They appeared to be alone in the stables. Not even LaGrange was present, but there were too many places for people to hide and he didn’t want any of their conversation overheard.
She took his arm with a last pat of Tyche’s nose and they walked outside. The snow had stopped and the weather had warmed a bit so that they couldn’t see their breath tonight. It was rather pleasant to not freeze upon walking outside.
Rose tipped her face up to the sky. The moon was concealed by the clouds so that the light wasn’t so harsh. Her hand was light upon his arm so that he barely felt it, and yet that part of him also felt incredibly hot. His reaction to this woman disturbed and confused him. He thought about her a lot. In fact she consumed more of his thoughts than was prudent or safe.
He’d not had this problem with any other woman and he wasn’t certain he liked this. If he pursued his feelings toward her then what would happen once his mission was complete and he had to return to England?
He’d had plenty of affairs that he’d easily walked away from, but he had a feeling that this one would be different. This one he could not easily walk away from and that made him reluctant to pursue anything.
That and the fact that Rose was unlike any other woman he’d had an affair with. She was not a woman to dally with. She was much younger, fresher, naïve. Rose was the type of woman one married, not the type of woman one tupped.
And that reason alone should have him running in the opposite direction.
But Rose was also muddled up in this mess with the king and that kept him from making her face this alone.
Chapter 16
Their feet crunched on the frozen ground. Faintly Will could hear the music coming from the festivities inside the palace. More and more dignitaries were arriving daily. The baptism was in a few weeks but the frenzy in the palace was reaching a fevered pitch.
Darnley was correct in that the queen was spending an obscene amount of money on her son’s baptism. She wanted to convince the rest of the world that the Scottish line was secure and Scotland was in good hands. But in reality things were rotting from the inside.
If Mary thought Darnley was going to behave during the baptism then she was going to be disappointed.
Beside Will Rose sighed deeply and he looked down to see that she was smiling.
“You are happiest out here,” he commented.
“A lot of people don’t understand that.”
“We all have our special places that make us happy. Yours just happens to be the entire outdoors.”
“I tried explaining that to Lord Lysle.”
“Did he understand?”
“He pretended to but I could tell he didn’t. He thought it odd that someone would enjoy animals more than people and prefer to be outdoors rather than in the pampered atmosphere of the palace.”
Lysle didn’t understand much beyond the palace and his estates, but Will kept that thought to himself.
“You were going to tell me that you had spoken to him last night,” he prompted, ignoring the twinge of anger at having to spend the small amount of time he had with Rose talking about Lord Lysle. He wished things were different and that he wasn’t here to spy on the court, and that he and Rose had not overheard what they had, and that they were walking in the crisp night air because they were at the cusp of finding something wholly wonderful and frightening at the same time. But things weren’t different and even though he understood that they could be standing on the cusp of something special he had to steer them on a different path.
“Your words the other night opened my eyes to some things that I had been ignoring for far too long,” Rose said.
He directed her toward the far corner of the outer palace walls. He had a surprise for her there.
“What things have you been ignoring?”
“Lysle has been paying special attention to me of late,” Rose said. “And while I was flattered at first, I’m also realistic. I’m from a small border clan who likes to…borrow from other clans in the area. Every once in a great while we…venture across the border and visit our neighbors there.”
She looked at him out of the corner of her eye but Will kept his gaze straight ahead and his expression neutral. “You’re a raiding border clan. I think we established that long ago.”
She laughed, a light sound that floated through the air. “That is definitely another way to put it. The queen, and very definitely Bothwell, are well aware of my family’s inclinations. Both merely tolerate my presence in court. If it wasn’t for my mother being on friendly terms with Mary’s mother, there would be no question that I would not be allowed here.
“So it was a bit puzzling to me why Lysle would pay even the least bit of attention to me. I have nothing to offer him. My dowry is modest. My family is not refined. I’m certainly not of noble birth.”
“Don’t tell me that you pointed all of that out to him.”
“Of course I did. I wanted to know what he saw in me. I’d been asking myself ‘why me?’ for a long time and the conversation you and I had the other night shed light on the real reason but I wanted to hear his reasoning.”
Will laughed. “Oh, Rose. You are a joy. I’m certain that Lysle was very surprised at your forwardness. Gently bred ladies do not mention such things.”
She shrugged. “I’m not a gently bred lady although my mother tried her best. This is who I am and if he doesn’t like it then he should pay his attentions elsewhere.”
If Will didn’t know better he would have thought that he was falling in love with this woman. She was so refreshing and so different from the other women in court. He adored her honesty and her originality but he was sure that Lysle did not. The stuffy bastard.
“And what did he say?”
“He said none of that mattered to him. He had enough money and he didn’t need someone with a good bloodline, although my mother would protest that her bloodline is fairly adequate.”
“Did his explanation appease you?”
She sighed. “He certainly seemed sincere, but no, I didn’t believe him. I couldn’t. Not after everything we discussed.” She slowed her steps and Will was forced to slow his as well. He continually scanned the area, looking for anything out of the ordinary, anyone skulking about, but they were very much alone. People still weren’t inclined to venture out of the warm palace into the cold, especially after dark when the real festivities were just beginning.
“Part of me wants to go back home,” she said quietly. “Go home and forget about all of this.”
He hated the thought but he also knew it might be for the best. “Maybe you should.”
“You don’t know my mother. It would be quite a coup to be present at the prince’s baptism. It would elevate my status and it will help in my search for a husband.”
“Your search or your mother’s search for your husband?”
“Well I have to marry sometime so I guess there must be a search before that.”
He didn’t like the twist in his gut at the thought of Rose married. Whether it be Lysle—God forbid—or someone else, soon she would wed. And where would he be? On another mission, in a foreign country no doubt, doing the same thing he did every day and had been doing every day since he left school.
Alone.
He shook that thought away. Of course alone. Alone was good. Alone was safe. Alone was who he was.
“Do you fear your mother would send you right back to the palace if you returned home?”
“I have no doubt. It’s not like I can tell her that I overheard a conversation between some of the highest ranking nobles plotting to…” She looked around and didn’t finish her sentence.
She was learning quickly to speak with caution and Will mourned the girl she used to be.
“Besides,” she said. “What if they did…What if it happened? Lysle would know that I knew who did it. I’m no safer at home than I am here.”
He had to concede that she was right in that. She was not safe anywhere. Will wondered if Lysle h
ad told any of the other lords about Rose. He doubted it because Lysle would want to take care of this on his own. The less others knew the better.
They were nearing Will’s surprise and he quickened his pace, pushing his heavy thoughts away in his excitement to show Rose what he had discovered. “I have something I want to show you.”
She pulled back, looking guarded.
“It’s nothing terrible. I think you’ll like it.” He took her hand off his arm and held it in his to pull her along, as excited as a schoolboy. “I discovered this the other day and thought of you immediately.”
“What is it?” she asked breathlessly.
“You’ll have to wait to see.”
The building loomed in front of them, the hundreds of tiny glass windows lit from the inside.
Rose gasped. “Is this…”
“It is.”
He opened the door and they stepped inside a humid, tropical paradise that immediately warmed his chilled cheeks.
Openmouthed, Rose let go of his hand and turned in a circle. “Will,” she whispered into the hushed atmosphere of hundreds and hundreds of flowering plants.
They were in the palace’s hothouse where the winter flowers and vegetation grew. It was near to bursting right now with all the flora that had been imported for the baptism. There were roses, carnations, morning glories, daffodils and others that he’d never seen before and couldn’t name. It was a wonderland of foliage and a welcome relief from what seemed like an unrelentingly cold winter.
Rose nearly skipped down the aisle, bending with her hands clasped behind her to sniff a flower here and there.
“Oh, Will, this is magnificent. Thank you for bringing me here.”
He shrugged, suddenly embarrassed. He followed in silence as she oohed and ahhed at the various plants, naming a few that he didn’t know.
“Are we permitted to be in here?” she asked in a hushed voice, as if the flowers were listening.
“I don’t see why not. The door was unlocked.”
“How did you find this place?”
He hesitated, unable to tell her that he had been searching the area for hidden exits or hiding places and stumbled across it. “I found it while out walking the other day.”
“It’s…” She turned in another circle. “There are no words to describe it.”
“It’s a small patch of spring in the middle of winter.”
“Yes.” She nodded. “That is exactly right.”
She looked up at him with glowing eyes, her lips parted in excitement and wonder, her skin flushed. Unconsciously he took a half step toward her and took her warmed cheeks in his still cold hands and kissed her.
Rose let out a small sound and melted into him, falling into their kiss and inciting his blood.
She wrapped her arms around him and pressed herself against him. What she lacked in finesse she made up for in exuberance. He tried to keep his suddenly enflamed cock away from her but Rose pressed against him, then gasped and pulled away to look at him wide-eyed.
He skimmed his fingers down her soft cheek. “It’s a natural reaction. Nothing to fear.”
Her gaze softened and she leaned forward. “Kiss me again.”
He groaned, unable to deny her, and swept his tongue inside her mouth. She opened eagerly, matching the thrust of his tongue in kind.
He melted beneath her touch, lost in her scent and the feel of her. He wanted all of her right now. Right here.
He couldn’t think of a better place to deflower his Rose.
But he’d told her not to fear him and he would be the worst sort of cad taking her here.
He backed up, pulling her with him, until his rear end hit the wooden edge of a shelf that held red and white roses. How appropriate.
He drew her hips into the V of his legs, nestling her right there into his cock without breaking their kiss.
Damn but that felt good.
“Rose,” he whispered.
She pulled back to put her small hands on his cheeks and look deep into his eyes. “I want this,” she said.
“You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“I know exactly what I’m saying. I want to make love to you. I want to do it here, among the flowers. Right here amidst the roses. I want it to be you, Will.”
He rested his forehead against hers for a moment, breathing heavy. “I know you want this now but later you will regret—”
She kissed him hard, pushing his words back down his throat and making his eyes go wide with surprise.
“Don’t say that,” she said after pulling away. “I won’t regret this. I will never regret making love to you.”
“Have you done this before?” For a moment he thought that she truly knew what she was talking about. Maybe she was not untouched. Maybe there had been a lad back home who had deflowered her.
“I think I’ve been saving myself for you.”
As much as he wanted to believe that he couldn’t. “I’m not the right man, Rose. You should save yourself for your husband.”
She was shaking her head before he was even finished speaking.
“I know in my heart that this is for you.” She waved one hand toward the flowers. “This is where it needs to be.”
He wanted to continue arguing but his body was straining toward her, telling him something different. Didn’t he feel the same way? This certainly wouldn’t be his first time but this felt so right, so perfect. And it seemed like they were destined for this.
She pressed against him, grinding into his cock and he moaned, grabbing her hips to stop her.
“You don’t know…I can’t…” But he was lost in a haze of the greatest need he’d ever experienced before. They could do this. They could do this without really doing this.
Frantically he grabbed at her skirts, lifting them up until her legs were exposed and then the tops of her thighs. Damn but women wore far too many clothes.
“Move back,” he said with some difficulty.
He physically moved her back so that he could straighten away from the shelf. Carefully he scooted pots of roses to the side, making a spot for her, then he picked her up and placed her on the shelf and just looked at her.
“A rose among the roses. I wish I could paint you like this.”
She tilted her head at him. “You can paint?”
“Not at all, but right now I wish for nothing more than to be able to.”
She laughed, a husky sound that shot straight to his groin.
“Lift your skirts,” he said.
He stood back while she slowly inched her skirts up until her legs were exposed again, and he could see her glistening center. My God she was so wet.
Her breath was coming in great gulps.
“I’m not going to take you, Rose. I won’t do that to you but I will satisfy you.”
She nodded, her eyes wide. He stepped between her legs and kissed her again, thrusting his tongue deep into her mouth, his fingers stroking the soft skin of her inner thighs. Her muscles tensed then relaxed, her legs falling open even farther.
He was past the point of aching for her. His cock was so engorged that he feared the skin would split open. He blindly searched for her hand, found it and placed it on the bulge in his breeches. For a moment her hand froze, then her fingers formed around his painful erection, learning the feel, the length, the breadth of it. He groaned into her mouth but that only emboldened her exploration.
Sweat was dripping down his back from the exertion it took to keep from ripping his breeches off and plunging into her. Oh, but to feel all that wetness surround him and hold him like a tight glove.
His fingers found her center and he flicked the hidden nub that was slick with her wetness. She pulled away with a gasp and stared at him, but her eyes were unfocused and she was concentrating on the sensations he was creating.
He knew it wouldn’t take long for her release. She was so receptive, her hips already moving with his finger. She put a hand on his shoulder, gyrating her hips, mo
aning and gasping as he flicked the nubbin. Watching her was almost his undoing. Her lips were wet and swollen from their kisses, and her color was high.
She began making animallike noises, her fingers digging into his shoulders. He would probably have bruises tomorrow morning but he didn’t mind.
He slid his finger inside of her, rubbing the nub with his thumb. She whimpered and moved faster.
Will leaned forward and whispered in her ear, “Come for me, Rose. Let it go.”
She clamped down on his finger and cried out. He could feel her inner muscles clench his finger and she rode it to the very end.
Eventually her breathing eased and he slid his wet finger out of her.
“Jesu,” she whispered. “I didn’t know…That was fabulous.”
He chuckled. “I’m pleased that you are pleased.”
“But what about you?”
He grimaced. “I will be fine in a moment.”
“No.” She fumbled with his breeches and he tried to bat her hand away but every slide of her fingers against his cock made him see stars. He was so damn close that he could easily come now.
“Rose,” he said between clenched teeth.
“I want to do this,” she said. “I want to give you what you gave me.”
She somehow managed to undo his breeches and pull the placards apart. His cock sprang into her hand and she hummed her appreciation.
“Show me,” she whispered.
He folded her fingers around his cock and put his hand over hers, moving it up and down.
“It won’t…take long.”
She grinned. “Take all the time you need.”
He moaned. He was so damn close. It was going to be embarrassing.
Suddenly it was upon him. His balls tightened and his release rushed up through him to squirt out of the tip as his hips pumped and he tightened his hold on her hand. His eyes closed and he shouted out as he continued to show her how to milk every last drop out of him. When he was finished his knees buckled and he had to grab hold of the edge of the shelf to keep from falling.
“Was that just as fabulous for you?” she asked, her eyes twinkling.
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