‘I endured nothing in contrast to your friend Martin, the Hospitaller. He is in a terrible state. The emperor had him whipped and beaten up by the guards.’
Stephen’s green eyes darkened in fury for a moment. ‘When Isaac is captured he will be punished for his crimes – there is no doubt about that.’ Gently he put his hand on her chin and tipped it to force her to look directly at him. ‘Edwina, what did he do to you?’
‘Nothing of consequence, Stephen.’ She smiled reassuringly, knowing that he feared she might have been raped. ‘We can discuss it later.’ Consumed with thoughts of making love to him, she stared at his muscular chest, then slid her eyes downwards to focus on the telltale bulge between his strong thighs. ‘There are other more important matters to attend to, are there not?’
This was the first time she and Stephen had been together for almost three weeks and she intended to take full advantage of the opportunity. A shiver of anticipation travelled through her as she kept her eyes glued to the fascinating bulge of his manhood, hidden by only a thin layer of black silk. Unable to resist it a moment longer, she touched the tempting mound.
Stephen gave a strangled groan and his hands reached for her breasts, while his lips swooped down to take possession of her mouth. He kissed her with rough intensity, the kiss fuelled by raw desire and angry concern as his tongue eased its way into her mouth. Tongues entwined and lips melded to lips, the sensual gestures exposing the true depths of their feelings for each other that words somehow failed to fully convey.
Sword-roughened fingers stroked her nipples and pulled at them teasingly until they turned into rigid peaks. Then his fingers were replaced with his hot moist mouth, sucking and nibbling at the taut buds until she wanted to cry out with pleasure. Yet she bit her lips and held back, having no wish to let anyone on the vessel know that she and Stephen were having passionate sex in the king’s bed.
Stephen lifted his head and smiled lovingly at her, before he jerked back the sheet to reveal her nakedness to his gaze. He sprang to his feet and hurriedly pulled off his loose trousers. Edwina watched with wild excitement, her sex feeling warm and moist with desire as his tumescent cock reared from its silk covering. He took hold of her hips and eased her down the bed, sliding her off the pillows that had supported her. until she was lying prone on the soft feather mattress.
Then, carefully, so as not to touch her bruised and battered feet, which were now covered with sweet-smelling unguent and bandaged securely, he nudged her thighs apart and knelt between them. As he looked down at her, his expression suddenly turned very intense. ‘They didn’t . . .’
‘Defile me,’ she spoke the words he could not. ‘No man has ever had me but you and my late husband,’ she assured him.
His expression changed to one of relief. ‘Edwina.’ He tenderly cupped her sex with his large hand. ‘I was afraid for you,’ he admitted. He slid his fingers along her soft moist valley. ‘You’re wet already,’ he said, his voice turning husky with desire.
‘Just looking at your naked body does that to me,’ she said with a sensuous smile. She lifted her hips, desperate to feel his fingers venturing inside her, or better still the entire length of his delicious cock. ‘I want you now!’
She had barely finished speaking when he lunged forwards, the weight of his body bearing down on her. Supporting himself on his forearms, he thrust his rigid shaft deep inside her. It felt deliciously hot and thick and as solid as steel as it penetrated her moist depths. With a soft gasp of pleasure, she lifted her hips, pressing them hard against his groin so that he could penetrate her as deep as possible.
She waited, nerves afire, senses finely attuned, as she experienced the pleasure of being filled by him completely. He withdrew, then thrust and filled her once again, and the sensation was wonderful beyond belief. The weight of his body bore down on hers and she clutched onto him, her fingers digging into his warrior-hard muscles as he rammed into her with long smooth strokes. In this time and place she existed just to be pleasured by him. She was a willing vessel for his desire as he pounded into her body, even harder and faster, his breath now coming in short urgent gasps. Edwina arched her back, grinding her pelvis harder against his groin and savouring the feel of his body spearing hers as the climax built inside her.
All of a sudden he moved, angling his hips so that each time he thrust into her, his rigid shaft brushed teasingly against her aching clit. She shuddered, her senses reaching fever pitch until a sweet tension gripped her body and the powerfully intense Climax flooded over her – even more wonderful and more powerful than it had ever been before.
‘Do you think they will be happy?’ Edwina whispered in Stephen’s ear as she looked over at Richard and Berengaria sitting side by side, ostensibly enjoying their wedding feast.
Five days had passed since the king had arrived in Cyprus and now a large part of the island was under his control, although he had yet to capture the emperor and his steadily dwindling army. They were in retreat, marching towards the south of the island where Isaac had a number of fortified castles set among high mountain peaks.
‘To be honest, Edwina, I do not know.’ At this moment in time Stephen appeared far more interested in sensually caressing her leg through the thin silk of her gown than in the future happiness of the king and his new bride. ‘Did I tell you how beautiful you look tonight?’
‘Many times.’ She gave a soft laugh. She did indeed feel beautiful this evening in the new cream silk gown Stephen had given her. It was heavily embroidered and decorated with seed pearls at the neck and sleeves. She wore no veil. Her blonde hair was plaited and twined elaborately atop her head like a coronet and instead of a headdress one of the maids had woven small white star-shaped jasmine flowers in her hair. Every time she moved she was enveloped in a sweet cloud of their evocative scent. ‘And did I tell you how handsome you look, my lord?’
Stephen, unlike most of the Frankish knights who wore ceremonial battledress, had chosen Eastern-style garments and the long dark-blue tunic, liberally embroidered at the slashed neck and hem in silver thread, suited his colouring. The endless sunshine in Cyprus had turned his skin a deep golden brown, which made him look even more handsome with his near jetblack hair and piercing green eyes.
‘You did tell me.’ Stephen smiled at Edwina. ‘This is a good day for us all. Everyone looks happy tonight.’
Edwina glanced again at Berengaria. The new Queen of England looked positively radiant in a deep-pink silk gown. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes sparkled and her long brown hair lay in loose curls around her shoulders, while on her head was a delicate gold crown embellished with precious stones. Berengaria was deliriously happy because she was at last marrying the man she had convinced herself that she loved. Yet Edwina feared that Berengaria’s feelings were coloured by a multitude of different emotions. She felt that her friend didn’t know her new husband well enough to truly love him as yet. Nevertheless, Edwina was relieved that Richard was making an effort to be especially attentive to his new bride, feeding her tempting morsels from his plate and constantly whispering words in her ear which were making her blush coyly.
‘This castle seems so different now,’ Edwina said.
She had seen how the people of Cyprus had enthusiastically welcomed Richard and his men, happy that their cruel emperor had been defeated. Even the servants in the castle seemed to her to be more relaxed and light-hearted as they made preparations for this wedding and decorated the Great Hall with a multitude of brightly coloured flowers. Isaac, in his hurry to depart, had left all his treasures, including a large amount of silver and gold plate, behind. This now covered the long tables along with the gold goblets and plate owned by the king, so there was an especially magnificent array of wealth on display.
No more courses were due to arrive and the banquet was all but finished, so it was time for the entertainment. Richard’s personal troubadour, Blondel, was about to sing a song he had composed especially for the wedding. After that, she’d heard th
at there would be mummers and jesters as well as dancers and acrobats.
‘It is warm in here now, is it not?’ Under the cover of the table Stephen’s fingers slid up to her leg and pressed tantalisingly against Edwina’s sex.
Edwina bit back her gasp of pleasure, blushing slightly as the warmth of desire suddenly flooded her body. ‘Stephen, you forget yourself!’
‘No, I do not,’ he said softly. ‘I think about having you all the time. Perhaps we should walk a while and find somewhere cooler to sit.’
‘As you wish, my lord,’ she agreed, so wanting to be alone with him again.
Stephen sprang lithely from his bench and extended his hand to help her to her feet. Then she placed her hand demurely atop his and accompanied him along the side of the room and through an open doorway. Once outside the hall, the air was a little cooler to her relief.
‘We could go to your room,’ Stephen said softly so that no one close could hear.
Berengaria had favoured her by giving her separate quarters from the other ladies-in-waiting so that she could spend time alone with Stephen. Although Edwina was now recovered from her ordeal, and her feet were all but healed, Berengaria had only allowed her to return to her duties yesterday and only then because the wedding was so close.
‘You know we cannot retire before His Majesty and his new bride,’ she reminded Stephen. ‘No doubt the queen will want me to help her to prepare for bed. The king may require your presence also.’
‘Perhaps to bolster his resolve?’ Stephen said rather cynically. ‘He confessed that he is not overly looking forward to bedding her.’ He drew her into a wide window alcove where they could converse with more privacy. ‘The queen is so pious and modest, not the kind of woman a man of lustful appetite wants in his bed.’
‘Your friend may well be surprised,’ Edwina said with a knowing smile. ‘Berengaria is not all that she seems.’
‘How so?’ he asked.
Edwina wondered if she might have said too much, so she felt a little relieved when two people walked into the same alcove, perhaps wanting to partake of the cool breeze, which was drifting in thorough the high arched window. It was Richard’s sister Joanna, the Dowager Queen of Sicily, looking very attractive in a gown of scarlet velvet. She was accompanied by a man that Edwina did not recognise. Yet he must be important because he was very finely dressed in cloth of gold and cream velvet. Although, his richly embroidered surcoat edged with white fur looked a little inappropriate for the warm climate.
‘Your Majesties,’ Stephen acknowledged as he bowed and Edwina curtsied.
‘Have you met the Comte de Chalais, one of my brother’s most loyal knights, King Guy?’ Joanna smiled sweetly at the dark-haired, bearded man by her side. ‘And his companion, Lady de Moreville.’
So this was Guy de Lusignan – once King of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, now bereft of a kingdom. Edwina had been busy attending Berengaria yesterday, but she had heard that he had unexpectedly arrived from Acre late in the afternoon accompanied by a large contingent of Templar Knights.
‘The Comte and I are acquainted.’ Guy acknowledged Stephen with a nod of his head. ‘However, this lovely lady and I have not met,’ he said, smiling sensually at Edwina.
Beside her, Edwina felt Stephen tense, leading her to believe that he did not like the way Guy de Lusignan was looking at her. Yet she couldn’t help but be just a little flattered by having a king display so much interest in her. She blushed as Guy took hold of her hand and kissed it, his lips lingering far longer than necessary on her skin.
‘Your Majesty,’ she acknowledged shyly. She wouldn’t have classed him handsome but he was quite an attractive man, most probably a fair few years older than Stephen and definitely a few inches shorter.
‘I am delighted to make your acquaintance, my lady,’ he said, his brown eyes looking her up and down with way too much interest. ‘Your husband?’ He lifted his rather bushy eyebrows. ‘Will I have the pleasure of becoming acquainted with him as well?’
‘Unfortunately not.’ Stephen’s tone and manner were stiff, almost to the point of rudeness. ‘He died quite recently in Sicily.’
‘My commiserations,’ Guy said coolly, although the look he gave her was far from cool. She quailed under his seductive gaze, feeling a little troubled by the hint of lechery in his brown eyes. ‘A sad loss.’
Joanna, in Edwina’s considered opinion, seemed as troubled by Guy’s interest in her as Stephen clearly was. ‘We should leave,’ Joanna said curtly. ‘I have to present a wedding gift to my brother – a gift that you might be interested in, Guy.’
‘Really?’ He at last drew his eyes from Edwina and focused on Joanna.
‘One of my most noted historians has drawn up an ornate and detailed Plantagenet family tree. You may not be aware of it but my brother is very interested in genealogy. Did you know that your late wife, Sibylla, is distantly related to my family?’
‘I believe she did mention that on occasions.’ Guy looked back at Edwina. ‘Excuse us, will you? I trust that we will meet again soon, Lady de Moreville?’ he said, smiling charmingly at her but ignoring Stephen.
As they walked away, Stephen said softly and with so much anger that his voice shook, ‘I did not like the lecherous way he was looking at you.’
‘He is a king,’ Edwina said soothingly. ‘They consider themselves above common courtesy.’
‘A jumped-up upstart of a king,’ Stephen replied venomously. ‘Guy de Lusignan was a minor nobleman who was forced to flee France after he and his brother ambushed and murdered the Earl of Salisbury. His only right to the throne was through his wife. Why Sibylla allowed her mother to persuade her to marry him I’ll never know.’
‘You speak as if you knew Queen Sibylla?’
‘I did,’ he confirmed. ‘She was beautiful and charming. In our youth we were friends. I considered her brother, Baldwin, the late king, my friend also. I doubt that we would have lost control of the Holy Land if he were still alive. It was Guy’s stupidity and his disastrous decisions at the Battle of Hattin that did that.’
‘King Baldwin,’ she reflected. ‘He died in his early twenties, did he not?’
‘Yes,’ Stephen said sadly. ‘As a result of the leprosy he contracted when quite young. He was a brave man. His stepsister, Isabella, should, in my opinion, be queen now that sadly Sibylla is dead.’
‘I never knew the situation was so complicated.’
‘Complicated, yes,’ Stephen agreed. ‘I trust that once we have wrested the kingdom from Salah ad-Din’s hands the matter can be settled once and for all. Most of the surviving barons of the kingdom want Isabella as queen but at present Guy has the full support of the Knights Templar and they are a force to be reckoned with. It seems wiser at present to leave the situation as it is.’
‘My lady,’ Edwina heard a youthful voice say breathlessly. She turned to look at the boy hurrying towards her, who appeared very agitated. ‘I have been looking everywhere for you, Lady de Moreville. The queen requires your presence.’
Edwina smiled reassuringly at Berengaria as she readjusted the lace-edged pillows behind the new queen’s head. Berengaria was looking far less relaxed now than she had earlier in the evening. The maids had all been dismissed, as had the other ladies-in-waiting, and now she and Edwina were alone. ‘Everything will be fine, Your Majesty,’ Edwina said as Berengaria nervously clutched hold of the sheet.
‘Not “Majesty” to you, Edwina,’ Berengaria said, smiling nervously. ‘In private you must always use my given name – we are friends, are we not?’
‘Yes, friends,’ Edwina replied as she sat down on the bed beside her royal mistress. She patted Berengaria’s hand. ‘Always friends.’
‘Then tell me as a friend that everything will be all right.’ Berengaria flung her arms around Edwina. ‘I only wish to please him.’
‘Please him you shall.’ Edwina hugged her back and then gently disentangled herself from the queen’s embrace. ‘You know exactly what to
do to please him, do you not?’
‘Because of you I do,’ Berengaria replied, still appearing anxious. ‘But it seemed so much simpler when it was just you and I alone in that room.’
‘That can never be again,’ Edwina said. She had put that rather unrestrained part of her life behind her now and Berengaria must do the same. No one must know of the intimacies they had shared for both their sakes. She had kept that brief interlude of illicit passion to herself, not even daring to broach the subject with Stephen as she had no idea what his reaction might be. ‘You are a queen, you are King Richard’s wife.’
‘It is just that the thought of what we will do makes me nervous.’ Berengaria grabbed hold of her hand, still appearing to want some kind of reassuring physical contact. ‘Do you think that he will desire me as I desire him?’
‘I have no doubt that he will.’ Edwina couldn’t be entirely sure but she hoped he would find Berengaria far more attractive clad in this low-cut thin lawn garment that she had persuaded her to wear. It displayed her generous breasts to perfection and was far more flattering to her than the voluminous nightgowns she had always worn before. ‘Don’t forget a little coyness at first. But as soon as you are in his aims become the passionate woman you were born to be.’ She leant forwards to kiss her friend on the cheek but Berengaria moved her head unexpectedly and she ended up kissing her full on the lips. Edwina was surprised at how pleasant it still felt as Berengaria’s mouth immediately softened and opened. Before the kiss could deepen into something far more sensual Edwina pulled away. Perhaps that had not been a wise move, she told herself, as she rose to her feet.
It was fortunate that she had acted when she did, for at that very moment the door opened and Richard stepped into the bedchamber. Edwina curtsied, relieved to see that the king was alone. Stephen had wisely suggested that, for the sake of his new wife’s modesty, he forgo the usual rather ribald bedding ceremony and it appeared that Richard had taken that advice.
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