by Connie Mason
“I need you, Mama.”
“Then ‘tis settled. Oh, I do wish Starla would hurry.”
Nelda had no sooner spoken than the door opened and Starla stormed inside.
“That woman!” Starla raged. “I swear, Mama, that woman is a viper in disguise. How Rose endured her poisonous barbs is beyond me. This time, however, I gave as good as I got. Rose would be proud of me.”
“Jam proud of you,” Rose said, stepping out from behind her mother.
“Rose!” Starla squealed, rushing into her sister’s embrace. After a quick hug, she stepped back and frowned at Rose in mock anger. “‘Tis about time you returned. Mama and I were worried sick. What kept you?”
” Tis a long story, Starla, and I have not the time to tell it right now. Raj is waiting for you at the garden gate. Ask him to tell you as you journey to the convent.”
“What about Mama? Is she not leaving with me?”
“Nay, Starla,” Nelda said. “Rose has asked me to return to Dragonwyck with her and Lord Dragon, and I have agreed. Rose needs me. She is with child.”
Starla was less enthusiastic than Nelda. “Do you want Lord Dragon’s babe, Rose?”
“Ease your mind, sister. I’m content with Dragon and ecstatic about having his babe.” Her voice lowered shyly.“You see, we love each other.”
Starla’s expression softened. “That is all I wanted to hear. I want my twin to be happy, just as I am happy to return to the convent. And ‘tis time Mama returned home. She will be of great help to you. We shall visit each other often.”
“As often as possible,” Rose agreed.
Tears formed in Starla’s eyes. “I had best be on my way.” She hugged her mother, then Rose. “I love you both.”
“Go with God, daughter,” Nelda said, dashing away her tears.
The moment Starla slipped out the door, Nelda regarded Rose with raised eyebrows. “What are you not telling me, Rose? There has been more tension at court than usual.‘Tis no secret that King John is worried about something. Are you and Dragon involved?”
The king should be worried, Mama. He has refused to seal the Articles of the Barons, and there is likely to be a civil war.”
“Your father lost his life over those articles, Rose, I cannot bear to lose another loved one. Please tell me you are in no danger.”
Rose hastened to allay Nelda’s concern. “Dragon believes King John will relent. John does not want and cannot afford a civil war right now. Even as we speak, the barons are preparing to march on London.”
“So that is what all the whispering at court is about. Rumor has it that John appealed to the pope. I suspected it had something to do with the articles but wasn’t sure.”
“Tis true, Mama. Negotiations have been going on a long time, since before Papa was executed.”
“I am confused,” Nelda said. “I thought Dragon was the king’s man. What made him cast his lot with the barons?”
“Dragon always recognized John for what he was— cruel, greedy and manipulative—but Dragon is an honorable man and honestly tried to remain loyal to his king. He lost what little faith he had in the king when John questioned Dragon’s loyalty and took me hostage.”
“That explains a lot of things,” Nelda said.
Rose stifled a yawn, and Nelda patted her arm. “You must be exhausted. You should rest as much as possible now that you’re with child. Shall I help you prepare for bed?”
“Nay, Mama, I can manage. Go to bed. I will see you in the morning. There are things I wish to ask you about childbearing, but they can wait.”
“When did you say Lord Dragon will arrive?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
Nelda kissed Rose good night and left. Rose undressed, made a hasty toilette and climbed into bed. She had just closed her eyes when she heard someone scratching on the door. Thinking her mother had returned, Rose climbed out of bed, donned a chamber robe and opened the door. Lady Veronica breezed past Rose like a ship under full sail.
“Forgive me for calling upon you so late, Lady Rose, but you left the hall before our conversation was concluded.”
“I thought we said everything that needed to be said,” Rose replied, having no idea what Veronica was talking about. She should have questioned Starla more thoroughly about her encounter with Dragon’s former mistress.
“In that case, you can listen while I talk. When Dragon returns to London, I fully expect him to ask me to become his mistress again. I warn you, do not interfere, for it will only earn you Dragon’s contempt.” She gave Rose a superior smirk.“You can expect me to be a frequent visitor at Dragonwyck.”
“Mayhap I will have something to say about that, Veronica.”
Both Rose and Veronica swung their heads toward the open door, where Dragon leaned nonchalantly against the jamb. Excitement bubbled up inside Rose.
“Dominic! I did not expect you tonight. I thought…”
Dominic sent her a speaking glance. “A cold, empty bed did not appeal tome.” He held out his arms.
Veronica pushed Rose aside and rushed into Dominic’s outstretched arms. “I missed you, Dragon. Thank God, you recovered from your wound. I know not what I would have done if you had perished.”
A mixture of confusion and hurt darkened Rose’s brow as Dragon lifted Veronica in his arms and carried her from the chamber. How could Dragon do this to her? Had Dragon suddenly decided he loved Veronica? Rose understood none of what had just happened.
She turned away, her heart breaking. A loud thump and a screech brought her whirling about. Then Dominic appeared in the doorway, dazzling her with his smile. He held out his arms, and she ran into them.
“What did you do with Veronica?”
“Suffice it to say she will not be bothering us again. Should anyone else decide to barge into your chamber, they will find the door locked.”
Chapter Nineteen
The only rose without a thorn is love.
—Mlle.de Scuderi
Rose was truly confused. For a moment she’d thought the unthinkable, that Dragon no longer wanted her. But she had been wrong. He was here with her now, and the look on his face told her it was exactly where he wanted to be.
“What are you doing here?” she blurted out. “I thought you weren’t coming until tomorrow.”
“Your greeting leaves much to be desired, love,” Dominic said with a twinkle. “From what I observed, I would say I arrived at a most opportune moment. I cannot believe I actually contemplated marrying Veronica. I will be forever grateful to King John for giving me you.”
“‘Tis difficult to be grateful to a man like him,” Rose grumbled. “What made you decide to come to the palace tonight?”
“After you departed with Raj, I could not bear the thought of leaving you in the palace without protection, so I left the city shortly after you did. I was the last person to pass through Ludgate before it closed. I did not come directly to you when I arrived because I thought it prudent to greet the king first.”
“Did you speak to him about the articles?”
“Nay, but he agreed to meet privately with me tomorrow.” His arms tightened around her.“Forget about the king, love. Tonight is ours. Do you realize I have not loved you since we left Dragonwyck? I need you, Rose.”
“First tell me what you did with Veronica,” Rose persisted.
“I told you to forget her. I merely dumped her out in the passageway and told her to find another man upon whom to lavish her affection. I explained that I am already taken.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Now where were we?”
“Right here,” Rose said, rising to her tiptoes and kissing Dominic full on the mouth.
He kissed her back. Rose clung to him, savoring the slow surge of his tongue, the intimate exploring and caressing. Heat seeped through her veins; a hot lick of sensation traveled to her toes and curled them. She could not breathe, she could not think beyond the joy she felt at being in Dragon’s arms.
His head angled over hers, and
she clung desperately to his lips. He deepened the kiss, thrilling her with its intensity, its promise. How could she doubt he loved her when his lips wrote love letters on her lips? Tongues tangled, breaths mingled, and her thoughts evaporated.
He tasted of pure heat and untamed wildness; he tasted of love. She pulled him closer, inhaling deeply of his scent, wanting to absorb him into her pores.
“Enough of this,” he growled as he untied the belt of her chamber robe and pushed it down her arms. “I want you in bed, naked, welcoming me with open arms and open thighs.” Then he scooped her up and carried her to the bed.
He eased her down and stared at her for a long, suspenseful moment before tearing off his own clothing and joining her. Then he kissed her, a thoroughly mesmerizing joining of lips and tongues and souls. She rode the spiraling wildness of the kiss as sensation after sensation battered her.
Then his long fingers splayed over her stomach and gently pressed. She sucked in her breath, wondering if he could sense their child beneath the flat surface. But apparently he felt nothing, for his long fingers continued their downward trek and slid between her thighs. She wanted to scream as he cupped her, explored her, fondled and separated her, then dipped inside.
His mouth followed the path of his hands, spreading wet heat between her breasts, down her stomach and into the thatch of springy curls crowning her thighs. Then his tongue found her; that tiny, sensitive bud nestled in a fold of flesh that was so responsive she could not stifle the cry rising in her throat. He continued to lave and nip and suckle her tender cleft, unleashing something savage and untamed inside her.
Heat built, then tightened, then contracted as his talented finger stroked inside her weeping sheath. She cried out, then fractured, pleasure spilling through every vein. Tremors of delight skipped across her skin, through her body, scattering her wits and leaving her breathless.
Rose had barely regained her composure when she felt the slide of Dragon’s body over hers. She opened her eyes and found him grinning at her. She tried to speak, but the words caught in her throat as he grasped her hand and placed it on his cock.
Dominic watched Rose’s face when she fell apart, certain he had never seen anything to compare with the look of rapture on his wife’s lovely countenance.It was a look he never tired of, one he wanted to hold in his heart forever.
He gazed down at Rose’s hand, curled around him, and his control flew out the window. “Put me inside you,” he said in a voice he hardly recognized as his own. It was all he could do to keep from exploding as Rose placed him at her entrance, raised her hips and took him inside her.
Something feral in him took over; he buried himself to the hilt and began thrusting, hard and deep. He groaned his pleasure as she tightened around him, her muscles squeezing, making him expand and grow harder, longer, thicker.
“Can you come again?” he asked in a strangled voice.
Her sharp intake of breath and arching back provided the answer. Pumping vigorously, he brought them both to a breath-stealing, tumultuous end.
He pulled out and collapsed beside her, sated and ready for sleep. When Rose nudged him, he opened his eyes and found her looking at him, a secretive smile curving her lips. His curiosity piqued, he raised himself up on his elbow, one brow lifting upward. “Do you want to tell me what you are smiling about or must I guess?”
“Guess,” she teased.
“I’m too tired for guessing games, love. Can it wait until tomorrow?”
“I suppose.”
He thought he heard her sigh, but his eyes were already closing and his mind shutting down. The day had been long and eventful. He was nearly asleep when he felt Rose’s breath brush his ear and heard her say—or at least hethought he heard her say—“I’m with child.”
He reared up, fully awake now. “What did you say?”
“I’m going to have your baby.”
He grasped her shoulders. “Are you sure?”
“As sure as I can be at this stage. Our child will make its appearance in about seven months. Does that please you?”
His eyes widened, then narrowed. “How long have you known?”
“I suspected before I left Dragonwyck.”
“And you said nothing?”
Rose had the grace to look guilty. “I feared you would not take me to London if you knew. Are you angry?”
“Damn right I’m angry. Tis no wonder you were so tired before. Had I known, you would still be at Dragonwyck, tucked safely away in the solar.”
“‘Tis precisely why I did not tell you. It all worked out, Dominic. As you can see, I am well. In fact, I have never felt better.”
Dominic looked into her glowing face and believed it. Relief shuddered through him, quickly replaced with elation. Rose was going to have his child, an heir for Dragonwyck and the beginning of a dynasty. He was the luckiest man alive. But that did not let Rose off the hook. When would she learn to obey him? That thought made him smile. There was no rose without a thorn, and his Rose had more than her share of thorns. He sighed. Apparently, avoiding the thorns was going to be a way of life for him.
“Are you still angry?” Rose asked as the silence stretched between them.
“Would it do me any good?”
“Nay, but knowing you are not angry would make me feel better.”
“I’m not angry. But I’m still in shock over the thought of becoming a father. Think you I will make a good one?”
“The best. Should I take that to mean you are happy?”
He pulled her into his arms and nuzzled her neck. “I am happy, sweeting. But no more dangerous stunts, is that understood?”
“Aye, my lord,” she said pertly. “Now you can go to sleep.”
Fitting her into the curve of his body, Dominic drifted off. His dreams began almost immediately. He smiled in his sleep as tiny replicas of Rose romped within the confines of his mind.
Dominic awoke early. Rose was still sleeping, so he dressed quietly and found the garderobe. He returned to the chamber, washed and cleaned his teeth, careful not to awaken Rose. He left the chamber in search of breakfast and bumped into Lillian in the passageway.
She bobbed a curtsy.“Lord Dragon, I did not know you had returned. Everyone was ecstatic when word arrived of your miraculous recovery. No one was more thrilled than Lady Rose. Oh, forgive my rambling, my lord,” she said, coloring prettily. “I am Lillian, your lady’s maid.”
“Good morrow, Lillian. Rose is still sleeping. Come back later.”
“Lady Rose is still abed?” Lillian gasped, obviously shocked. “Is she ill? She rarely misses morning Mass.”
“She… we … stayed up late … talking,” Dominic said lamely.
Lillian’s cheeks flamed. She bobbed another curtsy and fled.
Dominic smiled all the way to the hall, where he broke his fast with the other guests of the king. John had promised him an audience at Terce, so he wandered out to the tiltyard and watched a group of young squires at their training. When the church bell announced the hour of Terce, Dominic returned to the palace, where he cooled his heels in an anteroom before he was admitted into the king’s privy chamber.
” Tis good to see you looking so well, Dragon,” King John greeted. “I commend you on your recuperative powers. We were told there was virtually no hope of your survival, that your wounds were mortal.”
“I had a guardian angel looking after me,” Dominic said. It was true. Rose’s appearance at his deathbed had wrought a miracle.
“I suppose you want permission to take your wife home to Dragonwyck,” John said gruffly.
“May I speak freely, sire?”
“You usually do.”
“I understand you refused to seal the Articles of the Barons.”
John stiffened.“‘Tis no secret. That damnable charter is an insult to the crown. No king should have to suffer such restrictions.”
“The barons think differently. The threat of civil war is very real, sire. You would be prudent to take
the charter seriously if you wish to avoid a conflict.”
“I have already conferred with the council. They suggested that I send the archbishop and the Earl of Pembroke to negotiate with the barons. I do not want war, but I cannot set my seal upon that self-serving document unless a compromise more favorable to the crown can be reached.”
Dominic did not want to push the king too far lest he jeopardize his freedom to take Rose home where she could be properly looked after until the birth of their child.
“Forgive me, sire. I would not speak so boldly if it were not necessary. I am aware, as I am sure you are, that a civil war would divide the country, and you cannot afford that kind of turmoil.”
“I alone shall decide what is good for our country,” John railed. “You may go.”
Dominic took a deep breath and continued, disregarding the king’s dismissal despite the danger to himself.“If negotiations fail and the barons’ army reaches the city gates, the citizens will flock to their cause. You cannot afford to ignore the charter. Lives will be lost; you stand to lose your life as well as the throne.”
John surged from his chair. “Are you threatening me, Dragon?”
Dominic refused to cower beneath John’s fierce anger. “Nay, sire, I but hope to prevent a civil war.”
“Leave me before I lose my temper and find a place for you in my dungeon.”
Realizing he had done everything he possibly could for the barons, Dominic bowed and quit the chamber. Mayhap John would have to see the army at London’s gate before he would acquiesce.
Dominic returned to Rose’s chamber and found her staring out the window, a wistful look in her eyes. She turned and smiled at him.
“Did you see the king?”
“Aye. He refuses to listen to reason. I know not how to proceed. A civil war could begin very soon. It will tear England apart.”
Rose came to him and placed her arms around him.“You have done all you could. I hardly think the barons expected miracles from you. We are talking about King John, are we not, and we all know him to be obstinate, evil and greedy. He will not agree to set his seal to anything that diminishes his power.”