“Chad…,” she whispered, trying to pull away. “What… what are you doing?”
“What I have wanted to do from nearly the beginning of our association.”
She gasped as a roaming hand found her buttocks, caressing them lewdly through the traveling dress. “Please… there are people watching….”
Chad had her pulled so tightly against him that she was bent backwards as he held her. “Let them watch,” he said, nuzzling her. “We are married, are we not? I can do whatever I wish. I am your husband, Aless. God help me, I wish I really was. I would take you upstairs and ravage you until you could no longer walk.”
They were shocking, bold words that he spoke, words that should have sent Alessandria cowering. She should have run from him at the very least. But no amount of righteousness could force her to pull away from him now. God help me, I wish we were really married. Was it possible he really said that? Did he really speak of the hope that was in her heart?
Clearly, he was drunk – there was no denying that. And if she was to be truthful, she was drunk as well. It was the drink that was preventing her from running away. It was the drink that was begging her to give in to the sins of the flesh, to know the touch of a man. It was as wicked as it could possibly be, but Alessandria didn’t care. She was deeply enamored with Chad; nay, it was more than that. Was it possible to love someone after only knowing them for no more than a day? Alessandria couldn’t imagine that what she was feeling for Chad wasn’t love and she couldn’t imagine that she would ever feel any other way about him. He said that he wished they could be married. She wished the same thing, as well.
Surely, that mean the man loved her.
Chad was still nuzzling her face, simply standing there as the music played around them. Alessandria could feel his seeking lips moving across her cheek and she turned her head so that his path would bring him to her mouth. When he claimed her lips with his own, it was as if everything else in the world suddenly faded away and it was only the two of them, becoming acquainted on a level that was beyond Alessandria’s comprehension.
The only stories of sexual contact she had ever heard had been from foolish servants at Orford or from the frigid sisters at the priory. What they had described was not what Alessandria was experiencing. She was experiencing the taste and scent and feel of a man that was causing her heart to race and her head to swim. She could taste him and she loved it. It was the most exciting thing she had ever experienced.
“Sir Chad!” Lady du Bexley’s admonishing voice filled their ears and Chad pulled away from Alessandria to see that the frizzy-haired old woman was heading in his direction. “Such a lusty display, my fine lad. You have given every woman in this hall something to dream about tonight. For now, take your wife to your chamber and I will see you come the morning. Sleep well… that is, if you sleep at all.”
With that, she giggled knowingly and turned back for the table, leaving the bald-headed man in her wake, who was evidently the majordomo of Bexley Manor. He seemed to have some measure of authority for Lady du Bexley. Silently, he motioned for the panting pair to follow him.
Dazed from his kiss with Alessandria, Chad quickly moved back to the feasting table to collect their possessions before returning to Alessandria’s side and following the bald man to a staircase that led to the upper floor.
It was darker in the house now that they were away from the hall and the hard-packed earth floors were covered with straw, not rushes. As the bald man led them up the mural stairs, neither one of them seemed to be too observant of their surroundings; Alessandria was looking rather dreamily at Chad and Chad was struggling to keep his balance as he moved up the stairs. Had they looked around, they would have noticed a beautiful two-storied window of precious glass overlooking the stairwell and a large and expensive tapestry hanging on the wall.
Once they reached the second floor, the bald man took them to another smaller staircase that led to the top floor. On this level, there were several chambers that had a central corridor connecting them, which was an unusual architectural feature. Usually, rooms connected to each other, but with a central corridor, every room had only one entry and exit for maximum privacy.
This level was low-ceilinged and as the bald man opened the door to their chamber, Chad nearly hit his head crossing over the threshold. He staggered in, pulling Alessandria in behind him, as the bald-headed man stood at the door.
“Lady du Bexley will have a morning meal served three hours after dawn,” he said. “She should like all of her guests to attend.”
Chad dropped the baggage near the door. “We shall be gone before dawn,” he informed the man, rubbing at his eyes because everything in the room was swimming. “We should like to have our morning meal brought to us an hour before dawn and I should also request food to take with us, if that will not be too much trouble.”
The bald-headed man shook his head. “No trouble, my lord,” he said. “I shall ensure that you are fed accordingly. Is there anything else you require this night?”
Chad looked at Alessandria. “Is there anything you wish?”
Alessandria nodded. “Water to wash with.”
Chad turned to the bald man, who had heard her request and was already nodding. “I shall have warmed water sent up,” he said. “I shall also send wine for you. Good eve, my lord.”
He shut the door softly and Chad rubbed at his eyes again. “Great Lucifer’s Ghost,” he hissed. “Just what we need. More wine. I can hardly stand as it is.”
Alessandria felt much the same way, only with her, she was particularly fatigued. Too much wine always made her terribly sleepy. She looked over at the bed in the chamber, which was a lavish piece of work, well off the floor, with a silk coverlet and curtains that attached to an overhead canopy.
“I am so weary that I could sleep for a week,” she muttered, still eyeing the bed. “Well, what are the sleeping arrangements to be tonight? Will you take the floor or will I?”
Chad looked at her, standing there in her dark green traveling garment that clung to her so indecently. His heated gaze moved to her breasts, lovely perky things. He had very much liked the feel of her in his arms and the taste of her upon his lips. He hadn’t forgotten any of that. In fact, his lust for her, fed by the wine, was stronger than he was. He couldn’t resist his attraction to her, like the moth to the flame. He couldn’t even think that being alone with her, being as drunk as he was, wasn’t an entirely good idea.
All he knew was that he needed to have her.
Without a word, he moved to her, swiftly, and took her in his arms, pulling her against him as his lips slanted over hers. He could hear her gasp and, for a split second, feel her stiffen in surprise. But just as quickly that stiffness turned to pliability and she became a soft, warm mass in his arms. He could taste the wine on her just as he knew she could taste the wine on him, but neither one of them cared.
Now, the alcohol was in charge.
Chad had to have her. It was blinding, this lust he felt, and as he undid the fastens on her dress, Alessandria didn’t resist. She was too busy being overwhelmed with her first serious kiss, her first experience with a man that was already bleeding her dry of her sanity and reason. Everything about it was wrong, so very wrong, but they had no choice in the matter. No one was resisting or begging for pause. Chad, already aroused, yanked the green traveling dress off of her shoulders, tore it down her body, and dumped it on the floor.
Clad only in a shift, hose, and shoes, Alessandria gasped as he picked her up and carried her over to the bed. His mouth had left her lips and was now forging a blazing trail down her neck, to the soft cleavage of her chest, as he lay her down upon the feather-stuffed mattress.
She sank down into it, unable to effectively move; it was like lying in mud. There was nowhere for her to go and although a little voice in her head screamed at the impropriety of the situation, the drunken part of her pretended not to hear it. Chad loved her, of that she was certain, and she had come to the conc
lusion that she loved him as well. It was a sin to demonstrate that love outside of marriage but she didn’t care. Everything he was doing to her was making her body tingle and her heart jump. She wanted to experience all of it, whatever Chad wanted to show her, and propriety be damned.
Aye… damned.
The shoes and hose came off, yanked off by Chad in his lust. His hands slithered up her shift, coming into contact with her hot, silken flesh, and Alessandria shivered violently as he touched her. Her nipples grew hard, like pebbles, and Chad ripped the shift over her head, his heated mouth descending on her peaked nipples. He suckled powerfully as she writhed and bucked, groaning, uncertain and unfamiliar with his touch but loving it all the same.
She was too drunk to be frightened.
And Chad was too drunk to realize he was about to deflower the woman. All he knew was that his attraction to her was stronger than anything he had ever known. He was numb to his sense of reason and as he suckled on her breasts, he began to fumble with his breeches. He was still in a mail coat, which made things difficult, and when the thing got in the way of him cleanly removing his breeches, he rolled off the bed with a grunt of frustration and bent over at the waist, pulling the mail off as fast as he could.
Fortunately, he was an expert at pulling on and removing mail, so it came off with some ease, as did the padded tunic beneath it. But he still had his breeches and boots on, and he leapt back onto the bed where Alessandria was still pressed down into the mattress, and wedged himself between her legs.
His mouth came down on hers, kissing her with passion that left him breathless, as his fingers gently stroked the dark curls between her legs. She gasped at his touch, unaccustomed to it, but her hands were entwined in his hair, holding his mouth to hers. She was rapidly becoming adept at matching him kiss for kiss, his tongue snaking into her mouth as she mimicked his actions. She liked it very much and her heated body was responding to his touch as if she’d been doing it all her life. When he inserted a finger into her wet sheath, gently, she groaned and lifted her hips. It was as if her body knew what her mind did not. Crazed with lust, Chad shoved his breeches down to his knees and thrust into her.
The pain of his entry was unexpected and Alessandria bit off a cry, biting her hand, as he took two more thrusts to fully embed himself in her tight body. Pressed down into the mattress with his weight on top of her, she felt smothered and fearful, but the moment he began to move, measured thrusts in and out of her body, she began to feel the thrill of his body buried in hers.
Something magical was happening.
Alessandria groaned as he moved in and out of her, his mouth to her neck and his hand to her breast, kneading and pulling at the nipple, exciting her beyond reason. The feelings he was stirring within her made her want to open her legs wider for him, and she did. Chad must have felt her relax beneath him because he fell atop her, shifting so he was mostly lying next to her as his hands grasped her tender buttocks, thrusting into her with measured power. There was something so natural and beautiful about this coupling, as wrong as it was, all of it conducted in a drunken haze, but there was no mistaking the true emotion and attraction that drew them together.
As if it was always meant to be.
Wine gave Chad tremendous stamina and he was able to maintain an erection for several long minutes, using that heated manhood to thrust so hard that he rattled Alessandria’s teeth. Alessandria, in turn, clung to him, her hands in his hair, on his shoulders, touching his face as if to convince herself of what was happening between them. It never even occurred to her that they shouldn’t be doing this; that their actions were so very wrong in the eyes of God and of society, but nothing this wonderful could ever be wrong. Chad was touching her as only he could, making her feel things she never imagined he could.
The moment was pure magic.
The beauty of her first climax came upon Alessandria swiftly, unfurling through her body and causing her legs to tremble. Feeling her tremors start, Chad thrust hard and released himself deep into her tender body. Even after his release, he continued to move and continued to thrust, grinding his hips against hers, causing her to climax again. That only made him lusty again and in little time, he was hard once more and continued making love to her.
That went on three more times into the night until Alessandria fell into a heavy sleep and Chad passed out on top of her.
CHAPTER NINE
“He should not be riding,” Daniel said. “The man is barely able to remain conscious. Leave him here, Torran. We will take good care of him.”
Torran sat atop his big black rouncey in the bailey of Canterbury, listening to Daniel’s pleas. He turned around to look at de Garr, who was sitting on his horse unsteadily. De Poyer and d’Vant were on either side of the man, making sure he didn’t fall, but this was with the horse not even moving. Torran wasn’t entirely sure what was going to happen when the beast actually started to move.
“We will see to him,” he said to Daniel. “Once we reach London, Henry’s physics will tend him.”
Daniel could see that Torran was being standoffish, as well he should be. Daniel had permitted his son to depart from Canterbury with the lady the day before and wouldn’t tell Torran where Chad had gone. More than that, he’d kept Torran and his men locked up for the entire night, only releasing them in the morning when Chad was too far away to track. It was natural for Torran to be annoyed, and worse, for being denied his quarry, but Daniel had no regrets. He’d done what was necessary to give his son the best chance of escaping Henry’s men.
“De Garr is too ill to ride,” Daniel stressed. “If he falls off that horse, he could do worse damage and you know it. Stop being so stubborn about this. Leave him here until he is at least well enough to ride by himself.”
Torran wasn’t budging. “No need,” he said. He’d long since stopped addressing Daniel as “my lord”. “We will be in London in a day or two.”
“You are being foolish about this.”
“And you should not be so concerned for someone your son nearly killed.”
Daniel sighed heavily. “You were the one who drew your weapon first, Torran. It was not I,” he reminded him. “What my sons and I did was to defend ourselves and well you know it. We have been through this conversation before. Did you really think we would not meet violence with violence? Did you really think we would simply let you hold us captive and not react?”
Torran’s jaw ticked. “We were acting on order from Henry, a man that I thought you also supported,” he said. “I can see that I was mistaken. Be assured that Henry will know of the mistake as well.”
Daniel wasn’t going to be intimidated. “Do as you must,” he said. “But you know as well as I do that telling Henry the House of de Lohr is no longer loyal to him will create more chaos than he can adequately handle. How do you think Henry will react if he thinks my entire family has turned on him? Do you think that will help him? Of course it will not. Therefore, when you tell him of this incident, tell him the truth – that you tried to take the lady by force and were summarily beaten back. The House of de Lohr always protects family, and that innocent woman you tried to abduct is family. It has nothing to do with failing to support Henry.”
Torran was growing increasingly upset. “Paint this situation any way you please, but the truth is obvious,” he said. “The Earl of Canterbury is siding with the Lords of Thunder, and the Lords of Thunder side with de Montfort.”
Daniel shook his head in disgust. “If that is all you see, then you are a fool,” he said. “Get off my property. Go back to Henry and tell him your lies. If he wants the truth, I will be more than happy to discuss it with him.”
With that, he turned away from Torran and headed over to the group that had gathered near the entrance to the keep to watch him deal with Henry’s unhappy men. Stefan, Perrin, Chris, Arthur, and William were there as well as de Russe and du Bois, all of them watching Daniel as he dismissed Henry’s Six from Canterbury.
As the gr
oup thundered from the gatehouse, trying to keep de Garr in the saddle, Daniel approached the host of young and talented knights. He was feeling some disappointment in the situation in general but mostly for the sake of the young knights. If Henry attacked, they would be on the front lines. It was a sad thought, indeed.
“He will tell Henry that we have betrayed him,” he said, scratching his head in a resigned gesture. “I am not entirely sure what will happen now, but we may find ourselves on the wrong end of Henry’s sword.”
That was a sobering thought for the young knights. They all looked at each other, various stages of concern on their faces at Daniel’s words.
“Henry would not do that to you, Papa,” Perrin said, ever the optimist. “He needs you too much.”
Daniel smiled thinly. “Mayhap,” he said. “Remind me to tell you of the time I openly defied Henry. It was when I was courting your mother, well before you were born. Henry issued a direct order that I ignored. For years, I ignored it until one day I happened to come across Henry and that very situation came up through conversation.”
Daniel’s sons had never heard of this instance, which was unusual. Daniel often spoke of his past great deeds which, they suspected, were told in a much more grandiose fashion by their father than what actually happened. Therefore, for him to mention disobeying the king – and not having told them about it before – was something of a surprise. It would have been much more like Daniel to have gloated about it.
“What was this order, Papa?” Stefan asked, curious. “What happened?”
Daniel thought back to that time, thirty years ago, when he had been a young man very much in love. His thin smile turned genuine. “Henry wanted your mother to marry someone else,” he said. “I killed the man and ignored the order. Of course, there is more to it than that and mayhap someday I will tell you all of it, but know that I loved your mother so much that I was not unwilling to kill for her. Years later, when Henry asked me about the man who had been betrothed to your mother, I feigned ignorance of the entire situation. What good would it do to tell him that I killed his nephew?”
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