When Lightning Strikes (15 page)

Chapter Sixteen

Sarah opened her eyes to find Dominic standing next to her. He crouched down and sat, then slid next to her beneath the blanket. She sat up with a start. Not an unpleasant way to start the day, but since she was planning to find a way to escape from here today, he wasn’t helping things.

“What are you doing?”

“What do you mean, ‘What am I doing?’ You can see what I am doing. I am lying next to you, where I belong.”

“It is not where you belong and you know it.”

“Yes, I do. Belong next to you, I mean.” He paused for a long moment just staring at her before he spoke again.

“I
know
who you are, lady.” He said the words very softly into her ear tracing the curve of her neck with his finger as he spoke.

“You do?” She kept her expression cool, belying the pounding of her heart in her ears.

“I know why you run from him as well. You need not pretend, Melisssande. Navarre cannot hurt you anymore.”

Sarah wrinkled her brow. Navarre? Who in God’s name was that?
And Melissande?

He didn’t seem to notice her being ill at ease. He was too busy winding her hair around his finger. Well…she sighed. She had two choices. She could correct him right here and now or she could pretend to be this Lady Melissande. Chances were pretty good that the second choice wouldn’t work for very long, because when they ransomed her the family would easily see that she wasn’t their loved one. Nope. Better tell him the truth now at least as much of it as she could.

“Dominic. I am not this Melissande. You are mistaken. My name is Sarah.”

“Lady, you yourself have stated that you have lost your memory. How do you know that you are Sarah and not
Melissande. The lady Melissande de Lyonne?”

“I just know. There are some things that a person just can sense within themselves, memory or no, and I know that I am
not this Lady Melissande that you speak of.”

She was beginning to breathe a little heavier now with her nervousness and she was afraid he could sense it. She was getting very worried now. What if he decided to ransom her? Dear God, how would she explain
it. Surely the missing woman’s family would easily see she was not Melissande.

Ah well! Actually that would solve the problem. It would be a misunderstanding and they would have to just look some more for her family. It wouldn’t matter anyway, because she would be gone by then. She was going to make her escape today as soon as she found an opportunity. His next words chilled her blood.

“Marco has come in from the village this very morn. The alewife told him that yestereve there were soldiers in the tavern asking of the whereabouts of a missing lady. She has long, golden tresses and eyes to match. Very unusual golden eyes.”

He moved in closer and stared directly into
her own golden colored eyes for emphasis before continuing his speech.

“She was apparently taking an afternoon meal out in the field and was attacked by a boar in rut. She could have survived the ordeal and wandered aimlessly until she collapsed….perhaps beneath the very tree where I came upon
you
. Does this sound familiar?” He raised an eyebrow.

Okay. She wasn’t just scared anymore. Petrified was more like it.

What was she going to do? What if this woman really did look like her? What were the chances of that? Although she had heard the old wives tale that everyone on planet earth has a twin, she didn’t believe in it. But what if?

She could end up in some far away castle with another bunch of complete strangers. Far from where her home was or at least where it was in her own time.
And far from Dominic. She was planning to run from him, but the thought of being out in the wilderness alone under her own control seemed far less scary than being taken off to some castle with a bunch of strangers who might kill her if they found out she wasn’t their loved one.

Calm down. Catch your breath,
she thought to herself.

“None of what you have said sounds familiar to me. I do not remember any such thing of having a midday meal in a field, or any wild boars…or anything else for that matter! I only remember waking up in your arms after I was struck by the lightning. I have no wounds except where I was burned!” She hoped she sounded innocent and calm. She doubted it highly.

“That is true. But perhaps the boar did not gore you and the ordeal was too much to bear and you lost all memories of it. Melissande, you do not have to fear this thing. I will not return you to him. To Navarre.”

“Navarre? Who is this Navarre?” she asked, remembering he had mentioned the name earlier.

He could sense the fear in her voice. She knew more than she was telling him, he was sure of it. Why else would she be afraid?

“Navarre de Lyonne is the son of Sir Thomas. He was trained as a knight, he is a skilled swordsman and very wealthy. He stands to inherit all of his father’s estate. And that of his mother…and that of his dear wife,
should she pass on,
” he added with emphasis.

“Tell me more about this man,” she asked cautiously.

“Navarre is handsome. To look upon his face, one would think that one of the Archangels had come down from heaven. His manners are pretty and his words are clever. But his heart is black as night. He is ruthless, cold-blooded as a snake and will kill for the pleasure of it.  Thomas is from all appearances, oblivious to his son’s nature, although I think somehow he senses that all is not as it should be. It has been said among the villagers that Navarre abuses his wife. Melissande has come into the village with dark crescents beneath her eyes and bruises upon her flesh. Her suffering has been great at his hands. Great enough perhaps to make her run from him, I would think.” His gaze bored deeply into her own with those last few words.

“And is there no one who can protect her from his abusive hand?” She struggled to contain her anger and had to remember where and when she was.

She found it hard to believe that this woman’s family would stand by and allow her husband to beat her. Then again, this was the 14
th
century.

“A man’s wife is his own. She belongs to him to do with her as he sees fit. If she has been beaten, the law provides that it was his right as she must have done something to displease him.” He let out a long breath. “I know it is not just to treat a woman in such a way, but it is the king’s law.”

She wanted scream her frustration at the idea of women being treated in such a manner, but instead she took in a long, calming breath before speaking again.

“And how do you know all of this for certain…these things about Navarre de Lyonne and his family? It could be rumor.”

He sighed heavily.

“I know because Navarre is my half-brother. I am the bastard son of Lord Thomas de Lyonne.”

So, that was why he didn’t wish to discuss his father when she had asked him. Dear God, he was half noble! But right now that was the least of her concerns. She was more worried about what would happen when they came for her.

She supposed it didn’t matter because this Navarre would see that she wasn’t his wife. But what if he and his soldiers showed up here and tried to take her with him anyway? It sounded like he was the kind of man who was completely ruthless. What if he hurt her or raped her?

Oh God. This was not even funny! She had to get out of here today before they could show up and cause even more trouble, She knew they were supposed to travel into the village to perform, but she didn’t think she should wait that long.

“Dominic. You must trust me. You have said that you care for me. If you meant it, then you must believe me now. I am not Lady Melissande. I cannot explain to you my circumstances or why I am here, but you must believe me. Please.”

He reached forward and smoothed back her hair as he kissed her forehead. “I know you are afraid. I will never let him hurt you again.”

“You do not believe me, then?”

He stared at her in silence.

She wanted to scream. Instead her eyes welled with tears of frustration.

“Dammit! I am not Melissande! I do not know how this has happened. Perhaps I look like this woman or something? I swear to you on my word of honor that I am not her.”

He stared at her for a moment. Was she so overwrought that she could not confront the truth of the matter? Or did she really speak the truth? It really didn’t matter. He was not going to to turn her over to Navarre either way.

“My lady, I care not who you are. I meant what I said.”

She sighed with relief as he pulled her closer to him.

A moment later his soft lips were on her own and before she could protest, she could feel his strong hands working their way up the length of her back. He deepened his kiss and her arms found their way up his shoulders and around his neck.

He gently pushed her back onto the pallet of blankets as his hands caressed her body and her breasts. He yanked down the top of her shirt, exposing her cleavage as he trailed a path of kisses down into the deep crease there. It felt like electricity was shooting through her entire body.

He softly stroked her smooth leg as he hiked up the bottom of her skirt. And she gasped when he moved his lips and tongue down to the place on her leg where his lips had just been.

He slowly licked his way up her inner thigh towards the sweet spot between her legs. She thought she was going to die from the sheer eroticism of it. She never wanted him to stop. But she also knew she just couldn’t let this thing between them go any further. She had to leave here and find a way back to her own time before she did something stupid. Something that she would regret later after
she and David were married.

“Please. You have to stop.” She grabbed a handful of his black hair and pulled his lips and tongue away from her skin.

“And why is this? You keep telling me I have to stop over and over again. But we have discovered the truth and I will not let you go back to him…there is no need for these cat and mouse games. You are mine now.”

“NO, I am not yours,” she said.

He hesitated for a moment and then his face took on a hard look. “Surely you do not hesitate because you love him?”

“No! I hate him.” Well, she didn’t even know this Navarre guy, but she did hate everything she heard about him so far.

“He
has
hurt you then? And when you do with him what we’re about to do as well?”

The muscle in his jaw clenched and unclenched as he simmered in silence for a moment before his expression softened.

“I can show you how good it can be. Not just for me, but for you as well, if you will just allow me.”

She forced a smile. “I am certain that you would. But that does not change anything.”

“Why? Can you not just tell me the truth?”

He paused for a moment and took her hands in his own.  He brought them to his wide chest and put her palms there.

“It will not change the way I feel.” His fingers traced a line along the place where her heart was pounding in her chest. “You tell me you are not the lady Melissande and yet you have just said you hated Navarre. How can this be?”

She cringed. He just didn’t miss anything did he? This was getting more and more complicated. She really had to get him out of here now, and then find the right time today to run away when no one was looking.

“I will tell you the truth, Dominic. But,” she sighed, “I need some time to get my thoughts and emotions together. I’d like to bathe. Maybe a nice bath would just make everything….better. And then we can talk.”

It seemed like a reasonable request. He would allow her that. Perhaps she could be honest with him at last. Then again, perhaps she would use the time to come up with more lies. He hoped it would not be the latter. He would leave her to herself for the day or at least part of it. Meanwhile he would do a little preparation of his own.

Wildflowers…perhaps he could hunt down a rabbit to roast over a fire, and he would ask Indiri to bake some fresh bread. They would have dinner under the stars and maybe later on, she would sleep in his arms and allow him to treat her as a woman should be treated in bed until they were both wringing with sweat and she was screaming his name loud enough for everyone within a league or so to hear. He smiled at the thought.

“What are you sitting there grinning about?”

“It is…nothing. You will have this day to yourself and tonight, you will tell me the truth instead of using this time to come up with more stories?”

He pulled her to his chest and very gently kissed the top of her head, resisting the urge to kiss her lips. He pulled back from her and brought her fingers to his lips.

“I will be back this eve. We will share a meal and we can talk then. Within hours they will all know who you are. At least you will be safe now. They would not dare touch Navarre’s wife.”

“None of them…
except you?” she said sarcastically. “And, I told you, I am not Navarre’s wife!”

“Yes, so you have said.” He gave her a doubting look. “However, they will think you are. It is to your advantage.” He paused for a moment and added, “The
river is over the hill beyond the tree. Have Indiri or one of the women go with you.”