“That it does,” he agreed.
“And you don’t care what I’ve done to you?”
“You? What have you done to me that I didn’t arrange myself? I devised his plot to have you punished and imprisoned here away from Mountbane’s bed and dungeons.”
“Why go to such lengths to bring me here?”
“Are you totally daft?”
“I am confused, sir.”
He shook his head. “If you can’t see the measures of love then you don’t know what love is.”
“I’ve never had the chance to love.”
“Or be loved, I assume.”
Her face was just inches from his, her breasts squashed against his side, his arm around her, and their legs intertwined as though this intimate position was natural to them. Charlotte’s hair was tangled in his hand as she pressed her cheek against the side of his shoulder. She smelled the aroma of his manliness and smiled remembering how his fragrance had stood out from those sanctioned acts of sex before. Her heart suddenly fluttered anxiously and she pulled up enough to gaze into his eyes. “Are you saying that you love me?”
“I have loved you for some time.”
“Oh, dear. What are we going to do?” She looked aghast.
“Nothing if my love is not returned.”
“Ah, Sir Tristan, if this flutter in my belly and ache in my heart—not to mention the lust between my thighs—isn’t love, well then, I have to disappoint you. But if it is, then I know I love you. You have no idea how much time my mind spends thinking of you, only to throw those thoughts away and tell myself they’re foolish.”
“They are foolish no more, my dear. Let yourself enjoy them.”
“And that is your command?”
“It is.”
“Or what, you’ll whip me?” she chided.
“Of course. Your randy ass will never cease to please me in its molten state.”
“Then you’ll be worse than Mountbane, since he’s obviously tired of me.”
“He’s a fool!”
Her eyes grew wide again at this heresy. “You blaspheme your sovereign so?”
“He is not my sovereign, and has not been for some time. But perhaps he is yours?”
“I’ve been taught to believe he is down to the tiniest bone in my frame.”
“And what does Charlotte know as true?”
“That I have no sovereign but the one I give my heart to.”
“Have you given Mountbane your heart?”
“No, and I never will!”
He laughed. “Good girl.”
Charlotte returned to the comfort of his arms where the two dozed for some minutes. She awakened with her body quaking for sex. Moving to Tristan’s crotch she began to suckle his limp penis, drawing it in and out of her mouth until it began to swell and her lover began to stir.
“What’s this?”
“My gift to you, sir.”
He let her have him for some minutes more as she lapped the base of his scrotum, massaged the heavy package of his balls, and then swallowed him so far down her throat that she gagged and had to pull back. She continued until he was fully erect, when he pulled her atop his groin. Straddling his hips, she nestled down impaled by the swollen meat. Ah! this was delight again. They would enjoy each other twice more until very late that afternoon, when the two would finally rise from bed cherishing these sexual memories until their desire struck again.
“Are you hungry, sir?” Charlotte asked, as she peered into the small pantry near the makeshift kitchen.
“There is some cheese and meat stored outside in the cold. Grab my cloak or you’ll freeze,” he suggested.
“How could I freeze when my body is so hot? Besides, is this not spring? Yesterday was quite warm.”
“Do it anyway,” he ordered. “The weather has changed and the wind will turn your tits to ice?”
She laughed and grabbed his cloak, but nonetheless went barefoot into the breezy afternoon to find their food.
After serving her lover in the kindest fashion, and eating in bits and pieces off his plate, Charlotte’s chatter ceased.
“Something troubling you?” Tristan asked.
“I wonder, what we do with love when it’s fated to fail?”
“Why fail?” he asked her.
“I am the wife and slave to another man—and a very powerful one indeed. And you are bound to my husband, as well as a wife who will not give you away.”
“As far as Gwnyth is concerned, she wants me no more than I want her. Mountbane? He can be handled.”
“How so?”
“He has his schemes, I have mine.”
“And what would those be?” she asked.
He looked at her reprovingly. “Have you forgotten yourself? You’re still a slave and to ask such questions violates that premise.”
“I beg your forgiveness,” she said as she bowed her head.
“Consider me as your sovereign, Charlotte, while you placate your husband. But you will obey me, or fear reprisals you may not relish.”
“I’d love anything you gave me!” she assured him.
“Did you enjoy yesterday?”
“In some ways. I’m sure you saw my ecstasy. Of course, the night before was intensely humiliating.” She thought back to the grueling bondage. “Made no more than a common piece of furniture! I was beginning to believe that you regarded me as lowly as you made me feel.”
“Really? You were embarrassed to be so crudely used?”
“I was.”
“Hmm, then, I’ll have to try that again.”
“Oh, please. You do jest.”
“At some fancy dinner, I’ll have you turned into a footstool, or perhaps bind a tray to your back and you can serve my guests their drinks.”
“I would serve you so,” she answered him honestly.
“I’m sure you would.” He laughed more as though it were all in jest, though Charlotte knew that this cunning nobleman could be as wickedly ruthless as any Ilusian master, including Mountbane. “Perhaps I overacted yesterday in deference to my pupils,” he did explain. “After all, they are training for their roles in Mountbane’s service. And, we must be careful how we act with each other. When they return tomorrow, I will continue to instruct them while you obey. And when I leave, you’ll follow their commands as you would mine or any master’s. Is that clear?”
“I understand it all. But you’ll be leaving me?” She looked concerned.
“You’re to stay here as long as Mountbane wants you to remain away from the castle. I imagine it will take two weeks for the man to have his new tart used up and thrown out. By then, he might welcome you back in his bed and expect full compliance from your lips and body. You will give that, too.”
“Forever? And let my heart die every time I see you!” The look of melancholy in her face could move a less steady man to tears.
“Other arrangements will be made, soon. But such things take time.”
“Then I’ll be with you?”
“Then you’ll be with me,” he assured her.
She was troubled now. And though they made love once more before they slept, she couldn’t keep the sense of dread from her anxious body, or the wild imaginings of disaster out of her thoughts. By the next morning, she was sure that Sir Tristan’s and their covert love affair was a fated mistake.
In the morning, the pair was wise to guard themselves lest the two young men return to the hovel earlier than Tristan ordered them. They stayed clear of the bed and each other, acting more like master and slave than lovers. Charlotte was cleaning the kitchen like a kitchen slave and Tristan was putting on his leather boots.
“Tristan, this is too dangerous,” Charlotte said flatly. “Whatever plan you have crafted is foolish. Neither one of us would survive if we were caught. I can’t let you take the chance. I won’t. And I’m firm on that.” She sounded firm, like the adamant Charlotte of old. The man looked up, hearing her reckless words fly forth in an unexpected wave of passion.
“I should whip you now for such insolence, milady. And whip you soundly for spewing this nonsense.”
“The danger is too great. I’m sure of it!” she answered tersely.
He moved up, grabbing her wrist away from her work, “Danger is part of life,” he reminded her with a voice as filled with passion as hers was.
“What if Mountbane discovers what has happened!” Her eyes flashed fire as she spoke.
“He won’t learn the truth from me. Are you so weak that you’ll let it slip?”
“Of course not! But would it not be better to live together as we have, stealing the moments when we can?” she calmed her wrath in order to plead with him. “There are plenty of opportunities for us to love in secret.”
“What happened to you, dear lady—just yesterday you agreed against such pretenses. You plead both sides!”
“I am worried, sir. About your safety.”
“Think clearly, Charlotte, you really believe when you return that Mountbane will restore your privileges as his wife?” Tristan eased his grip on her wrist, though he would not let go.
“I would assume he would,” she replied.
“He might for a time, if you’re lucky. But it’s more likely the birds won’t fly north as spring approaches, than Mountbane will have you back. He has his ways. Trust me, you are finished with him.”
“You are so certain?”
“I am,” his dark eyes were now as cold as the north wind. “Trust me, as soon as he tires of you again—if he doesn’t do this directly when you return—he’ll cage you in his dungeon until you’re an old and withered hag.”
“Oh, never. I am his wife, he won me well. He’d never do that.”
“You think not? He already has once, ma’am.”
“What do you mean, he has? I’m in no dungeon now.”
“His other wife, my cousin, Elissa, was sent to the dungeons after two years romping playfully in his bed. She was his slave and still she was condemned. At least he gave you three years of bliss. When Mountbane tired of her she was gone—in mind and body no longer of use to him.”
“He had another wife?” She was aghast. “Where is she now, still there?”
“She’s dead,” he said flatly.
“My, lord, no! He killed her? Had her killed?”
“That wasn’t necessary,” Tristan said. “A nasty plague went through the cells the first winter. And before it ran its course, she was too far gone to revive.”
“Could she not have easily died living in the castle above?”
“No one died in his noble realm. It was a simple ailment, but unchecked it became virulent.”
She still could not fathom this wild story. “I know my husband is a hard and even cruel man at times; but I can’t believe he’d allow a wife to die of such neglect.”
“Neglect it was. He tried to mourn, but he has no soul.”
“No, that can’t be. Such wit and grace, sexual prowess, even if he’s cunning.”
“He’s a charming madman, Charlotte.”
“Perhaps so,” she looked down pensively considering his words. “I worry for you. You indict yourself to believe what you believe and then say these things.”
“I’d say them to his face.”
“But reporting it to me? Don’t you consider that a dangerous gamble?”
“Is your allegiance so fragile?” he asked.
“No, sir. It is firmly with you.”
“Then I have nothing to fear.”
“So, why, milord, have you stayed in this province if you hate it so? You’re free to leave.”
“To find you,” he said simply.
“Me?”
“Revenge.”
“That’s all I am, revenge?”
“I can think of no better revenge than to fall in love with Mountbane’s wife and have her return my love.”
Charlotte turned away from him, pondering his statement—unsure how she should feel… was this affair nothing but revenge for a terrible crime? That simply couldn’t be. There was his love, and that was genuine. She may not be schooled in such things, but no man would give a slave so much affection and not feel it with his whole heart.
“You are a sly rogue,” she finally snickered as she turned around. “Perhaps you are more madman than he?”
“Perhaps I am.”
“And perhaps you’ll throw me over once your revenge is finished?”
His eyes gleamed with both wildness and love. “That is the chance you’ll have to take. You can believe me or be wary, but you know the whole truth now.”
Charlotte pondered silently, until Tristan finally spoke again, “So, what is it, now that you know all my motives? Will you cleave to your husband in the hopes he’ll take you back?”
Charlotte’s pensive look brightened. “No, sir. I can no longer cleave to a man I do not love—I’m sure that Mountbane would betray me as easily as he did your cousin.” She thought longer, remembering what seemed like an eon ago, though it was only a few years. “I was betrayed by a man I loved once—my father,” she said sadly. “You are right. I may not wish to believe it so, but the truth is, I’m in this hovel now because he has some plans afoot.” Her mood darkened even more. “I suppose I should call myself guilty for his change of passion. It’s been a steady shift in temperament, but a natural one. He finds other flesh more entertaining than me now because I have subtly risen from surrender to become a real woman once again. Mountbane, at heart, is a simple man, and I have complicated his sense of order.” She looked up at Tristan without one hint of a slave’s disposition in her lovely countenance. “Whatever it is, your plan is likely as sound a one as returning to find myself imprisoned in his dungeon.”
Tristan nodded. She would have thought that he would welcome her decision but it was his turn to brood.
“Something troubles you, sir?” she noted.
“Tell me, Charlotte, is surrender just a game for you, or is it real?”
“You cannot tell yourself?”
“At the moment, the answer isn’t obvious to me,” he confessed. “But the question is an important one. Do you deny your surrender as slave?”
She thought a moment. “Only the principle on which it is founded, sir,” she replied. “I am not a maid who is too afraid to fend for herself. I made accommodations when I came here because I had no choice but to relent. When I did, I learned the surprising truth. I relish surrender, but,” she hastened to add, “not to fools, or those who regard me as an object to reject on whims and throw away.”
“Perhaps you hate what Mountbane has made of you? Perhaps submission denies your real nature?”
Her eyes brightened, “I made me who I am to survive this Ilusia. I have found surrender sweet, but make no mistake, I am not a mindless slave.”
“I never considered you such,” he said with understanding. “But make no mistake, Lady Charlotte,” his eyes pierced her, “you go with me, you will surrender to me.” He stood now, his expression grave. “I will come for you in a fortnight, you can make your decision then.”
His boots were on. His clothes fixed well. And the tenderness that had so filled their hideaway with love seemed to have been replaced by the tense anticipation of the crime they were about.
“But I have made my decision!” she came to him, now more sure of herself than ever.
“Hush! Our friends arrive,” he glanced toward the window where his eager pupils were walking up the path. “Change takes time—and in this case, some preparation. We are not going to steal into the night without a place to go. It’s better that I’m gone now, than betray us both. You put on whatever cloaks of surrender that please you, Charlotte, and do not give our secret away. Mind these fellows well, like the first hours of your submission when it was the sweetest thing in your world. If not,” he spoke more intently, “I’m likely to take you to the dungeon myself and torture you for days.”
She shivered wantingly at the very thought of that, but then sent her heart fleeing
. By the time the two young masters strode into the hovel, she was on the floor with her face pressed to the dusty surface—as though she’d been that way for hours.
“She’s had enough reprieve, gentlemen. Practice with her. Let her serve you as you wish. But do remember that she’s the property of Lord Mountbane. She’s not to be damaged goods or he’ll have your heads—after I remove your cocks with a butcher knife.”
Chapter Eleven
Mountbane was busy in his chambers when he heard the knocking on his door.
“Come!” he ordered.
Two tarts had lain with him the night before and he shooed them off as Tristan entered.
“You sent for me?”
“I think it’s time to rescue my wife from the forest,” he said.
“If that’s your wish. She’s been well worked by the young gentlemen. They’ve learned a great deal making sure that she has suffered for her impudence. You were wise to see her so humbled.”
“Indeed,” he sounded less than interested. “But I do have other plans for her.”
“How so?”
“I have promised her to Sir Guy of Baudaire. You’ll take her to the province where she’ll serve him until he is ready to return her to me.”
“Such a rash move, sir?” Tristan let the information settle with him, knowing what this meant.
“Not true. I have thought on this some weeks. After Sir Guy’s imploring, I found it to my liking.”
“Then I’ll prepare for the trip.”
“As speedily as possible.”
“Would you have her returned here first?”
“No, you can explain the move as you like. Make certain that she does this in a spirit of surrender. I assume her re-training will stick more than an hour or two.”
“I trust that it will last.”
“Good. And you can take your two men with you. The journey is a short one, a few weeks at best.”
“Perhaps sooner, milord.”
“I’ll expect a handsome token from them for my generosity.”
“I’ll make sure you have it.”
Mountbane was satisfied; and with his lieutenant gone, he moved on to more lascivious deeds.
The Surrender of Lady Charlotte Page 10