Marcus held her for a moment, gently stroking her soft hair. “Are you well?”
“Yes,” she said with perchance too much excitement.
He chuckled softly. The little minx. The beautiful, sultry, little minx. He sighed softly.
“What will you do now?” she asked.
“Right now?” He shrugged. “Hold you for a while more.” He propped himself up on his elbow to gaze tenderly down at her magnificent eyes. “Maybe kiss you again.”
“You can kiss me anytime you want,” she said with a grin.
He couldn’t resist the invitation and bent his head to claim her lips in a long, lingering taste. A taste he would never grow tired of. When he pulled back, a satisfied sigh issued from her lips.
She was beautiful. There was no denying that. And her mind was amazing. Always considering, always analyzing.
She ran a hand down his sternum. “I meant with the book.”
“We should decode it. We don’t have much time left.” He rolled over her, their warm, naked bodies touching fully. Marcus paused to glance down at her. He grinned, tempted and ready to make love to her again. Instead, he grabbed the book and moved back to his spot beside her.
Why had no one kissed her before? he wondered. Her response to their first kiss left him positive she had not been thoroughly kissed before. He pushed the thought out of his head. It didn’t matter. It only made her more appealing.
She took the book from him and turned over onto her stomach, opening it on the ground. “How much time do we have?”
He lifted up on an elbow to look at her. He brushed a strand of her short hair aside so he could see her face. “Not much. I am to meet my cousin at noon on the morrow.”
Her eyebrows rose in surprise. “So soon?”
He would rather spend every moment making love to her than spend another second looking at that book. He leaned forward and placed a kiss on her cheek.
“We have to get to work,” Sage protested.
“I am losing patience with this book,” Marcus admitted. “It seems you would rather spend time with it than me.”
“Are you jealous?” she asked with a teasing smile.
“Yes!” he admitted.
“Don’t you want to know what it says?”
“I’d rather discover things about you,” he whispered, nuzzling her ear.
She set the book aside with a deep chuckle, and her bright eyes darkened with passion. She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I thought you discovered everything about me.”
“I’ve only just begun,” he promised and kissed her lips.
Chapter 20
The sun was setting, red peppering the ground through the leaves. Marcus held Sage in his arms, content and happy. Their bodies glistened from making love. Sated, exhausted, they lay on a blanket, gazing up at the stars.
“I feel a little guilty,” Sage professed.
“Guilty?” Marcus asked. “About what?”
“My sisters and I would practice our sword skills every day,” she mused. “I only used my sword twice this entire time. I feel like I should at least be sharpening it.”
Marcus’s chest rumbled with laughter. “You are very disciplined.”
“When my father wasn’t around, I used to sneak away from my sisters to review the alphabet. Or practice words. That was so much more important to me.”
“Why?” Marcus wondered. “Why is reading so important to you?”
Sage was silent, thinking for a long moment. Finally, she said, “When I was little, my father brought us to le Bezu. As we were going through the chateau, I saw a room with so many books, the stacks almost reached the ceiling. One book had fallen, and I picked it up. I’d never felt anything like it. The details and scrollwork that had been embossed on the cover were...beautiful. But even more beautiful was what was inside. The parchment pages were carefully inscribed with flourished letters. I discovered later that they were words and sentences and secrets.” She shifted to lounge on his chest and look into his eyes. “And if I could read, I held the key to finding out those secrets. No one in my family could read.”
He brushed a lock of hair from her forehead. “You don’t need to read to be special. You are so unique, unlike anyone I have ever met.”
She grinned in embarrassment. “I would have done anything to be unique in my family. Raven is so good with a sword. She barely needs to practice. And Willow. She is beautiful. She has this charisma that makes men fall at her feet.”
“You are beautiful,” Marcus whispered.
Sage shook her head. “Not like Willow.”
“More than Willow.”
Sage narrowed her eyes. “You’ve never seen her.”
“I don’t have to see her because you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known.”
She melted into his arms and rewarded him with a deep and powerful kiss.
When they separated, he asked, “It was Brother Nicolas’s room, wasn’t it?”
“What?”
“The room at le Bezu with all the books.”
Sage nodded. “Yes. He taught me the alphabet and a little bit more before we had to leave.”
“I remember seeing that room,” Marcus admitted. “He copied and translated books all day.”
Sage sat and picked up the book from the leaf-hewn ground.
He wondered if she would ask him to teach her to read. He knew it wouldn’t be long until she realized she could read. She already had the knowledge she needed to read. She just needed to sound the words out. He swiped a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. She didn’t need him to teach her. And perhaps that was the reason he hadn’t told her. She didn’t need him as much as he needed her. He was afraid that she would leave him. Just like Cassandra had cast him aside. But Sage wasn’t Cassandra.
“We should get to work decoding this book. In his honor,” Sage said.
Marcus grinned. She surprised him at every turn. He couldn’t resist her request. He followed her lead, and beneath the red light of the setting sun and the lengthening shadows, they began an attempt to decode the book. Marcus stood and walked to the saddlebags to retrieve the quill and ink. He returned and set them down beside her.
Sage pointed to one of the words in the book. “East. This one could be ‘east.’”
Marcus seated himself beside her and looked at the word.
“And if you fill it in…” She bent and wrote on the parchment. “This word is ‘road.’”
Marcus stared at it. It was as if a curtain had been pulled aside when they got the letters right. His heart hammered in his chest. She was right. It was “‘road.’”
“Something, something road east to first…”
“Crossroad,” Marcus whispered, staring at the parchment in disbelief.
Sage’s mouth dropped as she looked from him to the parchment. She quickly filled in the letters. “Yes!” she gasped.
“It is directions,” Marcus stated, sitting up straight and gaped at her with wonder. Prickles rose up and down his spine. “You were right.”
She nodded; her brown eyes crinkled with excitement. “But directions to where?”
“We need to figure out the rest of the code.” Together, they leaned over the book. They were so close to figuring it out. But their time was almost gone.
As darkness set in, lengthening the shadows and casting the surrounding forest in muted shades of black, Marcus became weary of trying to decode the book. The letters ran together, and he was exhausted. Mentally. They had interpreted some words they believed were correct.
He believed they were near to deciphering the code. He looked at Sage. Her forehead was wrinkled with concentration. She needed a break as much as he did. He ran a hand along her cheek and cupped her chin to turn her gaze to him. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers.
Sage pulled away. “No, no, no.” She shifted her attention back to the book as Marcus groaned in frustration. “We should stay focused. We don’t have much time.”
Marcus inclined, extending his legs out before him. He blinked purposely, trying to clear his mind of the fog encompassing it from working too long on the book. His gaze moved in a semicircle around the landscape, grateful for something other than parchment pages to stare at. A gentle breeze snaked through the tall trees, moving their branches like fingers. Long shadows that could hide assassins speckled the forest. “I think we need a break.” He reached out and eased the book closed.
She glanced at him, confused as if she had just woken from a sound sleep. Reluctantly, she set the book aside and stood, arching her back. “Maybe it’s not directions. None of the other words fit.”
Marcus stood and lifted his hands above his head, stretching. “Maybe.”
“That’s why we should keep decoding the book.”
He took her hand and guided her away from the book to the saddlebags. He appreciated her dedication, but it was too much for one lovely girl. He opened one of the saddlebags and pulled out a small trencher. He ripped it in half and gave her one piece.
She accepted it, chewing thoughtfully. “Does your cousin know you are trying to decipher the book?”
Marcus shrugged. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Perhaps he doesn’t want you to know what’s in it.” She swallowed.
“He’ll be happy I wanted to help him.” Marcus took a bite of the soft bread. “I was hoping he would give me more coin if I deciphered it.”
“For Rose.” Sage agreed with a nod. She stared down in contemplation at the trencher. “I keep wondering who hired the attackers.”
He knew who she thought hired the attackers: Guillume. “My cousin is family to me. We were very close growing up, but we went our separate ways after our schooling. I was happy to receive the missive from him and even happier to see him.” He bit some bread from the loaf, remembering their warm greeting. It had been in the same inn where he was going to meet Guillume on the morrow. They both had ales and talked for a few moments before Guillume had asked him to retrieve the book. But Marcus had to admit that he didn’t feel the same connection to Guillume now as he had when they were young. That didn’t change anything. He glanced at Sage, admitting, “I envy your closeness with your family.”
Sage scoffed. “Sometimes, it’s wonderful. My sisters would do anything for me. But it was also very suffocating. We were always together. This is the longest I’ve ever been away from them.”
“They must be very worried about you,” Marcus mused.
Sage looked down.
“Would they…” Marcus began but stopped. He didn’t want to insult her.
“Would they what?” Sage demanded, regarding him with her piercing brown eyes.
Marcus took a deep breath. “Would they hire assassins to kill me?”
Sage’s mouth dropped, and then she snapped it closed in indignation. “Never. They would want to finish the job themselves.”
Marcus grinned, nodding. “It was just a thought.” When she remained stubbornly silent, her lips tight and jaw clenched, he added, “Now you know how I feel with your accusations about Guillume.”
She chuckled humorlessly. “I see your point.”
“I know you think Guillume could have done it, but I’m telling you he did not hire those men. He wouldn’t try to kill me. I’m bringing the book to him. I pose no threat to him.”
Sage bobbed her head placatingly. “Unless he thinks you’re not going to give it to him.”
Marcus sighed in frustration. “Why would he think that? We’re on the way to meet him. It doesn’t make sense. It makes more sense that someone else hired those men. Someone who didn’t hire me. Someone else who wants the book.” He waved the matter away, done arguing his point with her. He placed the remaining trencher in his mouth. “This is really good. When we are finished, we should return to le Carla and have a decent meal.”
Sage gaped at him with a strange expression on her face.
“What?” Marcus asked, pulling back. “Did I say something wrong? Don’t you want to go back?”
“You said ‘we.’”
Marcus straightened. He had said it. He was disclosing that he wanted her with him. And he did. But suddenly, his confidence waned.
A smile spread across Sage’s face. “You want to stay with me?”
Marcus opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He was not certain she would want to stay with him. He bowed his head and licked his lips. “We’ll have to see how everything turns out.”
Sage’s smile didn’t vanish, and her eyebrow rose. “I guess we will.”
Uneasily, uncertainly, Marcus began pulling on his breeches and then his boots.
“Where are you going?” Sage asked.
“I’m going to make a round of the forest to check for...unwanted guests,” Marcus admitted.
Sage nodded and returned to sit on the blanket. She picked up the book.
“Would you like to come with me?” Marcus added.
“No. I’ll continue working on the book.”
Even though Sage stared at the open book, her mind refused to focus on the parchment pages, on decoding, on the words. Instead, it continued to drift to Marcus. He was so handsome and strong. His golden hair and blue eyes made her body flame to life. The way he regarded at her gave her a delicious anticipatory thrill.
She smiled to herself, remembering his promise. He had said they would return to William’s farm. He was including her in his future.
She eased the book closed and embraced it. Never in her life had she felt so...vibrant. So beautiful. Marcus made her feel that way, and she would be forever grateful to him. She slowly lowered the book, thinking of his lips on hers and his strong physique. She ran her finger over the leather, recalling the firm feeling of his skin beneath her fingers.
Her fingers trailed over a raised part of the leather. She moved her hand aside to see an embossed flower in the corner of the book. It took up a quarter of the leather, and she wondered why she hadn’t noticed it earlier. She ran her fingertips over it, feeling the raised and lowered markings. It was lovely. Willow would like it.
She took one piece of parchment and lay it flat over the etching. She looked around her on the dirt floor of the forest for a dark, small stone. There were few, and she had to sweep leaves and sticks aside in her search. Finally, she found one buried in the dirt. She dug it out, brushed off the soil, and lightly began to run it across the flower. She tried to carefully get each detail. The more elaborate, the more Willow would appreciate it. She pressed the parchment over it.
She heard the rustling of leaves and glanced up. Marcus came toward her through the trees. Her breath caught. He was marvelous to look at, like a god from olden times. Chiseled features, strong and breathtaking. Each step was purposeful and full of power. His eyes were trained on her with a heated focus.
“Have you worked anything out?” he asked as he neared.
She swallowed heavily, attempting to control her immediate reaction to his nearness. “No. But I did find this beautiful flower in the corner that I think Willow will like.” She showed him the image she had transferred.
Marcus nodded but was clearly not interested in the tracing.
“Any sign of trouble?” Sage asked as he sat beside her.
Marcus shook his head, his eyes sweeping over her face with a hungry look.
Sage’s body reacted instantly, her senses heightening. Tingles spread over her skin. Passion erupted through her body, and she dropped the parchment and book to launch herself into Marcus’s arms.
He caught her with a low chuckle, and then his lips found hers.
The book fell into the leaves, forgotten.
Chapter 21
The next morning, they packed up in silence. Marcus couldn’t help casting Sage quick glances. Lord, she was beautiful. Sultry. And smart. He never wanted to let her go. And that worried him.
He tried to concentrate on the upcoming meeting with Guillume. He planned to hand the book over and leave. But he didn’t want Guillume
to see Sage. Just as he hadn’t wanted Guillume to know about Rose. He thought about the fact he hadn’t told Guillume about Rose, and it struck him that perhaps he and his cousin were not as close as he thought.
He stared at Sage again as she rolled the blanket up. It would be safer for her to wait here for him. The assassin would follow him into town and leave her alone. After all, the killer was after the book, and he would have it.
“Are you well?” she asked.
He inhaled a deep breath and straightened. “I’d like you to wait for me here.”
“Here?” Sage asked with a frown of disapproval as she approached with the blanket. “It’s a long ride to Les Labadous. I’m not staying here.”
Marcus took the blanket from her and shoved it into one of the bags. He wrapped his hands around her, gathering her close, his gaze trailing over her hair. She had already lost some of her hair. He couldn’t risk her losing her life. “Why haven’t you asked me to teach you to read?” Marcus wondered.
Sage shrugged. “I thought it was more important that we decode the book, which we haven’t finished. You can finish teaching me to read anytime.”
Marcus ran his fingers along her cheek. “You already know how to read. There is nothing further I can teach you.”
Her brows rose in surprise and then slowly lowered to a scowl. She stared at him for a long moment, and something guarded passed over her features.
Marcus couldn’t tell if it was relief or something else. “We had a deal. You wouldn’t try to escape if I taught you to read. Our deal is finished.”
“I’m not staying with you because of a deal,” she said and stepped away from him. “Besides, I don’t know how to read.”
She must be toying with him, he was certain. She did know how to read. And she knew it. She must.
“You’ve always known how to read, how to sound words out. You know how to read. You just need to have faith in your abilities.”
She shook her head. “No. You said you would teach me. Write something on the ground.” She signaled a spot on the forest floor. “Here. If I can read it, I will wait here. If I can’t, I will go with you.”
Sage: Medieval Romance Beauties With Blades Page 13
