Gift of Honor

by Alexa Aston

  Hal spun around and pushed her against the door, her legs still locked around him. His teeth now teased her earlobe, causing a pounding to begin where her legs joined. No, it had drummed since their mouths met, picking up the pace until it throbbed enough to gain her attention.

  It told her that she needed him to touch her there. To do something to quell the restless feeling that rippled through her. Her nipples ached as they pressed against his chest. They, too, begged for his attention. Elinor released her legs and slowly lowered them to the ground.

  “Touch me,” she said, her voice quivering.

  Hal’s tongue, which swirled about her ear, stopped. He raised his head, a question forming on his lips.

  “No questions,” she ordered. “No words.”

  “But—”

  She silenced him, pressing two fingers against his beautiful mouth.

  “I don’t know what I need but you know what to do to satisfy me. Do it. Now.”

  “Elinor,” he murmured against her fingers.

  “Hush,” she told him.

  He captured her hand in his and pulled it from his mouth, kissing the tips of her fingers tenderly. Her breasts swelled against him, the nipples aching.

  “Do it,” she urged again and saw desire spark in his eyes. When he still hesitated, she said, “I have always loved my birds more than people, for they have never let me down. But they cannot fill this emptiness inside me.

  “Only you can.”

  He swept her off her feet and crossed to her pallet, placing her gently atop it. Elinor trembled with need as he stripped her tunic from her and tossed it aside. Hal lowered her to the straw and then yanked his own tunic away, exposing his splendidly muscled chest, a dark matting of hair on it. She itched to touch it. To touch him. Folding his tunic, he lifted her head and placed the garment under it.

  His mouth hovered over hers a moment, his warm breath mingling with hers. Then he kissed her softly and continued to trail kisses down her throat and to the top curve of her breast. His tongue traced the curve from the top and rounded to the side before dragging across her nipple. He licked and nipped at it as he kneaded her other breast with his hand.

  The thumping in her nether region pulsed violently as his lips and tongue and teeth continued to tease her. Elinor’s head began to whip from side to side. Hal’s hands rose, his fingers pushing into her hair to still her as he sucked at first one breast and then the other. She thought she might go mad from the wild pleasure.

  Then he abandoned both breasts and trailed his tongue down her body. It began shaking uncontrollably. Hal loosened her belt and pulled her pants over her hips and slowly down her legs until they reached her feet. She wriggled as he removed her boots, her blade spilling out, and then he eased the pants over her feet.

  Elinor lay bare before him and shivered, not from the cold but at the admiring gaze in his eyes as they traveled up her body. His hand lightly stroked her thighs.

  “So soft,” he whispered. “So silky.”

  His fingers traveled to her inner thigh, brushing it softly. Her core now pounded fiercely, calling out for his attention.

  He gave it to her.

  A finger slipped inside her. Elinor gasped. Hal’s eyes held hers as his finger explored her with delicious slowness. Another joined the first, stroking her. Her hips rose and fell as she clenched around his fingers.

  “That’s it,” he murmured. “Oh, you are so tight. So lovely.”

  Hal continued to watch her. Elinor felt her face flush as her entire body heated at his touch. His fingers petted her languidly until she wanted to scream then he began pushing them in and out, picking up the pace as he stroked her.

  Elinor’s breath caught. The tingling now brought her to a precipice. She danced at its edge, ready to dive headfirst, knowing something wonderful was about to happen.

  “Let go, sweetheart,” Hal encouraged as his thumb rubbed against a nub, circling it, teasing it, as his fingers continued to move inside her.

  Then Elinor was falling, hard, fast, dizzy from the burst of intense pleasure that radiated through her.

  “That’s right. Go with it,” he said as she bucked and twisted and gasped. The pleasure went on and on until she shouted in utter joy.

  And all the while, Hal watched her, a satisfied smile playing on his sensual lips.

  The waves of pleasure began to ebb and finally petered out. Elinor felt more spent than ever before. She could not have lifted even her smallest finger.

  Hal lay down beside her, drawing a blanket over them. Elinor turned and snuggled against his bare chest, her cheek next to his beating heart.

  “Sleep, sweetheart.”

  And she did.

  Chapter 13

  Hal listened to Elinor’s soft breaths as she slept. He glanced down at her, toying with a lock of her deep brown hair. Though they were close in age, in sleep the years fell away from her. She appeared so very young.

  And vulnerable.

  That was why he hadn’t coupled with her. He’d wanted to bury himself inside her—more than any woman he’d ever known—but it wouldn’t have been right. Elinor’s life was here at Whitley, while his was . . . where?

  He didn’t fit in anywhere.

  His gut told him the king hadn’t been successful against the Lords Appellant. Hal had witnessed the armies that de Vere and Molineux raised crumble in front of him. Richard had depended upon those two men and the soldiers they led to join him in battle against the noblemen who usurped his power. Without receiving those reinforcements and facing the seasoned forces of the five Lords Appellant, the king didn’t stand a chance. At best, he had been taken into custody and languished in the Tower while the quintet tried to rule England. At worst, Richard had lost his head.

  If so, that would plunge England into civil war. Hal knew none of the Lords Appellant wanted that, which was why he hoped the young king was in custody. Only two things would save Richard—reaching his majority in the next year or his uncle, the Duke of Lancaster, giving up trying to win the crown in Castile and returning to England to support his nephew.

  If Richard’s powerful uncle did not return, Hal supposed once the Lords Appellant relinquished power next year and handed it back to the rightful monarch, he could rejoin the king’s royal guard. But the thought left him despondent. Both his brothers had been members of Richard’s elite protectors and found reasons to leave—and women to love.

  As Hal had.

  He would freely admit it to himself. He loved Elinor, a mysterious woman with no known last name. No family. No friends—except for her wild raptors. The woman who had nursed him back to health. But his love didn’t boil down to gratitude. He knew better than that. His parents had always told their children they would know when they found their soul mate.

  Elinor was his.

  She had taken a broken man, physically and emotionally, and her healing hands and kind heart had brought him back to himself. The true Hal from long ago, not the arrogant knight at court who flirted outrageously and only thought about training and battle. He had been stripped of everything dear to him—his position at court, his honor as a knight, his social circle. As Elinor helped rebuild him without even knowing she did, Hal realized how shallow his life and thoughts had been before now. That what mattered most was love and family.

  He was fortunate to have a large, affectionate family who supported him no matter what he did or where he went. Hal knew they would support his pursuit of Elinor, though she was so different from the rest of the mates three of his siblings had chosen. Ancel’s wife, Margery, was the daughter of an earl. Alys had married Kit, who’d become the rightful Baron of Brentley. Even Edward’s wife, Rosalyne, who grew up in humble circumstances as the niece of an artist, was, in reality, the daughter of Lawrence Bowyar, Baron of Shallowheart.

  Yet, he couldn’t help but think that every de Montfort would welcome Elinor with open arms. Hal’s parents believed in love. Geoffrey and Merryn de Montfort had wanted love matches for the
ir children and so none of them had been betrothed to another while still in their cradle. They would understand his feelings for Elinor.

  Even when Hal barely understood them himself.

  Physically, he was attracted to Elinor, for what man wouldn’t be? The dimple alone in her left cheek that appeared when she smiled was enough to bring him to his knees. He could lose himself in her warm, brown eyes and dark waves of hair for hours. He’d just spent time caressing the beautiful curves on her slender frame, finally touching with hands and mouth what he’d dreamed about night after night.

  Yet her inner beauty outshone her looks. It was a mixture of many things that he’d admired about her. Her patience could outlast Job’s, thanks to her work training falcons over the years. He adored her intelligence and practical nature. Elinor was not a woman who made time for those who proved idle or flirtatious. Obviously, she’d had a hard life, losing her parents when she was so young and being taken in by Jasper. Nothing had been given to her and she was the kind of woman who wouldn’t have accepted it if it had been offered to her. Elinor was generous and giving, especially to a stranger. She had the strength of character to rescue him and nurse him and then teach him to train raptors. He believed, though she seemed to be a woman with a simple life, that she had more depth than most anyone of his acquaintance.

  Hal thought she had a great capacity for love. If the fierceness and devotion with which she guarded and trained her falcons was any indication, it would be tenfold with a husband and children.

  He wanted to be that husband. He wanted to plant his seed in her belly and watch it grow. He wanted to father a dozen children with her, hoping each would get her fine looks and sweet spirit, be they sons or daughters.

  Still, she had shown no romantic interest in him. Until today.

  Guilt rushed through him as he thought he might have taken advantage of her emotional state. She had returned from Jasper’s funeral mass and must have been feeling terribly alone by the time she reached the cottage she had shared with the falconer and their raptors. Hal hoped he hadn’t forced himself on her. Then he remembered the heat of desire flaming in her eyes. Begging—no, ordering—him to fill the emptiness within her. Almost against his will, he did what he had longed to do for weeks.

  Hal had stopped short of taking her virginity. For all the confidence she displayed in her work, Elinor seemed naïve about what occurred between a man and a woman. She had caught on quickly and returned his kisses with passion and enthusiasm but he forced himself to draw a line and not breech her maidenhead. The possibility of creating a child always existed when a man coupled with a woman. He wanted that choice to be hers. He could not make it for her.

  Would she be able to give up her life at Whitley and come with him to Kinwick?

  Hal’s heart told him that’s where his future would unfold. He decided to return home to speak with his parents about his plans and then return for Elinor. The time apart would allow her to know if she had true feelings for him, ones that might grow, hopefully, into love. He wouldn’t try to talk her into leaving Whitley once he returned. It wasn’t up to him to convince her. She must come willingly because it was what she wanted. That he was what she needed to exist.

  Because of that, he would make no declarations of love to her before he left. They would part as friends. Hal only hoped that his absence would create a void in her heart and allow her to realize they were meant to be together, now and always.

  He rose from the pallet and placed the blanket snugly around her then slipped his gypon back on. He would spend what remained of the afternoon training Bess and Tris and then head for Kinwick in the morning.

  *

  Elinor awoke, stretching her legs and pointing her toes. A deep contentment filled her. She also felt more rested than she had in months. Her eyes slowly opened and scanned the small cottage. Hal wasn’t present. The fire needed to be built up. Mayhap he had gone for more wood.

  As she pushed her arm from under the blanket warming her, she realized it was bare. She was bare. Then delicious thoughts of Hal’s hands caressing her naked body caused her to heat. They had been gentle and thorough. Elinor licked her lips and still tasted him. A sigh of satisfaction escaped as her hand searched for her clothes. She found her tunic and sat up, pulling it over her head and smoothing it down.

  But the rough wool only made her aware of her breasts and how sensitive her nipples now were since Hal had lavished attention on them. She dragged her pants to the blanket and kicked it aside. Drawing the material up her legs only made her relive his hands skimming her thighs. She brought her pants up to her waist and collapsed again, recollecting everything that had passed between them.

  Hal cared for her. Mayhap, he even loved her. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. Oh, she had pushed aside these very thoughts to a far corner of her mind, locking them away, refusing to let them out.

  Now she could.

  After what had passed between them, Elinor knew she must tell him that the baroness wanted her gone from Whitley lands. She hoped that the strong feelings he’d displayed for her would encourage him to invite her to accompany him when he returned to his home. It must lie somewhere south of Whitley since that was the direction he journeyed when the highwaymen attacked. If what she believed of the baroness was true, a new falconer would arrive soon. After a few days working with him and making sure her raptors were in good hands, Elinor would be free to leave—with Hal.

  Surely, he must want her to go with him. What they had done together seemed only the start of what could come. His actions had sated her but she thought she could have done something in return to help him feel the same soaring passion. She’d always been a quick learner. Just look at how fast she’d understood what kissing was all about. Who would have thought kissing involved more than pressing lips together? But it did and Elinor knew Hal could initiate her into all of the ways of love play between a man and a woman.

  Tamping down the giddiness that threatened to erupt in bubbling laughter, she sat up and located her boots. As she slid the first one onto her foot, the cottage door opened.

  Hal entered and nodded pleasantly at her. “Good morning, Elinor.”

  His words startled her. “Morning? I slept until the next day?” Her stomach gurgled noisily in response, letting her know it had been a long time since she’d eaten.

  He tended to the fire, adding another log as she pulled on her other boot. “Aye. Your body needed the sleep. Putting Jasper to rest yesterday was trying for you, both physically and emotionally.” He indicated the table. “I have set out food to break our fast.”

  She joined him at the table, where bread and ale awaited.

  “I trained with Bess and Tris all yesterday while you were gone to the castle and then after you slept.”

  Elinor tried not to let hurt feelings arise. Hal had not once mentioned what occurred between them. In fact, he looked at her today as he had every other day.

  Had she dreamed of his kiss?

  Nay, she couldn’t have. Even in her wildest imaginings, she would not have known to think of such things. Her body today was sensitive in places she had ignored in the past. Hal had awakened some sleeping giant within her and it longed for his touch. That alone told her that she couldn’t have imagined yesterday’s events.

  So why did he ignore speaking of it?

  Unless he regarded their intimacies as a mistake. Or mayhap, she had not pleased him. In her inexperience, she had not made him feel as he had her. Should she say something? Elinor didn’t think she could stand his rejection.

  “I am concerned about Horus, though,” Hal continued, chewing his bread thoughtfully. “He’s seemed out of sorts for a few days. He did not come home last night and he isn’t outside on the perch this morning. I freed Cleo from the mews so that she might search for him.”

  She chewed on her bottom lip. “I have also been worried about Horus,” she confided, pushing aside the wild thoughts bouncing inside her. “He hasn’t preened or rous
ed as he should for a few days and his appetite has been lacking.”

  “You have said he is ten and five. Is that old for a peregrine?”

  Elinor nodded, a lump forming in her throat. “’Tis near the age that raptors . . . cease.” She dropped her head, not wanting to face the possibility of Horus dying.

  He frowned. “I am sorry to hear that. I was hoping to see him before I left this morning.”

  Her head shot up. “You . . . are leaving? Now?” Her stomach churned uneasily. She blinked her eyes several times, fighting to keep the tears at bay.

  “Aye. Dawn occurred as you awoke. ’Twill give me an early start on the road if I leave now.” He turned his cup up and drained the last of its contents. “I fear I have overstayed my welcome. My leg is as strong as ever, thanks to your healing hands. You also forced me to take my time and not rush things once the splints came off.”

  Hal pushed the cup aside and leaned his arms on the table. “I have no more excuses left. I have built up my strength so that I may make my way home. On top of that, I have learned a small fraction of what it takes to work with raptors.” He gave her a warm smile. “And I have made a friend in you.”

  “A friend,” she echoed dully, mustering a weak smile. She looked across the table at him and saw everything she wanted. Everything she needed. He was handsome and kind and intelligent.

  And he only thought of her as a friend.

  The kisses they had shared would not be mentioned. She refused to be the one to bring them up. Elinor resolved to remain strong in the next few moments. Hal mustn’t suspect how she truly felt about him.

  He rose. “Come outside with me as I say goodbye to the falcons.” He took both their gauntlets and headed out the door.