Gayle Callen (12 page)

“No,” he said. “I cannot trust that you will send her down after me. She goes in first and I shall follow.”

“No,” Katherine whispered, as they dragged her toward the pit. “No, please! I can’t go in there!”

“I
am coming, I promise,” Reynold said, willing Katherine to obey him this once. While his fear for her grew, his bitterness and anger fled.

She clawed at the arm of one of the soldiers as he tried to release her near the edge. He slapped her hard and with a cry, she swayed out over the gaping hole. Reynold surged forward and staggered as the two soldiers gripped his arms.

The sergeant put a hand on Reynold’s chest, and spoke over his shoulder to his men. “Leave the girl alone. Bring up the rope.”

Katherine wept, hands covering her face, shoulders trembling. Reynold’s throat tightened. This was all his fault. If only he’d trusted his instincts and dragged Katherine away from his brother’s castle. Watching her defeat was almost unbearable.

“She will not be able to climb down,” he said. “She has a weak arm.”

Katherine lowered her hands from her face and glared at him. Ahh, some spirit, Reynold thought with relief.

The soldier pulled up the rope which was attached to a stake near the trap door. He displayed a loop on the end. “We’ll lower ’er in.”

“You’re making a mistake,” Katherine said with a hoarse voice. “I am truly Lady Katherine Berkeley, and I’m here for Lord Bolton’s help!”

“Save yer pretty speech for ’is lordship,” said the sergeant as he fitted the loop around the arch of her foot.

“When will the earl return?” Reynold asked.

The red-haired kidnapper laughed. “Not soon enough for you, Brother.” He lounged against the soldiers’ restraint, then poked his tongue out between the hole where his two front teeth should be. Reynold gave him a cool stare.

Two guards stood on either side of Katherine and lifted the rope straight up in front of her, directing her to hold onto it. A moment later they lifted and suspended her over the pit. Katherine screamed as the rope swayed and spun.

“Hold on tight!” Reynold yelled.

“Help me!” Her voice sounded feeble as she sank into the depths of the pit. Then he heard nothing but her soft weeping.

“Pull up the rope!” Reynold shrugged off the guards and stood at the edge of the pit, looking down into the blackness. He straightened his hood and jammed the hat back in place. “Can we have a torch?”

“What, so ye can set a fire we’d have to haul ye out of?” The sergeant laughed.

Reynold stood at the opening, watching as a sol
dier drew up the rope. For one wild moment he thought about taking them all on. His arm trembled with the need to grip a sword; his heart pounded with the lust for bloodshed. Yet he stepped back from his old ways. One against five armed men would not give him victory. And then Katherine would be left to satisfy their anger.

Reynold put his foot in the loop and turned his back to the pit, watching as three men braced themselves for his weight. He eased his foot over the edge and stepped onto the rope. They grunted and the rope slipped through their hands. Reynold lurched to a halt, feeling his stomach plummet to his feet. If they dropped him, Katherine would be alone. Inch by inch, the creaking rope lowered him.

“Move, Katherine. I do not wish to land on you.”

The air grew cooler as he descended. The foul odor wafted around him, yet didn’t overpower. When he touched the ground, Reynold released the rope and listened as it swished through the air on its way up. The hatch slammed shut, rendering the darkness complete.

“Katherine?” Reynold shuffled his feet through what must be layers of straw and debris. He heard the distant skittering of tiny creatures. “Katherine, where are you?”

“Here,” she whispered.

He reached out towards the sound of her voice and found her shaking body. He drew her into his arms and let her weep against his chest.

“I am so sorry,” he said into the hair above her ear. “I wish I could have protected you from this.”

“’Tis my fault,” she whispered, clutching him even more tightly. “I should have told you…everything. I should have—”

He touched her lips to still her voice. When his fingers lingered, he pulled them away. “Shall we explore our new quarters and see what we can sit upon?”

Katherine nodded, and her hair caressed his chin.

“Here, hold my hand.”

He grasped her fingers in one hand and held the other one straight out in front of him. Before he hit a wall, Katherine stumbled. He yanked her upright.

“Let me guess,” Reynold said. “Was it your gown, your shoes, your—”

Katherine hit him in the arm. “’Tis a wooden bucket, I think. Let me see.”

“Do not touch it! You never know who has been here before us.”

Katherine made a choking sound. “I had not thought of that.”

Reynold stuck out a toe until he tapped the object. The smell that arose made him turn away. “Let us hope for rescue before we must resort to this.” He kicked the offending bucket away.

“Reynold,” she whispered.

He could hear the tears just beneath her words. Sliding an arm around her shoulders, he guided
her forward. “We shall think about everything else later. I found a wall.”

Together they patted the wet, uneven stone and moved towards their right. Soon Reynold banged his shin on a rickety pallet. He ran his hands along it and found the ragged remains of one woolen blanket.

“How thoughtful of them,” he murmured.

“What is it?” Katherine asked from the darkness beside him.

“A blanket—I think.” He shook it out as best he could, then offered it to her.

“No, thank you.”

Her distaste made Reynold smile. He turned the pallet upside down, kicked it twice, then righted it. “There. Would you like to sit while I continue to explore?”

She found his arm and then clutched his elbow. “My thanks once again, but no.”

Reynold chuckled and patted her hand. “You are very brave, Katherine.”

She sighed. “No, I’m not. If alone, I would probably be quite mad by now.”

“You underestimate yourself,” he said, stroking her delicate hand. He remembered the firelight flickering across her fingers as he’d kissed each one. He shivered and still felt the way her nails had grazed his back when she’d cried out in pleasure. Was it only last night?

“How long do you think we’ll be here?” she asked, interrupting Reynold’s memories.

“Who can say? They seem to expect the earl
back soon, or I assume they would have dealt with us themselves. Perhaps your betrothed likes to wield all the power.”

He regretted the sarcasm the instant he spoke. Where had such bitterness come from? Hadn’t he always known she was not for one such as he?

Katherine stiffened and removed her hand from his arm. “You must be very angry with me.”

Reynold shrugged. “I knew you had your secrets. I knew you were to be—married.” He choked the last word out, sickened by an image of his brother and Katherine locked in a naked embrace.

Katherine remained silent for a moment, torn between wanting to tell him everything, and sparing him the knowledge. “At the monastery, I didn’t reveal my full name because I was afraid you would take me home.”

“You were right.”

“I couldn’t go there! ’Tis where the kidnapper would have expected me to go. He’d have been waiting, putting my whole family in danger.”

“Why?” he demanded, gripping her shoulders hard.

Katherine stared into the inky blackness that was his face.

“Enough of your pretenses,” he said. “What do you have to warn the king about?”

Katherine opened her mouth, but nothing would come out. Reynold shook her once and her arm began to ache.

“You’re hurting me,” she said.

“What do you think you have done to me?”

She had no answer for that except the truth. “Friends of my father—fellow noblemen—had gathered at our home to hunt. Someone overheard them discussing how they would support Henry Tudor, but not openly.”

“Traitors?” The hiss of that word made the pit seem darker.

“They said they would pretend to support King Richard, then turn to Henry at the king’s weakest moment.”

Reynold said nothing for a moment, and Katherine waited for him to commend her bravery and devotion.

“Could you not have sent a letter?”

She shoved away his hands. “I might have, but the choice was denied me. They discovered what I knew and had me kidnapped! What was I supposed to do, allow them to intimidate me? King Richard needed my help. His wife, Anne, was my cousin. I could not just go home and allow them to be betrayed.”

“I still do not understand the secrecy. You could have stayed safely in hiding and allowed me or someone else to carry your message. Why did you not trust me?”

Katherine kicked at the straw beneath her feet. “Reynold, I knew nothing of you. I could not risk my father’s life on a stranger.”

He groaned. “What does your father have to do with this?”

“Do you not see? These men were gathered at
my father’s estate. People might suspect that he was also a traitor, although he is not.”

“You are certain of that?”

“Reynold! We are related to King Richard’s wife! Why would my father want to do harm to her husband?”

“You said ’someone’ overheard the traitors. Was it your father?”

“No. His mistress.”

“And you wish to protect her?” Reynold asked.

Katherine could hear the irony in his voice. She knew how unusual her family was. “Eleanor is…more a mother to me than my own. If the traitors find out who overheard them, they’ll kill her.”

“You do not know that,” he said. “They did not kill you.”

“I’m not a man’s mistress, nor a commoner.”

Startled, Katherine realized what she’d just said. She was no better than Eleanor, her father’s mistress; they’d committed the same sins.

“Katherine—”

“Have I answered enough questions for tonight? Could we keep exploring?”

When she would have gone around him, Reynold moved on, holding her hand. Together they discovered an arrow loop in the far wall, the source of cool air and relief from the stench. They stood at the opening and simply breathed.

“I thought we were underground,” Katherine murmured, squinting out at the dark countryside.

“The land sloped down as we approached the
tower. The walls of this pit are uneven enough to have been dug out of rock.”

Together they dragged the rickety pallet over to the arrow loop. Katherine heard Reynold test the pallet with his weight, then he gently pulled her down beside him. She shifted uncomfortably.

“Reynold, you must know that nothing has changed.”

He didn’t answer, or draw away.

“When James returns, I’ll be cleared of these charges.”

“Will he believe who you are? Did he see you often enough to memorize every curve of your face, as I have?”

Some deep part of Katherine feared that what Reynold had said might prove true. “He may not recognize me dressed like this, but it will not take me long to convince him. Then you’ll be free to go. You will not have to risk yourself for me anymore.”

“’Twas not by force that I left the monastery, Katherine.”

She allowed herself to lean back, ever closer to the warmth of his side. “Will you go back?”

She heard the dull thud of his head dropping back against the wall. “I have to.” He was silent for a moment. “Katherine, who were the traitors?”

“Will you not answer my question?”

“Tell me.”

She heard the bitterness that was once again laced through his words. He had every right to be angry with her and his situation. She had practi
cally seduced him herself, then led him to the home of her future husband. Why should he confide his plans to her?

“The Earl of Northumberland. And Lord Stanley—”

“No surprise there,” Reynold interrupted. “He took Henry Tudor’s mother to wife.”

“But he pledged loyalty to King Richard. He is one of the king’s councilors. How can he go back on his word?”

“When their own necks are concerned, many men have no problem with dishonor. Anyone else?”

“Only the Duke of Suffolk.”

“The Duke—” Reynold broke off with a soft curse. “His son is Richard’s heir.”

“I know,” she whispered. “Doesn’t anyone believe in loyalty any more?”

“You do.”

His voice rumbled softly, deeply, in his chest, stirring an answering shudder that seemed to begin between her thighs. Her skin flushed with warmth. The wool gown and smock trapped the heat of her body until her breasts burned with it. She scrambled up onto her knees and turned her face into the draft of cool air from the arrow loop. Pressing the front of her body against the rock wall, she tried to will her flesh into submission.

She would not allow herself to repeat her sins of the previous night. She was at the home of her betrothed—admittedly in the dungeon, but that would soon be rectified. She could not allow this
weakness, this languor, to steal over her again. It would only hurt Reynold more when James returned, demanding his future wife. And Katherine would be that woman, and suffer silently for her sins for the rest of her life. She could not go against her father’s wishes in choosing the earl for her husband.

She remained still, silent, struggling to clear her mind of all but her mission. Yet Reynold breathed beside her, his big body restless on the pallet, his heat as necessary as fire in a winter storm. ’Tis what he stirred inside her, a storm of desire and sin so wicked and compelling that she couldn’t think, couldn’t connect the reasons why she shouldn’t touch him. She felt his head lean against her hip and she shuddered.

“Katherine,” he said, and her name sounded exotic in his deep, hoarse voice.

“No, oh no,” she whispered. To her mortification, her voice trailed off into a moan as Reynold’s hand touched the back of her thigh and slid slowly upward, rubbing linen and wool against her sensitive flesh. He cupped her buttock in one large hand and kneaded the muscle gently, rhythmically.

Katherine clutched the wall, trying with all her might not to collapse in his arms and beg him to ease this anguished wanting she could not control.

“I may burn in hell for this,” he said, his face pressed against her hip, “but nothing can be worse than this fire I feel whenever I am near you.”

The fire that he spoke of burned and consumed
her, until not even the darkness of the pit could reach her. Every sense was riveted to this man below her who made her feel more a woman than she ever had in her life.