She felt him turn from her in the darkness after delivering the nonchalant statement. He let her hand fall from the door so she could continue to run it over the wall. She wondered what else she might find hidden under the castle. Without warning, the passageway turned sharply to the left and Eden felt as if they were going down a steep incline. They traveled lower until she’d no idea how far they had gone. Vladamir didn’t speak. She grew fearful.
Suddenly, he stopped. Eden stumbled into his back and gasped.
“Where are we?” She hesitated as she righted herself. “Where are we going?”
“Are you afraid?” he asked in his low, thick accent. His voice mocked as he leaned into her. His hair fell over his shoulder to brush her face. She couldn’t see him in the darkness but could feel the hot breath of his mouth against her skin. His scent overwhelmed her and the power of his heated body engulfed her senses. Eden lifted her hand, accidentally smoothing the lock back across his forehead with shaking fingers.
“Is that one of your questions?” she shot back with a shiver, wishing she could see his face. Her heart nearly stopped, catching in her throat at the words.
“Nay.” Vladamir touched the hand near his face and pulled it into his palm away from the scars on his jaw. He wrapped his fingers around her wrist, holding her prisoner with a tightened squeeze. Her pulse beat wildly. “Are you?”
“A little,” she admitted, gravitating toward him. She was drawn to the fear he produced within her, liking the dangerous quality to his words. They were alone, deep beneath the castle. What would he do to her? Would he take her again in his rough passion? She didn’t know if he was her protector or someone she should wish to be protected against. Her heart beat that it was both. The air felt thin and she became lightheaded. Frightened by the darkness and feeling as if she descended into the depths of a tomb, she asked again, “Where are we going?”
“To the monster’s lair.” The duke let go of her hand.
Eden gasped at the demonic growl to his words. She backed away from him but it was too late to run. His hand caught up her wrist and he didn’t let her go.
“P-please.” Eden heard his key once again being fitted into an iron lock. She pulled at her captured hand, his grip only tightened. The passageway grew hot and the air suddenly felt damp. “Are you going to keep me prisoner? What are you doing?”
A door creaked open on its hinges and she noted how this door hadn’t been well oiled like the outer door. Her mind raced in apprehension.
Mayhap, because none can hear this door. None can hear me if I were to scream. How far underground did we wander?
Eden swayed uncontrollably as Vladamir started forward. Her eyes rolled back in her head and her eyelids fluttered. She let the darkness consume her, having no choice to fight it.
Chapter Twelve
“Your Majesty.”
Clifton strode into the king’s tent and bowed. Blinking slowly, he held his position until the king bid him to rise with a distracted wave of his hand. The earl stood and waited for the king’s permission to speak.
King Alfred and his men had been camped on the outer border of Wessex, near Mercia, overseeing the construction of one of his defensive burghs. The earl had been forced to reside there for about a sennight and a half. Only with Clifton’s insistent pleading did the king agree to leave his project and ride to Lakeshire to resolve the problem of the earl’s daughter’s marriage.
“Yea? What is it?” Alfred barked gruffly with a glance to the earl. Sighing, he turned his full attention from the page he was translating from Latin into English. The earl was interrupting the only leisure time he’d been afforded on the journey. Pouring sand onto the parchment to help dry the ink, he then motioned to his servant, ordering him to leave. The man nodded and ducked out of the tent flap, closing it behind him.
Clifton’s face was red with anger as he waited for the servant to exit. At the excruciatingly slow rate the king’s party was traveling, they were just under a quarter day’s ride from Lakeshire. He’d sent dispatch to Luther that morning to tell him of their progress. A dispatch rider could make the castle gates with an hour of hard riding. And the earl just received a dire message in return.
“My liege,” Clifton stated without preamble. “I received word that Lord Luther has been murdered by that barbarian, Vladamir.”
“Vladamir of Kessen rode into Luther’s encampment and murdered him? In front of his men?” the king asked with disbelief. He’d met the duke and didn’t see him acting so foolishly.
“Nay, Majesty. Luther was within Lakeshire’s walls.”
“Methought you said Luther would stay out of the castle gates,” the king broke in furiously. He slashed his hand through the air. “You gave me your word that he wouldn’t provoke an incident.”
“And so he didn’t,” Clifton inserted when Alfred paused for air. A gleam of anticipation lighted in his eyes. “My dispatcher informs me that Lord Luther was personally escorting a package that arrived for the duke. They say the monster cut his head off in daylight for all to see.”
Alfred held up his hand for silence and stood up from his writing table. He frowned in displeasure, not liking Clifton’s use of the word monster. Thoughtfully rubbing his ink-stained fingers on a rag of fine gray wool, he moved to the corner of the large tent to take up his sword. He tied it at his waist before turning once more to the earl.
“Have you met with Lord Kessen afore he took your daughter? His land is near your own. ‘Tis possible your paths have crossed.” King Alfred studied the earl quietly. When Clifton had no ready answer, he continued, “For I have met Lord Kessen with a cool head and have found him to be more than what others think of him.”
“Nay, Majesty.” The earl put his hands on his waist. “I know not why he would commit this offense on my house, but I’d have justice for it. I want him brought up on charges afore the Witan. I want him judged.”
“There is more to consider here than one nobleman’s life. Lord Kessen is my prisoner and, not only that, by his first wife he is the son-by-marriage of King Guthrum. If we charge Lakeshire and slay a duke who is under my protection it could start a war.” The king held up his hand before the earl could protest. “I will send a dispatch to Guthrum alerting him as to the situation.”
“So I’m to go unavenged?” Clifton’s voice rang out harshly. “Majesty, I have been a loyal subject. And if there is to be another war against the Vikings I know our country can once again defeat them.”
Alfred motioned to silence the angry man. He peered down at the nobleman from the advantage of his height. Nodding sternly at the earl’s patriotic decree, he knew that Clifton would be hard-pressed to join in much of the fighting. “We will ride at daybreak. I’ll speak with Lord Kessen and will make my decision then. As to Lord Luther, we will investigate that as well.”
“But—?” the earl tried to protest, his mouth working in outrage. His hand gripped instinctively at an imaginary sword, but he was stopped by the king’s authoritative glare.
“I have spoken on the matter. If there is to be justice delivered, I’ll deliver it but not without the facts.” Taking a deep breath, he regained his calm.
The king beckoned the man to leave his tent. The earl nodded stiffly and backed away. Shaking his head to clear the ache he was beginning to feel, Alfred looked longingly at his drying pages before bundling them into a rolled leather scabbard. He wanted to finish the passage he was working on but knew that he would have to make it wait.
* * * * *
“Eden.”
Eden moaned, nuzzling her cheek into Vladamir’s hand. She didn’t want to wake up, though the voice was insistent. In her dream, the duke was with her, thrusting into her from behind in the dirty chamber. His hard body was prying her open as his fingers explored along the cleft of her ass.
“Eden.” It was Vladamir’s voice. She moaned, finally forcing her head from the fog of her dreams.
Blinking several times, she suppressed a delicate ya
wn as she saw Vladamir leaning over her. His face was close to hers and she heard his soft breathing as it fanned her temple. The fine lines at the corners of his firm mouth twitched up into a lazy smile, causing her heart to skip. His hair fell downward over his shoulders, framing them in a dark cocoon. Vladamir’s thigh brushed her leg. He knelt beside her, his upper body coming over her, supported by his muscled arms.
“Yea?” she asked, stretching as she raised her hands above her head with another delicate, closed-mouth yawn. Grass tickled her fingers and she realized they were outside.
Unable to resist the duke’s appeal, she lifted her hand to his cheek to caress him as he had her. The back of her knuckles grazed his heated skin, over the rough pull of an afternoon beard. She ached for him to kiss her, though her mind was still hazy as to where she was and why. Her lips parted eagerly as she watched his gaze flicker to them. Running her fingers over his stubbled cheek, she moved her hand over his ear to his hair. Her fingers curled at the nape of his neck, delicately entwining in the long black waves.
“You fainted,” Vladamir said as if reading her unasked question.
“Fainted?” Eden furrowed her brow in confusion as his words finally penetrated her brain and then she recalled her fear of him. It leapt back into her heart with an unsteady quickness to capture her breath. She moved her hand to push at his chest and shot him an accusing glare. “You said you were going to bring me to your lair.”
“And so I have.” He smiled, letting her push him away. His movements were controlled as he leaned back, moving more of his free will than her insistent shove. He studied her through narrowed eyes.
As his hair moved from her view, it was as if a curtain was being lifted from her vision. She watched him as he silently crouched back and away. A gasp caught in her throat as she looked up into the gently swaying trees of a forest. The leaves were green and bright as they danced guilelessly in the breeze. Their crashing motion filled the air with a gentle song that sounded like falling rain. The sun peeked through the branches, making just enough speckled light to see.
She sat slowly up, not bothering to look at the duke. Her awed gaze transfixed on their surroundings. Around them grew soft beds of grass, mixed with areas of dirt, littered by fallen leaves. She even thought to smell the light scent of flowers on the air.
“Where are we?” She noticed a door that matched the iron one inside the castle wall. It was edged with stone and overgrown with vining plants and moss. It was as if they traveled through time to a magical land. She turned her eyes finally to her husband. “Where have you taken us?”
“You wanted to know why our home was called Lakeshire,” he said simply. Then, moving to pull a stray piece of grass from her hair, he waited for her nod.
“Yea, but…” Eden’s words faltered as she was now transfixed by him. The peacefulness of the outdoors faded next to the inky blackness of his eyes. Her body reached to hold him with every fiber, sending a chill over her goose-fleshed skin. Her eyes dipped listlessly to his parted lips, wanting to taste them.
“Then turn,” the duke commanded lightly as he looked over her head.
Eden did as he ordered her, fairly gushing with excitement. A few feet behind her lay a small pond. Its water was clear and clean and beautifully undisturbed. The liquid shimmered in the shadowy light, its surface placid. A few boulders were around the pond, ideal for sitting and watching the peaceful water.
“Where are we? Are we still in Wessex? Where have you taken us?”
“Yea, we are in Wessex,” Vladamir answered with a gruff laugh. He shifted to his hands and knees and crawled toward her. Then, when he’d drawn close, he flipped onto his back to stare at the ceiling of tree limbs. “This is where I was trying to take you. The king brought me here. As I said afore I also asked why the castle was named Lakeshire. He said because ‘tis shire to a little personal lake and because Pondshire wasn’t as impressive a name.”
Eden chuckled and glanced down at his whimsical face as he spoke. He almost seemed transformed, boyish. She seated herself opposite to him but beside him. Looking out past his head and over the pond, she felt the privilege of such a secret—as if she was one of the rare few given the advantage of such a place.
“We’re surrounded by a castle wall, so it’s very private. If you were to walk in any direction you would run into the wall. Water from a creek along the outside feeds the pond and the only way out is beneath the water’s surface. Even then it is a tight fit and hard to find. Those outside the castle wall think they’ve run into the castle and don’t notice this small alcove, and since the forest is dense, the wall can barely be seen for the shrubs and water. The tree limbs keep the area from being noticed from the castle windows and you already saw the door leading from the garden. Beside me, only the king, his dead brother, and a few masons who rebuilt the castle know of it and now you.”
“So we’re alone?” she asked, wondering why he would bring her here.
“Yea,” he answered, nodding. “And that will be three questions you must answer.”
“What is your first question, m’lord?” she asked, unable to take her eyes off of him as he spoke. He seemed so relaxed in the secret alcove and when she gazed at him, the beauty of the surroundings paled in comparison to looking at his dark features.
“Nay,” he shot back in denial. His eyes were blank, his gaze steady. “Not yet.”
Eden tried to force herself to remember all that he’d done. But try as she might, she couldn’t stop the overwhelming feeling of love that blossomed in her chest—love for her disturbingly emotionless husband. She didn’t want to love him, didn’t want to feel as if her whole being was made only to serve him but she did.
Her heart beat a path to her lips, urging them to take his firm mouth to hers. Closing her eyes, she forced the urge down into the pit of her stomach. Even as her heart filled and brimmed with love for him, it also throbbed and ached for he was incapable of loving her back.
“Tell me,” Eden said, no longer able to keep her questions from him. In the sanctuary of his lair she felt a freedom she couldn’t in the castle. She lowered her chin and looked shyly to a blade of grass that grew next to her. Plucking it from the ground, she pretended to study the dark veins that ran through it.
Vladamir closed his eyes and she stared at his handsome, unmoving face. When she didn’t continue, he gave her a sidelong glance. “What is it, Eden?”
Eden blushed as he said her name, the sound so soft and gentle on his foreign tongue. “What did I do wrong?”
“When?” he asked without moving.
“There are so many times,” Eden began weakly and then shook her head to clear her thoughts. Tracing her finger over the blade of grass, she gestured weakly. “Never mind, ‘tis stupid.”
“Ask me.” Vladamir turned on his side and reached a tentative hand to her leg, resting it gently on her. Eden exhaled a soft moan, trying not to concentrate on the warmth that spread through her like an arrow of fire from his touch.
“‘Tis only that…” She took a deep breath. “All right. ‘Tis only that night when we…consummated, you didn’t like it.”
Eden groaned with embarrassment as words failed her. She peered to the pond for guidance and then back to the grass blade. Her husband was handsome to her in that moment and she grew afraid, not because she thought him a monster, but because she didn’t think him one at all. To her he was a man, a man incapable of returning the love that grew with every insistent beat of her heart. Inside, her body was melting for him, dying to be with him, to please him. Her stomach curled with nervous excitement whenever she thought of him and her loins heated with desire, so wet she could barely think straight.
“You didn’t like me. How I was.” Eden grew flustered but forced herself to go on. She had to know. Not being with him was agony. “And methought if you were to tell me where I went wrong, then I could please you and you wouldn’t banish me from your bed, like you have. If I were not banished from your bed, the king wou
ld see that we were not estranged and would be likely to keep the marriage and, in fact, I might give you an heir so that the king would…”
“Be likely to keep the marriage,” Vladamir finished as he watched her timid face. His low harsh accent echoed gently in the private haven.
“Yea,” Eden admitted with a troubled frown. She thoughtfully rubbed her lips with the tip of her finger to get rid of their insistent stinging.
“Is it because you fear your father that you don’t wish to go back?”
“Yea,” Eden admitted, though that was only part of her reason—a very small, insignificant part. “I’m married to you and ‘tis easier to stay with you then to bother with another husband. For believe me when I say my father’s list is long when it comes to finding a rich man to marry me off to. I find you handsome enough and you seem not terribly displeased with my appearance and, though I still have not been told why, there is the revenge for you. I’ll make you a good and loyal wife. I know that is what you want from me. I won’t give you cause for displeasure if I can help it.”
He said nothing.
“And I suppose you wouldn’t like to have to find another wife. For who would be as loyal to you as I, for I have much reason to be. There is always the fact that I…” She paused, taking a deep breath. “The fact that I’m young, healthy, and can most likely give you heirs without the use of herbs. At least, that is what Haldana told me. All men desire heirs and you’re a man. Methinks I remember you admitting as much when you proposed we marry.”
He grinned. The look tore at her heart. She wanted to touch him, hold him, kiss him. If only he would give her more encouragement, if only he would say he wanted her too.
Nay, forget what I said. The truth is I love you and cannot bear to be parted from you. Love me, m’lord. Please, just love me. That’s all I want from you. Just love me…
How can you know what I want?
Vladamir’s chest pounded strangely at her words. He knew that she spoke logic but he hated it anyway. He’d been watching her pink lips as she talked, wanting desperately to feel them. His fingers itched to grab the full globes of her breasts in his palms. Seeing the half-truth in her eyes, he knew there was more she wasn’t telling him. She seemed so fragile, so hurt. He hadn’t thought he’d hurt her by avoiding her, he thought he did her a favor. After the way he bedded her like a beast she surely wasn’t asking him to do it again…but she was. He’d missed holding her and had thought of it often as he manned the wall.
Maiden and the Monster Page 25