castle.

Grey dawn filtered through the dissipating
clouds as he slogged through ankle-deep mud, cursing the night’s
storm. He was running out of time. They needed to be long gone from
here before anyone noticed her missing.

He reached the copse where a horse waited and
hefted her over the animal’s back, draping her with a blanket he’d
pilfered during his stay, and headed to the cave he’d equipped
specifically for his purposes.

The sun was above the horizon when they
finally reached it and his excitement was waning. Fatigue set in
while he propped her against a rock on the dirt floor. He had one
last scenario to create, so, to ensure she wouldn’t awaken, he
dribbled more of the draught on the gag between her lips, then set
about dressing her in that hideous gown. When—not
if
, but
when
—Alex next saw her, he’d see the woman who’d pledged
herself to him turn against him.

Wouldn’t that be a wonderful turn of
events?

He enjoyed a quick fondle as he undressed her,
the thought of enjoying more tempting him. But the hour grew late
and he was tired. Once he’d won everything he’d set out to,
however…

He pulled the skirt up her legs, worked her
arms through the gold shirt, slid the surcoat and odd shoes on. His
gnarled fingers made tying the laces too difficult so he let them
hang open, but it didn’t matter. It would drive Alex mad with
jealousy wondering if
he’d
already had her.

He smiled to himself as he set to the
difficult task of tying her hands to the stake pounded into the
earth behind her.
Those
knots he would be certain to
secure.

His plan was infallible.

***

Alex didn’t return to his bed after leaving
Kate’s chamber. He wouldn’t have slept.

Instead, unwilling to be alone with his
thoughts, he dressed and headed to the hall. The men were stirring,
as were the hounds in front of the fire. Alex smiled. Kate hadn’t
yet won that battle.

He joined the men, tossed a sack of gold onto
the table, and grabbed a piece of freshly baked bread Beatrice set
before him. “Thomas, see to it that Lawrence gets his reward for
informing me about the tradesman. It ought to keep him from
disturbing Hester or any other woman.”

Thomas picked up the bag. “He’s not there, my
lord. I sent some men to fetch him early this morn and they said
his cottage was empty.”

Matthew nodded. “Rumor has it he went to
Farley’s, if you can believe it. I say we let that bastard deal
with him.”

Alex lowered his bread. Lawrence with Farley?
On the heels of pointing him in the direction of the merchant and a
similar window?

He never liked coincidence.

He checked the angle of the sun. Hours to go
before Kate’s appointment.

He would pay Farley a visit in the
interim.

Chapter
Twenty-Five

Torn leaves and broken branches, remnants of
the night’s storm, littered the ground between his and Farley’s
holdings, the trodden road a sea of mud. Herald pounded through it,
splattering his silky black coat and the men’s boots all the way to
Simon’s gatehouse.

“
Tell your lord I demand entrance,”
Alex called to the men on the gatehouse where Farley’s colors
snapped in the cool wind. He didn’t like to be kept waiting,
especially after so little sleep, and Farley’s stall tactics were
unimpressive. Nothing would deter him from learning why Lawrence
had opted to live here, nor how Farley had enticed him. And how it
played into the events at Shelton.

Or… if it didn’t.

At last, amid creaking chains, the wood and
iron lattice gate was opened. Alex was under it the moment it
cleared his head and halfway up the steps to the keep by the time
it was fully raised. Mud from his boots left a trail of filth as he
stormed through Farley’s home. How appropriate.

“
And who is it now, Shelton, who
enters a home unannounced?” Farley turned from his steward and
rested an elbow above the stone fireplace, crossing one boot over
the other. “Shall I offer you the same greeting you gave me?” He
reached above the mantle to graze the tip of one of two crossed
swords hanging beneath the black phoenix amid a field of orange on
the Farley crest.

“
What are you planning?” Alex
kicked a bench out of his way. It knocked against another, the two
of them overturning with a clatter against the oak
floor.

“
Planning?” Farley’s brow arched as
he glanced at the pile.

“
Do
not
play me for a fool,
Simon.” Alex grabbed a chair and tossed it out of his way. “You
accuse me of theft and murder, and now you lure one of the freeman
to your lands. You’re up to something.”

“
What I’m up to, Shelton,” said
Farley as he pushed past him, “is seeing you hang for Calista’s
murder. King Henry has granted my request for an audience. You’ll
receive a summons shortly.” He crossed his arms with a knowing
smile stretched across his face.