“You would not manage the feat, my Annelise.”
“Would I not?”
“I come to believe that you were made for passion.” Rolfe dropped his voice low. “Or perhaps you were made for me.”
She caught her breath. “Yet I am certain, sir, that my passion would be greater with the exchange of confidences.” She smiled. “Is that not a prospect worth your consideration?
It was. Indeed, Rolfe could not imagine Annelise showing greater passion than she already had. The possibility of more almost tempted him to confess the whole tale.
Rolfe bit his tongue and did not reply.
He knew better than to be hasty with trust. He reminded himself of Rosalinde.
“And so you fall silent,” she said. Rolfe flattened himself against the wall, but she came closer, evidently assuming that he had continued down the hall to the bed chamber. She shook her head. “Straight to the bed, as though there was nothing else of import in this match than pleasure. I had expected more from you, sir, and do not mind confessing as much—”
Annelise passed him, just steps away in the darkness, as she chastised him. Rolfe waited a moment, then snatched her from behind, spun her around, and kissed her. He poured all his desire into his embrace, hoping to convince her that his scheme of seduction was best.
When he lifted his head long moments later, Annelise leaned against his chest. “You are persuasive, sir,” she whispered.
“I would make your surrender worthwhile,” Rolfe whispered and caressed the soft curve of her cheek.
Annelise laughed. “You make me forget my plans and my resolve far too easily. I think you do not fight fairly, sir.”
“Would you rather I abandoned the battle.”
“No, sir. In fact, I pray that you do not.” This time, she stretched to touch her lips to his.
Rolfe was aroused that she initiated the kiss. Indeed, the lady showed more ardor than even he had come to believe and when he next had the chance to speak, Rolfe’s voice was husky. “I am not too proud to confess that I sorely missed you and your touch this day, Annelise.”
“Then you should not have left me.”
“Would you believe me if I said I had no choice?”
“Where did you go?”
“I had an errand that could not be delayed.”
“But where?”
“Beyond the walls.”
“But where? You did not take your destrier or palfrey. How could you have gone any distance without them?”
Rolfe’s heart chilled. “My destrier?” he echoed, realizing that she had not been idle during her day alone. “You were in the stables?”
Annelise laughed a little. “I searched every corner of this palace for you, sir, though the only living souls I found were in the stables.” She must have interpreted his silence as surprise. “Even I have the wits to recognize the steed of a knight, sir, as well as his armor and weapons. He is quite a lovely stallion.”
Rolfe did not know what to say. How would he explain the absence of servants? What could he say about his absence? He did not wish to lie to Annelise, but her curiosity was confounding.
“Will you not tell me?” she asked quietly.
“I cannot.” Rolfe sighed. “I would if I could, but I cannot.” It was true and he hoped she understood as much. Rolfe was certain that Annelise was trying to study him, seeking a glimpse of his expression. When she sighed, he wished that he could see her expression. The shadows were as much a curse as a benefit.
“It was disappointing to find you gone this morn,” she said, leaning her brow upon his chest. She was so close to him that he could feel her heat and her hair fell over his hands. He bent to kiss her brow and was inundated by the scent of her skin. He wondered if the scent of Annelise would always be such a potent temptation to him. “Although the flowers were beautiful. Thank you for them.”
“They are roses,” Rolfe said, feeling a wave of gratitude that she had accepted his meager explanation.
“Roses are not so large and lush as that!”
“They are in Outremer. Do you like them?”
“They are magnificent.” She touched her lips to his throat and heat emanated from that spot, making Rolfe hold her more closely.
“I would love you again this night,” he whispered. “Perhaps more than before, but only if you agree.”
“Of course,” she replied, her breath fanning his skin. “Of course, my lord husband. My passion abed is yours to command.”
Her agreement was all the encouragement Rolfe needed. He swept Annelise into his arms and strode for the bed chamber, determined to ensure that the lady learned even more of pleasure.
One more night.
A more thorough loving.
And this time, the curse would be broken.
On the morrow, he could confess the truth.
The man was persuasive, indeed.
Annelise had never experienced such pleasure as her husband granted to her. He knew more of her body than she, it was clear, and he could conjure passion that she had never imagined might exist. He set her very soul on fire, cast her to the stars, then did it all again. It was too easy to surrender to the sorcery of his kiss, too easy to forget her own resolve to uncover all of his mysteries. He could make her forget her plans with a touch.
And worse, she did not regret a bit of it.
He was vulnerable only in one moment. Annelise realized as much after he had pleased her twice and had his own release. Immediately after their mating and his release, he was spent, just as he had been the night before. He almost dozed and it was in this brief interval that Annelise knew she must try to discover more of him.
He had promised to tell her more this day. It was only fair to her thinking that she actively seek the truth that he had declined to share.
When he fell back against the linens, his breath coming quickly, she recognized her chance.
Annelise propped herself on her elbow and looked down upon her husband. It was darker than dark, for he had drawn the drapes around the bed, but she knew where he was. She set her fingertip upon his lips and felt him smile beneath her touch.
“Were you pleased?” he murmured, his voice a low growl of satisfaction.
She smiled herself, liking that he was concerned for her welfare. She came to believe that he was a good man, if a secretive one. “You know I was, sir, and twice so.”
“Good.” He captured her hand and kissed her fingertips. “I would not see you disappointed.” It was a sentiment that pleased her, but Annelise refused to be swayed from her plan.
“Who are you?” she asked.
She felt him stiffen. She felt the skip of his heart and knew he was shocked.
“I beg your pardon?”
Annelise dropped her chin onto his chest, her fingers tapping against his shoulder. “Who are you?” she asked again. “I capitulated to your touch,” she reminded him. “Now you could offer a morsel of truth in exchange. Surely you already know that I am cursed curious. You promised to tell me more on this day, and though I understand circumstances can change, you could share some detail.”
He took a quick breath and she heard the change in his tone. “I am lord of this palace, of course.” It was evident that he wished to flee from her questions.
Annelise angled her weight over him, knowing she could not stop him if he chose to leave, and tried to charm him. She gave his shoulder a playful poke. “Your name, sir. I wish to know your name.” When he did not reply, she shook her head. “I begin to wonder, sir, whether you wed me only for your pleasure. Perhaps I am to be a courtesan, with only one purpose in your life.”
“Do you not wear my ring on your finger?” he asked, and she heard that he was insulted. “Did I not pledge myself to you?”
“Yes, but without offering your name.” Annelise tapped a finger upon him. “Are you a villain or an outlaw, sought far and wide for your crimes?”
“No!” That he was insulted was a good sign, in her view.
&nb
sp; “Have you a wife already then, and you fear that I should discover the truth of it?”
“No!”
“A betrothed?”
“I have no wife and no betrothed,” he said, sitting up as he spoke. “Indeed, I had no intention of wedding until I came to this palace, and then...” He fell silent just as his confession became interesting.
“And then?” Annelise prompted.
“And then I changed my thinking.”
“Why?”
“I cannot tell you.”
Annelise considered what he had told her. “But you came to this palace. You did not inherit it from your father?”
“Not from my father, no.” His reluctance to share even this was evident in his tone.
“Are you an imposter? Have you usurped the true lord of this palace?”
“No!”
“Then how did it come to be yours if not from your father?”
He got out of the bed and paced, and she knew he was deciding upon his reply. “It was a gift,” he said finally.
Annelise felt her lips part in surprise. “A gift? From whom? What did you do to earn such a rich gift?”
“You could say that I won a lady’s favor.” He sounded to be exasperated but Annelise was not precisely reassured.
She swept from the bed to pursue him. “Sir! Where is this lady?”
“Gone.”
Annelise could not believe it. He had seduced the lady who owned this palace, then the lady had left him in possession of it. While she already had great admiration for her husband’s amorous skills, the tale was unlikely to be true. “I would have a more plausible explanation, sir.”
“And you will have it, when I can share it.”
“When will that be?”
“I hope on the morrow.” His doubt was clear and Annelise recalled his conviction that he would be able to tell her more on this morning. Who had deceived her spouse? Was it this lady who had given him the palace? Was she capricious in her whim?
A thought assailed her and she flung herself at him. “Did you visit this lady on this day? Is that where you were?”
“No!” He seized her shoulders and she knew he was looking down at her. “Annelise, please trust me in this. She is gone, I hope forever, but her injunctions still govern my own choices. I hope that you and I will change that, together.”
His appeal was irresistible, though still Annelise worried what she did not know. “But you will confide in me when you can?”
“I will.” He pressed a kiss into her palm. “I ask for your patience until I can do so.”
Annelise frowned. She was being swayed by his touch and reminded herself that her request was fair. “Why will you not let me see your face?”
“You guessed it yourself. I do not wish to distress you with my disfigurement.”
Annelise shook her head “I was wrong,” she said. “There is nothing wrong with you that I can feel.” She ran her fingertips down his chest. “And I can see nothing amiss with your mail. If you were missing a limb, your armor would have been modified.”
“My mail?” His voice was strained. “You have found my mail?”
“Of course, I was in the stables.”
“But it is at the back, out of view.”
Annelise bristled at the implication that she had been nosy. “It is in plain view for anyone who looks. What else would you have me do all day?” she asked. “A prisoner can at least explore her cell.” She sensed that he was shocked and caressed his shoulder, wanting there to be harmony between them. “I took your destrier for a ride today, by the way. He seemed impatient for a run, although we could only canter in the courtyard. It was better than no exercise at all.”
Her husband made a choking sound. “You rode Mephistopheles?”
“Mephistopheles?” Annelise blinked. How curious that he confessed the name of his destrier before his own. “Why would you give that fine creature such a dreadful name?”
“It was the breeder who named him—he named all his black foals after demons, it seemed—and I saw no reason to change it.”
That was more of a confession than Annelise had expected.
She decided to challenge him more, in the hope of more detail.
“No reason?” she scoffed. “Such a name could bring you the worst fortune imaginable. You invoke a demon each time you utter his name. It is folly, sir.”
“Is it?” He sounded amused again, which was good.
“How long have you had him?”
“Five years.”
“And your luck in that time?”
“No worse than that of any other man.”
“You have this marvelous palace. That is better fortune than most could boast.”
“Is it?” he asked tersely.
Annelise made a guess, purely to provoke him. “Did you summon a demon and make a wager? Was that the lady you seduced to gain this prize?”
“Annelise!” He turned away from her as if he would leave. “You must cease your questions.”
She considered that her guess might have been close to the truth. “Do not leave me so soon, sir,” she urged, sliding her hands around his waist. She pressed a kiss between his shoulder blades. “I do not believe we have loved enough this night.”
She felt him glance back and his hand rose to cover hers.
He did not speak, and she dared to be encouraged. She eased back, drawing him after her. “You should ride your destrier more often, for he was restless,” she chided gently, then kissed his cheek. “It is not good to treat a steed thus. I can only guess that you have a sizable investment in such a fine beast.”
“Yes. He cost me dearly.”
“Where did you find him?”
“In Outremer.”
He had been on crusade then. Pride filled Annelise that her husband had been so brave as to render such service. He was a man of honor, just as she had believed. “If you acquired this destrier in Outremer, you must have ridden another to the Holy Land. Surely not the palfrey in the stables?”
Annelise was silenced when her husband rolled suddenly atop her and he caught her shoulders in his hands. “You have erred seriously this day,” he informed her, his tone forbidding as it had not been thus far. “Do not question what is around you, Annelise.”
“Whyever not?” she dared to say. “I must do something with my time and every puzzle has a key. If you will not tell me about yourself, sir, it is only reasonable that I try to divine the truth.
He shook her and she fell silent, feeling his will bearing upon her. “Look only at what you are shown.”
“But—”
“But nothing,” he whispered, dropping his thumb over her lips. His tone was fierce as it had never yet been and Annelise feared suddenly that there was true peril for him in this place. “It is imperative that you follow my dictate on this. All could be lost, Annelise. All.”
Her heart skipped then, for she feared for her husband.
But surely, if he was in danger, he had greater need of her assistance? She did not truly believe in demons, despite what the nuns had taught her, and she knew there had to be some reasonable explanation for all that she had seen in this strange place.
His voice was low when he spoke and his words were hot. “Never betray me, Annelise.”
“Of course not,” she agreed, though she could not imagine what he meant.
She would not betray her spouse: she would save him.
And that would earn his love forevermore.
It was not precisely how she had hoped to wed a man who loved her, but the end result would be the same.
Whatever threatened him and their future would be her challenge to resolve.
Then his lips closed over hers, obliterating all such considerations from her mind. There was only her husband in the darkness, her husband and his seductive touch.
Her husband and the pleasure only he could conjure.
And for the moment, that was more than enough.
Annelise had never
believed in magic, but awakening to find her husband absent again compelled her to reconsider her perspective.
Where could he have gone?
And why?
There was a new kirtle laid out for her, and her linen and stockings had been washed. She knew her husband had not done that—even if he had been inclined to do such labor, he had had no spare moment the night before. A meal awaited her pleasure, just like the day before, although once again, she could not detect another person in the palace.
The servants might use hidden passages, but Annelise doubted they could remain so completely out of sight. Surely she would catch a glimpse of them?
The horses had been fed and brushed, and their stalls swept out. She was certain the weeds in the garden had been pulled and the dead blossoms had been trimmed. The palace was perfectly clean and organized—as if it had several dozen servants.
If there was a rational explanation, Annelise could not think of what it might be.
And why was his palace in such a location? There were no fields for crops, no villeins as at Sayerne, no road or bridge that might bring tolls as at Beauvoir, not even mines as were reputed to have been at Roussineau. As far as she knew, the palace was lost in the forest to the south of Beauvoir, just as she had been.
He said he had won the palace from a lady. Why had she built it in this remote location? Had she been hiding from some vengeful individual or evading the consequences of some foul deed? Even that made little sense, since the lady was gone. Why had she bestowed the palace upon Annelise’s husband? It seemed a whim beyond all expectation, especially if she yet drew breath.
Could her husband be responsible for his benefactress’ demise? Annelise paused in the act of taking a piece of bread, then shook her head. No. He was kind and generous. Not violent.
She recalled his vehemence the night before and set aside the bread. She would believe the best of him until she had evidence to the contrary. His kindness to her had to have some reward.
If the lady had brought a fortune from Outremer, where had she found the craftsmen to build the palace and those high walls? Someone would have heard rumor of it. Annelise had to believe that Tulley would have known of it and come to see it for himself.
She stepped into the courtyard and considered the clear blue sky. The weather was the most perplexing detail, and the one she could not explain at all. She knew there was snow on the other side of the gates, yet within the walls, it was as warm as a summer’s day. Even the most perfect location could not have ensured that.
One Knight Enchanted: A Medieval Romance (Rogues & Angels Book 1) Page 13