by Starla Kaye
She tried to close her eyes, to not watch him further, as he sat on the side of the bed. But his quiet moan drew her attention once more. “Husband?” she asked in concern.
He avoided looking directly at her and stretched out beside her, on top of the linens. “I’m fine. Just a bit sore from riding so hard today.”
He shifted again, gave another quiet moan. This time she turned toward him. “Is there something I can do? Some salve I can apply?” The thought of touching him in any manner sent shivers through her. Yet she didn’t want him to suffer, even if he’d made her suffer.
But he was already half asleep. He mumbled, “Tis Rowan’s fault. He rode me too hard.”
“What?” She didn’t understand. Rowan had returned much earlier and had come to check on her. He’d told her that he’d caught up with Thomas. They’d talked, he’d said. But he hadn’t looked her in the eye, either. She nibbled on the corner of her lower lip, pondering Rowan’s odd reaction. She studied Thomas more closely. Something was odd, something that niggled at her curious nature.
She lightly touched Thomas’s face to capture his attention. He looked wearily at her. “Did you and Rowan…” Her face flamed, but she pressed on, “Did you suck cock? Like I… like I saw yesterday.”
“Good God!” He sat bolt upright in bed, his eyes wide in shock. He also winced and quickly lay back down. “No, we did not ‘suck cock’ as you so delicately put it.”
But she knew there was more to what had happened between he and Rowan today. Something that had to do with his obvious discomfort. “Then what do you mean ‘he rode me too hard’?”
“God’s teeth! Did I actually say that?” He sounded distressed, worried.
She nodded. “Aye, but you were partially asleep.” She sat up and looked down at him, determined to get an answer. “What did you mean?”
He was silent for several minutes, his face contorted in deep thought. Finally he heaved a heavy sigh and met her gaze. “You already know that Rowan and I…” He struggled with what to say. “That we…”
Gloriana was getting impatient. “Aye. You have relations, of a sort. It does not bother me.” She pinned him with a prodding gaze. “Explain about this business of ‘riding you too hard.’”
He squeezed his eyes shut, muttered something, and then faced her again. “We sometimes do far more than you witnessed.”
“Far more?” She cocked her head and studied him. She still thought about how she’d observed the two powerful men engaged in a sexual act that she’d previously found appalling. At least it had been with Geoffrey. Did Thomas mean that he, too, sucked on Rowan’s shaft? What else could two men do together?
She furrowed her brow trying to figure it out. When she couldn’t, she asked, “I cannot understand this riding matter. Nor this far more issue.” She found that she was intrigued by whatever happened intimately between Thomas and Rowan.
“I really don’t want to discuss this, Gloriana.” He tried to roll to his other side, but gave a quiet hiss as he moved.
She pulled him to his back once more, frowning at the flinch of pain that crossed his face. “I will tell no one, my lord, I promise. But I wish to understand. Especially when I see that you are in obvious discomfort.”
He clenched his jaw and appeared to gnash his teeth before he bit out, “We fuck. All right? This time he fucked me. Hard.”
She reeled in astonishment, blinking in confusion. “You mean he…” She gaped at him and then glanced toward his slowly growing cock. “You mean he put his rod inside you? But I don’t understand. How can that be?” She truly couldn’t imagine how such a thing was possible.
His patience had clearly reached an end. He rolled to his side again and pointed to his butt crack. “He drove his rod into my ass. Fast. Hard. Mercilessly.” He glanced at her over his shoulder with a sour expression. “Are you satisfied now?”
Instead of being satisfied, she was more curious, worried as well. Before he could resist, she pushed him to his stomach and gently parted his butt cheeks.
He tried to bat her hands away. “What are you doing, woman? Stop it!”
She ignored him and studied his ass. In truth, it was a very nice ass, firm. Unlike hers, which was far too flabby, in her opinion. Her face heated at such thoughts. “It looks very sore, husband.”
She promptly climbed off the bed and hurried to the trunk where she kept herbs and salves.
“Now what are you doing? Come back to bed.”
She planted her hands on her hips and snapped, “You need something to soothe the pain.”
“Good God, Gloriana! You are not going to apply one of your healing salves to my ass. Forget it. I’ll be fine on the morrow.”
He got up, scooped her into his arms, and lay her on the bed. Then he stretched out on his stomach once more, growling, “Go. To. Sleep.”
“I only want to help.” She gently touched his buttocks.
“Leave my ass alone.” He pushed her hand away and planted his pillow over his bottom.
She huffed at his impossible attitude. Fine, if he wanted to suffer needlessly tonight, he could. But she’d check on his ass on the morrow. If it wasn’t better by then, she’d apply her salve no matter how much he grouched about it.
Chapter Four
“I need to talk to you,” Thomas said, walking to where Rowan was practice training in the bailey. When his friend raised an eyebrow in question, he blew out a breath of frustration. “Now. I need to talk to you now.”
“Another matter of some urgency? Something you’ll share with me this time?” Rowan nodded at the soldier he’d been sword sparring with. “Remember to keep your shield up higher.”
Thomas knew his first knight was testy because he hadn’t been included when Thomas had talked to Middlemound’s baliff earlier and had sent the man and eleven others off on a task for him. “I merely sent Gerald and the others to deliver a message to Elizabeth at Abernon.”
Rowan walked beside him as Thomas headed for the paddocks, wanting to talk somewhere at least partially private. “Am I your first knight here or not?”
“Of course you are.” Thomas understood his friend’s anger. As the first knight, he should issue the orders for the other men, or at least know about them before Thomas gave them. “You were busy with other duties and I wanted to get the men on their way. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
They stopped to lean against the first paddock’s fencing, and Thomas blew out a frustrated breath. “I’ve been distracted since yesterday. You. James. Gloriana.”
“I know you want to bring your son here. I’m just not sure the timing is right.” Rowan glanced at him, clearly already forgiving him for giving the order to the men. “Shouldn’t you get more settled here first? Particularly with Gloriana.”
Thomas frowned, thinking about his sister and her husband. “Abernon is going to fight letting my son come here, so I thought I’d get the negotiations started now.”
“You’re most likely right. James has been in his household almost since birth. Abernon would see him as his son by now, more than yours.” He met Thomas’s gaze. “I fear, too, that James will not want to leave the home he knows.”
“I have much to battle here, this I know. But I want my son with me.” Thomas well knew this could be the hardest battle he’d ever fought. Abernon was a good man, his people were loyal to him. He’d earned the respect of their King and many nobles throughout England. His opinion of Thomas was low, except as a warrior. It irritated him that he would have to prove his worth as a father to his own son, but he would. Somehow. Hopefully having Gloriana at his side and supporting him in this would help. “I will have my way in this matter.”
“You know I will assist you in any way necessary.”
Thomas nodded. They would each go through Hell itself if necessary for the other. That had been proven time and again as they’d fought side-by-side in Tunis; protected each other’s backs, and tended each other’s wounds.
“My part in your distract
ions?” Rowan lowered his voice; glancing cautiously around to be sure they were still alone. “Are you upset with how I handled you yesterday? Even though you did deserve it.”
His ass still hurt, but Thomas shook his head. “The pounding was deserved, as you said. I’ll recover.” He closed his eyes for a second and thought about last night. “Gloriana wanted to help me.” He blew out a heavy breath, hesitating before he added, “She wanted to put some of her healing salve on my ass.”
Rowan straightened and looked directly at him, amusement dancing in his eyes. “What did you say?”
Remembering how his wife had gently touched him and then became bolder, he, too, looked around to be sure they were alone. Thomas said stiffly, “She kept pressing me about you and me. About what kind of relations we have. Finding us together that one time has made her damn curious.”
“Not repelled?”
“Nay. Curious.” Thomas took another second before he explained. “She caught me wincing, asked me about it, but I gave some vague excuse. Then I fell asleep, at least partly asleep. Evidently I mumbled that you’d ridden me too hard.”
“And?” Rowan prompted, equally curious.
“She wouldn’t stop questioning me about what I’d meant. Then when I blurted out that we’d fucked, she wanted to know how that could work.” He watched Rowan’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. His lips twitched, which irritated Thomas. This wasn’t a laughing matter. “She doesn’t give up when she wants something. Stubborn woman.”
Rowan nodded, still appearing amused. “She’s going to make an interesting wife. A good one, I’m thinking.” Thomas hoped they could work through their problems. He was still dealing with the way she constantly surprised him. “She got me so irritated with her concern about how things worked between us, in her worry about why I seemed to be in pain. I rolled over and pointed at my ass. God’s teeth, can you believe I did that?”
“It’s a great ass.” Rowan grinned at him, trying to lighten the mood. “I admire it all the time.”
For a second Thomas got distracted. His mind’s eye saw Rowan’s taut ass, pictured his lover waiting on all fours for him, and imagined his hands gripping Rowan’s muscled body as he drove his cock deep into his tight butt hole. He shuddered with the desire that was beginning to weave through him. Then he forced it down. This was not the time to be thinking about fucking his friend.
Drawing in a steadying breath, he said, “The woman is a constant surprise to me.” He thought back to their first day here, to their first conversation. “Remember how she meekly said she had no value as a woman or as a wife? How she seemed to fear you and me, because we were warriors…because we were men.
The memory still bothered him. From Rowan’s frown, he knew his lover felt the same way. “Stewart abused her in many ways. May he rot in Hell for eternity.”
“Yet she found the spirit to boldly tell you she would never allow a man to treat her like that again.” Rowan smiled again, clearly admiring her daring. “She even went on to insist you look at more than her small stature. That you see her as able to perform the lord’s wife’s normal duties of running the keep, which evidently Stewart had not allowed.”
Yes, Thomas remembered her annoyance at being considered unable to be taken seriously because of her almost child-like size. He couldn’t help but worry about her, want to protect her from harm. Still, she had been acting as chatelaine for the year Stewart was gone from Middlemound. He would let her continue those duties, but he would be watching, ready to step in and assist her if needed. “She dreads my bedding her. Fears I will be cruel in some way, hurt her as Stewart did.” Thomas curled his hands into fists at the thought of any man harming such a delicate little beauty in any manner. “She believes she failed that bastard; she failed in the role of wife.”
“I’ve heard some talk about…” Rowan’s jaw tightened and he cut off what he’d started to say. “Tis in her past and she needs your gentleness to heal those wounds that run soul-deep.”
Thomas couldn’t remember how many men he’d killed over his years of warring. He didn’t want to think about it. His last battles in Tunis had nearly pushed him over the edge. But Rowan had saved him. Thank God. Still, he was troubled by the kind of man he was, by the life he’d led. “My gentleness?” he questioned in disbelief. “I’m a warrior. All I’ve known for years is battling, maiming, killing. What do I know of ‘gentleness’?”
Rowan’s eyes heated in desire and in defense. “Aye, you may be a man with strong passions for warring and leading your men. But you’ve a fierce passion for loving as well. This I know from experience. She needs to see your passionate side.” He gave a crooked smile, the heat in his gaze flaming higher. “Mayhap toning down the intensity of your passion at first.”
His lover looked thoughtful for a second. “I believe there is a loving woman hidden beneath the cautious exterior Gloriana shows to the world. I saw the way she melted into your kiss after the wedding ceremony. I saw the curiosity in her eyes, the hope.” Thomas had sensed it, too, prayed he could find the strength to be gentle with her and give her time to accept that he wouldn’t hurt her. He would have to save his need for rougher sex for his times with Rowan. His cock began to show interest for that, so he forced his thoughts back to last night and the other way in which his wife had surprised him.
Again he looked around to be sure no one had wandered within hearing range. Satisfied they were still alone, he said, “My timid wife surprised me yet again last night. After I pointed at my ass and all but said that’s the way we fucked, she actually pushed my butt cheeks apart to look more closely.”
He recalled his distress at the examination, his shock that she would do so. Yet, later as he’d drifted off to sleep, he’d also recalled how gentle her fingers had been on his bare ass. He’d hardened just thinking about it and had fought the desire to make love to his wife. The timing had been wrong.
Rowan watched him, waiting for him to finish what he’d started to say. He shoved aside his musings. “When she found my butt hole red and obviously sore, she was determined to apply one of her salves.” He snorted. “I refused. I told her to leave my ass alone.”
Rowan laughed so hard he had to hold his sides. When some of the men across the bailey glanced over, Thomas glowered at them until they looked away, and then he scowled at Rowan.
“Do you want me to tell her to leave your ass alone? Tell her that it is mine to worry about…mine to touch…mine to…” He faced Thomas, lowering his voice again. “Mine alone to fuck.”
“This is not funny. It was embarrassing.” Thomas narrowed his eyes. “How would you like it if she’d touched you in such a manner? Tried to—”
“I’d have let her do whatever she wanted with me,” Rowan said seriously. He sighed, looked away. “She cares about you, even after what you told her about not wanting to get her with child. You’re a damn lucky man.” Thomas nodded. “I am and I don’t deserve her.”
Rowan didn’t respond, instead he glanced across the bailey, and then moved in that direction. “Time I go back to training. Some of these Middlemound soldiers need much instruction.”
Watching his friend walk away, Thomas considered his words ‘do whatever she wanted with me’ and ‘you’re a damn lucky man.’ He’d never heard Rowan sound so interested in a woman before. He wasn’t sure what to think about the matter. Gloriana was his wife. Rowan was his lover. They each held a special place within him. Could he share his wife with his lover? Could he share his lover with his wife? The whole idea was strange to him, not repulsive. Yet having sex with a man that first time had been strange, too. Again, he hadn’t been repulsed by what they had done. He’d have to think more on this situation, see how things developed.
***
Gloriana’s nose started to twitch, her eyes watering in preparation for a sneeze. Frantically she covered her nose. She absolutely could not sneeze now! Blessedly, the urge went away as fast as it had come upon her, and she remained in the shadows just inside
the paddock. She’d come out here to check on her mare, who had injured her leg during a short ride the previous week. Then she’d become trapped here when Thomas and Rowan had walked up to have a private talk.
She peeked around the small wall that kept her hidden from the two men. Rowan was walking away, at last. Thomas stood there another minute, then finally he, too, walked off. She breathed a sigh of relief. Oh my, what she’d heard! So much to take in and think about. She’d heard the longing and the frustration in her husband’s voice as he’d talked about his son. She needed to know more of their history. She couldn’t bear the idea of father and son being kept apart any longer, for whatever the original reason. She would find a way to fix this situation for them both. James did not belong to Abernon! And if Thomas wouldn’t give her a child of her own, at least she might be able to mother his son James.
Her heart pinched at that thought. She had enough love within her for this boy she had yet to meet, but she still ached to have a child borne of her body. Her eyes misted and she blinked away the tears. She would not give up hope, not give up her dream this easily.
Across the bailey Rowan accepted a wooden practice sword from another soldier. He immediately went into attack position, the muscles in his body hardening, capturing her attention. He moved with such grace, with such agility. A warrior clear to the bone, as was her new husband. Thomas, too, had a well-toned body that held her interest. In truth, she wanted to touch it, wanted to run her hands over his chest, see what his chest hair felt like. She’d never wanted to touch Geoffrey, though he’d forced her to do so.
Her face heated at what Thomas had told Rowan about last night. How could she have been so daring? Rolling him over so she could spread his butt cheeks, feeling sorry for the pain he suffered, wanting to put salve on his tender, puckered hole. Yet she would do all of it again. She didn’t like the idea of anyone being in pain. Mayhap she should speak to Rowan. Tell him to take more care the next time he ‘pounded’ her husband. Why did the fact that Thomas and Rowan ‘fucked’—as Thomas had told her—not bother her? Why did she so easily accept such a strange thing? In truth, the idea of it made her feel odd, tingly, achy. A naughty side she hadn’t known she even had was intrigued, wished to observe this unique behavior, this intense passion Rowan had spoken of.
