“Why he said he would let me marry you.” Will caught her up against him. “If you will have me. Will you?”
“Marry you? I don’t understand. How did you persuade him?”
Will laughed. “I told him if he did not promise to treat their women well, he would have all of England’s barons up in rebellion.”
“Rebellion! You dared and he complied? Nay.” She was babbling. “He agreed?”
“Madame,” Will said and kissed her quickly while his friends grumbled, “he agreed. Now will you?”
Epilogue
Autumn 1215, Kent
Blanche hurried from the chapel across the bailey to the great tower. Her duties done with the priest for her third churching, her alms paid for the honour of it, she felt her breasts tingle as they hardened with milk. She would soon need to feed her newest son, the third, born four weeks ago.
She grinned, picked up her skirts and ran like a girl across the yard.
Her husband hailed her from the doors to the keep. “Finished?” Will caught her up in his arms and twirled her about, laughing.
“That priest lives to pray!” she complained. “I thought I’d grown a year older listening to him drone!”
Will curled an arm around her waist and helped her up the broad stairs to their great hall. “He thinks the longer he speaks, the more silver he’ll earn.”
“You are more than generous to him.”
“I keep him well paid, Blaze, so that he prays to God for your health and that of our boys.”
She paused upon the landing and hugged him, his big warm body her assurance against all ills in heaven and earth. “You need pay no one, Will. You are the best man in the kingdom and God knows it.”
“He has rewarded me and I am forever grateful.” He cupped her cheek and she admired the love written on his dear features. He had grown older these past five years, silver framing his handsome face, lines of laughter edging his eyes.
“‘Tis I who am the more blessed with you for my husband and you for the father of our boys. But those upstairs who revel at our new child, I daresay, are as grateful to you for your help these past few years.”
“They come to do you honour, Madame.”
“They come to pay respect to the man who made the king agree to reign with a justice he did not wish to own. When John signed that charter at Runnymede in June, Will, he did so because you pressed him for five years to give in.”
“The barons united.”
“You made it so.” She kissed his cheek. “And now they have checks against his ruthlessness for their taxation and the welfare of their women.”
He nodded. “And I have you and three healthy children. What else could I want? Nothing in this world.”
“Really?” They resumed their climb to the great hall and the lavish banquet they’d prepared for dozens of their friends and all their serfs here in Will’s main stronghold. “I thought that now I’m able to welcome you to my chamber once more, you’d have in mind something you would want.”
Facing forward as they took the stairs, he played the diplomat with her and pursed his lips. “Oh, there is one thing I’d like.”
“Tell me.” She knew what he’d say. It was their practice to do Will’s special bidding after each of her previous churchings and on any other occasions when her lord and master wished to celebrate their mating in a special rowdy way. “I cannot imagine what it might be.”
“Tease me, eh?” he scolded her.
“Of course. What is a wife for? What say you, husband?”
He pulled her in front of him before the doors to their hall. “Tonight, in our bed, I would like the chains.”
She grinned at the memory of how he writhed when she bound him to their bed as she pleasured him with her mouth and her tongue and her heart. She wrapped her arms around his neck now and on tiptoe, whispered to his ear. “As you wish, my love.”
He grew serious, his brows knitting. “Blaze, after all these years, you must know you need no chains round my wrists to hold me in your thrall.”
“Nor I in yours, my husband. Nor I in yours.”
About the Author
Cerise DeLand believes great romances combine feisty heroines with men who adore them and cannot live without them. With a background in Chinese and European history, Cerise brings her knowledge of Chinese, German and a bit of Spanish, then blends it with her years living in Japan, Italy, Washington, D.C.—and Texas. She uses all her talents and experiences to write romances she loves. Published in e-format by Ellora’s Cave, Resplendence Publishing and Wild Rose Press, she is thrilled to bring her stories to Total-E-Bound, too! Cerise has won awards for her 18 print romances and mysteries (under another name), many of which have become selections of The Doubleday Book Club, Rhapsody Book Club and The Mystery Guild. (See more at www.cerisedeland.com)
Email: [email protected]
Cerise DeLand loves to hear from readers. You can find her contact information, website and author biography at http://www.total-e-bound.com.
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Swords of Passion: At Her Service
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