Page 24

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

H e hadn’t come back.

Elle had wept intermittently most of the night, finally falling into fitful sleep right before dawn, which only lasted an hour or two. She awoke to a bed devoid of her husband while Melusine snored over on the lounge. Knowing that Curtis had spent the night elsewhere left her feeling sick and alone. Perhaps he’d even spent the night with his old love Larue, though she quickly discounted that idea. It was a cruel one, coming from a confused and hurt woman. It wasn’t fair to him. Unable to sleep any longer, Elle rose and prepared for the day.

She didn’t know if any of the allies were still there. Not that it mattered. She didn’t plan on dressing in lovely garments and parading around for them. Quite the opposite. She planned on going about her day as she usually did and ignoring the bastards who thought so poorly of her. She didn’t plan on ignoring Curtis’ parents, however, but perhaps they had left also. It wasn’t as if there was any reason to stay now.

The feast had been a disaster.

As she moved about with her morning routine, Melusine awoke, yawning and scratching her head as she sat up on the lounge.

“What time is it?” she asked, yawning again.

Elle was over at the water basin. “Early,” she said. “This sun is just rising.”

Melusine’s eyes were closed as she scratched her head with two hands now. “Did you sleep?” she asked.

“A little. Did you?”

“A lot.”

That was the truth. Elle snorted. “You could sleep through the return of Christ and his angels,” she said. “You have always been that way.”

Melusine grinned, yawning yet again as she stood up and stretched. “I know,” she said, but she stopped yawning long enough to look at the bed. “Did Curtis return?”

“Nay.”

That seemed to wake Melusine up a little more when she realized how sad that must have made Elle. She went over to her as the woman washed her face.

“I would not worry,” she said softly. “I am certain he went to be with his family. He has not seen them in a while. He will be back this morning, I’m sure of it.”

Elle dried her face off. “As am I,” she said with more confidence than she felt. “Everything will be just as it was.”

Melusine thought her cousin sounded a little too cheery, but she didn’t push. For once in her life, she didn’t push. That young woman who often spoke before thinking was becoming more controlled these days. Being with Asa, and watching his temper, had helped her grow up a little.

She had some maturity these days.

“I’m sure it will,” she said. “But… are you well after last night?”

Elle nodded. “I am over the situation,” she said. “It happened, but it is finished. We move on.”

Melusine could see that she was trying hard to be brave. “That is the best way to look at it,” she said. “If my opinion matters for anything, I believe Curtis defended you admirably.”

“Did he?” Elle said, looking at her. Then she thought about it. In fact, she’d had all night to think about it. “I suppose he did. He was certainly angry enough.”

Melusine nodded. “He was,” she said, putting a hand on Elle’s shoulder. “I do not know why he left last night and did not come back, but he loves you, Elle. You could search your entire life and never find a man who would love you as much as he does. Whatever you are angry about—whatever chased him from this chamber—I would not be too harsh on him. Not only has he possibly driven away allies over what they’ve said about you, but now you’ve chased him away, too. It must be very hard on him.”

It was shockingly apt advice coming from Melusine. She was absolutely right. Elle smiled her thanks for the woman’s counsel, and Melusine smiled in return before heading for the door.

“If you no longer require me, I must return to my chamber to bathe and dress myself,” she said. “I promised Asa that I would break my fast with him.”

Elle waved her on. “Go,” she said. “I have chores this morning. Come and find me in the kitchen yard when you are finished with Asa.”

Melusine gave her a smile that suggested she might never be finished with Asa as she unbolted the door, passed through, and shut it behind her. That left Elle with a smile on her face, thinking of Melusine and the wild-tempered Asa. But it also made her think of Curtis.

She missed him dreadfully.

You could search your entire life and never find a man who would love you as much as he does.

Elle knew that to be true.

Dressed in a linen surcoat with a light shift underneath and a leather belt around her still-slender waist, she braided her hair and tied a kerchief around her head to keep her hair out of her face. Elle was a woman used to doing things for herself, and that included things that most noblewomen left to servants. Sweeping, scrubbing, and laundry were more than part of it. Today was laundry day because she had a few things she needed to wash, including two tunics that smelled horribly because her husband tended to wear clothing for days at a time, until she couldn’t stand the smell any longer.

It made her smile to think of how quickly she had learned that aspect of him.

Curtis had lived a man’s life before her, without any female influence other than his mother, so he wasn’t hugely aware of things like smelling clean or brushing his hair or even farting at the table. She had been married to him for two days when the cook had made a stew of beans and pork, and the knights had eaten massive portions of it only to start letting loose with gas a couple of hours after the meal. As Elle and Melusine tried not to breathe through their noses, Curtis and his men farted up a storm to the point that the women had to flee the hall or suffocate. Curtis had no idea why they were running until he followed them outside, watched them head for the keep, and then returned to the hall only to walk into a wall of smell that nearly knocked him off his feet. Then he knew.

And he had apologized for it.

As Elle gathered the laundry into a bundle to tie off and carry down to the laundry, she giggled when she remembered the Notorious Night of Beans. They’d had beans since, but the knights were now polite enough to go outside if they needed to clear out their bowels, even if they were running outside every few minutes. It made for a better-smelling hall, at least.

But it had been rather funny.

With her laundry bundled up and ready to go, Elle went to the wardrobe in the chamber and pulled forth a sack of dried rosemary and lavender. The old cook had given her that helpful hint to make the laundry smell fresher, and she liked it very much. She especially liked it on her shifts. She would throw it into the laundry water and scrub the clothes with it, leaving the scent behind. Gathering the sack, she was bending down to pick up the laundry when the chamber door opened. She looked up from her laundry to see Curtis walking into the room.

The man looked like hell.

“May I come back, please?” he asked before she could say a word, tears glistening in his eyes. “Elle, I’ve spent almost eight hours away from you, and I cannot stay away any longer. If I must beg for your forgiveness for the rest of my life, I will, but please do not make me stay away any longer. I cannot bear it.”

Instantly sympathetic and feeling horribly guilty, Elle rushed to him and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him deeply as he responded with passion she’d never before experienced from him. He held her so tightly that he was in danger of squeezing her to death. It was difficult to breathe, but she didn’t pull away. He was so terribly distraught that she let him do what he needed to do. If that meant holding her in a viselike grip, then so be it.

“I am sorry if I was angry at you,” she whispered between heated kisses. “I should not have been so cruel to you. Please forgive me, my dearest.”

He was responding to her kisses feverishly. “It was my fault, all of it,” he said. “I should have told you about Gruffydd, and I should have told you about Larue. It was wrong of me not to. It was wrong of me to let her into the castle after I knew she had married Munstone. I should have turned her away, alliance be damned.”

She ran her fingers through his blond hair. “You were trying to balance an alliance against a woman you hoped had forgotten you,” she murmured. “I do not blame her that she has not. I cannot fault her for her good taste. But please do not withhold information like that from me again.”

“I swear upon my life that I won’t,” he said. “This has been something of a learning situation for me, Ellie. I’ve never had to consider anyone else’s feelings before, at least not like this. I thought I could control the situation, but I was wrong. Very wrong. It’ll never happen again.”

She believed him.

After that, they simply held one another. No lust, nothing sexual, but something that went beyond the physical. It was the melding of souls, the blending of minds, body against body as they drew strength from one another. Curtis had his face buried in the side of her neck, inhaling everything about her. He’d spent a horrible night of too much drink and too much emotion, so much so that he couldn’t even sleep it off. He’d been awake all night with his father and brothers and brother-in-law, understanding what it meant to love a woman so much that he couldn’t breathe or talk or think without her. His father and Peter and Alexander understood that, even if his younger brothers didn’t. It was a night of reflection and regrets. As soon as the sun rose, he was on her doorstep whether or not she wanted him.

Thank God she wanted him.

“I do not say this often to you, my love, but you look terrible,” Elle finally said, loosening her grip so she could look him in the face. “Truly, truly terrible, Curt. And I think you may still be drunk. I can smell it.”

He started laughing, trying to turn away from her, but she wouldn’t let him. She put her hands on his face and kept him from turning away. He let her go and tried to pull away, still laughing, but she hung on to him until he tripped and fell on the end of the bed. Then he threw his arms over his face so she couldn’t look at him. All she could see were his mouth and jaw. Hands on her hips, she stood over him and shook her head.

“You are still drunk,” she said, fighting off a grin. “Admit it.”

He sighed heavily. “I am,” he said. “I did not sleep last night. I stayed awake, drinking with my brothers and my father and even your brother. Gruffydd stayed with us. And I am not surprised that I look terrible, because I feel terrible. Guilt and remorse will destroy a man’s soul when he’s hurt the woman he loves.”

She eased up on her harsh manner. “That is in the past now,” she said, leaning over him as he took his arms away from his face. “Where is my brother?”

He looked at her with red-rimmed eyes. “The last I saw, he was heading home.”

“This morning?”

“Aye.”

“He was up all night, too?”

He nodded. “He told me that he was glad you spoke,” he said. “He also said to tell you that he will see you at his wedding next month.”

Her lips twitched with a smile. “I will, indeed,” she said. “So will you.”

“Then I am to assume all is well between you two?”

She shrugged. “I think it is going to be,” she said. “It will take time, but I feel confident that it is going to be. Where are your parents, by the way?”

“Neither one of them went to bed until it was nearly dawn.”

“And the rest of your family?”

He reached up and pulled her down against him. “Myles and Douglas went to bed about the same time I came up to see you,” he said. “Peter and Sherry, too. Liora and Christin went to bed last night, but I assume they will be up shortly. Christin… Sherry had to very nearly restrain her from harming Lady Munstone. My sister was determined to seek vengeance on your behalf. She probably still is. I do not think Lady Munstone is going to be safe for the rest of her life.”

Elle smiled faintly. “I like your sister a great deal,” she said. “I see a lot of myself in her, I think. She seems passionate for what she believes in.”

He rolled his eyes. “You have no idea,” he said. “She has seen, and done, quite a bit in her lifetime.”

“And the sister that is closest to her?” Elle said. “Brielle? Is she the same way?”

“Worse,” Curtis said. “Brielle is as tough as they come. She married a de Velt, you know. You met Bretton de Llion last night—he married Brielle’s husband’s sister. Very strong, very determined, very deadly people.”

Elle began to toy with his blond hair. “I think the same could be said for the entire de Lohr clan,” she said, growing serious. “I hope you are not disappointed that I did not stay and defend myself last night. Mayhap I should have, but I was so sickened by it… I could not speak.”

He was shaking his head before she finished speaking. “You should not have had to defend yourself,” he said. “Moreover, the vendetta was against me. You happened to be the tool that was used by a petty woman with a small mind. I found out that she and another woman, a friend of hers who was married to another allied warlord, spread the rumors. They were hoping to create a divide between us. My father took their husbands aside and essentially threatened them. If one does not wish to feel the wrath of the Earl of Hereford, then mayhap he should control the mouth of his ruthless and stupid wife.”

Elle grew serious. “But there was a grain of truth to what they said,” she said. “I did not go into our marriage a virgin, and I did live with rebels. They did not make up those details. Someone had to tell them.”

“True,” he said. “It was probably servants or soldiers. You know how they talk. But they heard those details and decided to spread the lies, which was a very bad decision on their part. But last night, my father and I spoke to all of the allied warlords and straightened out the situation. They have asked me to express their apologies to you, and they hope you will give them another opportunity to make it right. But that is your decision, love—I will not force you.”

Elle was glad that the situation had worked itself out, but she wasn’t sure about giving a former enemy the chance to hurt her again. “I will think on it,” she said quietly. “But thank you for telling me.”

He smiled and pulled her to his lips for a gentle kiss. “I have asked those close to our family to stay tonight so that we may have another feast without petty dramas,” he said. “Wrexham and Wolverhampton and de Llion and the rest. They are good men, Ellie. I hope it was agreeable with you that I asked them to remain even after the others have gone home. It means a great deal to me that you know them and that they know you.”

She shrugged. “If it means so much to you, I am not troubled if they remain,” she said. “If you value them, then I am certain I will, too.”

He smiled, kissing her again. “I hope so,” he said. “But meanwhile… May I sleep this morning, my lady? And will you lie with me?”

She grinned slyly as she pushed herself off him. “If I lie with you, you most certainly will not sleep.”

“Please?”

She shook her head. “It is not because I do not want to, but because you have been up all night and you need your rest,” she said. “You need to sleep off the drink that is still in your veins.”

“But where will you go if you are not here with me?”

She pointed to the bundle of laundry on the ground. “There are things to wash,” she said. “I will do that while you sleep.”

He crooked a finger at her, and she went to him, cautiously, but he suddenly reached out and grabbed her. Giggling, she resisted, but in the end it was just too much. He slid a hand in behind her neck, pulling her mouth to his, and his gentle kisses increased in force very quickly. His tongue invaded her mouth, licking her, tasting her, and Elle was quickly succumbing. He was trying to disrobe her, and she threw caution to the wind and helped him, pulling off the surcoat and the shift, leaving her in nothing but her slippers.

Those came off, too.

Pulling her onto the bed beside him, he stroked her face tenderly, sucking on her jaw line. Elle was already hot for him, her body responding to his attention as it had done every day since their marriage. There was no longer any unfamiliarity or hesitation between them. If they wanted it, they took it or they asked for it. This time, she was going to ask for it. Taking his hand, she placed it on her wet heat, and he growled.

Curtis grew more demanding, and Elle came alive. The early pregnancy and usual nausea were forgotten as she responded to him without restraint. Curtis rolled onto his back, taking her with him, and her mouth left his before kissing his magnificent chest as his enormous hands wound themselves in her silken hair. He pulled the kerchief off and unwound the braid, letting that marvelous hair flow over him. She suckled at his nipples, slipping her hand between his legs to fondle his rock-hard manroot. The more she fondled, the more he groaned with pleasure.

Curtis could only take a few seconds of her touch before he was pulling her up by the hair, fusing his mouth to hers. They rolled sideways, kissing and fondling, until they nearly rolled off the bed. Curtis actually ended up on his knees, on the floor, but he had a plan in mind. Turning Elle onto her stomach, he pulled her up so that she was on her hands and knees on the mattress. Grasping her hips, Curtis drove into her from behind.

Elle groaned loudly as he filled her with his body, gripping the coverlet as Curtis thrust into her repeatedly. She was already begging for release, putting her hand between her legs to feel him as he made love to her. She touched him, and touched herself, feeling his power as he moved. His hands shifted from her hips to her breasts, and his face was against her back as he fondled her nipples from behind. Her breasts were full and luscious now, just like the rest of her, and all he could feel was unadulterated joy in this woman who had become his entire reason for living.

She was the very air he breathed.

His hands moved from her breasts to the junction between her legs. But the moment he touched her, she shuddered with a powerful climax and collapsed forward. Curtis continued to hold her up by the hips, thrusting into her until he achieved his own exquisite release. Together, they fell onto the mattress, riding the wave of ecstasy down to the ground, back to the world of reality.

It was heavenly.

Elle must have dozed off, because when next she realized, Curtis was snoring into the back of her head. Opening her eyes, she could see that it was brighter in the chamber now, a sure sign that the morning was in full bloom. She tried to move, but she realized that Curtis had her firmly pulled back against him, one big arm around her waist and the other one underneath her, his hand on her left breast.

Carefully, she began to disengage from him. She didn’t want to wake him because he was clearly exhausted. She was able to worm her way onto her back, but he shifted in his sleep. His head ended up trapping her left arm, and his lips were on her breast. He must have sensed it somehow, because he started suckling her left nipple. As much as Elle loved it when he did that, she had things to do that morning, and he needed to sleep. If she let him suckle much longer, she would end up on her back with him between her legs again, so she gently pushed his mouth away from her breast and continued to slide out of his grasp. In order to get completely free, however, she had to slither to the floor before she could stand up.

Curtis just lay there, spread out all over the bed, and snored.

Grinning at her husband and his sleepy-time antics, she put her clothing back on, fixed her hair again, and found her slippers. Grabbing the bundle of laundry and the sack of lavender and rosemary, she silently slipped out of the chamber and shut the door, leaving Curtis to sleep as the world around him went on.

With a smile on her face and a spring in her step, Elle headed down the narrow spiral stairs. She was quiet, not wanting to wake anyone who had been up long into the turbulent night before. The entry level to the keep had servants bustling about because Christopher had used the solar the night before and they were cleaning it out, but she moved past them and out into the bailey.

The servants were all from England, from Lioncross and other de Lohr properties, and at first they’d whispered with disdain about the Welsh wife of Curtis de Lohr who liked to sweep floors and wash their clothing. It had been a breach of protocol for them. But these days, they’d grown used to her heading into the kitchen yard to do her husband’s laundry. Some even thought it was a gesture of love and submission to the de Lohr heir, and that had drawn approval from even the stuffiest traditional servants.

Therefore, no one gave her a second look as she lugged the laundry bundle around.

They respected her for it.

The kitchens were smelling strongly of baking bread this morning as Elle entered the kitchen yard. The laundry area was ahead, near the yard wall and near the well, and she headed for it. What she didn’t know was that Melusine had seen her crossing the bailey through her chamber window and was hastening to join her down in the laundry area. If Elle was going to work, then surely everything was well again. Things could get back to normal and petty rumors could be forgotten.

The world moved on.

As Melusine was on her way, Elle set her bundle of laundry on the table that was near the well. She opened up the bundle and took out the garments inside, putting them into the ashy water. There didn’t seem to be enough water for her taste, so she asked a nearby servant to draw water from the well and add it to the basin. As the man with a shovel in his hand went to draw water, Elle went to the kitchen door and asked the cook for a couple of buckets of hot water, which were brought out by servants and dumped into the basin.

The servants retreated and the yard emptied as Elle focused on her laundry. Taking the rosemary and lavender from her sack, she tossed a few handfuls into the laundry and began to rub one of Curtis’ tunics with a clean rock soaked in the ashy water. She scrubbed it and soaked it a few times, lifting it up to smell it and realizing that it still smelled like her husband’s smelly, unwashed body. Wrinkling her nose, she scrubbed it harder, wondering if she should use the same soap she used for her body on the clothing. If it was good enough for skin, then certainly it should be good enough for clothing. Surely, it would work.

But that was her last calm thought before someone grabbed her by the back of her head and slammed her face down into the water, submerging it.

After that, the fight was on.