Page 21 of The Rogue’s Embrace

The inn Lisandro had chosen for them was in Barrenkale, one of the seven streets of the old town of Bilbao which ran perpendicular to the river. At the end of each street was the original high stone wall which circled the town. At night, the gates of the wall were closed, and those seeking to move in and out of Las Siete Calles had go via the guards at the main gates.

After they passed through the gate, they stepped into a narrow street with tall buildings which towered over them on both sides. Wet washing hung from many high balconies, drying in the warm sun.

"Soy un tonto,"

muttered Lisandro.

Why does he think himself a fool?

"What is wrong?"

she asked.

He turned and pointed toward the high wall. "This has always been a safe place when I have stayed in Bilbao. The walls keep everyone in. I have just realized that it also means we have only one way out of here if we come under attack."

Until that moment, Maria had been enjoying the view on the walk up from the river. Now, the ancient walls of the old town no longer seemed so inviting.

They continued up the cobbled street of Barrenkale for a short distance before entering a walkway through a small gate. At the end, they stepped into the yard of the inn. A sign hung over a nearby door with the picture of a blackbird.

"El Mirlo?"

she asked.

"Yes, this is one of the oldest inns in all of Bilbao. It dates back to the thirteenth century. It's been around for longer than the wall. Come. Let's see if we can get a room,"

he replied.

Maria pulled her hat down farther, hiding more of her face, and followed Lisandro inside.

To her surprise, The Blackbird was a well-run establishment, and the owner's wife soon had a metal tub brought to their room. A small procession of housemaids, all carrying pitchers of warm water, followed it. Soon, Maria was staring lovingly at the sight of an inviting bath.

After tipping the maids, Lisandro closed and locked the door to their room. "I suggest you take a quick bath. In the meantime, I will go and see if I can secure an audience with the head priest."

Maria sighed with disappointment. She had been hoping to spend a long hour soaking in the tub and then find a good bottle of Spanish wine. After that, a siesta on the bed was in her plans.

With a wry grin on his face, Lisandro came to her. The warm, delicious kiss he set on her lips brightened her mood a little. Maria pressed herself to him. There was a definite hardening of something against her stomach. Temptation beckoned.

Chuckling softly, he stepped back, hands raised. "If you keep playing that sort of dangerous game, we might never make it out of here."

"Would that be such a bad thing?"

she asked.

His face became a study of serious intent. "When I make you mine, and I think we both know that it will eventually happen, it most certainly won't be in an old inn. And especially not when the clock is ticking, and I am about to go and see a priest."

He came closer and whispered in her ear, "Your first time will be special. I want to have hours at my disposal when I make love to you, Maria. Because rest assured that when I do have you naked and beneath me, you will climax more than once."

She swallowed deep, shocked and deeply aroused by his words. In her imagination, she had played out a time when he and she were together but hearing him say it with such certainty . . . it was almost too much.

"Will you stay while I bathe?"

she asked.

Lisandro shook his head. "I am a man with more than a modicum of self-restraint but even I am not that strong."

He pointed at the door. "Just make sure to lock this after I leave."

After Lisandro left, Maria did as he instructed and turned the key. With her back against the door, she closed her eyes.

He wanted her. She would be his and soon.

She stripped her clothes from her body, then slid naked into the bath. As the soapy suds covered her breasts, Maria took hold of one of her nipples and brushed her thumb over it. Her other hand dipped below the water and up between her legs. As she slipped a finger inside her heat and began to stroke, she lay her head back against the tub and focused her thoughts on him—on Lisandro and the delicious things she couldn't wait for him to do to her.

"There is not a lot I can tell you, but I think you are in grave danger if you remain in Bilbao. The man I dealt with showed no respect for me or the Holy Mother Church. And that sort of man is the kind who doesn't fear for his soul,"

said the priest.

Lisandro set his glass of brandy on the table. He had hoped that the head of Santiago Cathedral would be able to shed more light on the men who had handed him the ransom notes, but it seemed Lisandro's mission had been in vain. The only thing he'd gained was confirmation that it was the Englishman Wicker, whom Lisandro had seen in Zarautz, who had dealt with the money the Duke of Villabona had paid to secure Maria's release.

"When was the last time you saw this Mister Wicker?" he asked.

"Yesterday. He keeps coming to ask if the second ransom has been paid. That is why I think you need to get out of Bilbao, and quickly. News of your arrival in Spain may not stay secret for very long. Sailors drinking in taverns like to tell tales."

Lisandro got to his feet; decision made. He and Maria had to leave Bilbao, and today. They would get as far on the road to Tolosa as they could before nightfall.

"Thank you, Father. I appreciate your honesty. I am sorry you have been caught up in all this and the grace of the Holy Catholic Church so badly mistreated," he said.

The priest made the sign of the cross in blessing. "Send word once you have delivered Do?a Maria de Elizondo Garza home to her family. I shall pray for both of you. God speed, Don de Aguirre."

Lisandro left the cathedral by way of a side door and turned left into Posta Kalea. It was a longer walk back to The Blackbird than leaving by the front, but he had suddenly become averse to the crowd which mingled around the cathedral's entrance. In his mind, every person he passed could well be someone linked to the kidnappers.

He had just turned left again, moving in the direction of the river, when his gaze locked on a familiar body. There on a street corner, casually smoking a cigar, stood the badly scarred Englishman, Mister Wicker.

Lisandro's blood ran to ice.

"Infierno sangriento,"

Lisandro muttered under his breath.

He chastised himself. Here he was, still within sight of the cathedral, and what was he doing? Offering up blasphemy.

I am going to go to hell.

Setting aside all worries about eternal damnation, he pulled the collar of his coat up and kept to his side of the street. It was only when he finally made it into a nearby lane and was well out of sight of his enemy that Lisandro allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief.

He hurried on quickly to the inn. There was no time to waste.

Please be finished bathing and be ready to leave.

Reaching, The Blackbird, he slowed his steps. A man rushing anywhere usually created interest. The last thing he wanted was for someone to make mention of a guest leaving in a hurry.

He knocked on the door, pushing past Maria as soon as she opened it.

"Oh!"

she exclaimed.

Her startled response pulled him up sharp. He had been so intent on getting back from the cathedral, a thousand worries in his head, he had just barreled into the room and not given her a second thought. The vision of loveliness which met his gaze now gave him pause.

Maria had bathed and dressed. Her long brown hair had been braided and hung over one shoulder. She was a radiant picture of Northern Spanish beauty.

The only thing which spoiled the view was the look of hurt on her face. The pain in her warm brown eyes.

"Forgive me," he said.

She tilted her head to one side and considered him. "What is wrong? You seem terribly agitated, Lisandro. What happened at the cathedral? Were you able to get any information?"

He let out a long, slow breath, doing his best to regain his composure. Maria was right; he was in a state of flux.

"The priest at Santiago Cathedral wasn't able to give me much. But he did tell me that the man who I saw in Zarautz, the scarred Englishman, is here in Bilbao. He is the one who has been handling the ransom letters and your father's money,"

he explained.

He reached for his travel bag and began to stuff things into it. After picking up Maria's hat and coat, he handed them to her. "We have to leave now. I just saw that same man standing outside the cathedral."

"The Englishman with the burned face? I am sure he must be the same man who put the sack over my head. He knows what I look like, so yes we have to go,"

she replied.

She came to his side and placed a hand on his arm. "Take a moment and calm your mind. Then let's you and I come up with a sensible plan."

With reluctance, Lisandro did as she asked and let out a long, slow breath. It quietened his racing mind. Lisandro's hands still shook from the rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins, but he could at last think straight.

I can do this. I can get us out of here.

"If we leave Bilbao now, we might make one of the villages en route to Tolosa by nightfall. We stand a better chance if instead of hiring a coach, we avail ourselves of horses," she said.

He went to open his mouth to ask about her horsemanship skills but a hard glare from Maria stopped him. "My father owns a whole stable of Andalusian grays. I was taught to ride a warhorse from the time I could walk. Please don't insult me by asking how well I can handle a mount."

She was smart, resourceful, and if he hadn't already fallen in love with her, Lisandro would have done so at that very moment.

"It is going to be a long and hard ride. I'm sorry that you didn't get a chance to sleep in a proper bed tonight, but once we make it to Castle Tolosa, I promise you will get plenty of rest,"

he replied.

He was dying to show Maria his huge bed. To roll her in it, make love to her, and then sleep soundly with Maria wrapped in his arms. But Lisandro was determined that Maria's first time would be wonderful, and that for those long hours of tender caresses, her mind would be solely on the two of them.

Right now, however, the threat of her kidnappers still hung over them.

Once he got her safely home to Castle Tolosa, to the home he intended would be theirs forever, then they would be free to indulge in their desires. To become one.