Warprize (Seven Brides for Seven Bastards, 5)(MFMMMMMM) (7 page)

He looked at her throat, where the
woolen robe she wore did not cover her skin, and where her night
shift was unlaced. There, by flickering firelight, he saw the
little dip where she swallowed. Most women would place a dab of
rose oil there, or some other perfume they distilled. She, of
course, did not. Masquerading as a man she could show no such fancy
for sweet perfume, or concern for her looks. Her hair, chopped to
shoulder length and jagged at the ends, was rumpled, not even
smoothed down by her hands before he entered. But it was the color
of harvest-ready wheat in a sunny field and he wanted to touch it
again, to bury his fingers in it. To press his lips to those spun
gold strands.

It was difficult to imagine her
leading men into battle, yet she had done so. And
fearlessly.

"Tell me of yourself, Redbeard," she
said. "You came to this country with William of
Normandy?"

He nodded, but he did not want to talk
of himself. Besides, he had to remember who he was supposed to be
and she'd already tripped him up once when he spoke of his many
brothers. "This manor is distant from many places. It must be a
hard life you lead here."

Cedney looked contemplative. She moved
another piece on the board. "Lady Rosamund will have all that she
needs and most things she desires. I will see to it that she is
content, although I daresay she will find life here different to
that which she has known until now."

That was not what he had meant, so he
tried another direction. "There are not many visitors who venture
across the marshes, I suppose." He assumed this was how she managed
to maintain her ruse for so long.

"Not many," the woman admitted with a
terse shrug.

As Dom moved his bishop diagonally
across her board, his fingertips brushed across her hand. She
withdrew it hastily, looking up at him, eyes sparking.

He returned her stare, calmly and
steadily. "You favor the intimate company of men to women? You may
confess it to me, Bloodwynne."

Her lips parted in a mute 'o'. Then
she snapped them shut.

"It is not unusual," he added. "I am
merely curious—"

"I am a man like most others," she
exclaimed, cheeks reddened. "I like to rut with women. You think I
do not because I refused to do so this evening with Alaya the
widow?" Her words tumbled out in an angry rush. "I prefer privacy
for my copulations. That is why I have a separate chamber. There is
naught amiss with me, and you may be assured your niece will be
well pleased on our wedding night."

Dom nodded. "As you pleased me
tonight." There was a pause. He gestured at the board. "It is your
turn, Bloodwynne."

She made her move, banging her Knight
hard upon the board, and consequently losing it when Dom swiped the
piece with his next move. Her eyes narrowed as she glared at him
over the chessboard.

"I did not mean to distract you from
the game," he said softly.

She cleared her throat. "You did not,
Redbeard."

"I meant no offense. I am interested
to know how you plan to satisfy your bride. I would ask any man who
planned to marry my niece the same question."

She looked astonished. "You
would?"

"It is an important part of marriage.
Man and woman must be content in bed." He gave her a wry grin. "All
quarrels can be ended under the covers, all disagreements settled.
If a man knows what he does."

For a moment he thought she would
laugh, but then she looked down and shook her head. "If you say so,
Redbeard. I do not plan to quarrel with my bride."

"Really?" He snorted. "Good luck to
you, then. You must not know much about women."

"Oh, I think I know enough to get
by."

He noticed that she had relaxed in her
chair, shoulders less rigid. Dom too felt easier in her presence.
It was comfortable in the firelight. Pleasant in her
company.

After another pause she said, "There
is a look about you of something more than Norman."

"My mother was a Spaniard." He smiled.
"Much to my father's distress."

"That explains your color. The dark
and the light together. It is most intriguing."

Dom realized his heart was thumping
harder than usual. It was gratifying to know that she took an
interest in him, as he did in her. That she had studied him. Liked
his looks. "Sometimes the joining of two opposites can result in
something good and strong. Like Saxon and Norman."

"Are you something
good and strong
,
Redbeard?" She had almost smiled.

He puffed out his chest. "Of course."
Then he gave her a wink. "I could throw you over my shoulder and
onto that bed, if you would like me to prove it."

* * * *

Oh, he tried to distract her again
from the chess game, she thought. How dare he wink at her? Now he
linked his hands together behind his head, relaxed as he waited for
her to take a turn, as if he had not just made a suggestion of
tumbling his host onto the bed for further games. Her pulse was
unsteady, but she could not allow her nerves to show. He tested her
sexuality, it seemed. Yet she was not certain whether he wanted to
know her preferences for the sake of his niece's future happiness,
or whether he was interested to know for himself.

Did he usually look at other men with
such heat in his eyes? Or did he know the truth about Cedney?
Questions spun within her mind.

Then he said, "The children of your
marriage to Lady Rosamund will likewise be strong, as they will
merge Norman and Saxon blood."

Cedney swallowed hard. Good. He was
still fooled, then. "Indeed." She took his bishop.

"One day I hope to have a son of my
own," he added.

She could imagine a small version of
this man. A charming little warrior. "You have a wife?"

"You asked me this at
supper."

"And you did not reply."

"I..." He sighed. "Yes. I am
married."

Her heart sank a little, although it
should not matter to her at all. "You hesitated. Why?"

He grinned. "It is a story that
requires more explanation than I am currently of a mind to
give."

She raised an eyebrow. "She has horns
perhaps? Or two heads?"

"She has four heads."

Cedney laughed. "Very well I shall ask
you nothing more about your lady wife. As long as you ask me
nothing more about my preferences in bed or how I mean to please my
bride." Because the more he hinted at those matters, the hotter she
became, the harder her nipples pricked at her shift. Just imagining
him lifting her over his shoulder and on to that bed— as he'd
suggested— caused a moistening of her pussy, made her breathing
quicken, tightened her throat.

He too laughed, loud and strong.
"Agreed. Now pay attention to this game, for I mean to win
it."

Cedney had not played chess with
another being for many years. Usually she sat alone by her fire and
simply swapped seats between moves. It had never struck her as sad,
but now she realized how lonely she had been. Lonely for good
company, for laughter and for the forbidden excitement of
flirtation.

Chapter Seven

The next day dawned grey and overcast.
By the time the hunting party had gathered in the yard a sprinkling
of snow had begun to lighten the ground and a new chill made the
air bite. Cedney wore her hooded cloak and warmest gloves. Rufus,
she saw from her window, was already mounted, talking to the other
riders. He had a cheerful confidence about him, she realized. A
steadiness that was surprisingly friendly and warm, not often found
in a man of such strength and vitality. Perhaps that had attracted
her to him yesterday as much as his dark, sensual good looks. He
was a big man and must be a fearsome opponent in battle. She'd seen
him move quite clumsily, yet there was also a gentleness in his
manner. A woman would feel swamped in his arms and yet protected.
Possessed and yet safe.

Cedney shook her head, chagrinned. If
only she didn't know how a woman would feel with him, but it was
instinctual, unavoidable. "Sorry, father," she whispered. "But
that's what I am. A woman." Now, she must set about convincing her
guest otherwise.

As she strode across the yard, he
moved his horse around to greet her.

"I trust you slept well, Redbeard,"
she said gruffly.

"I've slept better, my lord. Much was
on my mind and heart. And you?"

Cedney did not reply but looked around
the yard and asked where Lady Rosamund was, only to learn that her
bride-to-be thought it was too cold to come outside and preferred
to stay in the warmth. Apparently she did not care if it was
tradition to see her husband off on the hunt before their
wedding.

"Women, eh?" Rufus remarked, chuckling
dourly. "Always in need of pampering and cosseting."

Cedney mounted her horse. "The Lady
Rosamund is entitled to stay in on such a day as this. I will bear
her no grudge."

"Very understanding of you, my Lord
Bloodwynne. 'Tis a good thing for the female sex that we are not so
quick to take offense or conceive a slight as they are—that we men
have honest good, practical sense."

She shot him a look, but he turned his
horse for the gate and broke into a canter so she had no chance to
examine his expression.

Soon the riders were racing through
the forest, hounds streaking ahead, hot on the scent of fresh prey.
The snow fell harder, but from the speed of the hunt she was soon
sweating under her garments. As he was her guest, she let Redbeard
take the lead and it seemed to come naturally to him. He bagged the
first deer and Cedney brought down a second.

"Good shot, my lord," Rufus exclaimed,
sounding genuinely impressed.

She glowered at him as they tied the
dead beast to the gathering cart and she removed her arrow from its
flesh. "I've been hunting since I was ten, Redbeard, and managed to
keep the manor well fed since I was fifteen."

He nodded, his lips held tight, his
eyes darkened with deep thoughts. Another odd thing to see in a
man, she mused.

"Did you fear I might not be capable
of providing food for your niece?" she demanded, spitting into the
snow and wiping the bloody arrowhead on her breeches. "As well as a
good fucking?"

Rufus eyed her in that
searching way. "I am not certain you can provide
all
that she needs." He
swiped at a snowflake that had landed on the tip of his nose. "But
I see you are determined to prove yourself to me and I know why,
don't I?"

Since the others had moved away, she
turned to him and whispered sharply, "Because I let you beat me at
chess last night does not give you the right to speak to me without
the civility I am due as lord of this manor."

"You
let
me win?" He crossed his
arms.

"I did. I decided to be kind to
you."

Rufus stepped closer and she backed
up. "Kind?"

"Benevolent to my guest and future
uncle-in-law," she added, tense.

"Is that why you sucked my cock
too?"

She tried to calm the chaos that
started inside her when he spoke those words in his low husky
voice. The vision of his manhood loomed before her again and she
tasted anew the heat and heaviness, the stickiness passing over her
tongue. Hastily pushing the vivid image aside, she exclaimed,
"Whatever I was tempted to do last night, will not change the way I
treat your niece, Redbeard. And you made no attempt to stop me when
I..." She raised her eyes to his, but when he stepped even closer
she had to tip her head back slightly. "Indeed, you seemed to enjoy
it."

He uncrossed his arms and
they hung at his sides, massive, oozing with power. "I
did
enjoy it. I can do
naught but admit how much pleasure it gave me to come in your
mouth, my lord. When you called me to your chamber later, I thought
there was to be more of the same, but instead you wanted to play
chess. On both occasions you wanted the pleasure to be all mine, it
seems." His dark eyebrows arched high. "If that was your first time
administering to a male guest's needs, it
was...impressive."

"Whether it was my first or not is no
matter of yours!" Again she backed up and then rested her arm on
the side of the cart, assuming a superior, haughty pose. "But it
was my last. From now on I can devote myself to my bride and her
pleasure."

"I see. But what if you
feel
tempted
in
the future by a similar attraction to a man? Is my dear niece to be
left in a cold bed while you indulge your prurient curiosity for
another of your own gender?"

"It won't happen that way again. I am
not a weakling. Now my curiosity is sated."

"Sated? Really?"

"Yes!"

A slow grin bent his lips. "You are
very young, my lord. It is natural to be adventurous in such
matters and perhaps you have not had much experience."