Unbidden (The Evolution Series) (21 page)

Rochelle turned her head to gaze at the horizon
. The last glow of the sunset stained the overcast sky a strange greenish-gray. “I do not trust him,” she repeated regretfully.

He nodded with equal regret
. “Acknowledged. The real question is
do you trust me?
”

Her pulse sped as she looked at him again
. “Yes,” she said simply.

The reward of his wide smile nearly made her forget everything:  the fear of losing her independence, her distrust of Doeg, her reluctance to marry
. She had made him happy which for some stupid reason made her happy.

His eyes were full of devilment as he kissed her wrist again then looked at her over their joined fingers
. “Now, do we not have a stable to secure for the night?” he asked,

She smiled
. She was not proof against his happiness or his physical overtures. She
did
trust him. She liked him. She could hardly manage the constant desire to touch him or be touched by him. All those realities had slowly become more important than her dislike of his brother.

She led him to the stables where, once again, David placed his hands at her waist
. She did not turn to him, instead leaning back to pillow her head on his chest. He nuzzled her cheek, his whiskers lightly scratching her skin, then he set his lips there. Her eyes fluttered closed as she drank in the masculine smell of him, the solidity of his body braced behind her. She turned her head, seeking his mouth with hers. He teased her, brushing her lips lightly then barely nibbling at the corner of her mouth.

He soon found the joke was on him
. As she strained for a real kiss, she arched slightly, bringing her bottom into exquisite contact with his upper thighs and pushing her breasts out against her tunic. He moaned as he captured her lips, trying to ignore the womanly gifts lying before him. He had kept his sanity during their other carnal encounters by keeping his hands firmly in one place.

As if reading his thoughts, her hands came to rest on his, her fingers twining between his own, squeezing hard and harder as their kiss deepened
. She whimpered and tore one hand away to place it on his cheek, again changing the posture of her body and unknowingly offering him a beautiful feminine line from breast to hip.

It was an invitation he did not possess the restraint to ignore
. His palm slid firmly up her ribs to settle on the soft roundness of her breast. It fit his hand so perfectly that he had to pull away from the kiss, wanting a moment to concentrate on her breast completely. He opened his eyes. Even though she was fully clothed, the sight of his own hand so intimately against her breast sent his desire to another, roiling level. He let his fingers and thumb move, learning the curve of her, finding the indentation of her cleavage and the barely discernable hardness of her aroused nipple.

Rochelle gasped, and he saw she was watching his hand too
. Her lips were parted as she pressed herself against his palm. He moved his other hand, not releasing her fingers as he torturously skimmed up her side to her other breast, her own fingers sharing his gentle caresses and squeezes. She bit her lip against the overwhelming combination of touch and sight.

She sagged against him, but hesitated to move for fear of dislodging his hands
. He made the decision for her, gently turning her and quickly replacing one hand on her breast while beginning to kiss her anew. His other hand roamed along her gently muscled back, down to the curve of her bottom. The ridge of his manhood pressed distinctly against her belly. Surely she could not feel it pulsing with desire through all these layers of clothes. Yet it seemed to echo the very distinct throbbing betwixt her own thighs.

He backed up against a post and pulled her in between his slightly outstretched legs
. Quickly unclasping her cloak he dropped his lips to her neck, kissing and sucking along the front and down to the slight indentation at the base. She clung to his tunic until she could no longer resist exploring him as he did her. She flattened her hands on his chest, slipped them up to his shoulders then along and behind his neck. He kissed her deeply, moaning softly when she rose to her tiptoes to fit herself to him. He pulled back. Time stopped as they gazed into one another’s eyes with new physical awareness. “Rochelle,” he breathed. “My God, you are the most beautiful woman in the world.”  The words embarrassed and encouraged her. She smiled shyly as she loosened her arms from around his neck. She tested his lips lightly. He tempered his response, allowing her to tease him with her mouth while tentatively sliding her hands over his chest. His breath hissed through his teeth when she explored the flat plane of his stomach.

He growled to her and whispered encouragement and told her how much he liked what they were doing to each other
. His hands became more urgent, touching her not just for discovery but with purpose.

The new urges he excited nearly overwhelmed her
. She wanted to bare her breasts for him, and rip his own tunic off his chest. She wanted to lay down with him, to feel him loom over her as he had in the hailstorm. Her legs wanted to be spread, and she hoped to God, somewhere in all that sinfulness, this pounding desire would be assuaged.

They shifted position slightly to deepen their kissing, and she found herself slightly astride his thigh
. It felt quite natural to press her hips against him. She pressed down again and her eyelids fluttered with the pleasure of it. More.

After a few more pleasing flexes, she noticed David’s hands were no longer moving
. His lips were no longer on her neck. She pulled back to look at him. He watched her intently, his face taut, a feral gleam in his eyes.

She realized the absolute depravity of her actions and tried to back away from him
. He held her fast. Her face flushed with shame. “I am sorry. That was wrong to do,” she choked out.

“Not wrong,” he said thickly
. “Anything and everything between us is right, Rochelle. I want to pleasure you. I want to show you where this path leads. When we come together, our bodies will move just as yours did, but as one. Say you will be my wife. We can be married tomorrow and I will make love to you and you will know just how perfect we can be together.”

Her eyes widened but she stood mute.

“I know you want me,” he said, a hint of desperation in his voice. “And God knows I want you. Say yes, Rochelle. We are so good together. Not just like this. In every way. We understand each other. We talk. We trust each other.”

Rochelle drew a shudd
ering breath. “I do want you –” she began cautiously.

“I know, I know,” he rushed, kissing her eyes, her cheeks, her chin
. “Say yes, say you will marry me tomorrow.”

“I trust you with my life
. I trust you in this…this physical attraction. I know I can talk to you about anything. But I will not trust you to think for me, to give up my own ability to decide for myself.”

“I am not asking you to,” he said with a smile.

“Yes, you are. You did tonight. You want my faith to lie where yours does, my loyalties to shadow yours, just because you say so. And you do not even recognize you are making the demand.”

He pulled his head back, realizing he was moving backward from his goal again
. “I do not think this difference of opinion about my brother will ruin our marriage. He will, after all, be living in Bavaria.”

“When is he moving back there?” Rochelle shot out quickly.

David’s hands were still holding her. He wiggled her hips against him suggestively. “I would anticipate his departure shortly after our wedding.”

Rochelle narrowed her eyes
. “I could never marry a man who would stoop to blackmail.”

“You are killing me, Rochelle,” he murmured as he leaned his head back against the post, closing his eyes
. “Absolutely killing me.”

She stepped back from him.

“Answer one question for me,” he asked,  “And tell me the truth.”

“I will try.”

“Did you lie in your bed last night thinking about my touch and wishing you could be with me?  Wishing you had let me touch you?”

Rochelle turned her head to one side
. How could she answer such an outrageous question?  “This is madness.”

“And will you lie awake tonight, wondering where all of this kissing and touching leads?  Will you wonder how all of
our
shared frustration can be resolved?”  He waited for a moment then snapped,  “Answer me.”

“Yes, I will wonder.”

He raked his hands through his hair. “I will give you a few more days, Rochelle. Not weeks, not months. Days.”

Chapter Seventeen

Rochelle and David returned to the hall to find Theo pacing in circles, cursing a streak vivid even for him, a piece of parchment waving in his hand
. Doeg sat in a chair, deep in thought, fingers steepled in front of his mouth. Marian waited behind him wringing her hands.

Theo stopped cold as David and Rochelle approached
. “There is a complication,” he said.

“A complication in what?”

“Your betrothal. Your marriage.”

Rochelle felt her hopes rise and her stomach sink at the same time
. Being free of the betrothal would be heavenly. And yet, if she were not required to marry David, he might leave. She would probably never see him again, an idea that filled her with panic.

“Spit it out,” David growled, the muscles in his jaw clenching.

“Louis’s son Lothair is arguing against the betrothal.”

“I thought Lothair had been exiled.”

“He has not left the country yet. He believes the local people should be trusted to defend Alamannia, and therefore a man from Francia should have control of Alda. Or,”  Theo added meaningfully, “at least a chance at it.”

“Define chance,
” David ordered.

“Louis has agreed to tournament.”

“What kind of tournament?” David’s voice was so low Rochelle strained to hear him.

“The fighting kind.”

“How many?”

“Three.”

Rochelle gripped the back of a chair to stay on her feet, the phrase
control of Alda
still ringing in her ears. “Would you two stop being so cryptic?  What is going on?”

Theo turned to her with a sigh
. “David must fight three challengers. Whoever defeats him marries you.”

“Three at once?” she squeaked.

“No, no. One at a time. And not to the death, just until one of them has the clear advantage and an obvious opportunity to strike a killing blow.”

Rochelle waved a hand to silence him
. “But…but…are you telling me that Louis has now decided that four different men potentially have the right to Alda and me, and that the winner will be decided by a fight?”

“She is already betrothed,
” Marian noted weakly.

“Betrothals can be undone,” Theo said sadly.

“Is this even legal?  I have never heard of such a thing.” Marian asked, still working her fingers.

“They are technically calling it a judicial duel though they have twisted it around
. It is an old custom used for determining guilt.”

David spoke again, his voice still low and dangerous
. “Who are the three?”

“To be determined by application.”

“When is this tournament?”

“Well, if there is any good news in all this, that is it
. Louis insists on Alda’s ownership being determined before winter. The tournament is scheduled for just three weeks from now, in Ribeauville. Presumably notices are being distributed throughout Francia and entrants will be determined quickly.”

David turned on his heel to stalk back out the door through which he’d just entered.

Rochelle took one step to follow, then stopped. She wanted to understand what was going to happen. “Theo, I cannot follow the maneuvers in politics. Why would the emperor allow the son who betrayed him to ask for anything?”

“For the same reason Louis exiled his son instead of killing him as a traitor
. They do not spill each other’s blood, and so far they have never created a family rift that could not be mended. Louis will appease his son. And,” he continued cautiously, “it is possible there has been more outcry from the local nobility.”

“
Louis is going back on his own pronouncement. Is he not afraid he will be seen as indecisive?”

Theo shrugged
. “I think he is confident that David will win, so he risks very little while assuaging the anger of those in the empire who would like to see you married to someone from your own region. If they are given the opportunity but David proves to be the best man, then they must lick their wounds and allow Louis’s decision to stand.”

“So Louis gets to extend an olive branch to his son and the people of Francia, but keep the end result the same.”

“Precisely.”

“Is it dangerous?  I mean, do they use weapons?”

“There will be injuries.”  He shrugged. “Nothing permanent.”

Rochelle shook her head slowly
. “I do not understand the ways of these royals.”

Theo laughed bitterly
. “It is not for us to understand. It is for us to obey.”  He turned to Marian. “Unfortunately, I must return to Ribeauville immediately to begin planning for this event. I will depart on the morrow.”

Rochelle started to walk to the stairs, then stopped, pivoting to face Theo again
. “Who will the challengers be?”

“Hard to say,” he replied
. “The short time allowed will almost limit it to Franks. Then there is the fact that few warriors of any skill will publicly challenge David.”

“Why?”

“Firstly, they will doubt they can win, and secondly, they will not want to lose him as an ally at next summer’s war.”

Rochelle nodded though
tfully. Her gaze slid around the room, landing on Doeg’s clear blue eyes. He stared back at her. “Is the tournament limited to Franks?” he asked.

“Why?  You wish to sign up for it?” Theo responded hotly.

Doeg allowed himself a light laugh, his eyes still lazily resting on Rochelle. “A public challenge of my own brother?  I would not dream of it. Besides,” he continued, lifting his crippled arm, “I could never win.”  He shifted his gaze to Theo. “I am merely curious. Is entry to the tournament limited?”

Theo sighed
. “Only by the timing. It would be very difficult for anyone from another region to hear of the tournament in time to enter.”

“Yes, I see.”  Doeg abruptly stood
. “I, too, will leave in the morning. I believe my father should know of this abomination. I will return to Ribeauville as soon as possible.”

Rochelle went to her room, unable to digest what Theo had told them. As if being forced into a public betrothal by the emperor hadn’t been bad enough, now the same emperor was turning her marriage and her estate into a trophy to win through an ancient spectacle. Instead of David telling her to decide to marry him in a few days, she might be expected to take the best combatant in three weeks, and she might not even know him.

She thought for a long time about her conversation with David tonight, and the many conversations they’d had before about her stubborn reluctance to marry
. She forced her thoughts to be rational. He was right. They’d been talking in circles for weeks. Now, when faced with the choice, she did not want him to leave Alda, and she certainly did not wish to exchange his companionship for some stranger’s. Just like that, she realized that David had successfully broken through the barriers she’d erected against him.

A smile cleared the worry from her face.

She sat in the chair, waiting and wondering what David would think of her change of heart. She heard Marian settle in her bed next door. Soon after, she heard David’s voice downstairs. She slipped onto the gallery hoping they might spend a few minutes on the steps together again.

He was talking to someone in the office, his voice strained with obvious aggravation
. “I do not like being a pawn for Louis and Lothair’s games.”

Theo’s voice answered
. “No help for it.”

“
I was so close tonight, Theo. Rochelle was almost ready to agree to marry me. If I had just pressed my advantage and bedded her, all this would be moot. It would be decided.”

“Bedded her!” Theo nearly shouted.

“Yes, dammit. I could have had her, but instead I listened to her nonsense about thinking for herself. If I had just taken her, she would be mine and Alda would be mine and I could tell Louis what to do with his tournament.”

Rochelle leaned heavily on the rail of the gallery, feeling as if she’d just been punched in the stomach
. Theo and David continued to speak below her, but their voices buzzed in her ears as the words she’d just heard ricocheted in her head.
…her nonsense about thinking for herself?! …pressed my advantage and bedded her?  She would be mine and Alda would be mine….

Hurt and disappointment quickly blazed to burning anger
. He had been playing a part. He had been seducing her in order to consummate the relationship so she would be forced to marry him. How was he any better than Sewell? 

H
e had no intention of letting her make her own decisions after they married. He had as much as said so. He was only telling her what she wanted to hear until the day they married, and then, she was sure, he would change, expecting to control every aspect of Alda no matter what her wishes.

Tears pricke
d at the back of her eyes. She shook her head hard against them. She strode back into her room to pace in the dark.

Her initial upswell of hope at Theo’s announcement of the tournament had been a good instinct
. A genuine opportunity to alter her future had been presented. She must find a way to use it. Quickly.