The Battle Lord Saga 02 - Her Battle Lord's Desire (38 page)

parents were still alive she probably would have been spanked within an inch of her life.

She had apologized repeatedly, but he had yet to thaw. Even the whole compound knew

how badly she’d screwed up, and they were on Yulen’s side when it came to chastising her.

Resigned, Atty released her men, suggesting they go practice, then went over to see what

her husband needed of her. The blue-gray eyes were like ice as they watched her approach.

“Come. I need you to see something,” he ordered in a clipped voice. Ordered, not

asked, she realized. That slight difference stung. He was carrying several rolled sheets of paper

which she knew were diagrams of the new structures being built in and around Alta Novis.

To her surprise he led her to the new lodge where they would live once it was completed.

It was two-storied, but they would be occupying both levels, rather than the one where they lived

now in the main lodge.

Stepping inside, she could see where the interior walls were already up and needed only a

few more details before they would be finished. Drawing her arms around herself, Atty was

grateful to get out of the cold wind.

Finding a makeshift table, Yulen pulled out one of the diagrams and opened it, setting

some rocks on the corners to keep them from rolling up. “I had some last minute ideas I wanted

to run by you,” he began. “I rather like the idea of a fireplace in the bedroom, like there is in

Foster City. There wasn’t one in the original plans, but there should be no problem having a small

stone one being added. What do you think?” He turned to look at her for approval.

Atty continued to stare at him as tears unexpectedly rose into her eyes. “F-fine,” she

managed to say. “I don’t care.” He stood less than three feet away from her, but from his body

language he might as well have been on the other side of the compound.

She wanted his arms around her. Screw that, she wanted him to kiss her. To dominate

her like no other man, and make her giddy with desire. She needed him take her and love her, and

make the world right again. Why couldn’t he see how shriveled her heart had become? How

could he not see she was sorry for what she had done? No harm, no foul, but she had promised

she would never ever pull that kind of stunt again. He had her word on it, and Yulen knew how

proudly she valued her own oath.

She took a step toward, hoping he would allow her to grow closer. Maybe touch him.

Just touch him, enough to get a minute amount of warmth from his body if he wouldn’t show her

any in his eyes or in his expression. Yulen stepped back away from her, and the effect was worse

than if he had slapped her. Atty felt her heart crack.

Acting as if he hadn’t seen the moistness in her eyes, Yulen pointed to another section of

the diagram. “And instead of having this big room here next to the bedroom be a closet, I felt it

would be better if we carved a smaller storage closet out of one corner and make the rest of this a

small bedroom instead. In case.”

She totally missed his hesitation. It had been almost an entire day and night since he’d

spoken a civil word to her. Or touched her. Or kissed her. He hadn’t even eaten any meals with

her. It was as if he was avoiding any contact with her as much as possible if he could help it. Her

body felt empty and useless, her soul frostbitten. His desertion was worse than anything he could

do to her. She almost wished he would scream and rant at her instead. At least it would be done

and over with, not like this unending exile that sapped her as much as the Borash poisoning had.

There was no telling how long he would continue to treat her this way. She had told him

she was sorry. She had promised never to go against his direct orders again. How much longer

was he planning to punish her? Even the sunlight overhead couldn’t penetrate his icy exterior.

Lowering her head, she shrugged. “Okay by me,” she whispered, clutching her chest.

Two tears dripped onto her coat sleeves. She hastily brushed them into the woolen nap. Her

nose was already threatening to run, damn it. She tried not to sniff.

“Also, I need to know if you want me to have the men construct—”

“I don’t
care
, Yulen!” she interrupted, then turned and half-ran out of the building, hoping

to calm herself before she completely broke down. If he no longer wanted her, then fine. But she

couldn’t stand there any longer and survive under his unfeeling glare.

Because going up the back stairs beside the kitchen was safer than going through the main

front doors of the lodge, and there would be less chance of someone seeing her or stopping her

for some reason or another, Atty took the steps two at a time as she headed for the bedroom.

Once she was safely inside, she closed the door firmly behind her just as her choking sobs

overtook her. She pressed her coat sleeve against her mouth to try and stifle her moans as her

shoulders shook.

Walking over to her side of the bed, Atty crouched down on the floor near the headboard,

bracing her back against the mattress, and drew her knees up to her chin. Covering her face with

her arms, she let her hurt come out in a wash of scalding tears. Lost in her misery, she never

heard the door open and close, nor the sound of footsteps approach her. He already had the

ability to walk without making any noise, and with a little practice he would make an excellent

hunter.

Two strong hands reached down and picked her up without warning. Atty gasped as he

sat her on the side of the bed, then stuck a handkerchief in her face. Obediently she wiped her

face and blew her nose.

“Never
ever
do that again, Atrilan,” he admonished her sternly.

She slid her eyes up at him. He’d used her intimate name, and just the sound of his voice

caressing her like that gave her hope that she’d finally served out her sentence. She started to

reply but her voice hiccupped, bringing fresh tears to her cheeks. Smiling gently, Yulen held out

his arms to her, and she melted into them without another word. Keeping his love from her had

gotten the point across better than any amount of yelling or threatening could. The lesson had

been learned. Now it was time to soothe the emotional bruises.

In the hour that followed, they made gentle love, ignoring the two timid knocks on the

bedroom door in the interim. Yulen had locked the door, and there was no key.

Atty buried her face against his neck as she lay beneath him, covered by his warmth and

breathing in his scent that was uniquely his as he rested between her thighs. He kissed her again,

savoring the saltiness of her lips. “Atrilan?” He released her mouth to nibble on the silky skin

under her ears that was hidden by her wealth of fragrant blue hair.

“Mmmm.” Words were difficult to vocalize whenever he did that to her.

“If it’s any consolation, it tore me apart for me to ignore you like I did,” he admitted.

Atty reared back to look into his eyes. She could only hold his gaze for a moment because

he dipped his head back down to continue trailing his mouth down her throat. His hands gently

kneaded her buttocks. Moaning softly, she let him continue to caress her, when his previous

words returned to haunt her. “Yul? What did you mean by, ‘in case’?”

She felt him stop her delectable torment and laugh softly. “I wondered if you caught

that.”

“Well?”

“I’m leaving it at that for now,” he teased her.

“Yul!”

He laughed again, then effectively hushed her from any further protest for at least another

hour.

The next time they checked a clock, it was well into lunch time. Long before then they

had become aware of the rich smell of cooking coming from below. “I’m going to miss knowing

what’s to eat before it’s served,” Atty admitted. While their bedroom would move, the kitchen

would remain in the main lodge.

“Well, I’m not going to miss having to explain why there’s water all over the bathroom

floor,” Yulen chuckled. Rolling out of bed, he stood and stretched his muscles before reaching

for his pants lying in a heap at the end of the bed. “Hurry up and get dressed if you want to eat

with me. I’ve got to meet with Cole this afternoon to discuss reassignments.”

Obeying, she dressed quickly, and they went down into the main hall together, hand-in-

hand, an instance that was not lost on any of the people already seated and eating. By the end of

the day, word would be out that the Battle Lord and Lady had made up, and all was right again

with the world.

They ate lunch together before Yulen had to leave her to meet up with his Second. Before

he left, Atty made sure he knew she would be out on the archery field giving the regiment another

lesson. With the Bloods removed from the area, they felt it was safe once more to take practice

on the wide expanse of ground outside the compound walls.

Giving his wife a lingering kiss, he threw on his coat and walked out the front doors.

Moments later Atty hurried out the back door, humming happily, much to everyone’s delight.

Cole was waiting for him when he arrived at the stables. Together they walked over to

the main gates so Yulen could inspect the new pins on the hinges before they retired back to the

main lodge to talk about reassignments. The main gates took longer than they anticipated as the

blacksmith explained how the pins would allow the heavy doors to swing more freely and more

quickly, in the event of another hasty retreat.

They remained locked in conversation, totally oblivious of the young man who ran up to

the Battle Lord all out of breath until he tugged on Yulen’s arm. “Sir! Sir!”

Yulen immediately felt himself grow cold with dread. There could only be one reason why

the boy would seek him out with such urgency. “What? What’s happened to Atty?”

The boy bent over to grab his knees as he gasped for breath. He had obviously run all the

way from the archery field. “She missed, sir! Atty missed!”

As the wave of relief washed over him, Yulen released the breath he’d been holding.

“What do you mean, she missed?”

The young archer’s apprentice nodded emphatically. “The Battle Lady...she missed hitting

the target. And I mean
by a mile
!”

Yulen smiled to himself. Was this another instance of her hitting what she aimed
at
, but

missing what she aimed
for
? He remembered similar instances in the past, like the time she had

taken down the pennant above the main lodge at Foster City, but then berated herself for not

striking the cloth where she had wanted to hit it.

“Very well,” he waved for the boy to take the lead, who ran ahead of him and Cole, who

tagged along out of curiosity.

There was a nice crowd standing out on the open field, not counting those who had lined

the compound wall and witnessed what they thought they’d never see. As Yulen approached the

small knot of men who had been practicing, he quickly found his wife sitting over to one side, her

back against a tree, knees drawn up to her chin. There was a definitely disgusted look on her

face.

“Hey, Sorcher,” the Battle Lord greeted the lieutenant standing nearby.

“Sir.”

“What’s this I’m told?”

The man nodded as he pointed to the target sitting less than fifty feet away. For Atty, it

would have been a shot she could make in the dark and standing on her head. “She missed it.”

The lone arrow was planted in the white area completely outside the ringed area of the

target. Yulen lifted his eyebrows. She most certainly had missed it. He did a quick mental check.

And there was no wind or other type of weather to blame.

“Well, everyone has to miss sometime, don’t they, Sam?”

“You don’t understand,” Sorcher whispered, keeping his back to the woman sitting not

too far away. “That was her
second
arrow.”

Yulen gave him a disbelieving stare. The man nodded slowly. “Her first arrow went right

past it. Missed it by a mile.”

Letting out a slow breath between pursed lips, Yulen casually strolled over to where Atty

was waiting for him. He took his time, getting down on the cold ground next to her, and waited

for her to speak first. One minute passed. Then another. Until it became clear she wasn’t going

to offer any explanation.

“Everyone has an off day every now and then,” he murmured, hoping to draw her out.

In response, she rose to her feet and started toward the compound wall. Yulen caught up

and kept in stride.

“Maybe you might want Liam to check you over. Make sure you’re not trying to come

down with a cold or something.”

“I’m fine,” she muttered.

“Doesn’t appear that way, Atty,” he told her. “Why not have Liam give you a good once-

over anyway?”

“I said I’m fine. I just got a headache.”

“Oh? When did this headache come on? Because you weren’t complaining earlier,” he

half-teased her.

“I’ll be okay, Yulen. I don’t need to see Liam.”

Yulen heard the hedging in her voice, and realized it wasn’t a matter of
need
, but a matter

of
want.
She didn’t
want
the physician to check her out. “What if I ordered him to do it anyway?” he challenged her.

Atty came to an abrupt halt and turned to look at him. Her face had an unreadable