by Joanne Rock
He turned his attention back to her and found her stalking closer, her bar of soap extended in one hand like Eve with a fateful offering.
“Congratulations.” He plucked the soap from her hands and told himself a man couldn’t expect more from himself than even Adam had been able to offer.
And Graham was willing to bet a fig leaf hadn’t been nearly as alluring as the hint of cleavage through thin, wet linen plastered to Linnet’s body now.
Holy hell, he could see beneath the water. Only a eunuch wouldn’t have at least tried to catch a glimpse of those incredible breasts.
“Do you want me to help?” She nodded meaningfully at the soap in his hands.
“With taking a bath?” He couldn’t have spluttered more if she’d dunked him for a few minutes. “I’m pretty sure I’ll manage.”
“In my land, it is a custom for visiting guests to be bathed by their hostess.” She floated closer, the ripple from the movement splashing against his chest. She could have stood if she chose, the water barely reaching his shoulders. But she seemed to relish the feel of the water, ducking under wherever possible.
How could she bring those breasts closer? Didn’t she know his hands would only obey his brain for so long?
“That sounds like a really dangerous habit for a young woman.” Once she touched him, he wouldn’t be able to protest anymore.
“Not for me. Not for the past three years.” She trod water in front of him while his feet remained planted. “Even if my brothers had called on me to honor that tradition in our home, no man could have taken advantage of me thanks to that cursed shield I wore.”
“Then you need to be all the more careful now that you’re unprotected in that way.” The thought of her putting her hands on some faceless, dirty medieval dude really pissed him off. “What the hell kind of custom is that anyhow?”
She reached for the soap slowly, as if half expecting him not to give it back. “It is a custom I’ve always detested until now. You are far more welcome in my tub than any of my brothers’ folly-fallen friends.”
Sunlight shone through the leaves bent over the creek, casting Linnet in an unearthly glow. The ends of her hair floated in the water around her like a seductive mermaid. The falls crashed into the pool behind him, the sound drowning out the rest of the world as if nothing else mattered but what happened here. Now.
He’d do well to remember that wasn’t the case. He needed to remain watchful. Vigilant.
“Is that all you want? To touch each other and discover some of the pleasure you’ve been missing these past few years?” He could touch her. Introduce her to the delights of her own body even if he couldn’t indulge himself as thoroughly as he wanted.
Virginity wasn’t a bother or a burden in the Middle Ages, or at least according to the snippet of the exhibit he’d seen in the Sex Through the Ages presentation it wasn’t. Her virginal status would be important to whoever she did marry one day.
The bastard. Even if she found some great guy, Graham decided he already hated him.
But there were ways Graham could touch her that wouldn’t rob her of that marital prize….
“No. I want to do more than discover some of the pleasures. I want to celebrate my freedom by discovering them all.” She licked her lower lip before she rushed on. “And you are the man I want to discover them with.”
From under the water, he felt her hand graze his chest before brushing lower. Much lower.
And no matter that he had no business touching her, Graham knew he didn’t have a prayer of denying her.
“YOU RISK A HELL OF A LOT to be with me.” Graham’s warning didn’t halt her hand’s downward trek. She’d set the soap on the creek bank so that she might graze his hip with her bare hands. She marveled at the muscle of his buttock, the warmth of his skin despite the cool water.
“No more risk than you take to be with me.” Kendrick would kill this man if he ever found out of her faithlessness, but Linnet vowed he would never learn the truth.
This time alone with Graham soothed what had been long raw inside her and she would repay his kindness by protecting his identity at all costs.
“I have the feeling that our risks will be well rewarded.” His arm speared through the water to wrap around her waist and draw her close.
Her heart slapped against her chest so hard she wondered why the reverberation did not make ripples through the water. How brazen she was that her first real embrace with a man would find her almost naked, her chemise soaked to her skin in a transparent veil.
He looked at her intently, as if he could pick her thoughts right out of her head with his dark, brooding stare. His hand fisted in the material of her wet chemise while the creek flowed in a steady rush around their legs. Every sensation—the cold water, his warm hands, the silken flow of the current—seemed all the more intensified to her body’s long-denied sensual response. Even the ripple of her chemise between her thighs felt like a lover’s caress. A very naughty and delicious touch.
“I seem to grow drunk on feeling,” she whispered, swaying on her feet as he brushed a kiss along her shoulder then nudged aside the chemise to expose her bare skin.
“I’m halfway to intoxicated myself.” His free hand plunged beneath the surface to find her hem and lift the thin fabric, peeling it away from her body as he undressed her.
A low moan escaped her throat as the stream rushed over her bare breasts, swirling decadently in the valley between them and coaxing her nipples into aching crests. Flinging her chemise onto the bank of the creek, Graham lowered his mouth to circle one tight peak. The wet heat of his lips sent a bolt of lightning crackling through her senses, setting her whole body on fire in answer. Her back arched of its own volition, conspiring to get her as close to the source of that heat as possible.
“More.” She wound her fingers through his damp hair and held him closer, delighting in the decadence of his touch.
He obliged her by closing his mouth over the other breast while wrapping her legs around his waist. Just like her dream vision, the feel of his skin against her most private places sent ribbons of pleasure unwinding in her limbs. Her thighs trembled at the contact, and then her whole body began to quiver with a sudden desperation to be possessed. Thoroughly. Completely. Now.
“I want to take you somewhere private.” He lifted his head to survey the land, his hair even darker now that it was wet. “Somewhere we can stay for hours—days—without being interrupted.”
“I like it here.” Her vision of them together had taken place on the grassy creek bank. “I have been imprisoned long enough that I like the idea of being out in the open with the sun at our backs and the fish as our witnesses.”
Grinning, he drew her close again. “That’s not a fish you’re feeling.”
He leaned in to kiss her, to take her mouth with slow, deliberate strokes of his tongue. She opened to him, winding her arms about his neck and pressing herself to him as closely as she could. His manhood throbbed against the swollen lips of her nether regions, her sensitive places slick with her own want.
She lifted herself up to take him, ready and eager to experience the earthly delights another man had tried to deny her, but Graham’s hands held her hips in place, refusing to let her take that next step.
“I have protection, but I don’t think it’s as effective if you use it in the water.”
“Protection from what?” Confused, she steadied herself on his lap, clutching one broad shoulder for support. “This strikes me as a rather inopportune time to discuss weaponry. Unless of course, you wish to converse about the merits of one sword in particular.”
She moved meaningfully against his shaft for emphasis.
“While that would be a mighty damn interesting conversation, I meant I have a way to protect you from getting pregnant, but the device is on the shore along with my clothes.”
“What wizardry is this?” She knew that some wise women were rumored to have such potions, but she never would have suspecte
d Graham would possess something that many would deem unnatural.
“No wizardry here. But I promised to keep you safe and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
Without warning, he hefted her out of the water, his strong arms cradling her in a tight grip as he waded to shore. The feel of his chest against the side of her breast reminded her how much she wanted to finish what they’d started.
No sooner had he gathered up their clothes than a rustling sound emanated from the undergrowth nearby. She might have called to whatever bird or animal lurked there, but he wrenched her away from that patch of forest with an ironclad grip.
Stifling her yelp with his hand, he shoved them behind a thick tree and pressed her against the bark, shielding her with his body as the thunder of approaching hooves pounded the ground all around them. Her skin still flaming from his touch, she could scarcely appreciate the feel of him against her since the oncoming riders bore a bloodred standard she recognized all too well.
Saints preserve them, her betrothed had returned from the Holy Lands to claim her.
7
THERE WAS A TIME in Graham’s life where he would have been hard-pressed to imagine any scenario involving getting naked with a woman that wouldn’t put a smile on his face. But then, he’d never pictured himself as the kind of guy stupid enough to get carried away with a female he’d essentially stolen from her own home.
He didn’t breathe for the endless seconds that six horses galloped into view, mouths foaming from overwork. Wrapping both arms around Linnet to keep her still, he didn’t care about arming himself now when a glint of silver could attract unwanted attention. Bad enough they were naked in the woods, their bare butts an easy target for anyone looking their way, although thankfully their hiding place probably sat some fifty yards from the matted grass that must serve as a rarely traveled road.
Graham had outwitted Linnet’s three brothers with a little ingenuity, but he’d never be able to take down six guys on horseback when he didn’t have so much as a pair of jockey shorts to use as a shield and he had Linnet to protect.
A hell of a time for a hard-on.
The third knight raced by their tree neck-and-neck with a fourth, raising dust and clods of fresh soil as they jounced around on the biggest horses Graham had ever seen. Definitely not thoroughbreds, the animals looked handpicked for size, their breadth coming closer to Clydesdales than racing stock.
“’Tis him. My betrothed,” Linnet whispered as the fifth man entered their field of vision. She trembled so much in his arms he half feared she’d shiver right out of his grasp. He held her tighter to reassure her, but that surely didn’t help his—ah—condition.
The man she pointed out rode his stallion like some guys rode their motorcycles—bent low over the neck as if he savored every millisecond of speed he gained with the decreased wind resistance. But this was no thrill seeker who relished the joy of the wind in his hair. The man’s intense expression and hollowed eyes gave him the appearance of a zealot more than a warrior. Despite the chain mail and the decorative banner featuring a bear on a red field, Burke Kendrick looked nothing like a patron of knightly chivalry. Maybe Graham was letting his protectiveness for Linnet do his seeing for him, but he could swear Kendrick shared the same glare in his eyes as the guys hanging out on death row. The dudes with nothing to lose because they’d already committed the worst of crimes.
Only when the last horse had raced past the tree where they hid did Graham realize he’d taken little note of Kendrick’s physical features. But then, he wouldn’t be giving the jerk’s description to a police sketch artist, so he figured it was more important to record a personal impression of the man than to post an APB via the town crier.
“What will we do?” Linnet’s shaky words forced him to brush off his thoughts and focus on their situation.
“Do you believe they had six overheated animals and didn’t even bat an eye when they passed a water source?” How could he focus when he had so much to process? He was a damn good cop in the world where he knew how to obtain backup, where to dig for more information on a case and how twenty-first century criminals behaved.
But here—wherever here was—he was way the hell off his game.
“They’re obviously in a hurry.”
“In too much of a hurry to stop at your brother’s house—er, uh, castle?”
“I don’t think Kendrick would even realize that holding belonged to my family. He doesn’t know all that much about the Welbornes.”
An interesting state of affairs he’d have to question her about, right after he willed away the hunger for her that still gnawed at him in spite of everything.
“Where do you think he’s headed in such an all-fired hurry?” He eased away from her with regret and handed her the rumpled mass of her dresses that he’d snatched off the ground as a precaution when he’d heard riders.
“To claim me for his bride.” She slid into the yellow under-dress and he mourned the loss of the most gorgeous visual of a woman he’d ever seen.
“Do you realize how lucky we were to have left Welborne Keep when we did?” For the first time, he wondered if he’d had some greater purpose to achieve by coming here. Not only would he find the clue to understanding the Guardians, but maybe he was meant to be here in order to save Linnet from far more harm than marital woes and a quickie divorce.
Now that he’d seen Kendrick for himself, he better understood her need to run.
“I know we are fortunate. I am fortunate. I saw in my mind’s eye that Kendrick approached. ’Twas why I’ve scarcely slept the past week. The dreams kept growing more and more frightening. His face became more and more clear.” She picked a leaf out of her hair before securing a thin braid in a loop around the back of her head. Her unsteady fingers as she worked proved how unsettling the dreams must have been.
Graham buttoned his fly and tucked in his shirt before moving to help Linnet with her laces. The weather had been temperate, but as the day grew late, the warm summer day cooled slightly.
“What is it with you and the visions?” He remembered her talking about her dreams before as if they meant more than an excuse to keep hitting the snooze alarm.
“I have the Sight.” She looked proud of the fact for all of two seconds before her face fell. “But it has become a fearsome burden since the revelation of my future became filled with images of knives and blood and—”
“Holy shit.” He released the last of her dress’s laces and smacked his forehead as his thoughts started to unjumble and make sense. “Parapsychology.”
“Is this another one of your foreign words?” Her brow furrowed with impatience. Or worry.
“Two women were kidnapped at a local—that is—a place in my homeland recently and they had taken interest in phenomena like the Sight.” The pair of students had been attending a parapsychology workshop on campus. And Linnet had some kind of precognition abilities.
When his answer didn’t seem to have clarified matters for her, he explained what he could in the hope she’d help him figure out whatever it was he’d come here to learn.
“I’m trying to help those missing women and I have reason to believe they were taken by men who bore the same symbols as the carving on your—uh—”
“The carving you were so interested in.” She completed his thought diplomatically, her cheeks coloring. “It’s interesting you mention the Sight because I believe that was one of the reasons Kendrick wanted to marry me.”
Graham went still, hand braced on a tree trunk already putting a barrier between her and the bad guys. The significance of her admission turned his cop thoughts to high speed.
“What do you mean?” He’d worry about getting them back to the fortification in one piece in a little while. Preferably after dark. For now, he had all the time in the world to listen to whatever Linnet had to say.
He just needed to keep his hands off her long enough to keep his brain engaged.
“DON’T YOU THINK WE SHOULD make has
te and return to the security of my brother’s holding?” Linnet could not suppress her shivers now that her worst fears had been confirmed.
She understood that Graham could keep her safe. Seeing the way his whole manner had changed at the first sign of trouble helped her realize that he was far more accomplished a warrior than she knew. He’d pinned her to that black mulberry tree with nothing but a sword to protect her, his reactions lightning swift to danger. But even though she’d recognized Graham’s prowess, she also knew he was not hers to command. He’d helped her escape her family seat, but he was a stranger to her lands, a visitor who would one day leave her to fend for herself.
“We’re not going anywhere until it’s dark. Too dangerous.” He gestured toward the waterfall at the mouth of the creek. “Let’s use the water as a shield for our movements. We can settle in behind the falls until the sun sets.”
She hesitated only a moment, making a decision to have still more faith in the man who hid her from Burke Kendrick. Graham was not a brute in the fashion of her brothers. Besides, she’d dreamed favorably of him. She would trust him, as she trusted in her visions.
Following him through the labyrinth of undergrowth and low-hanging branches, Linnet trudged behind him toward the place he indicated. She could not look at the creek without remembering what they had nearly shared in those murky depths.
As soon as they reached a spot hidden from view where the riders had passed, Graham pivoted to face her.
“Why do you think the swine wanted to wed you because of the Sight?” Removing his sword from its case, he laid out the leather satchel as a makeshift seat and waved her toward it.
She noticed he kept his weapon close to his hand as he sat beside her beneath a throng of ash and elder trees. They faced the waterfall so they could see the pathway through the water and the spray that emanated from it. A wave of fatigue hit her as she settled her skirts around her legs. No surprise since she hadn’t slept the night before and the day was already growing old. Still, because the year had nearly turned to Midsummer, daylight would linger a few more hours.
