Honoring his Lady: A Medieval Romance (Norfolk Knights Book 5)

by Saskia Knight

  She felt his cock nudge at the apex between her legs. She opened her legs wider to allow him in, and it slid in easily at first.

  “Oh,” he groaned. “You are so wet.” He pushed further and kissed her again, and the slight tension she’d suddenly felt dissolved under the magic his lips wrought. And when he lifted his mouth from her, she felt him ease himself inside a little further still. He paused then and licked his fingers, and brought his hand between their two bodies. Alice was puzzled, then he found her mound and ran his wet fingers around it. She gasped both at the intimacy and burst of desire which he ignited, as his fingers continued to circle and stimulate her. Her breathing was coming faster now, and she gripped his shoulders. He pulled his fingers away and slid all the way inside her.

  For a moment, he looked at her, his cock firmly inside her, at her center, holding her in place, claiming her for his own. And then he shifted, and she felt a delicious feeling inside of her, which made her call out.

  “What is it? Do you wish me to stop?” His eyes showed concern.

  “No! I want more!” She shifted against him, wriggling to move him deeper inside of her, to find that place which he’d just touched, which gave her such pleasure. “I want this like nothing else.” He laughed a deep guttural laugh which she felt through her body. And then he pulled out of her. “No!”

  But she need not have worried for it was only briefly. For he immediately pushed deep inside of her, and she gripped the fur coverlets as a profusion of sensations filled her. Then he pulled out and pushed inside her again. Each time he did this, the tension inside her coiled and heightened.

  He was careful at first but, as he realized she felt no pain and no longer any fear, he quickened his movements. She grew confident and pushed against him, making him forget his caution, making him go faster until suddenly her world stopped, and a blaze of light filled her head and body. She cried out his name at the same time he cried out hers, and then she felt him shudder and tighten and pushed inside her with short urgent thrusts.

  As he withdrew, he put his arms around her, and together they rolled onto their sides. She felt his seed leak from between her legs, mixed with her own juices. She was bound to him now as she’d never had before. Not with the wedding, not with their adoption of Charles. But with this lovemaking, which had caught them in its thrall and had tethered them together forever. She pressed herself against him and kissed him without softness, wanting to show him the fierceness of her love, and he returned the kiss with equal hunger.

  Soon she felt him harden against her, as she’d wanted, and she opened her legs to receive him. She snapped her eyes closed as the sensations filled her once more. Her body was attuned now to his, and she was aware of his every movement. This time William held nothing back. As her fingertips bit into his arms, he thrust inside her, guided by her needs, which turned out to be great. She tasted his neck with her tongue and her teeth, and he grunted as he registered each nip and suckle, and drove harder into her, pushing her farther along the soft furs with each thrust.

  It was not over so quickly this time. The ecstasy held, and didn’t explode but was sustained by each other’s movements as they both savored not only the physical but the connection of mind and soul. When the climax came, it arrived with a cry from Alice and a fierce pumping of William’s seed into her. It was a claiming—that much she knew, and that much she wanted.

  They fell into each other’s arms, a tangle of slick legs and bodies held close. Slowly, oh so slowly, Alice’s mind drifted away on a rolling wave of complete and utter satiation that felt as if it would travel toward eternity, leaving her past well and truly behind her.

  By the time the morning came, William knew that Alice would be sore, but it still seemed she wanted him. And he was in no mood to deny her.

  The sky was lightening, and they could hear the sounds of day breaking, people moving, and a lone horse approaching at a gallop. No doubt a messenger. But even that didn’t break his focus.

  He held her close, their mouths only a breath apart, as he slipped inside her, and his heart swelled as she gasped with pleasure and closed her eyes. He kissed both eyelids, marveling that at last, he had the intimacy he desired with her, and at how open she’d been to his lovemaking. It seemed he’d underestimated how sensual Alice was behind those barriers which had shielded her real self for so long.

  Now, as she gripped his shoulders and he pushed into her, hitching her breath higher with each thrust, he thought he hardly knew where his flesh began, and hers ended. They were all one, and would always be.

  Suddenly there was a thunderous knocking on the door of their bedchamber.

  “Go away,” bellowed William, before Alice gasped as she reached her climax, her body tell-tale limp as he finished coming inside of her.

  The footsteps retreated, and he turned his attention back to Alice. He’d thought possessing her would be enough. But now he’d had a taste of what it was like to make love to a woman such as Alice, he knew he’d never get enough.

  He stroked her nipple with his thumb and then kissed her skin where his thumb had been. He loved how sensitive she was. How she twitched slightly and gasped as his mouth covered her breast, and he suckled long and hard, drawing her nipple into his mouth, laving it with his tongue. He was hard and ready to take her again when there was another knock at the door. This time it was more urgent.

  “William!” the voice commanded. William’s head snapped around to the door. It was Savari. He’d arrived at last.

  William rolled off Alice even though her hand reached out to keep him in place. His gaze swept her naked body, and he almost forgot the voice, but it came again louder this time.

  “William! I have pressing news.”

  William stroked Alice’s skin and watched her stomach flicker under his ministrations. “It’ll have to wait. I have my own pressing concerns.” He eased himself over Alice once more.

  “None such as this! You must come immediately. This won’t wait.”

  William rolled off Alice and took a deep breath as he tried to think of something which would enable him to greet Savari without his cock protruding from beneath his robe. He swore under his breath again. “I’m coming.” He rose and pulled on his shirt and breeches. At the door, he looked back at Alice, who drew the covers over herself. He took another breath and opened the door.

  Savari stood before him, leaning on one hand on the door jamb. His face grim, and his clothes travel-stained. “I’ve come from Norwich. I had to wait until I knew for sure.”

  “Knew what? What could be so important that you would miss my wedding?”

  “I had to await confirmation that the courts had upheld the accusation.”

  “What accusation? You talk in riddles.”

  “William. Come away, I would have this conversation in your chamber, not in the corridor.”

  Suddenly Alice appeared behind William, pulling on her cloak over her robe. William drew her close, enveloping her in his arms protectively.

  “We are married now, Savari,” said Alice. “What affects my husband affects me. There will be no more secrets between us.”

  William looked at his beloved wife and wondered if his life could ever be more perfect. His answer was immediately forthcoming.

  “Have it your way. William, the sheriff is on his way here. I’ve beaten him by only an hour at most. They are coming to arrest you for the murder of Ralph de Gant.”

  Chapter 15

  William swore as the perfection of his night dissolved into chaos. He dropped his arm from Alice, whose pallor betrayed her shock.

  “What happened?” he asked Savari as he began to dress.

  “Adam de Gant is what happened.” Savari followed him into the room, only giving the rumpled bed sheets a cursory glance before focusing on William. “He turned up at the Norwich Courts two days ago with,” he paused. “Allegations.”

  “Allegations which are true,” murmured William.

  “You had no choice!” said Al
ice. William turned to look at her and found, not his beautiful reserved wife, but a stunning warrior. Her eyes flashed as she pulled her robe tighter around her. She came to him and gripped both his arms. “You had no choice,” she said more quietly but with equal urgency.

  “We always have a choice. And I made mine and will live with the consequences.”

  Alice’s eyes widened, and she turned from William, never taking her hands from him and fixed Savari with a fierce gaze. “All William did was to protect me. If William hadn’t killed him, he’d have killed William and me eventually. This charge cannot stand.”

  Savari opened the door. “It can and it will. We need to talk and prepare.”

  They walked downstairs into the Hall, which still bore the evidence of the previous night’s wedding festivities. Servants had been roused and were building up the fires to take the edge off the spring morning, which had had no chance to warm.

  Savari went to the fire, his back to William and Alice, who exchanged anxious glances.

  It was only when the servants had withdrawn that Savari turned to them. William didn’t think he’d ever seen Savari’s handsome face so bleak and exhausted.

  “You should go, Alice. The maid will be drawing you a bath. There is no need for you to hear any of this.”

  But she remained staunchly by his side. “We are one, now, William. What concerns you concerns me.” She turned to Savari with a self-possession William could only admire. “You may speak freely in front of me. After all, what has happened is because of me, and I take full responsibility.”

  William had always known his Alice was brave, but seeing her stand so strongly beside him, made him choke up. He shrugged and turned back to Savari. “Tell us everything.”

  Savari recounted how Adam de Gant had appeared out of nowhere demanding justice, and how Savari had been unable to do anything other than watch and wait as the sergeant on duty had weighed the evidence and issued a writ for William’s arrest. It had meant missing their wedding and had only given him the slimmest headstart in reaching William before the bailiffs and sergeant did.

  “They’re on their way to arrest you, William. And there is no persuading them otherwise.”

  “There is nothing you can say to stop them, brother. There is no way out,” said William pacing the floor. “I killed a man, and there was a witness.”

  “A witness who is the dead man’s son. It’s his word against yours.”

  “You forget there is evidence that we were the only people present. The servants know that, others know that. If I didn’t kill him, then who? His son?” William shook his head. “No. There is no way out of this.”

  “Yes, there is,” said Alice. Her voice was so quiet that William didn’t hear it at first. “Yes, there is,” she said more firmly. Savari snapped his head to look at her.

  “How so?” he asked.

  “Alice,” said William, in a warning tone.

  She ignored him. “Adam de Gant might be able to prove it was William who killed him, but if you put me on the stand, I can attest to it being in self-defense.”

  “I will not have it!” thundered William. “Alice is too delicate to be put on the stand. It would be demeaning.”

  “Nonsense, William.” William frowned and looked at Alice with new eyes. It seemed the night of lovemaking had changed her, brought out a strength in her he’d only sensed before. “I am not so delicate that I cannot provide a reason for my husband to kill the man who tried to force me into marriage!”

  Savari nodded before turning to William. “It seems you have a warrior for a wife, William!” He rose. “It will work.”

  “I don’t want Alice publicly humiliated,” William growled, knowing he was fighting a losing battle.

  “Nor do I,” said Savari. “But unless you wish to lose your life, it would appear we have to.” Outside could be heard the clatter of horse’s hooves and shouts from the de Vere guards, which ended abruptly. Inside, all was icy calm. Savari rubbed his bottom lip with his finger, his eyes narrowed in thought. Then he nodded. “It could work, William. If Alice is prepared to stand up in court and describe how she was taken by force—”

  “It would be their word against ours. Yet again.”

  “But there will be more than one man who can confirm Alice’s version of events. And if she’s believed, then your plea will be self-defense, and the case will be transferred to the King’s justice for pardon. And I can then pave the way for acquittal on the grounds Alice describes.”

  Suddenly, the door burst open, and the court bailiffs rushed over to William and grabbed his arms. He looked at Alice, his eyes narrowed with command. “No,” was the last word he spoke as he was escorted from his chamber, his Hall, and lastly from his castle.

  Alice rushed after him, stumbling over the uneven ground of the bailey yard, holding onto the gatehouse pillar as she watched the men gallop off with William’s arms firmly tied behind him.

  In desperation, she turned to Savari. After everything they’d thought and hoped for during the night, this was to be it? No, it couldn’t be; it wouldn’t be.

  “We must do something. We cannot simply let him leave like this!”

  “We can do little else. If you have the courage to do as you say, then we may win yet.”

  As Alice watched the dust settle behind William and his gaolers, she knew she had to find the courage because he’d saved her from a life of no feeling, and it was her turn to save him.

  The weeks passed in a frenzy of heightened emotions at Wanham and heated discussions between Alice, Savari, and the lawyers. If it hadn’t been for Katherine’s steadiness of purpose, Alice thought she wouldn’t have coped. But her support gave Alice strength, and she needed every ounce of it now, as she stood in the courtroom, waiting for William to appear from the gaol below.

  Alice’s mouth dried as William walked up the stairs at the back of the room. The weeks had wrought their changes on him. His hair was longer, his body leaner, and his eyes—Alice’s heart nearly stopped, and she brought her hands to her breast—his eyes were savage and angry as they roved the courtroom, hungry for something. He soon found his target. Once his gaze was locked on her, his eyes lost their anger, but the heat flared, and Alice knew she’d have a battle on her hands if she were to stick to the defense that she and Savari had agreed upon.

  The noise of the people in the courtroom suddenly burst upon her senses with a roar as William’s supporters demonstrated loudly against his incarceration.

  A gavel banged onto the wooden desk. “Silence! By order of the Judge of this esteemed court, I bid you all be silent, damn you!” the assistant added irritably.

  William swept a quietening glance around the chamber, and his people fell quiet.

  “All rise for the Judge!” instructed the court official. The Judge entered and looked around with a supercilious air.

  “So, Sir William,” said the Judge, making himself comfortable. “It is charged that you did, in cold blood, murder Sir Ralph de Gant. What say you?”

  “I did not kill him in cold blood—”

  “What say you to the charge!” bellowed the court official.

  “Not guilty.”

  Alice let out a long-held breath. She’d been worried that he’d plead ‘guilty’, but sense—either his or Savari’s—had prevailed.

  The court sat back with shufflings and mutterings, to settle themselves for the duration.

  As witnesses for the prosecution were called forward and gave their version of events, Alice’s concern grew. Some lied, some gave the truth, but their statements all backed up Adam de Gant’s allegations—that William killed Adam’s father in cold blood.

  Whenever Savari, as William’s lawyer, tried to intervene, his arguments were shot down. Matters were no better when it came to the turn of the defense. The Judge was determined to allow a picture to be painted of William as an opportunist, wanting Alice, and determined to kill for her.

  “And you, the accused, for some unknown reason
,” the Judge rolled his eyes before taking a sip of wine, “decided to visit the castle.” He sat back. “I wonder why? Designs of your own, mayhap?”

  Before William could speak, Savari stepped forward. “My Lord, you must understand, William and Lady Alice are friends of old.”

  “I did not ask for your interpretation of events, Sir!” The Judge glared at William. “No. I’ve heard enough.” The court official rose, slamming his stick against the wooden floor. “Sir William de Vere, you stand accused of murdering Ralph de Gant. What say you?”

  “It is true. I killed him.”

  There was a gasp in the room and a cry from Alice, but William didn’t look at her.

  “Your honor,” said Adam de Gant to the Judge. “I would not forgo the pleasure of revenge. I would accept a trial by ordeal. A fight to the death between us.”

  The boy had nowhere near William’s strength, being not yet fully grown. For all the hatred which burned in his eyes for William, Alice knew that William’s superior strength would mean he’d easily win the battle. William turned to the Constable. “I will not fight him. Sentence me and be done with it.”

  “No!” Alice called out, approaching the bench as close as she could. The crowd parted a little, and she pressed forward again, shaking her head, her face white but her voice steady. “No! This must not be. It is all because of me.”

  “Be done with it,” said William, not looking at Alice, but staring directly at the Constable. But the Constable held up his hand.

  “I will listen to what the lady has to say before I pass sentence. My lady?” He nodded at her. “Please, take the stand and speak.”

  A hush descended on the room. Even the gossips were quiet, straining to peer at Alice above the heads of others. “What did she say?” one asked. “She’s said nothing yet, you fool. Be quiet.”