The Gentle Knight (The Norman Conquest Book 2)
Page 29
He walked toward the bed and tried not to notice her tensing.
“Sit.” He settled himself on the bed and indicated the spot beside him. “We have things to discuss.”
“Is that why you came in here? To talk?” There was an edge of bitterness in her tone, and she remained where she was. He was immensely glad she didn’t know he hadn’t been looking for her at all but for her man, Arthur.
“I have wronged you, my lady.” He took her hand, and she didn’t resist. He pulled her gently toward him, looking up into her eyes. “Verily.”
She sat beside him finally, a bit farther away than he would have liked. He glanced at her hand, caressing it as he spoke, her skin so soft beneath his calloused fingers. “Would you always have been willing as my wife?”
She gasped at his hard words but he needed to know. There was a long wait for her answer. “I take my vows to heart.” Her voice sounded small. “As my husband, you have rights.”
His gut wrenched at her admission. He had been a coward, but no more. He looked her squarely in the eyes. “I have rights as your husband…but I would prefer that you would give willingly.”
“My lord, I believe I have been exceedingly willing with you. Speak plain. What is it you want from me really?”
He traced his fingers lightly up her arm to her shoulder, her silky skin responding with tiny goose bumps. Slowly, he urged her closer, pushing his advance. She stiffened in response, but he chiseled away at her resistance with gentle kisses, along her cheek, her jaw, willing her closer to him.
“Please.” Her voice was quiet.
He pulled back reluctantly, tamping down his desire. “Shall we talk first?”
The knock at the door startled them both.
“Who is it?” John’s voice was harsh.
“Arthur.”
Color spread across her face.
“Not now, Arthur.” John’s voice brooked no discussion and yet the man’s footsteps did not retreat and a few seconds later there was another knock.
“My lady?” Arthur’s voice sounded concerned and gentle.
John watched Rowena’s color deepen when she opened her mouth to answer. He was filled with some heretofore unknown emotion. He interrupted whatever she might have said with his command. “Go away, Arthur.”
This time footsteps led away from the door. They were alone again.
“You have grown into a beautiful woman.” His finger traced her cheek as he spoke quietly, her high color receding. With his lips close to her ear, he whispered, “I find you much to my liking.” He put his lips against her cheek, and his hand slid up the gown she still gripped.
She released the garment.
His body responded with anticipation. With the tip of his tongue, he traced her luscious red lips. So sweet. Her breath fell soft against his mouth. He opened his eyes slightly and was surprised to find her watching him. “Let me love you now, Rowena.”
“How do I know you speak the truth? How do I know you do not often sneak into women’s chambers?”
“Because I am here, not somewhere else. My desire is for you and you alone.” He spoke the truth but could not prove it was so.
“Not so on our wedding night.”
“I was Norman scum to you.” Her jaw dropped, clearly mortified at the reminder of her own words, true though they were. “I thought you might kill me in my sleep.”
“I had just been told that I would be shared by your men.”
John pulled back, distressed at the obvious lie. “Who told you such a thing?”
The only reason for the lie would have been to frighten her. It had worked.
“The guard who brought me into the church, John.”
It was the first time she’d said his name, and it brought him pleasure to hear it from her lips.
“I beg your forgiveness.” She stared blankly back at him as he spoke. “I had no idea you were being so cruelly treated. It was not our intent.”
“Your intent was only to force my marrying you so that you could leave me here to rot away of old age?”
That hadn’t been his intent but rather his reaction to her crazed behavior. Her point was well taken. If he had known of her mistreatment, things would have progressed quite differently.
“Clearly we have both wronged you—William in his choice of husband for you and myself in abandoning you.”
He wanted to take her and show her how repentant he really was, but her eyes flashed a warning. He had missed his golden opportunity. She was now wiser and it would be an uphill battle for him to gain her acquiescence again.
“I believe William knew what he wanted when he forced this marriage upon us. You on the other hand, I have no sympathy for.”
In all her bare splendor she stood beside him.
His breath caught in his throat. She was perfection in every sense, and he was a very blessed man. His hand itched to pull her back to him, but she continued behind the wooden screen.
“You may leave now and please send Joan to me,” she said.
Duly chastised, he grinned at her commanding tone. The screen, however, did nothing to suppress his knowledge of every detail of the beauty that stood on the other side and the longing it enflamed. John tamped down his desire. For now.
“I will get Joan for you, my lady, and thereafter you will attend me at supper.”
When the door closed behind her husband, Rowena slid to the small stool, still shaking at her bold behavior. He had allowed her to walk away from him when she had feared he would pull her back to him. She knew it and he knew it. That he would be returning for her said it all. He would return for her and…expect what? Was he going to stay and be her husband in every way? Was he going to expect her to share her bed with him? After all this time, she wasn’t sure what she wanted. He had walked away from her and left her alone. Not just alone but untouchable as his wife.
“Humph.” She had crumbled under his attention after determining to be strong and show him she had no need for him. Did she need him after all?
Rubbing her arms, she could still feel the heat from his body and her own response to it. That had taken her aback. She had been treating this as a child’s game. If he did not want her, then she wanted him even less. But in his arms she had come alive, feeling things she’d never imagined. She wanted more.
She smiled. It appeared the attraction was mutual.
“My lady, what has happened here?”
Rowena stood behind the screen, startled from her thoughts by Joan’s entrance.
“Are you well? Arthur was beside himself. Please come out and show me you are well.”
“Calm yourself. I am not clothed and wish to dress for dinner. Will you assist me?”
Joan’s look of worry quickly turned to a knowing smile when she came around the screen to help her with the gown. Her presumptuous expression made Rowena bite her lip to keep from smiling. Yes, her husband found her pleasing. There. It was out and even Joan knew it. How much Joan knew would be left up to her imagination. That was until Rowena saw the mark that held Joan’s attention. A love bite. Proof of what had transpired or almost transpired.
“You can stop smiling.” Rowena tightened her lips to convey her disapproval. “I am a virgin still.”
Joan’s crestfallen face was almost comical except that it really wasn’t. The whole situation was intolerable. Well, Rowena would find out this night if the man who was her husband was worthy of the title. If he was, she would commence with the bedding and that would be the end of that. The massive jolt of heated desire that shot up through her body made her catch her breath. Well, she would just have to ignore that for now. She just wasn’t sure if she could.
Table of Contents
PRAISE FOR ASHLEY YORK
ALSO BY ASHLEY YORK
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter
Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Table of Contents
Title Page
PRAISE FOR ASHLEY YORK
ALSO BY ASHLEY YORK
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
ABOUT THE AUTHOR