God, but Ralph felt the sudden rush of emotion. He was indeed a fortunate man to count these men as friends and allies.
‘Well, not for me,’ Tom drawled, folding his arms across his chest. ‘I am only in this for the coin.’
They all laughed again, the moment’s sincerity all but broken.
‘Naturally. What more is there in life other than coin?’ Will winked.
‘Apart from the love of a good woman.’ Hugh grinned.
‘I can drink to that.’
The two lords filled their mugs with more ale as Tom pulled Ralph to the side for a seemingly private discourse.
‘There is a surprise for you, my friend, but do not look so concerned. This is a good one. Very good.’ He flicked his head to the entrance of the tent. ‘Come.’
They took their leave, pulled their hoods over their heads and walked around to the winding path that led to the area where the de Clancey cattle were stabled. It dawned on Ralph that this would be one of the last times that there would be the need for their subterfuge when venturing out. That was if, God willing, everything went to plan. Soon he would be standing beside his friend as himself—as Ralph de Kinnerton, the man he was destined to be, worthy to stand against anyone. And he could not have done it without his friends and, in particular, Gwen. Their belief in him and his strength of character determined the man he had now become.
‘What is this, Tom?’
‘Why don’t you go inside and find out?’
Ralph rushed forward, his heart pounding. ‘Is he here?’ Ralph turned, his face filled with relief. ‘Fortis?’
Tom leant against the wooden frame housing the horses. ‘Indeed.’
‘How?’ Ralph leant in, placing his head against the muzzle of his horse. ‘How in God’s name did you manage to get him back?’
‘It is somewhat of a mystery.’ He heard his friend’s laughter.
‘How in heaven can I ever repay you, Tom?’
‘But it’s not I that you owe anything to, Ralph, but another.’
‘Will?’
‘No, not him either.’
‘Hugh, then.’ He sighed deeply.
Either way it would take much coin to repay him. And yet for all the coin in the land, Ralph had thankfully got his faithful horse back. That counted more than Ralph could say, after the disastrous last few days where he had almost perished. And losing Fortis had been the most arduous thing about the mêlée—the most difficult to accept. They had been through quite a lot together and now, just like that, as if by magic his horse had returned back to him. It was nothing short of being unexpected and so very welcome indeed.
‘No, Ralph. Wrong again. I would guess someone fair and not a man, if I were you.’ Tom smirked.
‘Gwenllian?’ Ralph’s eyes widened in surprise as Tom nodded. It could not be. ‘Hell’s teeth—Gwen? But how?’
Ralph looked at his friend with a look of bewilderment on his face. How on earth did she do it and without mentioning it to him earlier when he had seen her by the stream in the woods? It was unbelievable that she was able to do something as expensive as this. More and more questions tumbled in his head.
‘I have no idea, my friend, but mayhap the lady could enlighten you herself.’
‘I do not know what to say. I’m truly speechless!’
‘I believe the usual thanks should suffice, my friend.’ Tom chuckled.
‘Oh, I intend to.’ Ralph shook his head, as he ran his hand up and down Fortis’s muzzle one last time before heading out towards the castle.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Gwen walked down the narrow hall that led to the antechamber. She opened the wooden door and let herself into the empty chamber, placing the lit torch into the metal sconce. Before she had the opportunity to turn, someone had grabbed her from behind, covering her mouth with their hand, and pulled her across behind a wooden beam in the dark corner. Her heart began to pound in her chest as she tried to remain calm.
Oh, God, please let it not be him! Not Stephen.
‘I cannot believe that you would still choose to go anywhere alone, my lady.’
Ralph!
‘I am going to remove my hand very, very slowly, but I would appreciate it if you would not scream, Gwen.’ His low voice rumbled somewhere close behind her, tickling her neck.
His hand slowly left her mouth, leaving her inhaling deeply. ‘What do you think you’re doing, Ralph de Kinnerton?’ she hissed. ‘You scared me half to death!’
Gwen spun around and found herself looking at him with his finger to his lips, imploring her to talk quietly. She looked around in every direction before pulling the sleeve of his tunic and motioning for him to follow her to the chamber she shared with Brida in the furthest corner.
They scrambled inside, closing the wooden door hastily behind them.
‘Why are you wandering around the castle alone?’
She raised her eyebrows, slightly confused by his presence at this time of night. ‘May I remind you that this part of the castle keep has a guard and is not supposed to allow men anywhere near it. Especially ones who skulk around in dark corners, ready to pounce on young maids.’
‘You wound me!’ He gave her a look of mocked outrage. ‘I do not skulk, Lady Gwenllian. I was being careful not to alert anyone to my presence here. And it was just as well now that I have tested the security here, because I have to say that it is most inadequate.’
She stepped closer to him closing the space between them. ‘Is that so?’
‘Yes,’ Ralph whispered, his hands circling around her waist, pulling her closer. He dipped his head and breathed in her hair. ‘It should have been much, much harder for me to breach the keep, but I found it surprisingly easy to gain access.’
‘And now you are here and have managed to sneak into my chamber of all places at this ungodly hour.’ She looked up as she placed her hands on his chest. ‘I would like to enquire why?’
‘You really do ask too many questions, my lady.’ His lips quirked up as he pulled her closer to him.
‘I believe that this was the only question I have asked you. Why are you here, Ralph?’
‘To see you, of course.’ Even in the relative darkness of the chamber she could see the curl of his smile rise even higher. ‘Should I go? Am I intruding on your solitude?’
‘Nothing like that. I just wanted to understand the urgency in seeing me now. Could it not wait until the morrow, sir?’
His hand moved up and down her spine, leaving in its wake a shudder that she had difficulty suppressing. Ralph dipped his head, his warm breath merging with hers. All she had to do was tilt her head a little and their lips would touch. She licked them instead.
‘No, I fear I could not wait to see you.’ His left hand had now made its way around to her face, stroking and caressing her skin. ‘Do you know that you must have the softest skin, Gwen?’ He ran his fingers through her hair, wrapping a flaxen tendril around his fingers.
‘I am not sure I can understand the haste in breaching this area of the keep with such urgency, just to pontificate on the softness of my skin.’
He lifted her head a fraction higher, his fingers beneath her chin. ‘A man likes to revere such things.’
Gwen smiled despite herself. ‘Really, Sir Ralph, you make little sense. What would you do, I wonder, if Brida were to walk in right now and find you here?’
His unwavering gaze awakened a sensation that unfurled itself in the pit of her stomach, making her far more aware of every tingling sensation.
‘I would bid her a good evening,’ he smiled. ‘Where is the ever-faithful Brida, anyway?’
‘She offered to stay and assist with one of the ladies here, Lady Matilde, all night. In fact, I am just returning from attending to her as well.’
Ralph pulled away, the mirth in his eyes replaced with a look of concern
‘I hope all is well with the lady?’
She nodded pulling away. ‘Nothing but a malady of the heart, I believe.’
‘I see.’ He sighed. ‘Well, the lady is fortunate to have friends who comfort her in her, ah, difficult moment.’
‘While there is sadly no cure for her misery, she is young and would eventually overcome her affliction.’
It took a moment for Gwen to realise what she had just said. Ralph released her and he frowned.
‘Is that...is that what happened to you?’
‘I...well.’ Gwen looked up to find Ralph studying her intently. She dropped her gaze back to her hands.
She had tried so hard to overcome her own heartache over the man standing opposite her and yet the truth was that she had never quite managed to do it. Her feelings for Ralph, even after everything that had happened between them, had never really changed, no matter how hard she tried. He still made her heart soar, even though she had tried to forget about him and everything they had once shared.
Gwen cleared her throat and swallowed uncomfortably. ‘We were not talking about me.’
Ralph dragged his fingers through his hair and gave her an eloquent look.
‘No.’ He flashed her a quick smile. ‘Although it is because of you and what you have done that I came here to see you tonight.’
‘So not for the softness of my skin?’
He smirked. ‘Lovely and fair as your skin may be, I had to come tonight to express my eternal gratitude for returning Fortis to me.’
‘Ah.’ She raised her eyebrows. ‘So, you have found out about that already.’
‘I’m speechless, Gwen. I cannot believe that you did this for me.’
‘Could you not?’ She reached up and caressed his face, just as he had done moments ago. ‘What are friends for, after all?’
His hand covered hers, turning it over, and he planted a kiss on her palm, without taking his eyes off her. ‘Mayhap a little more than what friends usually do, my lady.’
She shrugged. ‘Yes, but mayhap I am just more of a generous friend than I realised.’
Would it ever be possible to be just friends with Ralph? There could be no future between them and yet she could not stop thinking about the man. She could not stop caring and, God help her, longing for him. Even though it was hopeless for her to allow anything more to develop between them.
‘Your generosity is not in question here.’ His arms came around her waist again, anchoring her to him. ‘What I need to know is why you did it.’
‘Quite simply, you needed him back and I managed to facilitate that.’
‘As easy as that?’ He shook his head. ‘Horses are expensive, Gwen.’
‘I am aware of that. But I wanted to get him back, knowing how valuable and important he is to you.’
She had to stop herself from adding that there was very little she would not do for him.
He kissed the tender skin of her wrist. ‘I am in your debt, my lady.’
‘You think too much about it, Ralph. My benevolence stems from the necessity of a horse for our journey later to the convent.’ Even to her own ears her voice sounded breathless.
‘Naturally.’ He nipped her delicate skin. ‘And with what, may I ask, did you manage to acquire my necessary horse?’
Ralph ran his fingers through her hair, twisting a tendril around his fingers before letting it fall away.
‘I exchanged my parchment scrolls.’
He snapped his head up. ‘You did what?’ The shock in Ralph’s face was palpable, his hand flexing around hers.
‘The knight in question, Sir Geoffrey de Clun, admired them greatly and agreed to the transaction.’
‘Oh, my God, Gwen.’ He searched her face for answers. ‘Tell me you did not resort to that?’
Gwen’s brows pinched in the middle. ‘I do not understand your reaction, Ralph. I thought you would be pleased to have your horse back.’
‘Oh, I am.’ He nodded. ‘Believe me, I am. This is an incredibly considerate thing that you have done. I am indeed a lucky man to have such a benefactor, but at what cost, Gwen?’ He raised her hand and pressed his lips to each finger. ‘Your painstakingly beautiful work on the parchment. You gave them up like that?’ He clicked his fingers.
‘You make too much of this. Really, it was nothing.’ Her voice sounded husky even to her own ears.
‘I beg to differ, my lady.’ One of his hands moved around to cradle her head, while the other stroked her cheekbones and her neck before moving to brush her bottom lip. ‘It is everything.’
Gwen’s lips parted as her tongue tentatively touched the back of his thumb. She heard him draw a hissed breath in through his teeth before swiftly bending his head and covering her mouth with his. This kiss started in the same way as the slow, languorous one they shared that night in the moonlight, but swiftly changed and became more probing, seeking and demanding. It questioned her about things she would rather forget even for a short time.
It was all at once heated, wet and breathless. All at once ravenous and consuming. Oh, but it wasn’t nearly enough, not nearly close enough. Gwen wanted so much more of him. She was shocked at the expedient way things had suddenly shifted between them.
But it had been this way between them from the first moment Gwen had glimpsed his dark, shadowy silhouette in the woods. The moment when she had been made aware that he had lived. That he had survived.
At the time the physical changes to Ralph had not only stunned her, but scared her a little. Her own visceral reaction to this altered version of Ralph, who was taller, larger, leaner and stronger than ever before, frightened and confused her. All his sinewy hardness left no room for any soft edges and he was very much a man. A man in his prime.
Gwen had initially believed that the reasons to being afraid were these raw masculine changes in Ralph but, no...that was a lie she had told herself. She knew that now. It was her own reaction to him that she had been afraid of from that very first night when she had seen him again. This frisson that swept through both of them, pushing them together, even if it was for just one night.
This night.
Because that was all it could ever be.
God, but she had almost lost him again. It had been far too close.
She clung to him and kissed him back, with such a need to taste him. To slide and tangle her tongue with his.
‘Easy, sweetheart.’ He smiled against her lips.
But Gwen took no heed, her urgency for him grew and soared. Her hands visibly shook as she slipped them under Ralph’s tunic, yearning to touch the smoothness of his skin. The hard, rippling contours and planes of his chest and stomach muscles. Her fingers grazed the light dusting of hair on his chest that ran down in a line below his hose. A nervous laugh tore from her lips as she helped him tug the tunic up and over his head. A lock of his dark hair fell over Ralph’s forehead as they both stood staring at one another. The tension dragged for a long, quiet moment. Her breathing was ragged, had quickened, punctuated by the thrum of her own heartbeat. She watched in fascination as the wide expanse of his bare chest rose and fell rapidly.
Yet it was when Gwen lifted her head that she almost swooned. His eyes held an unfettered desire that glittered in their very depths, a surge of emotion smouldering with so much longing and need. She reached out and slid her hands up his chest and around his shoulders. And then it happened. She was pulled into his arms, her breasts flattened against his rock-hard chest, his mouth crashing on to hers. His hands dug through her hair, gripping her on either side of her head as he deepened his assault on her mouth. She met him with every measure, following his every move.
Lord above, what on earth was happening to her? She was pinned to the spot, a small flame igniting from deep within and spreading throughout her whole body. Her legs were unsteady, wobbly, incapable of supporting her. Everything seemed to turn
and shift, making Gwen feel as though she were about to stumble and fall.
Ralph’s hands dropped to her waist, his fingers circling around, giving her a slight squeeze. She gasped into the heat of his mouth as he lifted her off her feet and carried her to the bed, without breaking the kiss. He lay down beside her before his hands, lips, teeth and tongue explored her mouth, her jaw, down the slope of her neck and along the swoop of her collarbone. He ran a finger down the throbbing vein and sucked her quivering pulse, his other hand gliding down her body, exploring her every curve. Gwen’s whole body was now alight with wonderment and need. Ralph tugged her bottom lip with his teeth, sucking it before his kisses softened. He pulled away on a shudder.
‘Tell me to stop, Gwen, and I will.’
‘I cannot seem to,’ she panted.
‘We must, otherwise it shall become too late.’
She turned her head and nipped the taut skin along his neck. ‘What if we don’t want to stop?’ she murmured.
‘Do you know even what you’re saying, sweetheart?’
‘Yes.’ She frowned, opening her eyes. ‘Of course I do.’
‘So, you know what this would mean?’
She reached out and touched his jaw, feeling the hard muscle under the stubble and skin. ‘Must I derive meaning from what we are doing?’
‘Yes,’ he hissed, turning his head to kiss her palm. ‘We would be bound together otherwise. Would you have me take that choice away from you?’
‘No, Ralph.’ She drew his hair back with her fingers. ‘You would not be taking that from me.’
‘Think what you are saying, Gwenllian.’
‘Yes,’ she whispered. ‘I am asking you to stay with me here tonight.’
It was neither by design nor by fault that they had ended at this precipice, when she had acquired Fortis for Ralph. They had always been hurtling towards this bittersweet moment from that first moment.
‘Is this truly what you want?’
Gwen lifted her head and pulled his lips gently between her teeth. ‘Yes...oh, yes.’
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