Claiming (6 page)

Then he entered the solar but didn’t come to her bed. He lay down on the pallet, with his hands behind his head and appeared to fall asleep instantly.

She could have cried. She’d always imagined she was strong but she was as weak as the next woman. She’d have been able to resist if only she could keep her distance. If she’d not known the magic his lips and hands and hard body could create, then she might have been able to continue as she was, separate, alone… safe.

CHAPTER SIX

It was early morning and Rowena would normally have enjoyed the ride through the beech forest. Saher rode beside her and their men behind. It was still in the forest, the only sound being the softened tread of their horses’ hooves on the thick carpet of twigs and bracken on the forest floor, and the birdsong and rustling leaves of the majestic beech trees above them. But it was not still in her mind which constantly worried about the fortune hidden in casks in her warehouse. The warehouse was under constant guard—day and night—but it wouldn’t be long before suspicions were roused. It had to be moved soon. But it could not be moved while Saher was glued to her side.

“Are you sure you can spare the time to go hawking, sir? Shouldn’t you be in Norwich, on business?”

“I will go when I’m ready. I intend to claim the attentions of my wife before I leave here.”

“And what do you think I will do if you leave me ‘unclaimed’? Raise an army? Bar the door?”

“I’m sure you’re capable of all of those things.” He leaned over and grabbed the reins of her horse, pulling her towards him until their legs were pressed against each other. “But I know how to bring you to my side. I know we will be good together. I just need to convince you of this matter.”

“By seducing me?”

“I can think of no more effective way. And, no way more suiting to my desire.”

She yanked the reins back into her hands and urged her horse on, shooting him an arch look. “So… interesting, if I wish you away, I need to sleep with you.”

He frowned. “Admit it, you do not wish me away. You enjoy our talk, our touches, our kisses.”

She refused to look at him, to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was correct. “I certainly do
not
admit it. But you have given me a quandary. I have no liking for the presence of a husband watching my every move. I have no liking to share my control of the estate and, contrary to what you may think, I have no liking to be bedded. And yet you will not leave me in peace until you have bedded me.”

“So, ’tis easily solved. Come, we should return at once to the castle solar. There I can do the task at hand.”

Her lips threatened to curve into a smile at the combined look of humour and lust in his eyes. She bit her lip, trying to compose her face into a haughty expression. She feared she did not succeed. “Sir, it would not be proper.”

“And you are so proper, my lady.” He grinned, smacked her horse on the backside and they both galloped off to where his men were waiting with the hawks.

Rowena followed the course of the tawny-plumed falcon as it soared into the sunshine until the brightness made her eyes water and she had to look away. Saher stood, hands on hips, watching the bird he’d just released enjoy its new-found freedom. But, she realized, he stood with the confidence and knowledge that he might have set him free, but that the bird would return.

They watched him swoop and soar in sheer joy before suddenly plummeting down to earth, then returning to Saher’s outstretched hand, with prey in its beak.

“He’s young, this one. Smaller than the female.” Saher took away the prey and tossed it into a bag.

Rowena watched, mesmerized as Saher calmed the young falcon, who was skittish with excitement at the kill, smoothing his ruffled feathers until he positively preened to his touch. Then, he slipped on the hood and the bird relaxed under its comfort.

“Try this one.” Saher beckoned to a squire who presented Rowena with a female falcon, much larger than the male, who lifted her head proudly once the hood had been removed and looked around serenely, as if it not much mattered whether she was hooded or not.

“She is beautiful.”

“And she knows it. Is she too heavy?”

She was heavy but Rowena would never admit it. She lifted her higher, straining her muscles. “No, I can manage. I’m used to doing more than embroidering pretty pictures.”

Saher reached over and ran his fingers along the long muscle of her arm. She closed her eyes briefly as if she, too, were the female falcon, responding to her master’s touch. Then she turned away and let loose the bird. This bird rose higher than the male, and did not swoop with delight but flew with a focus and surety which entranced Rowena.

“Your birds are well trained, sir.”

His eyes searched her face with an insolent expression. “I make sure of it.”

She turned away suddenly, torn by her arousal and fearful at what his words implied.

The hours slipped by, judging by the lowering of the sun in the sky and the sacks full of rabbits and other small prey that would supplement the castle’s kitchen.

The last bird returned to the gloved hand of the man they knew instinctively to be their master—Saher, who now held Rowena’s full attention. His strength, control and command of the birds had impressed Rowena, despite herself and now that the shadows were lengthening she allowed herself to admire him—his long dark hair pushed away from a face of chiseled cheekbones and strong lines. She watched in a daze, feeling as languid as the hot afternoon, as he quieted the bird. He whispered words that made the bird shiver and sink into his feathers before passing him to one of his men.

She should speak, she should mount her horse and return to the castle. But she did neither of these things. Instead, the daze lingered and her eyes dropped to his lips when he turned to her. She turned away immediately but not before he’d smiled a private smile that created a low, fluttering tension deep within. She walked over to her horse and fiddled with the reins as she remembered how his hard cock had pressed against her belly the previous night, imagining it in place of her fingers, seeking out her damp heat. Hot colour flushed her cheeks.

What was she waiting for? If she truly wanted him gone—at least for a while—then she knew how to effect it.

“Are you ready to return, my lady?” She jumped around startled, not realizing he was so close.

She opened her mouth to speak but it felt parched, dry. She licked her lips and swallowed, her eyes seeking his mouth once more, which was now curled into a sensuous smile. “Dismiss the servants.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

He cocked his head to one side in surprise and then shouted a few words at the men who promptly took the birds and left the clearing. They were quite alone.

“And what, lady, do you have in mind?”

“Something that may as well be done in the fields, with the animals, among the flowers.” She looked around. There was not a soul to be seen. The clearing in the woods glowed in the late summer sunshine, its grasses interspersed with the wildflowers—from the yellow of Mary’s Bedstraw, to the vivid blue of the Mary’s Slipper. She sighed and sat amongst the flowers. “It’s beautiful here.”

He sat beside her and plucked some of the pale yellow flowers and brought them up to her face. He gently pushed away her hood and one by one joined them together until they wove through her hair. “Summer… a time for lovers. It’s ever been that way.”

Gone was the stranger who wanted to rob her of her inheritance. In his place was a man whose dark eyes were hot with desire. She reached out to touch his cheek with tentative fingers and he caught her hand with his, turning it against his lips and kissing the palm of her hand.

Her heart beat till she thought it would pound out of her chest. His lips against her palm felt daring and intimate, yet it didn’t warn her off, merely made her want more. She rose on her knees to him and brought her face to his. He smiled, knowing what she wanted and closed the distance by slipping his hand behind her head and bringing her to him.

Any lingering thought of resistance, of her plan to make him leave, of the morrow, vanished under the passion his lips incited. As the kiss deepened—their mouths opening and their tongues tangling—her body was shot through with a need so urgent she could hardly breathe. He thrust his fingers through her hair, loosening it, tossing her hood to the sweet-scented ground. His lips moved down from her mouth, and, breathless, she arched back, exposing her throat to his mouth and her chest to his lips.

He thrust down her gown, exposing her full white breasts, their cherry red tips tight as buds. His smile was short-lived as he moved his mouth first to one nipple—flicked it with his tongue and then sucked hard—and then the other. She gasped at the exquisite pleasure that consumed her and closed her eyes, her breathing coming fast as her body became overwhelmed with sensation.

He pulled away and stroked her face. “You are beautiful, my lady.” He put his arms around her and they rolled to the ground as one, the scented grasses crushing beneath their bodies as they lay on their sides. He kissed her and she surrendered to the mindless bliss of sensation that his lips, his tongue and his hands created in every part of her body.

Then he moved, eased himself away from her and his head blocked out the sun, casting her into shadow, revealing the tower on the hill that dominated everything. At the same moment she felt his rigid cock straining at his hose, against her.

She froze.

He pulled away. “What is the matter? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”

She shivered. “I cannot, Saher, I cannot do this.” She struggled up to sitting and covered her face with her hands, whether for shame, embarrassment or fear, she couldn’t have said.

“And what is it exactly you cannot do? I think your response has proven to both of us that your body is ready for mine, that you can enjoy our coupling more than many. He knelt behind her and gripped her hips, bringing her to lie with her head against his chest. “You want me and you shall have me.” He kissed the top of her head but she shook it and stood up, swaying unsteadily.

“No, Saher.”

To her chagrin, he simply smiled as if she’d not said a word. “Look at you.” He rose and ran his fingers over her nipples, visible through her flower-laced hair that had spilled around her semi-naked body. He laughed. “You look like some ancient dryad, some siren of the land, about to seduce a man, to suck a man dry.”

She frowned at his words, recalling her mother’s intemperate passions and also her own first lover, who preferred a meeker love to her own. She awkwardly tried to pull on her robe once more, to cover her nakedness. “You see me as some unholy demon of a woman? Someone to be feared?”

It was his turn to frown. “Feared? Why would you think that?” He helped her adjust her clothing for her, tucking in her chemise and gown and smoothing it under her bliaut.

She shrugged. “Because…” Should she admit that her one and only lover had found her passion too overwhelming and had left her because of it?

“Rowena. Tell me, what do you know of sex?”

“I know of sex. I have lain with a man before.” She looked up at him with a defensiveness that made him laugh.

“Indeed? I am not shocked, my lady, although no doubt I should be. I guessed as much. For someone as passionate as yourself, there must be a reason you have sworn off men. It’s simple. You must have chosen poorly to have been disappointed.” He lifted her chin. “I will not disappoint, nor will I leave. Lay down, my lady and listen.”

The replies began to form in her head, only to die on her lips. She lay down, curled on her side and watched him sit opposite, idly pick a flower and tickle her hand with it. “So, sir, what tale will you tell me?”

“No tale, my lady, but a description of my intent. First, I would explore your body.” He smiled, a slow smile that heated her stomach. She smiled back. “I wouldn’t be able to move past your breasts for some time for they are indeed, perfect, and there is much to be admired. With my fingers, with my lips, with my tongue.”

She shivered and clenched herself inside but her eyes didn’t stray from his. “Go on.”