“Then as such can he not give permission for my hand?”
“Aye.”
“Then my father would have no choice but to allow our marriage.” Emily smiled and laid her head down on his chest. “All will be fine. You will see. The king shall forgive you, and my father will learn to accept our union.”
Draven stroked her soft hair. What he failed to tell her was Henry’s departing words to him.
“Mar her maidenhead, Draven, and we will see you hanged, drawn, and quartered for it. ’Tis our honor you represent. Tarnish it and you will suffer the consequences.”
He didn’t delude himself for a moment that Henry would forgive him. He knew better. He had known better the moment he swept her up in his arms and carried her to his room. But that hadn’t mattered to him. He had wanted her, and so he had taken her.
But his one moment of pleasure with her would come at a high price indeed.
Chapter 16
Draven wanted to spend the rest of the day in her arms, but didn’t dare. There were too many people around who could easily get word to her father. Not that he feared for himself; far from it. He had accepted the possibility of dying young the first day he held a sword in his hand.
But he refused to see Emily harmed for his actions.
He left her with a kiss, then dressed and went to find Simon.
And find him, he did. Simon was waiting for him in the hall with a look on his face as if Draven were the angel of death come to claim his unrepentant soul.
“You took her, didn’t you?” he asked as soon as Draven drew near.
“Is that not what you wanted?”
Simon looked away sheepishly. “Since when have you ever listened to me?”
“It appears today.”
Anguish contorted Simon’s face. “I didn’t mean for you to take her like this. I thought you would marry her first. ’Twas my intent. Now what are you to do?”
“She wants me to send word to Henry and ask if he’ll sanction a wedding.”
“Will he?”
Draven looked at him. It would do no good to lie, besides he had never done such to his brother. “What think you?”
“Henry can be reasonable at times.”
Draven snorted. “You mean capricious. If I catch him in the right mood, ’tis possible he might forget what he said.”
“And how likely is that?” Simon asked.
Draven heaved a weary sigh. “Not, I’m afraid. He will see my actions as a personal betrayal against him since I am his champion.”
Simon hung his head. “I’m sorry I got you into this.”
“Easy, Simon,” he said, placing a comforting hand on Simon’s shoulder. “You didn’t get me into this. I did. I knew the repercussions and I made the choice.”
Draven smiled at the memory of her in his arms. “If it makes you feel better though, she is well worth it.”
Simon gave him a hard stare. “I hope you can still say that when they’re scooping your entrails out and you’re still alive to feel it.”
“I’ve had worse.”
“Such as?”
“The day my heart was ripped out of me. I assure you the king’s executioner could never equal the pain I felt the day I saw our mother die.” He stared at the far wall where his father’s table had once stood. “I never faced all of it until today. And now…”
“Now?” Simon prompted.
“I can’t say ’tis all better, for I still ache, but that hollow part of me has somehow been filled.”
Simon frowned. “What hollow part?”
It suddenly dawned on Draven just what he was saying. It had been years since he shared such confidences with Simon.
What had Emily done to him?
Stiffening at the thought, he looked at Simon drolly. “The hollow part between my ears. Now go and leave me.”
Emily went downstairs to wait for Draven, but he never showed himself. The servants had cleaned away the remnants of the dais, and when she had tried to speak with Simon, he had offered a feeble excuse and vanished.
She felt like a pariah as she sat before the burning fire in the darkened hall waiting for Draven’s return. One of Draven’s hounds sat by her side, and she idly stroked his ears as she stared into the hearth. Most of the castle’s occupants had retired, and she wondered if Draven had any intention of returning to the hall this night.
“What are you doing here?”
She jumped at Draven’s voice behind her. “Do you never make a sound?” she snapped as her heart pounded.
“I thought you heard my footsteps on the stairs.” He moved to stand behind her chair.
Emily looked up at him over her shoulder. “I would ask what brings you here, but I assume ’tis time for you to start your nightly vigil.”
“Aye.”
She reached up and took his hand. He squeezed hers gently, then lifted it to his lips and kissed her knuckles. Warmth filled her at the tender gesture.
He released her hand and fished in his purse for a minute. Emily frowned.
“Close your eyes,” he said.
She did as he commanded. He placed something cold and heavy around her neck. Emily stroked the object with her fingers and knew it for a necklace.
Opening her eyes, she looked down to see the emerald necklace the merchant had tried to talk her into at the fair in Lincoln.
“Draven?” she asked in disbelief.
“I saw the way you looked at it at the fair and I wanted you to have it.”
“But how?”
“I sent Druce for it the night before we left.”
Warmth filled her at his thoughtfulness. “Thank you.”
He nodded.
Emily rose from her seat and kissed him gently on his cheek.
Draven closed his eyes to savor the feel of her lips on his skin.
“Come upstairs with me,” she whispered in his ear.
God help him, but he followed. After all, what did it matter at this point? Henry couldn’t hang him twice for the same offense.
Besides, ’twas infinitely better to spend the night in her arms than walking the parapets.
She led him to her room where the fire had burned low in the hearth and a single tallow candle lit the room. It smelled of roses and apples, and the smell instantly warmed him.
Draven stopped in the center of the room and pulled her into his arms. He leaned his face down into the hollow of her throat and inhaled the precious scent that was his Emily.
She cupped his elbows in her hands and nuzzled her head against his neck. Draven swallowed. She had seen him in ways no one ever had. When he looked into her eyes he didn’t see the bastard demon born of hell, he saw himself as he wanted to be. Kind, heroic, noble, and most of all lovable.
He touched her lips with his fingertips. “Thank you,” he breathed.
“For what?”
“For seeing the best inside of me.”
She smiled at him. “I only see what is there.”
Not believing it for a minute, he leaned forward and kissed her.
Emily surrendered herself to him with a gentle moan of pleasure.
“I have never seen anything more wondrous than you,” he said softly.
She smiled at him. He enveloped her with his arms and held her close to the heat of his body.
Emily trembled. For some reason, she felt as though she’d come home after a long absence. Something about being with this man just felt so very right.
She looked up to see if he felt it as well. She didn’t know, but his gaze burned into hers.
He dipped his head toward her lips, and she welcomed his kiss. Emily moaned deep in her throat as their lips met. This was what she had been aching for. Time alone with a man she loved as he rained kisses on her.
With a boldness that astounded her, she took his lips between her teeth and tugged gently. She wanted to devour this man, to feel every inch of him against her and never, ever to let him go.
Draven’s head swam as he tast
ed the sweetness of her mouth. She clutched at his back with her hands, pulling him so close to her that he feared he might actually hurt her.
In her innocence, she rubbed her breasts against his chest, searing him with heat. Draven moaned as she shifted her weight in his arms and her hip brushed against his swollen groin.
“Emily,” he groaned, trying to pull back from her.
Instead, she leaned forward, recapturing his lips with her own.
His will shredded by her touch, Draven was past the point of rational thought. All he could focus on was the manifestation of his dreams. The pleasure of her smell, the feel of her hip grinding against the part of him he had longed to give her.
“Make love to me, Draven, for the rest of the night,” Emily begged as she buried her hands in his hair.
She felt his hands tugging at the hem of her gown, lifting it up so that he was able to touch the bare flesh of her buttocks as he kissed her fiercely, demandingly.
She reveled in the feel of him, in the knowledge that she would never want another man the way she wanted Draven.
Never.
Ecstasy tore through her as chills erupted the length of her body. She wasn’t sure what thrilled her more, the feel of his tongue stroking her neck or the strong hands that touched her in places no other man had ever touched.
Draven cupped her face in his hands and kissed her deeply.
Emily closed her eyes.
“Here,” he said, his voice a ragged whisper in her ear. “Touch me here.” He took her hand and placed it on the bulge of his breeches.
She widened her eyes at the feel of him throbbing in her palm. Her first instinct was to pull away, but the look of pleasure on his face was so great that it spurred her on. She lifted her hand up to the waistband of his breeches, then boldly plunged her hand down through the tangled curls between his legs to touch the flesh of him with her hand.
He shook all over. Emily smiled in satisfaction at the thought of the power she had over this man who claimed he needed no one.
He laid her down then, against the hard floor, and pulled her gown from her. Exposed to his gaze, she trembled in uncertainty. Her face warmed as his gaze ran over her.
“My Emily,” he whispered. “I want to see you, to touch you, but most of all, I want to taste you.”
He dipped his head to her breast. Emily arched her back at the sensation of his tongue playing across the taut peak. Moaning, she cupped his head in her hands and held him close as his hot breath scorched her skin.
He ran his hand down her stomach and over her hip. Her entire body ached with need. Bittersweet pleasure tore through her.
And then he trailed his hand around her thigh and touched the center of her body. Emily gasped as ecstasy whipped through her while his fingers caressed the tender folds of her body.
Draven groaned deep in his throat as he pulled back to look down at her. Over and over his fingers stroked her, teasing her with a promise of more pleasure, until he pulled away.
Emily whimpered in disappointment as he rose to his feet and pulled off his breeches.
Draven held his hand out to her. Emily took it and allowed him to pull her to her feet. He led her to the edge of the bed.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
He made a deep, throaty sound that warmed her. “You haven’t been reading your book lately,” he teased as he placed a kiss on the back of her neck.
Emily shivered.
Draven stood behind her then. He pulled her back against his chest and ran his hands over her breasts, down her waist, and to her hips.
Emily arched her back against him and reached up over her head to bury her hands in his hair.
He wrapped one arm about her waist, then trailed his hand back to the juncture of her thighs. Emily moaned in pleasure.
“That’s it,” he breathed against her neck. “Surrender your weight to me.”
She did, and he rained kisses over her shoulders. She could feel the tip of his shaft pressing against her buttocks.
He sucked his breath in sharply between his teeth, then lifted his head. His fingers returned to the center of her body to torture her with pleasure. Emily couldn’t stand it. She writhed in his arms as his fingers slid in and out of her, heightening her pleasure.
And as the ache in her built, he nudged her thighs wider apart and plunged himself into her body.
Emily moaned in bliss as she lowered her hips to draw him deeper into her.
Draven closed his eyes, savoring her sighs as he buried himself up to his hilt. Never had he felt anything more incredible than the tightness of her heat surrounding him as he thrust himself back inside her.
Heaven help him for what he was doing. But this was all he had ever wanted in his life. Someone who could accept him.
She was a part of him he hadn’t realized was missing until she had stumbled into his life, holding that damned red chicken in her hands.
Emily clenched her teeth as exquisite torture wracked her body. Her head spun as he drove himself into her again and again, deeper than before. It was incredible, this feeling of him behind her and in her.
His fingers quickened to a rhythm to match the strokes of his hips. Her body became possessed of its own free will as it met him stroke for stroke, building her pleasure until she could barely stand it.
And then she exploded into ribbons of sheer, unadulterated ecstasy. Emily cried out as a pleasure more profound than anything she had ever imagined tore through her. She tightened her hand in his hair as her body was turned inside out by his touch.
Draven closed his eyes as he felt her shuddering in his arms, and then he filled her with his own release.
Sated to a depth he had never known existed, Draven sank to his knees.
Emily turned around slowly. A sheen of sweat covered Draven’s body as he looked up at her in awe. Smiling, she knelt down by his side and pulled his lips to hers.
His kiss was deep and possessive as he toyed with her lips. “You were incredible, milady.”
She ran her hand over his brow, then through his hair as she stared at those multicolored blue eyes. “I had no idea it could be like that,” she said in awe.
“Neither did I.” He reached for his tunic and wiped the sweat from his face before he returned to her.
Draven sat cross-legged on the floor, then pulled her to his lap. Emily bit her lip as he wrapped her legs about his waist and held her tight against him.
She quivered at the sensation of his muscled stomach touching the sensitive flesh between her legs. Smiling, she brushed his hair from his eyes and planted a quick kiss on his cheek.
Draven nuzzled at her neck, sending waves of chills over her. Pulling back, he toyed with her necklace. Emily groaned as he picked up the large tear-shaped emerald, and his knuckles brushed against her breast. He gave her a hard look before seizing her breast with his teeth.
Hissing in pleasure, she leaned back. Draven laid her gently against the floor and she lay exposed to him with her buttocks still resting in his lap.
“You know,” he said, staring at her. “I have wanted you since the moment I first saw you with that chicken.”
“Truly?”
“Aye,” he said, moving his thumb to gently stroke her between her legs. “I can still see you there tormenting that poor man.”
She moaned as she again writhed to his touch. “That poor man was accosting me, Sir Knight.”
By the look of his face, she could tell he didn’t care for that thought one little bit. He stopped his torturous assault on her body.
“Accosting you how?”
Emily frowned at him. “Now don’t be angry, Draven. If not for Theodore’s inept attempts, I would not appreciate you.”
His face softened as he again returned to his careful ministrations.
Emily could scarce think straight as he touched her. There was so much magic in his touch. It was strong yet gentle, and it amazed her that he could be so giving.
His eyes darke
ned again and she felt him grow hard once more.
“Are you never sated?” she asked in awe.
She arched a questioning brow at him, and then he did the most unexpected thing of all.
He laughed.
Stunned, she sat upright as the musical sound filled her ears. “Draven?”
He shook his head. “I couldn’t help myself,” he whispered. “You make me happy, Emily.”
And then he shifted her hips until he filled her with pleasure.
She moaned at the sensation of him hot and hard inside her again. Biting her lip, she lifted herself up, then brought herself down upon him.
He hissed and tightened his hold on her waist. She opened her eyes to meet his hungry gaze.
“I am yours, milady. Do with me as you please.”
And she did. Over and over again until some time in the wee hours when she became too tired.
Draven picked her up and laid her in the bed. She fell asleep almost as soon as he covered her with the blanket.
He marveled at the way she slept so soundly. He couldn’t recall a time in his life when he had felt as happy as he did just then with her nestled by his side.
He would sell his soul to keep the dawn from breaking. To be able to hold on to her like this forever. But he of all men knew the futility of dreams and wants.
The morning would come.
And eventually the truth of them would be known to all, and he would have to face Henry’s wrath.
A few short hours later, Draven watched the sun rise through the open window. Birds began to chirp, and he heard the servants waking and going about their business in the hall below.
Emily whispered in her sleep of dragons and roses.
Smiling at her honeyed voice, he felt himself stir.
He shook his head, amazed at the fact he could still want her after the night they had shared.
But want her, he did.
Brushing her hair from her shoulder, he placed a tender kiss on the bare flesh as he cupped her supple breast in his hand. She lay on her side facing away from him. Draven moved beneath the sheets, tilting her leg up ever so slightly so that he could gain access to her.
With his body afire, he drove himself back into the paradise that was her.
Master of Desire Page 24