It was not possible to please an angry man. As a daughter, she’d stayed out of her father’s sight as much as possible. For a wife, such a solution was not viable at all.
At least she was married now and out of Cousin Coll’s control. Lord Devon possessed her body and soul under the law, and there was nothing Cousin Coll could do about that. He’d told her to leave, and she had.
Rhyannon dragged her mind back to the present. Lady Elinor had called for food and was seating them all at the high table.
Cousin Coll ate and drank hungrily, as the men talked, until her Cousin Rhys asked, “Well, Lord Coll, what caused you to visit my stronghold this day?”
“I have come to retrieve my property. I’m extremely annoyed that Rhyannon took with her possessions of mine when she left. I told her quite clearly that all Uncle Bennet’s wealth was now mine.”
Rhyannon opened her mouth to refute Coll’s claim. She’d taken nothing that was not her own property. Her horse and mule, her clothing, including her precious Court gown, her own embroidery silks and tapestry wools, her pins and needles, and her mother’s jewels. Her mother’s jewels. Surely, they could not belong to Coll. They were her mother’s, not her father’s, and he’d never asked her for them to give to his other wives. No, they were hers.
Rhyannon saw her Cousin Rhys give her a fierce look, and she closed her mouth again.
“And what property is that?” asked Rhys mildly.
“Her mother’s jewels. I’m to be married next month, and my wife will need to wear them.”
“But if the jewels belonged to Lord Bennet, surely all his wives would have worn them? Why were they not stored with the family silver?” asked Lady Elinor.
Coll’s face reddened, and this time Rhyannon did speak. “The jewels were my mother’s, given to her by her own mother, and from my mother to me. None of my father’s other wives ever wore them, and my father never asked me for them nor asked me to lend them to any of his other wives, even when we went to Court. I was the one who wore them at Court. It is why my Court gown is pale-green, so the red stones would shine against the silk.”
Coll jumped to his feet. “They are mine! Mine! And you will give them to me. My wife will wear them at our wedding. All your father’s wealth came to me. All of it. That includes the jewels. Give them to me now!”
Father Augustus spoke quietly, a dramatic contrast to Cousin Coll’s screaming and the spittle that flecked his mouth. “May I see the deed giving you Lord Bennet’s wealth? Once I read the words out loud, everyone will understand the law.”
Coll’s red face whitened, and he sat down. “I didn’t bring it with me. Why would I bring it?”
“It seems you do need it though. We shall send a messenger to fetch it at once. Call one of your men, and I will send one of mine with him as well. With fast horses, they should return in eight or nine days, and all will be made clear,” said Rhys.
Coll looked as if he was about to start screaming again then nodded and abruptly yelled a name. Children scattered, and men were sent running for provisions for a journey. All was chaos and noise until the horsemen rode off on fresh animals, and then everyone returned to the great hall.
“We were planning some more hunting expeditions to gather meat before the winter truly begins. Would you like to come hunting with us?” Rhys asked Coll.
That seemed to please her cousin, and the men began to plan their next hunt. Lady Elinor nodded, and she, Rhyannon, and Heloise slipped away from the crowd.
“He may be my cousin, but I don’t trust him,” whispered Rhyannon.
“Nor do I. Go now, and bring your jewels to my solar. We shall lock them in my chest. If he sends one of his men to look for them, he’ll look in your room. No man would dare enter my solar.”
Rhyannon nodded. “Come with me, please, Aunt Heloise, and we shall pretend to change the bedding at the same time.”
* * * *
Cousin Coll was angry and on edge the entire time the messengers were gone. He slapped servants, and the household learned to keep well out of his reach. He threw a platter of meat on the floor saying it was uncooked, but others who’d taken meat off that platter could find no fault with the food. The same with the ale. He continually said it was too weak and demanded stronger ale or wine, or the best mead. Lady Elinor told the servants to give him whatever he wanted, but when he fell down drunk, the guards had to be called to carry him to bed as none of the servants would help him.
“He knows those jewels are mine, and he’s angry because soon all will know his words are nothing but bluster and lies,” said Rhyannon.
“I think so, too, but it’s possible the way your father’s instructions are worded that he may be entitled to your jewels. Just because he never gave them to his other wives is not proof. He may have intended them as a gift to the wife who presented him with a son,” warned Aunt Heloise.
“Not only that, he may try to take them from you. Be sure to have either Lord Devon or Alistair close to you all the time once the messengers return, no matter what the message says,” added Lady Elinor.
Rhyannon just nodded. She’d thought of that, too. Killing her would not mean the jewels belonged to Coll. They would be Lord Devon’s as he was her husband. But if Coll took them, it would be a long and difficult journey to the King to order Coll to give them back, and if she was dead, no one would really care who owned the jewels anyway. It wasn’t as if she had a daughter to inherit them.
By the time the messengers returned, the entire stronghold was as tense as when they’d been expecting Lord Jeffrey to attack them. Men walked around with their hand on the hilt of their swords, and servants moved in twos and threes, never alone.
The two guards had brought with them a clerk, a thin, worried man, whose fair hair barely covered his nearly bald scalp and whose Adam’s apple bobbed nervously with every word he spoke.
Everyone gathered in the great hall, and the clerk hesitantly read the deed of inheritance. Rhyannon was holding her breath the entire time, but her jewels weren’t mentioned. The deed referred to lands and property, but nothing more. In fact, one could argue the family silver was not Coll’s either, as Lord Bennet had listed lands and structures, not anything portable or that may have been bestowed elsewhere.
Rhyannon suspected her father had always believed he would have a son to inherit everything, so the document wouldn’t be needed, and had not really cared what Coll took or what she was given.
As soon as the clerk finished reading the document, Coll tore it from his hands, wadded it up into a ball, and threw it into the fire. “You lie. That document is false. Everything is mine. All Lord Bennet’s goods are mine, mine, and I will have those jewels now. Now I say.”
Once again Cousin Coll was screaming, his face red, his hands bunched into fists, his body leaning forward, and spittle flecking his lips.
The clerk scuttled backward, away from Coll, and Alistair pushed Rhyannon behind himself. As she was moving, Rhyannon glanced at the fire and saw two of the children with a stick, pulling the parchment away from the coals. She drew a deep breath, hoping no one else had seen them to accidently alert Coll to what was happening.
Coll was working himself into a hysterical fury, and most of the servants were cautiously backing away from the crowd. Wade gathered the children and moved them to the wall, behind a bench, and several guards appeared to stand beside Lord Rhys and Hammond. Rhyannon felt safe behind Alistair’s wide back but kept her head turned to the side, so she had an uninterrupted view of whatever would happen next.
Predictably, Coll lashed out at the clerk, but he’d scuttled far enough backward Coll’s arm didn’t reach. Everyone else moved hastily backward, too, until her Cousin Rhys’s loud, but calm voice ended Coll’s outburst of drama. “I believe, Lord Coll, your visit at my stronghold has come to an end. There is nothing here belonging to you and no reason now why you should stay here any longer. Byram, see that provisions are packed for Lord Coll and his men. They will be leaving at daw
n tomorrow. Guards, prepare your horses and pack your equipment.”
Coll sputtered and fumed then walked to the stairs, presumably to pack for his departure.
Most of the crowd dispersed from the great hall, and Rhyannon heaved a sigh of relief. Devon stood with her and Alistair. “Rhyannon, I’m sorry. Your cousin may be noble-born, but he’s no knight. A true noble saves his anger for the battlefield and treats his servants with courtesy.”
“In a worrying way, he reminds me of Lord Jeffrey. That uncontrolled, pointless rage,” added Alistair.
“Lord Rhys will make sure he leaves tomorrow, anyway, so we need not see him again,” said Devon.
Rhyannon nodded. She agreed with what they were saying, but her gaze was on Wade and the children, who had been joined by Father Augustus. “I think the children pulled the parchment out of the fire before too much of it was burned. Come and see.”
“What?” Alistair stared at her, but she was already turning and hurrying over to the bench by the wall where Wade had gathered the children.
Lady Elinor had evidently seen what was happening, too, and she and Aunt Heloise joined them just as Wade and Father Augustus carefully unrolled the ball of parchment.
Parchment was thick and tough, and although the heat had scorched it and made it brittle, the document had not been burned and every word was still legible, although quite dirty in places from the smoke.
Father Augustus sent the children running for old pieces of parchment, and his drawing brushes, then carefully brushed the traces of ash from the document before rolling it in good parchment and tying a length of ribbon around it. He then handed it to Lady Elinor. “I think this should be stored somewhere safe, my lady. Lord Coll may think it’s gone forever, but there may come a time when Lady Rhyannon is glad it still exists.”
“Thank you, Father Augustus. You and the children have been most worthy members of the stronghold this day,” replied Lady Elinor.
* * * *
It was late when Rhyannon, Alistair, and Devon returned to her room, and all Rhyannon could think about was sleep. The day seemed to have lasted twice as long as a normal day, and the tension and worry had exhausted her.
But when she pushed the door open and stepped into the room holding her candle high, she stopped in horror. The mattress had been thrown from the bed, the casing slashed open and the stuffing spilled out on the floor. Her fur coverlet had been slashed into many pieces, and dropped beside the mattress. Her storage chest had been hacked open with an ax, the contents strewn throughout the room, the shattered lid leaning against the far wall. And her Court gown, her most precious silk dress, had been ripped in half from neck to hem.
“My Court gown,” she wailed, dropping to her knees beside it.
“Lord Coll,” thundered Alistair.
“Protect the Lady Rhyannon,” ordered Devon, drawing his sword and rushing from the room.
When Alistair pulled her hard against his left side, his right arm holding his sword extended, Rhyannon just wanted to weep. All this trouble over her few jewels. Why couldn’t Cousin Coll be happy with inheriting her father’s lands? Coll wasn’t a poor man. He was his father’s heir, too, as well as inheriting all of her father’s property. He could easily buy his new bride any number of jewels to wear to Court. Court. “My beautiful gown.” She gulped.
“If it cannot be mended, Lord Devon and I will buy you silk and thread to make another, even more valuable than this one,” promised Alistair.
Tears slid from her eyes. A lady seldom had more than one Court gown in a lifetime, unless she actually lived at Court and served the King. Such a promise was an overwhelming statement of love. “Thank you,” she whispered. In that moment, she determined that she would mend it herself, embroidering a whole new panel where the join was, if necessary.
Running feet were heard, and Alistair pushed her behind him, leaving his sword pointing at the open door.
“God’s blood, the man is insane,” swore Rhys as he slid to a halt in the doorway, his head turning from side to side, looking at the wreckage of the room.
“If you hadn’t already asked Lord Coll to leave, I’d be escorting him out at the point of my sword,” added Devon.
Lady Elinor turned to Byram, who’d also appeared in the hallway, requesting servants with a broom, the castle carpenter, and fresh bedding.
Rhyannon leaned against the wall as chaos swirled around her. Faster than she could have imagined, the ruined items were removed, Aunt Heloise was packing all her things into a box so the carpenter could take and mend her storage chest, and the mattress was dragged down to the great hall for the sewing ladies to begin mending tomorrow.
Elinor came and hugged her. “We will fix your Court gown. No matter how difficult the work is, or how long it takes, that gown will be beautiful again. Lord Coll’s anger will be wiped from this castle and replaced by the love of the people here,” she promised.
Once again, tears leaked from Rhyannon’s eyes. She loved these people, too. They were her people now, as much as Rhys’s.
Finally, the room was clean, and everyone left. Alistair barred the door, while Devon got undressed.
“Tonight, I want you to know, deep inside your bones, that you belong to Alistair and to me, and that no one, ever, can take you from us,” said Devon.
“I understand. I’m very grateful for the way you both protect me.”
“We’ll fuck you together, me in your ass, Alistair in your cunt, together, at the same time. I want you to be so full of us both, so owned by both of us, no one will ever make you fear again. You are ours, and that is the law,” replied Devon firmly.
Hot little thrills ran up and down Rhyannon’s spine. They’d never both been inside her at the same time, unless one was in her mouth. Alistair in her cunt and Devon in her ass simultaneously was an incredibly arousing thought. Hastily she got undressed, laying her clothes on the box replacing her storage chest. For a moment, she felt a pang of loss at her ruined possessions but pushed it aside. Most things would be mended. The damage was only what she permitted it to be. If she refused to let Coll’s childish bad temper upset her, it wouldn’t. And of course, he’d been looking for her jewels and hadn’t gotten them since they were locked in Lady Elinor’s storage chest in her solar, so overall, she’d defeated him anyway.
Devon held his cock to her mouth, and happily, she began wetting it, licking up the long, wide shaft, paying attention to his throbbing core as she went. She sucked on his balls a little, too, as she knew how much he enjoyed that, before drawing the head of his cock into her mouth and sucking him inside. When she was sure he was wet all over, and well aroused, she let him out of her mouth.
Devon sat up, his back to the wall, his cock standing up high and proud like a good soldier.
She crawled over his lap, her back to his front, and with his help, she gradually sat down on his cock. Rhyannon loved doing this. She reveled in the power and control of deciding how much of him to let into her ass at a time, how long to make him wait, how hard to let him push in.
But she was so excited at the idea of having Alistair inside her, too, that she couldn’t play for very long and gradually absorbed Devon’s cock deep into her dark, rear channel until she was spread wide and filled to the brim with him. It always burned when he broached the ring of tight muscles to enter her, but she’d come to enjoy that burn and the contrasting wet slide as he filled her channel completely.
Alistair was watching them, his hand resting on his own cock. When they were settled, he wiggled up the bed, sliding his legs under hers, pulling her thighs wide apart, and pushing his huge, hot cock into her channel. Then he wiggled closer and closer to her, until his balls were resting against her skin, and their six legs were completely entangled with each other.
The two men squashed her body between them, holding each other’s shoulders and pressing tightly together, so she could hardly breathe, much less move.
“Now,” said Devon.
Alistair nodded
, and the two men pumped into her together, their cocks slamming inside her in time with each other. They pulled out then came together again, a little raggedly, but gradually smoother, faster, and completely in time with each other.
Rhyannon found herself struggling to breathe. Their male scents filled her nose, their grunts filled her ears, and their sweat coated her body. Her skin was on fire, her inner core a knot of excitement, and deep within her, she knew when she exploded in pleasure it would be harder than ever before. She was so on edge she thought her body might break with the waiting.
She was also in awe of their strength. She was no fragile child, but a full-grown woman, yet they were lifting her bodyweight up and down using their thigh muscles—and their cocks—she thought with a grin.
Then she could no longer think, much less grin. Pleasure rolled through her body, bursting from her like seeds from an overripe fruit dropped on the stone floor. Even though she was held tightly between the men, her arms and legs shook madly, her toes curled up tight against the soles of her feet, her jaw and neck stiffened, and joy burst from her skin everywhere. The pleasure was so hard and strong, she thought she might not live through it, and more waves of happiness filled her when she felt the men’s seed exploding inside her, too. Hot seed filled her cunt and her ass then ran down over their joined bodies, and still she shook with more pleasure than she’d ever imagined was possible.
Alistair pulled her to one side, and they lay on their sides in the same conformation, her back resting on Devon’s solid, muscular chest, her soft breasts pressed to Alistair’s chest. Neither man pulled his limp sword from her body. Both left them resting inside her. Feeling quite naughty, she tightened her internal muscles and gripped their cocks, wanting them to know she appreciated them. Almost instantly, both cocks hardened a bit, so she did it again, and again.
Defending Rhyannon's Inheritance [Elinor's Stronghold 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 4