Lord of the Sky (The Executioner Knights Book 6)

by Kathryn Le Veque

  Juliandra looked at him in surprise. “Truly?”

  “Truly.”

  She set the iron rod down and brushed off her hands. “I… I do not know,” she said. “I have only been as far as Shrewsbury. Where do you think we should go?”

  He gave her a half-grin as he pulled off his mail coat, bending over to shimmy it off. “London, mayhap?” he said. “Paris? Would you like to see the lands where the ancient Romans lived?”

  Her mouth popped open in astonishment. “But that is so far away!”

  He nodded. “It is very far away,” he said. “But if you wish to go there, then I shall take you.”

  It was a sweet declaration and something that made her feel very special. No one had ever made her feel as if her wants were important, as if she mattered somehow. Her father respected her, of course, but this was different. A handsome, powerful knight thought enough of her to marry her and, still, she could hardly believe it.

  As Kevin stood next to the bed and untied the padded tunic he was wearing, she made her way over to him, watching what he was doing, pondering this moment between them.

  “I have never been to London,” she said. “Or Edinburgh. Which is closer?”

  He thought on that. “Probably London,” he said. “Edinburgh is very far to the north.”

  “Have you been there?”

  He nodded. “There is a great big castle and dirty streets.”

  “And London?”

  “A great big castle and dirty streets, only more of them.”

  “Where would you go?”

  He thought on her question as he pulled off his padded tunic, a thin tunic being the only thing left.

  “When I was young, my father took my mother and brother and me down to the seashore at Brighton,” he said. “My mother was ill at the time and he took her there hoping it might help her health. I was very young, but we went in the summer and I remember fishing in the sea with my brother as my father and mother sat with us, soaking up the warm sun. It was quite possibly the only time in my life that I ever knew peace. I always thought I wanted to return someday.”

  Juliandra was gripping the canopy post, listening to him with a smile on her face. “I think it sounds wonderful,” she said. “I want to go to Brighton, too, and sit in the sun.”

  He glanced at her, grinning, as he reached down to pull the tunic over his head. “It burned my mother’s face,” he warned. “She turned bright red. So did I, as I recall.”

  Juliandra laughed softly. “Then I shall take care not to turn red,” she said. “But it does sound beautiful.”

  “Would you like to go?”

  “I would.”

  He pulled the tunic right over his head, finally revealing his spectacularly naked torso. He was beautifully built, with enormous arms, big shoulders, and a trim torso. He caught Juliandra staring at him, rather wide-eyed at the sight of a naked man.

  “Then we shall go,” he said. “But right now, we have… other things to do. I seem to be the only one making any effort.”

  He meant undressing. Cheeks flushing a bright red, Juliandra quickly turned away and went over to the wardrobe. As she unfastened the ties of her garment, she thought about what they were going to do, something she was only told of, once. She’d seen dogs mate and horses mate, so she knew the basic dynamics of it, but mating with a man… she knew very little.

  “May I ask you a question?” she said.

  He had moved over to a table to pour himself whatever was in the pitcher which, upon smelling it, turned out to be that damnable pear cider again. He couldn’t seem to get away from it.

  “Of course,” he said, pouring himself some.

  Juliandra cleared her throat with some embarrassment. “I know what we must do,” she said. “But I do not know how to… do you know what to do?”

  Kevin looked at her sharply, wondering if she was being sarcastic, but quickly realizing that she was serious. She had been very clear about her innocence, but he, on the other hand, wasn’t innocent in the least.

  “I would not worry about that if I were you,” he said evenly. “We shall do what our instincts tell us to do.”

  Her dress was loosened enough so that she let it slide off her shoulders onto the floor. “Do you think so?”

  “I do.”

  She thought on that a moment. “Did someone ever tell you what to do?” she asked. “I do not mean to sound ridiculous, but an old servant told me about the ways between men and women when I was a young girl, and only because my father noticed that I had grown breasts and he was fearful that men would seduce me. My mother died when I was very young, so there was no woman to tell me such things. I hardly remember what the servant said because I was so embarrassed.”

  Kevin was trying not to smile. “What did she say?”

  Juliandra turned to look at him, shaking her head ominously. “You would not believe it.”

  “Try me.”

  Bending down, she picked up her dress and hung it on the wardrobe peg. “She told me to lie on my back, spread my legs, and close my eyes,” she said. “She told if I just lay still, it would be over all too soon.”

  Kevin couldn’t help it; he burst out laughing. “God’s Bones, that makes it sound delightful and thrilling, doesn’t it?” he said. But she wasn’t laughing so his smile vanished unnaturally fast. “What I mean to say is that there is more to it than that. If you get into bed, I will show you.”

  Juliandra cocked her head thoughtfully. “I am coming to think you have done this before.”

  “Why would you say that?”

  “Because you do not seem nervous at all.”

  “I am not. Get into bed and you will not be nervous, either.”

  Juliandra wanted to push him, to demand he tell her about his past sexual experiences, but she refrained. Perhaps it didn’t even matter. One of them had to know how to do it or they might both look very foolish. But something occurred to her, something she hadn’t thought of until that moment.

  Suddenly, it seemed important.

  “May I say something, please?”

  “Of course.”

  She made her way over to the bed, but her manner was hesitant. “I just want to say…” she said, paused, and then started again. “I want to say that although this marriage was hasty, and although we’ve not known each other very long, I will always be true and faithful to you, Kevin. There will never be another in my heart or in my bed, ever. As your wife, I will give you my vow.”

  Kevin’s eyes were glittering at her from across the bed. “If you are asking me to give you the same promise, I can and I will, without hesitation,” he said. “I will be perfectly truthful with you – I am a man with all of the needs of a man. It is true that I know how to do what we are about to do because I have done it before, but from this day forward, my loyalty, my body, and my heart belong only to you, Juliandra. You are my wife and I will never shame you. I am yours and only yours. Do you understand?”

  She nodded solemnly. “I do.”

  “Good,” he said. Then, he indicated the bed. “Shall we?”

  Juliandra climbed under the coverlet and fumbled around, pulling off her shift and tossing it onto the floor. Kevin sat down on the edge of the bed, his back to her, and pulled off his big boots. Then, he unfastened his breeches and pulled them off. Sliding under the coverlet, he covered himself up to the chest.

  They lay there, side by side, as she stared up at the ceiling, waiting for him to make the first move. Kevin was watching her profile, trying not to laugh because she seemed so serious about the entire thing. He didn’t think she realized that it was meant to be pleasurable. Leaning over, he gently kissed her naked shoulder, the only thing that was peeking out from the top of the coverlet other than her head. Her skin was warm and soft, and she smelled faintly sweet.

  It spurred him on.

  A big hand snaked under the covers and cupped her left breast. Juliandra startled at the intimate action, but she didn’t try to pull away. She lay
as still as stone while he fondled her. Her breast was warm and soft, and Kevin was instantly aroused. From one breast to the other, he gently caressed, pinching her nipples and feeling her quiver in response. It excited him so much that he ducked beneath the coverlet and began suckling her nipples.

  His hot, wet mouth on her breasts caused Juliandra to gasp, first in shock but then in pleasure when she realized that she liked it. Kevin was making her entire body tremble. His mouth moved from breast to breast as his hand kneaded the tender flesh of her belly and upper thighs.

  It was daring and exciting.

  As he continued to suckle her breasts, Kevin’s hand moved to the junction between her legs, pulling her left leg towards him and parting her thighs. A big finger began to stroke her woman’s center and Juliandra turned her head away from him so he couldn’t see her face. She was shocked, embarrassed, and aroused all at the same time, but the more he stroked, the more she relaxed. Suddenly, the finger that had been stroking her was now inside her, invading her private folds, and she drew her knees up, groaning in response.

  Her soft moan was all Kevin needed to roll his big body on top of hers, his head coming out from beneath the coverlet and his mouth slanting over hers. He kissed her furiously, his tongue invading the sweet recesses of her mouth. The finger inside her body was joined by a second finger, thrusting into her, preparing her body for his entry. He was still kissing her eagerly when he placed his engorged manroot against her swollen, wet folds and thrust into her virginal body.

  It was a sharp, firm action and Juliandra tore her mouth away from his, gasping with the pleasure-pain of it. There was a stinging sensation as he breached her maidenhead, but he continued to thrust and the stinging sensation faded and something else took its place.

  It was heated and titillating.

  Kevin was a big man and his manhood was proportionate, and Juliandra struggled to acclimate, unaccustomed to a man’s body inside of hers. But Kevin’s senses were heightened, his sense of passion becoming something he’d never experienced before. It was a need he’d never before known. Gathering Juliandra against him, he continued the ancient primal rhythm of mating.

  His thrusts were strong and full-measure. Juliandra held tight to him, feeling every thrust, every sensation. Kevin’s lips had moved to her neck, her shoulders, nibbling on her flesh and causing bolts of excitement to race down her limbs. There were those lightning strikes again, only more powerful. The more he thrust, the more her body relaxed, and before she realized it, she was responding to him.

  Juliandra began to touch him, feeling the naked flesh of his body for the first time. He was warm, with a mat of light brown hair that covered his arms and chest. As she moved to touch him, she ended up touching herself as well, which brought about an unexpected result. Her hand brushed against her left nipple, which was highly sensitive after Kevin’s attention, and the moment she touched herself she could feel an explosion in her loins that caused her entire body to seize.

  Juliandra’s limbs stiffened as ripple after ripple of pleasure radiated from between her legs where Kevin was impaling her on his manhood. It was like nothing she had ever experienced in her life, causing her breathing to come in shrieking gasps. The more Kevin pounded into her, the more heightened the sensation.

  It seemed as if it went on forever when, in fact, it was only a few moments because the moment Kevin realized that she had found her release, there was nothing to hold back his own. Feeling her body throb around him brought about the greatest climax he had ever experienced. He spilled himself deep into her body, feeling his hot seed as it filled her. Marked her.

  His wife.

  It was the sweetest thing he had ever known.

  When the tremors faded away and Kevin lay on top of Juliandra, his head on her breasts, it took very little time for him to drift off to sleep from sheer contentment. Juliandra realized it when he began snoring softly, his arms wrapped so tightly around her torso that when she tried to move, in his sleep, his grip on her tightened. His mouth was by her left nipple and he awoke long enough to take it in his mouth, suckling on her gently until he drifted off to sleep again.

  When Juliandra realized that he wasn’t going to release her, she put her arms around him, holding him close against her body and thinking that all the things she had been told about marriage and coupling were nothing compared to the reality of it. The reality had been passion and warmth beyond anything she could have imagined, a sense of belonging to someone and he, to her. It was sense of peace and a sense of place – her place, with him. Two weeks ago, she had been certain her life was about to take a turn for the worse.

  That fear couldn’t have been further from the truth.

  She slept, too.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  “What are you doing?”

  Those were the first words out of Juliandra’s mouth when she saw a collection of men, all kneeling in a circle, as one of them threw what looked like rocks into the center of the circle. It took Juliandra a moment to realize that they were throwing bones.

  Gambling.

  The young man throwing the bones leapt to his feet and faced her, somewhat guiltily.

  “Games, Lady de Lara,” William said.

  The next day after her wedding to Kevin had dawned lovely and bright, and Juliandra had awoken to Kevin’s kisses and a renewed sense of purpose. She felt as if Wybren truly belonged to her now and she was determined to be the best chatelaine she could be.

  The best wife she could be.

  She’d come into the stable yard on the hunt for clean straw to put in the kitchen yard to sop up the excess moisture and debris, but what she found were men gambling. She knew who William was, as she had been introduced to him when he had arrived with the other knights. But here he was, surrounded by men twice his age, all of them taking advantage of the young man.

  Of that, she was certain.

  She frowned.

  “Get out of here, all of you,” she said, waving her hands at them. “You should be ashamed of gambling with this poor, innocent boy. Get about your business before I tell the knights.”

  The circle broke up unnaturally fast as men scattered, but William stood there as if uncertain what to do. He had a fist full of coins he’d just won and he tried to keep them out of Lady de Lara’s sight.

  He didn’t want her to know that he’d instigated the games.

  “Truly, my lady, there was no trouble,” he said innocently. “It was nothing serious.”

  Juliandra peered up at the handsome young man who was quite a bit taller than she was. “You should never play games with men who are older than you are,” she said. “They will take everything from you.”

  That hadn’t been the case at all. William had taken everything from them and they had been trying to win it back, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. He didn’t think she’d take it very well.

  “Thank you for the cautionary tale, my lady,” he said, eager to leave. “With your permission, I will be along my way.”

  Juliandra pointed to the clean straw piled in one of the stalls. “You can help me before you go,” she said. “Will you help me carry this straw into the kitchen yard, please?”

  William looked at the straw. He wasn’t a stable servant, but he didn’t want to deny the lady, so he dutifully went to the wheelbarrow that was propped up against the wall, righting it so they could pile straw into it. Juliandra handed him the pitchfork.

  “Thank you for your assistance,” she said. “I hope I am not taking you away from anything important.”

  Only my gambling game, William thought unhappily. But he simply smiled politely at her.

  “Nay, my lady,” he said. “How much straw do you want?”

  “A big pile.”

  William started shoveling the straw into the wheelbarrow as Juliandra took a second pitchfork and began to help.

  “You are a good worker, William,” she said. “But then again, you must be if you serve the Earl of Bath and Glastonbury.�
�

  William tamped the straw down. “I do not serve him, my lady,” he said. “I serve Caius d’Avignon.”

  “Who is he?”

  “They call him The Britannia Viper,” he said. “He is one of the Executioner Knights, like your husband.”

  Juliandra looked at him curiously. “Who are the Executioner Knights? I have not heard that term.”

  “Those are the agents of William Marshal,” he said. “They are the most ruthless, skilled warriors in the entire world. Did you not know that?”

  Juliandra stopped shoveling. “I did not,” she said. “My husband told me that he had served William Marshal, but I have never heard of the Executioner Knights.”

  William piled more straw on. “I want to be one,” he said. “I am going to be a great knight, someday. Even greater than William Marshal.”

  Juliandra smiled at the young man with big dreams. “I am sure you will be,” she said. “Do you plan to serve the king, then?”

  William shrugged. “Mayhap,” he said. “It depends on what he offers me for my fealty.”

  “You are going to have lords bid on your services?”

  He looked at her, completely serious. “Of course,” he said. “My father says that I am worth the price.”

  Juliandra bit her lip to keep from grinning at his arrogance. “Where is your father?”

  “Warstone Castle,” he said. “My father is the Earl of Wolverhampton.”

  Juliandra nodded. “I see,” she said, setting her pitchfork aside. “I wish you well in your quest to become the greatest knight England has ever seen, William. With so many great knights in England, you have a task ahead of you.”

  William didn’t seem too concerned. The wheelbarrow was full and he rolled it out, heading for the kitchen yard as Juliandra walked after him, silently laughing at the brash young squire who wanted to be the greatest knight England had ever seen.