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CHAPTER EIGHT

W ith three little boys with belly aches as the result of too much roast pork and sweets, the party from Dunster Castle returned home that afternoon.

Emberley rode in the carriage, her sleeping daughter cradled against her, as the cab bumped over the road back to the castle. The boys were around her in various stages of discomfort and she found herself holding Orin as well as her daughter as they headed home. She was quiet, subdued, her mind mulling over the situation with Gart. She was sickened by it, confused, but also thrilled beyond measure. It was too good to be true yet tragic at the same time. Gart rode at the head of the column and she rode in the center. He never said a word to her the entire trip back.

Once at the castle, Gart disbanded the escort and returned to the carriage for Emberley and the children. Romney and Brendt were at the cab door as he approached and he was surprised that they were not clamoring to get out. They just stood there, looking at him, until he opened the door and lowered them to the ground one by one. Tired and nauseous, they simply stood there at his feet. Orin, with the big belly ache, was next and cried softly as Gart set him on his feet. He wasn’t happy in the least. Gerta, the fat old nurse with the thinning hair, was there to take charge of the children as Gart reached into the cab one last time to take the sleeping baby from Emberley.

Their eyes locked as he took the baby from her, bittersweet emotions passing between them even though no words were spoken. The air was heavy between them yet infinitely tender. Gart lowered his gaze as he collected the sleeping little girl against him, holding her carefully before passing her over to the nurse. Gerta took the little girl, kissed her sleeping head, and led the children back towards the keep.

Gart finally returned his attention to Emberley, still sitting in the cab. She had been watching him but when she realized it was just the two of them, she started collecting the booty around her. She was having difficulty meeting his eye, not knowing what to say to the man.

Her head was in turmoil at the moment. The boys had their toy swords and shields, but Gart had returned to the perfume and soap merchant and had purchased several different sets of soaps and oils for Emberley. There were several lovely painted boxes in the cab and she collected them, handing them over to Gart.

Gart took the six boxes in one hand and helped Emberley out with the other. In the sunshine of the lazy afternoon, he took her politely by the elbow and escorted her up the stairs into the dark, cool keep. It was quiet and still inside. Taking the stone spiral stairs to the third floor, they could hear the baby whining and the boys arguing as Gerta tried to settle them in for an afternoon nap. Emberley continued to the fourth floor and her big, sprawling chamber, and Gart followed silently with the boxes.

The master’s chamber took up most of the fourth floor. There was an enormous bed in the center, lavished with expensive furs and coverlets, and two oak chairs with feather-stuffed cushions. Someone had banked the fire in the hearth and the coals glowed, providing a bit of warmth to stave off the cold in the room that the stone walls generated.

As soon as they entered the bower, Emberley turned to him and began taking the boxes. She took three and went over to her dressing table, a piece of furniture made from oak, polished, and painted with flowers on one side. There was a large mirror made from polished bronze but set in the middle of it was a much smaller mirror made from very precious polished glass. It gave a true reflection and Emberley set the boxes of oils and soaps down on the table, returning to Gart to take the rest from him.

“Thank you very much for these wonderful gifts,” she said softly. “I am very grateful.”

Gart stood in the doorway, watching her carefully organize the boxes. He didn’t say a word but he shifted on his big legs, watching her. She pretended to be busy with her new items but he knew that her mind was on their situation just as his was. He couldn’t think of anything else. It was like a fog that surrounded them in a confusing embrace. Very quietly, he closed the door.

Emberley heard the door close and thought he had left. She paused in her organization of the boxes, closing her eyes against the turmoil in her chest. Now that Gart’s presence was no longer around to bewilder her, she could respond to the emotion she was feeling. Everything came out in a heavy sigh. She dropped her hands from the boxes and sat heavily on the stool next to the dressing table, dragging a weary hand over her face.

“What are you thinking, kitten?” Gart asked softly.

Emberley gasped with surprise, turning to see that he was standing just inside the door. She took a deep breath to steady herself.

“I… I do not know,” she said honestly. “All I can feel is fear and joy. Thoughts of you make my heart sing and then just as quickly, I remember Julian and what he will do to me if he discovers us. He would kill me, Gart.”

“We have not done anything wrong. Yet.”

She heard the tone in his voice, feeling a bolt of excitement shoot through her body that just as quickly vanished. It was wrong of her to even entertain such thoughts and she angrily, sadly, pushed such ideas aside. She just couldn’t….

“We cannot,” she whispered. “Gart, please do not tempt me more than you already have. My life hangs in the balance– not yours.”

He moved away from the door, heading towards her with slow, thoughtful steps. He sighed heavily.

“I know,” he said in his soft, deep voice, sitting pensively at the foot of the bed. “I have thought of nothing else for quite some time. The only answer is to remove you and the children from Dunster.”

She looked at him, surprised. “You would take us away?”

He nodded, still very much deep in thought. “I cannot involve Lord David in this situation, so it would have to be somewhere far away and….”

“But you cannot,” she cut him off imploringly. “Think about what you are saying– you would take all of us from Dunster?”

“Aye.”

She shook her head strongly. “You cannot steal another man’s family, Gart. Julian would have you drawn and quartered.”

He countered. “He would never find us. We would leave England and go far away.”

He was deadly serious. She could read it in his face. “Then there is something else,” she pointed out. “Romney is the heir to the Buckland barony. What of his inheritance? It is his right and you, as someone who was denied his strong family ties, should understand that. Is it fair to Romney to take all of that away from him?”

Gart gazed steadily at her. “Would you rather have a son who is unhappy yet will inherit a wealthy barony or a son who is extremely happy but will not inherit a fraction of his due?”

She returned his gaze, seriously, so many thoughts and feelings rolling through her mind. “What are you saying?”

He lifted his eyebrows. “I am saying that I am offering to provide you and your children with a happy home. I would live like a pauper so long as you are with me, kitten. Money does not buy happiness, as you are well aware. But I swear to you that you would be rich in love, and I would love you and only you until the day I died.”

He had a valid point but she was still overwhelmed, confused. Wearily, she rose from the stool and went to the bed, plopping down beside him. She was despondent and depressed.

“It is a dream,” she murmured.

He stood up from the mattress, increasingly agitated as he paced away from her, hand to his head as if it would help him think more clearly.

“It is not a dream,” he told her firmly. “It is as real as flesh and blood and bone. We will leave tonight and never look back.”

He was speaking passionately and she exhaled lightly, rising from the bed and putting a hand on his arm to quiet him.

“For arguments sake, let us pretend that we will leave Dunster and never return,” she said softly. “You and I could never legally marry, Gart. Any children you and I had would be bastards. Please know that I would run with you this very moment if it was just me but I must think of my children. I do not know if it is fair to them to make such a decision affecting their future. We would be selfish to think only of ourselves.”

He gently took her hand and brought it to his lips for a sweet kiss. “I am a selfish man,” he admitted quietly. “If I want something, I take it.”

“In this case, it is not that simple.”

He appeared downcast, his lips against her fingers. “I realize that,” he murmured. “But I am offering happiness and love for the rest of your life. You would never know fear from me, only protection and security. Does that not outweigh the lure of Julian and his empire?”

She watched him kiss her hand, feeling the excitement his warmth brought. The only kiss she had ever known was Julian’s, and that didn’t compare to what Gart was doing. The bolts of lightning were tearing through her. Now, she was coming to understand what a kiss really meant. Gart had shown her that.

“As I said, if there was only myself to think about, there would be no question,” she whispered. “I would go with you this very moment. But we must think of the children.”

“I am thinking of the children. They cannot live their lives in fear of their father. Who is to say that when they grow older, Julian will not beat them also? Is Romney’s inheritance worth that risk?”

She knew he meant well but it wasn’t as simple as he pretended it was. She also knew that, deep down, he understood that. Right now, Gart was only thinking of what he wanted and little else. Without an argument, Emberley laid her head against his armored shoulder, swamped and overwhelmed with a situation she had never believed she would ever face. It was exhausting.

“Let us speak no more of it today,” she said softly. “I think we both need some time to understand what has happened.”

He looked at her blond head against his arm. Then he shifted, winding his big arms around her and gazing into her deep, blue eyes. He took a moment simply to gaze at her, to acquaint himself with the feel of her in his arms. It was the most wonderful feeling in the world.

“I already understand what has happened,” he said quietly. “I have finally found what I have been looking for all of these years and I will have her. I am not sure how yet, but I will. Mark my words.”

Emberley gazed up into his eyes, the features so strong and handsome. “I still cannot believe it,” she admitted. Then she lifted an eyebrow at him. “It would have saved us a good deal of trouble if you had declared your intentions about eight years ago.”

He laughed softly. “I do not think I could have,” he told her. “Erik would have run me through. As it is, he still might rise from the grave and come after me.”

She giggled. “I think he would have been very grateful.”

“For what?”

“For trying to save his sister from hell.”

Gart’s smile faded as he gazed into her lovely face. He didn’t have anything to say to that. Closing his eyes, his lips slanted gently over hers.

The first few seconds of the kiss were soft, gentle, tantalizing. But soon enough, he was intoxicated with the feel and smell of her and his senses overwhelmed him. The lightning flashed again, this time swamping them both, and he pulled her into a crushing embrace, his tongue invading her sweet mouth. But it still wasn’t enough. He had to have more.

Emberley had never been kissed with such passion. At first, Gart frightened her with his onslaught and she tried to pull away, but very quickly, she realized that she wasn’t frightened at all. Gart was powerful and manly, and she realized that she craved him more than she had realized. As his mouth left hers and blazed a heated trail down her neck, all self-control left her. She could no longer resist him. She’d never known such heat or lust in her life and, with a gentle growl, she snaked her hands underneath his mail and tunic to make contact with his muscular body.

Her heated hands caressed his tight abdomen, flesh against flesh. Gart went mad. He ripped his mail off, then his tunic, and didn’t remember doing either. All he remembered was the feel and taste of Emberley. Her fine surcoat disintegrated beneath his hands, the sounds of material ripping filling the chamber. Before either of them realized it, she was nude but for the hose tied to each leg with a silk ribbon. When Gart realized her state of dress, it threw him over the edge. He latched on to her mouth and picked her up in his big arms.

Emberley wrapped her legs around his waist, as a child would, her arms around his neck as he carried her to the bed and carefully laid her down on the coverlet. He suckled on a delicate earlobe but she turned the tables on him, latching on to his shoulder and suckling his smooth flesh. He groaned as she moved to a nipple, hissing when she latched onto the peaked flesh and suckled hard. It was driving him out of his mind. With his last shred of sanity, he released his breeches and they collapsed around his knees.

Grabbing Emberley by the hair, he pulled her off of his chest and settled himself between her legs, his hands moving to her ripe, full breasts and loving the feel of them. She was round and lush. His heated mouth suckled her tender nipples, first one breast and then the other, and Emberley whimpered softly as he lapped and drew at them. His hands were everywhere, caressing her, acquainting himself with her body, before moving to the fluff of dark curls between her legs.

He could feel the moist heat against his fingers as he stroked her. Being that Emberley was not a virgin, she didn’t flinch from his touch. Although sex with Julian had been a duty, she still knew something about it. Julian had made sure to educate his na?ve wife.

Emberley grasped Gart’s hand and pushed it up against her pink folds and Gart took the hint. He stroked her intimately, invading her responsive body with his big fingers and listening to her weep softly with joy. His mouth was on her breasts, her ribcage, nibbling along the curve of her torso as his fingers stroked in and out of her. Finally, when he could stand no more, Gart lifted himself up and thrust firmly into her slick, heated body.

Emberley cried out softly as he drove into her, lifting her pelvis to his, wrapping her slender legs around his hips and drawing him in deeper with every stroke. She held him tightly with her legs as her hands wandered to his buttocks, her fingers invading the crease between his hard cheeks, touching deeply intimate places.

Gart was so highly aroused that he groaned as he felt her little fingers, seeking his private crevices, and he gently removed her probing fingers. He knew if she continued that he would spill himself too soon, so he took both hands and stretched them sensually over her head, tenderly trapping her as his great manhood thrust deeply into her.

Emberley was lost in a haze of delirious desire. She could feel every one of Gart’s thrusts deep inside her, touching her womb, feeling her tremors of pleasure begin. As his mouth moved down her neck to her breasts, a powerful climax came over her, followed by another. Gart was merciless as he felt her walls tighten around him, wanting to prolong her pleasure and his own.

Eventually, he could no longer hold his concentration and he spilled his hot seed deep into her beautiful body, feeling every last tremor with the greatest of pleasure. But even as he went through the throes of his release, he could feel her climax yet again and he continued to move deep within her, not wanting the experience of their first coupling to end. It had been the most powerful personal experience of his life.

When their sweating, heated bodies slowed to a halt, Gart found himself looking Emberley in the eye. He was still buried deep within the soft, moist haven of her sweet body. They just stared at each other, shocked at the power of their mating. It was more than either one of them could have imagined, an experience that went above and beyond simple passion and emotion. It delved into the realm of the soul. Gart leaned forward and very gently, very sweetly, kissed her on the lips.

“I love you,” he murmured against her mouth. “For all time, I will love you and only you.”

Emberley burst into body-wracking sobs.