Page 26 of The Sword and the Damsel (The De Veres #2)

“B ed. Now,” she murmured in his ear.

He clutched her hard and moaned softly so that only she could hear. “I am at your command, my lady.”

Folding her into his embrace, he kissed her hungrily, and she responded with desperation to his touch. She needed him like she needed air to breathe. He picked her up, and she wrapped her legs around him as he carried her to the bed.

As he tugged the laces of her dress loose, she fumbled at the fastenings of his cotte, tearing it free. She pulled his shirt over his head, careful to be gentle with his bound shoulder, and feasted on his neck and shoulders as he pushed her dress down to reveal her breasts.

With a desperate moan, he pulled her against him and kissed her. She dug her nails into his back. No matter how close he was, he wasn’t close enough. She needed more of him, all of him. Her fingers found their way to the ties of his breeches and yanked them loose. She shoved his breeches down and grasped the hard, hot flesh below.

“Oh God, Alais. I’ve never needed anyone like I need you right now.”

“I need you too. Take me now. Please.”

He pulled off her dress and slid off his boots and breeches in a fluid movement. Reaching to touch her between the legs, he dipped a finger between her folds and brushed the bundle of nerves there, sending lightening all through her body. With a guttural groan, he sank into the molten core of her, heat and sensation exploding all through her body as he filled her. It was too much and not enough. Frantic beneath him, she was desperate for something she couldn’t name. A craving for connection and love overpowered her. She needed to feel, not just hear, his absolution for what Robert claimed to have done.

As he moved within her, all conscious thought disappeared. There was only light and sensation. It felt as if she had burst through the physical boundaries of her body. She was radiant as she shattered into a thousand pieces. The force of the ecstasy pouring through her left her transcendent, broken, and raw.

As her consciousness returned to her body, he convulsed. He cried out in his final throes, then rolled to his side, gasping for breath. She turned to face him, wrapping a leg around his hip, and snuggled into his arms.

Blinking, he raised his head and met her gaze with his own. He whispered, “I love you, Alais.”

“You do?” Her heart broke into a thousand tiny pieces, knowing he said it despite Robert’s lies. “I love you too.”

He clutched her hard against him and kissed the top of her head.

“I’ve loved you nearly as long as I’ve known you,” he continued. “I thought I was in trouble that first night when you left me speechless at dinner. I knew I was lost when you bewitched Socorro. I should have told you sooner. I should have told you on our wedding night. I love you so much I can hardly stand it. Don’t ever leave me again.”

“I didn’t leave by choice.”

“I know,” he said softly, kissing her forehead.

An ugly, hiccupping sob escaped from her as she tried to contain the overflowing mess of her emotions. After all the fear of the past week, she found herself in the arms of a man who cared more about her joy than her purity, who worried more about her peace of mind than the succession.

He pulled her close. “I plan to show you every way I can how deeply I love you.” She felt his flesh stiffen against her. “Including right now, if you’ll have me.”

“Now, and always.” She kissed him.

Barely moving, their bodies joined, and they rocked together in an unhurried dance. His touch was so tender and gentle that it brought on even more tears. He caressed and kissed them away, murmuring words of love and reassurance until a tremor rocked her with aching bliss. She shook in his arms until he groaned and strained in hers, and they were still.

She dozed for a bit in the comfort and warmth of his embrace, exhausted from the lack of sleep the night before.

When Alais woke up in Victor’s arms, it was late afternoon. He was still asleep. Neither of them had had a proper night’s sleep in days. She eased herself out of his arms, trying not to wake him, when he reached for her.

“Stay. Please.”

She let herself be drawn back into his embrace, his chest rising and falling against her back.

“I was about to ask a servant for some food. I’m famished.”

“ Mm .” He squeezed her close and kissed her neck. “Sadly, that’s a good idea. I haven’t eaten since you were kidnapped. I suppose I must let you out of bed.” He relinquished her reluctantly, trailing his finger down her back as she got up.

She dressed and ducked out of the room to make a request of the first servant she encountered returning as quickly as she could. Soon there was a knock on the door, and when Alais opened it, she saw a small but sturdy girl standing there with a full tray holding a heaping platter of bread, cheeses, and cured meats, along with a pitcher of wine and two goblets. The girl moved into the room to set it down on a small table with chairs in the corner of the room. Once the servant girl had left, Victor pulled on his breeches to join Alais.

“So what are we going to do about Robert?” she asked, tearing off some bread and piling on meat and cheese.

“We?”

She took a sip of wine. “Yes, we. You don’t think I’m going to let you go after Robert alone, do you? He’s wronged me more than anyone.”

Victor shook his head. “I would have thought after all you’ve been through you would want to stay as far away from him as possible.”

“I want to see him pay for his crimes. I want to be present when he’s brought to justice. Do you know where he is?” She popped a bite into her mouth.

“Probably Canterbury, possibly at an inn called the Black Rooster.”

Taking another sip of wine, she mused, “Canterbury, eh?

Tricky going to Canterbury without attracting the attention of the archbishop.”

Victor raised an eyebrow. “Not just tricky. Impossible. I’ve had dealings with him before on behalf of my aunt. He knows everything that happens in Canterbury. Nothing escapes his notice. If we go to Canterbury—”

“ When we go to Canterbury…”

“ When we go to Canterbury, we will need to do so with his full knowledge and approval, staying in his palace and coordinating with his men. I think it would be best if we went with Daniel. The two of them haven’t met yet, and a formal visit from the earl would provide the perfect cover for us to take care of some personal business on the side. We’ll have to figure out some way to lure Robert out from hiding. He’ll expect retribution and won’t be easy to find.”

Alais chewed her lip in thought. “Robert has a weakness for me. What if I tried to lure him out?”

“How?”

Victor looked horrified by the idea, but at least he didn’t dismiss it out of hand.

“A day of shopping, perhaps, with minimal guard.”

His frown deepened.

“You can have as many men as you want tucked away out of sight, but I have to look vulnerable.” She gave him a stern look.

Taking a deep sip of wine, he said, “ I’ll take you shopping. Robert wants me dead as badly as he wants you in his bed. The lure of both of us should prove difficult to resist. We can stop for refreshment at the inn where he’s purported to be. That should draw him out if nothing else does. But I want your promise you’ll run to safety the moment there’s any danger.”

She nodded. While she longed to take down Robert herself, she lacked the fighting skills to do so. “I trust you to defend my honor. And I know you’ll put an end to him.”

“You won’t object if I kill him?”

“No.”

Victor closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Thank you. Because he deserves to die for what he did to you.”

She studied her husband, a hunk of bread spread with soft goat cheese suspended halfway to her mouth. “You’re so handsome when you’re feeling vengeful.”

He gave her a mischievous half-smile as he took a sip of wine. “I am, am I?”

His impish gaze set her on fire. How could she not have seen how ridiculously attractive he was from the first? Good God, he was delicious. She ran her foot along the side of his shin.

“Oh, that appeals to you, does it?” he asked, catching her ankle, and running his hands up her calf. “Maybe I should pursue vengeance more often.”

She bit her lip to stifle a sudden, inexplicable urge to take a bite out of him.

“Come here,” he said, giving her leg a gentle tug.

She put down her bread and cheese and complied. He ran his hand beneath her skirts, his fingers finding her burning center.

“Dear God, you are so gloriously insatiable,” he said as he rendered her incoherent, “which is excellent news because so am I.” Her knees gave way beneath her, and he maneuvered her into his lap where he continued his unrelenting torture. He pushed up her skirts and loosened his breeches, and just as she was on the brink, he entered her. Rocking together, they trembled with the force of their release.

They leaned against each other, panting, when they were done. “You realize we’re going to starve to death if we can’t even make it through a meal without coupling,” he complained helplessly.

“I need you more than food. At least, today I do,” she sighed against him.

“When we get back from Canterbury, I’m asking Daniel for an extended leave from my duties with nothing to do but tend to you and your pleasure. I’m going to make love to you until we’re too sore and exhausted to go on, like that man in the cat song, though I suspect one hundred and eighty times won’t be nearly enough for me with you.”

“We should eat quickly before we lose control again.”

Alais returned to her seat on the opposite side of the table, avoiding eye contact until she’d eaten her fill. She needed food, but she was ravenous for him. If she let herself so much as look at him, she knew she’d choose his touch over her sustenance.

As soon as they were done, they went back to bed, curling up together, breathing each other in, touching, and caressing. The rest of the day was passed in murmurs and cuddles between fits of torrid passion.

As the sun began to set, there was a knock at the door. “Alais, it’s Carenza. It’s time to go back to Winchelsea.”

“We’ll meet you downstairs,” Alais called out, trying to make her voice sound normal despite what Victor’s tongue was currently doing to her. She pulled a pillow over her face and bit down to stifle the cry that wracked her as she came yet again under Victor’s tender ministrations. “I must look frightful,” she said, tugging her fingers through the tangle her hair had become.

“You look spectacular.”

“They’ll all know what we were doing.”

Victor shrugged. “We’re newlyweds.” He smiled, pulling on his clothes, and splashing water on his face. “It’s probably for the best that we’re being forced to take a break. We need to recover.” He helped her with the ties on her dress.

“So that we can start all over again after we get to Winchelsea?” She gave him an innocent grin. He backed her against a wall and kissed her furiously.

“Yes.”

“You taste like my peach.”

“I like to eat dessert before dinner.” He handed her a comb from the dressing table.

She dragged it through her tangles with difficulty. “There,” she said, tucking in the last of her hair. “Do I look presentable?”

“You look delectable. I can’t wait to take it all off again.”

Without a word, she grabbed his hand and dragged him out the door.