Wicked, Sinful Nights

by Julia Latham

  “I have parchment and quill,” the Bladesman said. “Surely you can write words and sums for me.”

  “I can!”

  “Then occupy yourself until we return for you.”

  “By doing my studies?” Francis asked in disbelief.

  “Then draw me pictures.”

  Relieved, Francis glanced at Sarah, who nodded her permission.

  When the door had closed behind the boy, all three adults stopped smiling. Walter looked directly at Robert, no emotion visible.

  Sarah hastily said, “I ran away with the boy, and Robert had to come find me.”

  “The explanation will surely prove interesting,” Walter said dryly. “Let us sit.”

  Robert watched Walter’s face as he and Sarah took turns explaining everything. He saw the moment Walter realized that Robert had committed the sin of revealing the presence of the League of the Blade. But he couldn’t care about his own future now. All that mattered was the safety of Sarah and Francis.

  When Robert reiterated that there was no reason for Sarah to want the boy dead, Walter looked right at Sarah as he spoke.

  “You could want to punish the whole family because the viscount rejected you.”

  She gaped at him.

  Smoothly, Walter continued. “But I do not believe that.”

  She hung her head, her shoulders trembling. Robert tensed, wished he could comfort her, but knowing her best chance with the League lay with his detachment.

  “Ramsey does have the stronger motive to want both Francis and his father dead,” Walter continued. “And he has the resources to command or pay for the loyalty of an accomplice. And we know he has lied to us. Therefore I will remain with young Lord Drayton at all times. He will only eat what I see prepared before me, or what one of you prepares for him. Mistress Sarah, you need never fear for his life again. Everything else I will leave in Sir Robert’s hands.”

  Robert nodded. “I have been thinking much about the way to prove that Ramsey is the murderer. The only way to do so is to trap him so that he’s forced to admit to his crimes.”

  He laid out his idea before Sarah and Walter.

  Walter considered for a moment, and then nodded. “’Tis a good plan.”

  “Sarah?” Robert said.

  She licked her lips, her hands clasped before her. “Aye,” she said in a low voice. “We can do this.”

  “I will send for more Bladesmen,” Walter said.

  Robert cocked his head in surprise.

  “I am concerned that Ramsey could turn loose his armed guard upon the household.”

  “That would betray him just as clearly,” Robert said.

  “Perhaps, but we should not take the risk.”

  “Will I need to prepare chambers for these guests?” Sarah asked.

  Robert smiled. “I don’t think they will allow themselves to be that obvious.”

  “Let me keep Francis here with me this morn,” Walter said. “I am rested, and the two of you are not. Send for me when all is ready, and I will bring him secretly to his bedchamber.”

  Sarah looked at the two of them, and Robert could see her mind working. She hadn’t known them much beyond a sennight, yet now she had to trust them with her very life. For the first time in days, he sensed no hesitation, no secrets. He only hoped she sensed the same thing in him.

  It was difficult to leave Francis with Sir Walter, Sarah thought, even though she knew the boy would be protected.

  As they hurried down the corridor beneath the guest lodgings, she glanced at Robert. “Surely you can tell me if Walter has experience with children.”

  “I know not, although at his age, I would imagine it plausible. Remember, Sarah, our lives are as secret as the existence of the League. I know nothing at all about Walter—except the most important thing of all: that he was deemed worthy to be chosen a Bladesman. That is enough for me.”

  She would have to take him at his word.

  “Follow me,” he said, leading her through the rear of the keep.

  They saw no one, as she knew Robert had planned, because it would have been difficult to explain why all of her belongings were in bulging satchels.

  Together they searched each chamber in the viscount’s lodgings, but could find no evidence that anything had been disturbed during the night. Sarah unpacked, returning all to its proper place. When she left Francis’s bedchamber and returned to her own, she found Robert standing at the hearth. He’d made a small fire, and she smelled the odor of burning yarrow leaves. He was taking care of the last of the evidence against her.

  “Do not inhale too much of it,” she warned.

  She came up beside him and silently looked into the fire. Their shoulders brushed, but it didn’t feel awkward. It was a companionable moment, as if this ordeal might actually end soon, and well.

  “The League of the Blade,” she murmured, shaking her head.

  He looked down at her, that faint smile on his handsome face.

  “What great deed brought you to the attention of such warriors?” she teased.

  He chuckled. “No great deed, as I’m certain Walter performed. I was part of an experiment that the League conducted from the time I had four years.”

  Her amusement faded and she wrapped her hands about his upper arm. “I don’t understand.”

  He covered her hand with his. “I was not lying to you when I claimed to have been raised without the presence of women. But my home was not a monastery. I was hidden within the League fortress because my parents were killed, and the murderer had not been brought to justice.”

  “That is so close to the details of Francis’s life,” she murmured, her heart aching for Robert and his lost childhood.

  “My brother Adam is the earl of Keswick, and our family name is Hilliard.”

  She felt a stab of uncertainty, of coming sadness. He was the brother of an earl, while she was only the daughter of a poor knight. Her hopes for a future with him no longer seemed so bright.

  He smiled wryly. “Since our parents’ murderer wasn’t caught, the League was concerned that Adam would be the next target, so it was determined that only the League could keep us safe. We could not return home. We were orphans and someone wanted us dead. I understand Francis’s life too well.”

  “So…what was the experiment?”

  He drew her to the edge of the bed and sat down beside her. “The League usually recruits members from adulthood, but our arrival gave them a new opportunity to train Bladesmen from childhood.”

  “But surely that does not seem a fair thing to do to a child.”

  “Our foster father, Sir Timothy, who brought us to the League, agreed with your sentiments, but the Council voted and he was overruled.” He smiled down at her. “Do not look as if this was the worst thing imaginable. I’ve had a good life. My brothers were my playmates, and I was taught all the things young men should learn. I was tutored in everything from the classical sciences to sword fighting. Nothing was left to chance—except our ability to be like normal people.”

  “I don’t understand.” She leaned closer, and was glad when he put his arm around her.

  “There were some disadvantages. My younger brother, Paul, always suspicious, knew something was wrong with our lives. I thought he took things too seriously. All I wanted was to enjoy myself.”

  “Then you and I were much alike in our youth.”

  “I knew we were kindred spirits.”

  He was so close, so warm. He was her protector. Their smiles faded as they looked into each other’s eyes. She could feel the long, lean length of him all the way down her body.

  Hastily, she said, “There was a problem with the experiment?”

  “By the time I escaped to find girls, Adam was already participating in the occasional mission for the League. This was when all realized that they had not prepared us well enough for entry into a society we knew nothing about. Oh, they taught us to play instruments, to wait on noblemen, as every squire learns. They even gave us
dancing lessons.”

  “With no women?”

  “I thought the whole thing amusing. But I truly wanted to fit in out in the real world, for it was my turn to work for the League, to do what I’d spent my life training for. And I’m good at it, Sarah.”

  There was a passion and urgency in his voice that called to her, but she would let him explain it in his own way.

  “Yet it was brought home to me every day that I was very different from other men. A Bladesman is trained to hide himself among others, but I found this more difficult and challenging than did the regular Bladesmen. The League realized that their attempt to train Bladesmen from the cradle was fraught with a different kind of problem. They declared that their experiment had failed. I have never been the sort to worry over a past that could not be changed, but Paul felt used and mistreated. He left the League, left us.”

  She felt a pang of sympathy at his loss. Another family member gone from his life. “Have you seen him since?”

  Robert shook his head. “Nay. He simply…vanished.”

  “How terrible for you.”

  “I do not fear for him. He is as trained as a man can be.” He sighed. “And soon Adam left without telling me. He knew the identity of our parents’ murderer, and was determined to bring the man to justice. I followed and refused to leave him. We traveled the length of England, kidnapped the murderer’s daughter—”

  “What?” she cried in alarm.

  “Adam promptly fell in love with her, and they are happily married.” He smiled. “We defeated the villain and were at long last able to declare ourselves the missing heirs. That was a year ago. Since then I have spent months enjoying London as a man set free might do.”

  “Enjoying?” she echoed, raising an eyebrow.

  He gave her a lascivious smile. “Though we tell others that we grew up in a monastery, I am no monk.” He set his hand on her thigh. “Now you know everything about me, Sarah.”

  She looked down at his hand, the tips of his fingers just touching her inner thigh. If she let herself be swayed now, she would never hear it all. They didn’t have much time.

  “What is the problem between you and Walter?” she asked, thinking of the strange tension between the two men.

  He gave an exaggerated sigh. “That is a difficult matter. You see, the League is displeased with my behavior in London this past year.”

  “I assume you did nothing illegal,” she said lightly.

  “Of course not. But there was a young lady who did not want to remain a virgin…I didn’t know she was soon to be betrothed to a powerful man.”

  “Ah, and the League did not appreciate your willingness to help this young lady,” she said.

  Though he grinned at her, she sensed that their disapproval bothered him most of all.

  “I have performed every assignment given to me. They have no cause to question my service. But there are those within the League who believe that my upbringing is not conducive to true, untarnished service. The fact that I enjoyed myself at the king’s court, sampled the delights of willing women, somehow made the League believe that I am not a serious Bladesman.” He turned his head so that their gazes met. “I have not deserved their mistrust. I have spent my life in service to them, through no choice of my own. Yet now they are evaluating me.”

  “Walter is evaluating you for them.”

  He gave a stiff nod. “When I arrived here, I told myself that the League was all I knew, that I had to be very careful not to ruin my future. But as my doubts about the true murderer rose, my all-accepting belief in the League suffered. I knew they were wrong about their chosen suspect—you—and I did not agree with their orders. So I’ve done what I’ve needed to.”

  Sarah stared at him with a growing tenderness, saw the way he’d risked himself for her—with a murderer, and with the League. “But you let me decide what we were going to do. If I would have chosen to flee, it would have been the end of your life with the League. Everything you’ve done for me endangers you in this way.”

  He turned to face her, taking both her hands. “I have told you everything about myself, Sarah. I want no secrets between us. The League means nothing if I cannot have you.”

  Her heart spilled over with tenderness. How could she deny to herself any longer that she’d fallen in love with him, that she trusted him with all that was most dear to her, her body and her soul? Yet…he was so above her in station that these last days might be all she ever had of him.

  “Robert,” she murmured, leaning forward to kiss him.

  The touch of his mouth to hers felt like the answer to every question she’d ever had about herself, about her life. She deepened the kiss, wanting to take him inside her any way she could.

  Between kisses, she whispered, “I have no doubts, no fears, Robert. Make me yours. Make love to me.”

  With a moan, he lifted her and draped her across his lap. She clung to his neck, covering his face with kisses, feeling his hands caress her back, her hip. He cupped her breast through her gown.

  It was her turn to moan as he kneaded her, playing with her nipple. She felt the pleasure shimmer there and throughout her body. It made her move and arch and gasp.

  “You have too many garments,” he said hoarsely against her mouth.

  She smiled. “So do you.” She sat up and straddled his lap, reminding her of their earlier intimate encounter that had shaken everything she thought she knew about the pleasure involved in lovemaking.

  Her hands unlaced his garments, tangling with his hands as he roamed her body to do the same. He pulled her gown over her head, she yanked on his tunic until he was forced to half rise so that she could pull it above his hips. She grabbed for his shoulders, laughing, as he pretended he might drop her. Under his tunic was his shirt, and she made quick work of that.

  Then their smiles died as they looked into each other’s eyes. He had professed no vows of love, she had not spoken her own. Right now all that mattered was being one with him, this man who would give up everything he held dear just for her. Even if he didn’t say the words, that was the meaning of love to her.

  He slid her smock up her body, and she lifted her arms to ease the way. She felt the air on her open thighs, her belly, then her breasts, and when the smock dropped from his fingers and she could see again, she watched his heavy-lidded eyes take in her nudity. He kept her arms high, her breasts thrust forward as she loosened the ribbon from her hair. It cascaded down around her shoulders, red curls tumbling, her breasts half hidden.

  “Sarah, how beautiful you are,” he whispered.

  His blue eyes seemed to glow with an admiration that warmed and eased her. Then he turned and laid her back on the bed. Her hair tumbled across the coverlet. She felt beautiful, voluptuous, desired. She was glad she had waited to give herself to him, because now she had no other motive but love.

  She kept one knee raised, legs slightly parted with a brazenness she enjoyed feeling. Robert stood and removed his breeches. In the light of day, she could see the perfection of his muscular body, the scars that showed his determination. When he joined her on the bed, she tried to pull him over her, needing to feel him, but he only laughed and lay beside her.

  “Let me enjoy this before we have to face the world,” he murmured.

  But she was the one who found great joy. He explored her body with his hands and mouth, trailing moist kisses between her breasts, dipping his tongue into her navel. She moaned and moved restlessly, as if the pleasure within her soon would not be contained. She felt like she’d come full circle, come back to the woman who could celebrate life.

  Her legs parted to accommodate his body as he moved ever lower. And then he was pressing delicate kisses to her inner thighs, leading upward at such a slow pace that she was stiff with disbelief at what he might do, and desperately hoping that he would.

  He raised his head briefly to give her that wicked grin she loved, then he bent and gave her a most intimate kiss. She groaned and convulsed with the fierce pl
easure that surged through her body. He’d shown her once what a woman’s desire could bring, and now she knew there were so many other ways to experience it. He licked and suckled her, taking the little button of her flesh into his mouth, invading her with his tongue. Her breath came in gasps between small cries, and at last she gave herself up as that need within her once again burst free, uncontained, showering her with pleasure and surprise and fierce joy.

  No sooner had she collapsed, languid and spent, than he rose above her. All her passion returned in a rush at the way he looked at her, as if he could no longer wait to claim her. And he did, thrusting home, so deeply and fully. There was no discomfort, no fear on her part, only gladness that he was able to join her in learning the true meaning of intimacy.

  Chapter 23

  “My God,” Robert whispered.

  He held himself above her, looking down into her precious face, her eyes heavy with satisfaction, her mouth curved into a smile that was…wicked.

  The depths of her body were hot and welcoming, so tight around him he thought he might lose himself without taking another stroke.

  Everything in him strained for release, but he fought for control, even as he pulled out and sank in again.

  She arched, her lips parting, her eyes shutting. He wanted to bring her ecstasy again. As he rocked inside her, he bent his head to take her nipple into his mouth. She cried out, clasping his head in her hands, touching his shoulders, his chest, caressing his nipples in the way he’d done to her. His breathing was ragged as he surged into her over and over, and when he felt her climax overtake her, he gave in to his own, mindless with the rushing pleasure.

  With a groan, he collapsed against her side.

  She only laughed, her arms high above her head, her body arching. “That was wondrous!”

  He could barely move. “Glad I am that you think so,” he ground out.

  “I wish we could do that again.”

  He snorted a weak laugh. “Give me a moment to recover.”

  She shot him a teasing glance. “It will take you that long?”