“You will hang.”
“I do not care. It’ll be worth the price.”
The man shook his head, narrowing his bloodshot eyes, blood trickling from his nose. “You love her that much?”
“I love her more than life itself.”
The man grunted. “She said as much, and I told her that she was wrong. I told her she was worthless, and no one would love her as I had.”
William heard the bellow and hardly registered it was from himself. Darkness swallowed his vision, and it was only when his squire pulled him off the now senseless man that he realized he’d lost control yet again.
“Take him away before I kill him!”
Two river men appeared from the shadows, looking like river wraiths, skinny, with long hair and the characteristic short coat and flat-topped hats of their people. They hoisted Bayard to his feet and, half-supporting him, half-dragging him, pulled him toward the door.
“Stop!” William called.
The men stopped, and Bayard turned to him. He looked maniacal in the sputtering torchlight. Blood trickled down his cheek. “You want to kill me after all?” He spat onto the hard ground.
“No, I’d have done so if I were going to. The only reason I haven’t is that Alice wouldn’t want me to.”
“Alice,” the man said derisively.
William ignored the jibe. “You will leave this country and never set foot in it again. Do you understand?”
For one long moment, they eyed each other, and William felt the depths of the man’s evil.
“Do you understand?” William repeated.
“Aye, I understand.” He looked around the castle and up at the dark skies. “I’ve always hated the damned place anyway. I think I’ll find me a widow with children somewhere where I can while away my time. Find some amusement.”
William recoiled. “Take him away.”
As he watched him leave, his squire joined him. “Do you think he’ll have a future as he imagines? It pains me to see such an evil man prosper.”
William turned to his squire, still so young in thought and deed, despite his experience. “Warin. Bayard killed the hermit, a river man like the men who now take him away. They do not hold to laws, to our forms of justice. They do things their own way.”
Warin’s eyes widened in the dark.
“I did not kill him,” continued William. “But he will be killed and the only trace is his name booked on an outward voyage to Lisbon.”
Wearily, William walked out the Hall and into the yard where he washed the blood from his hands at the pump. He gave one last look around the castle which had been the setting of so much suffering for his beloved and knew he’d never set foot in the place ever again.
As he mounted his horse, he was aware of people emerging from all parts of the castle. When he turned to face them, the men inclined their heads and slowly doffed their caps, while the women curtseyed, low and deep. They were honoring him, he realized. But, more than that, they were honoring his lady.
He nodded to them, thankful they would be free from the tyrant. Who would take ownership now, he had no idea. But if it were up to these people, it would be Alice. Perhaps it would return to Alice, perhaps not. He had no mind to care, but he knew who would. For Alice’s sake, and for the sake of the people and servants and guards who’d helped him this day, he’d ask Savari to tie up the legal ends. Savari would use his legal and political expertise to make sure the castle was returned to the rightful owner.
And that was the last thought he gave it as he and Warin cantered across the dark fields, back to Wanham, back to his Alice, safe at last.
Chapter 18
When Alice awoke, she found William asleep in bed beside her. She’d waited as long as she could the previous evening for him to return, but couldn’t bear the tension, the things that were unsaid between the sisters, the darting, anxious looks at her. And she’d felt increasingly unwell, so she’d retired to bed. There she’d lain awake for hours, ears straining for the slightest sound which would indicate William was returning, alive and well. But the exhaustion which pulled at her limbs finally won, and she’d fallen into a heavy sleep before he’d returned.
The feeling of tiredness and nausea remained, despite his safe return. And even now, as she looked down at William, the queasiness remained. She poured a cup of weak ale and sat sipping it, her eyes feasting on William, who had pulled off only his boots before lying on the bed fully clothed.
Relief filled her. Despite her questions, he’d refused to tell her where he’d been going the previous day. He’d never done that before, never kept anything from her, which had made her even more afraid. Because it had meant two things—wherever he’d been going it had been important, and it involved her. And there could only be one reason why he hadn’t told her what he was about—she would have tried to stop him.
She rose and stood over him. He lay on his back, in the same position as he’d fallen upon the bed. The one exception was the hand which even now reached out for her. She’d awoken with it around her waist. She watched the play of the low sunlight streaming in through the unshuttered window, upon his face, revealing the softness of the man which he kept hidden when he was awake. He was a stern, strong man with a loving heart and soul. She loved this man. He was as dependable as the land around them and as constant. He loved her, too; she knew that now. She’d known it the moment he’d agreed to let her go to follow her misplaced desires to live at the Priory and become a nun.
She closed her eyes in a slight panic at the way her life would have gone if that had happened. She’d have never known the magic of his touch against hers, the beauty their two bodies created. She touched her stomach. The life it had created.
Then she saw blood on William’s clothes. Gently, so as not to awaken him, she pulled his clothes away and breathed easily once more when she found no wound. But, she thought, if it wasn’t William’s blood, whose was it?
What had he done?
It was the sunlight that awoke William. He blinked, wondering where he was. Then he reached out for Alice only to find her gone. Panic thumped through his veins, and he leaped up, alert and ready. He looked around to see Alice, seated, watching him.
He tugged in a deep breath. “Why did you not wake me? I should have been out hours since.”
“You were sleeping so well, I supposed you needed it.”
He pushed his hands through his unruly hair. “By the rood, I never sleep like that. Even if I’m up all night.”
“No. I suspect last night you slept well because you were satisfied. Your spirit was calm.” She rose. “Well, William, your spirit shouldn’t have been calm. You went behind my back.”
There was something warm and lovely about his quiet Alice being a possessive wife. He smiled. He suddenly realized that it was a mistake.
“Why do you smile? Do you think it amusing to leave your sisters and me at home, worried half to death as to what you might be doing? Worried”—she said with a slight choke in her voice—“that you might not return. Hey? Do you find that amusing?”
That she could stand there and be free to hector him, he did find not exactly amusing, but heartwarming and reassuring, but he realized now wasn’t the time to tell her. He managed to suppress the smile which tweaked at his lips. “No, of course not, my love.” He decided avoidance was his best tactic. He glanced out the window. “Anyhow, why did you not awaken me?” he asked, sitting on the bed and pulling on his boots. “I should have been out and about long since.”
“Not so fast, William de Vere.”
He rose and came over to her, unable to prevent the smile now from curving his lips as he took in her flushed face and the determined jut of her jaw.
He pushed back the hair from her face and laced his fingers behind her head, holding her steady so he could admire those beautiful lips. “Not so fast?” He pressed his lips against hers, which softened reassuringly to his touch before he pulled away. “Hmm, I can go as slow as you like, my love. Come
to think of it, business can wait.”
She gripped his hands and threw them away. He frowned. She’d never acted like this before.
“Not before you tell me where you’ve been.”
He shrugged. “To sort out a problem.”
“A problem.” He didn’t like the way she repeated his words. Nor did he like the way she folded her arms and tapped her foot. “A problem,” she again repeated. His heart dropped.
“Aye, as I say. It’s sorted, so it doesn’t bear repeating.”
She put her hands on her hips in an entirely new manner. Again, he only just managed to prevent a smile. His vulnerable beauty of a wife had come far. He wondered what he could continue to do to receive the same nagging, day in day out, for the rest of his life. It would be a reminder to him of how far she’d come, returned to the girl he’d fallen in love with so many years before.
“Mayhap in your mind it doesn’t bear repeating, but I’d ask that you do.”
“Would you, now?” he couldn’t help teasing.
“Aye, I would.” He could tell by the firm set of her lips that she wasn’t going to let it go.
“Well, then. I went to your castle.”
“It is not my castle anymore. And well you know.”
“I know nothing of the sort.”
Her eyes narrowed in what he imagined was suspicion and anger, but which he couldn’t help thinking made her look even sexier than she usually did. “And what, pray, do you mean by that?”
“Simply that the castle will be yours once more.”
“What have you done, William?” She barely breathed the words.
“I’ve dealt with the outstanding matter of your castle.”
“There was nothing outstanding about it. I had settled the matter.”
Now it was his turn to see red. “Settled? You went behind my back and decided that bribing that, that monster would be the only way to buy my freedom.” He pointed his finger at her. “I don’t need my freedom to be bought.”
She grabbed hold of his finger, sparks lighting her blue eyes. “Don’t you ever waggle your finger at me, William de Vere.” She gripped it hard, and the anger faded as quickly as it had risen. Her soft fingers around his calloused ones made him forget everything except the lovely woman before him. He tried to stop the tweak of amusement from twitching the corners of his mouth. But must have failed because he saw a corresponding softening in her face. “You could have been killed,” she added softly.
“But I wasn’t.”
She licked her lips, suddenly hesitant. “Did you…” She trailed off, as she gave a slight grimace, unable to give voice to her fears.
“Did I kill him?” He shook his head. “No, my love, I didn’t. I have no desire to be thrown into gaol again, to lose you, to lose my life over someone as worthless as that man.”
She frowned. “So, he’s still alive?” Fear flickered across her face, and he kissed first one cheek and then another, hating to see the old Alice return so easily. He knew then that no matter how steady, secure, and loving her life would be in the future the scars would always remain. But mayhap, with each year they would heal further, would become less livid, more easily forgotten. He vowed he’d do anything to make that happen.
He shook his head. “No, he’s not alive. I told him he could leave and leave he did. Alone. Straight into the hands of the river men. He found they were not as merciful as me.”
She closed her eyes and took a steadying breath. “So, he’s gone.”
“Aye, he’s gone. The men never forgave him for killing the old hermit.”
“I pray they made it swift.”
“I do not. My only prayer is that the body won’t be found. And my prayers will be answered, for the river is a cruel mistress, especially when a body is weighted with stones.”
“Oh, William. You risked so much! You could have been killed, and I couldn’t have born that.”
“I know how to look after myself. You shouldn’t have worried. Besides, I couldn’t let him stay. He would have always been a threat to you, a reminder of what”—he was at a loss for words on how to describe the horrors the man had perpetrated—“of went before.”
“But we need you, William. I could have lived with that man nearby so long as you were with us.”
“You may have done, but I could not.” He frowned as her words ran through his mind over and over. There was something he wasn’t understanding. On the second run through his mind faltered over the “we”. She’d said we rather than me. “You mean you and my sisters.”
He’d said it as a statement, for who else could she have meant?
She licked her lips. “No, I do not.” She shrugged. “Although of course, they love you. But they will leave and go live their own lives, in time.”
He frowned as she turned away. She never turned away from him, always looked him in the eye. The tables had been turned. From her prevarication, he now knew she was hiding something from him. And, like his secret, he knew hers would be important.
“Alice, look at me,” he called softly. She turned to him, and what he saw in her eyes puzzled him further. There was disbelief, laughter, and a kind of pure joy that he didn’t understand.
“Then who did you mean? You said ‘we’.”
“Me and our child.”
He breathed out. “Of course. Charles. Where is he?”
“He slept beside Lora last night. We didn’t know when you’d return, and didn’t want to disturb him.”
William grunted his assent. When Charles awoke in the night, the whole castle knew about it. He shook his head. “I cannot believe it has all come to pass. You, our child, and the land. It is everything I’ve always wanted.”
Alice smiled and ran her finger across his lips before kissing him. “Everything?” she asked in what he could only name as a seductive and sexy voice. It wasn’t one she’d used before. It seemed the removal of Bayard had lifted the last layer Alice had put between herself and the world. “I think there may be something else you want.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Aye, well, that’s a given.” He reached out and grabbed her by the waist and pulled her onto his lap where she could discover exactly how much he wanted her.
She laughed, and he pulled her closer and kissed her. When she pulled away, she placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him from following up the kiss with more intimate caresses.
“Nay, not yet, William. I would show you something.”
He narrowed his eyes, all attention. “Go ahead. I’ll gladly look at anything you care to show me.”
To his surprise, she jumped up and unclasped the light robe she wore and let it fall to the floor with an abandon she’d only just acquired. She wore only her shift when she took his hand and pulled him to standing, and began taking off his clothes. It seemed only courteous to William to help her.
He soon stood naked and reached out to rid her of the only piece of clothing she wore now, a shift beneath which he could see the outline of her body. But she shook her head and pushed him back onto the bed.
She sat on his lap and kissed him, and he forgot about everything except the way her bottom caressed him and the peaks of her breasts, which pushed through the soft cloth of her chemise. He pulled down her chemise and took one of the dark buds in his mouth and suckled her, harder than he’d ever done before. But then, before, she’d always looked more vulnerable, and he’d not wanted to hurt or frighten her. But now it looked as if she had control and was enjoying it.
She gasped and inhaled deeply, her breasts rising, allowing him to fill his mouth with her, to allow his tongue to lathe and explore that which she pushed into him. She dropped her head back, and he exposed her other breast, playing with it with his fingers before moving his mouth to that one.
She seemed far more sensitive than usual, and suddenly she twisted around and placed one leg either side of his body, allowing him easier reach to her breasts and her naked sex—the chemise having ridden up to the top of her legs—pressed
against his cock.
As his mouth latched onto her nipples, first one than the other, she writhed against him, pleasuring herself as she pushed against his hardness. She moved more and more quickly, her breathing come in short, hard pants before she cried out, and he felt the moisture leak from her and onto him. It was more than he could stand.
With one swift movement, she was on her back, and he’d plunged deep inside of her, still feeling the waves of pleasure caressing him, pulling him, wanting him. And he wanted to give her everything he had. And he did.
But after they both came, it seemed once wasn’t to be enough for his lady. Alice was on fire with desire, and while they were still connected, he followed her lead and rolled onto his back. She sat astride him, moving on him, closing her eyes as the movements pleasured her, her hands reaching and caressing his muscles and sinews. She leaned down and kissed his chest, licking his nipples as he’d done hers. His cock was soon hard inside her again. But he knew it wouldn’t be over so quickly this time. Both of them had been pleasured, now they could take their time.
And, it seemed, Alice was in charge. While she ground down upon him, lifted up, following some age-old sense, and watching his pleasure and experimenting, repeating when she saw his reaction. Then she nodded, and a slow smile spread over her face. With both hands, she lifted her chemise from her body and placed his hands upon her stomach.
“This is the ‘we’, William. Me and our baby.”
He heard the words but couldn’t believe them straight away. She had to repeat them before he fully understood.
“For years, I never imagined such a thing would come to pass.”
He smiled. “That’s what happens when you love someone.”
“Love…” She repeated dreamily. He kissed her, preventing further talk, as his lips and tongue coaxed her to demand another, very physical, kind of loving. And he gave it to her, more gently than she wanted, but he made sure she was satisfied for she would be the mother of his children. And he’d make sure to honor her and protect them all.
Honoring his Lady: A Medieval Romance (Norfolk Knights Book 5) Page 18