by Wood, Lynn
“To give me the beauty of our joining as a man and woman would not be taking advantage of me. And yes Luke I would have you carry the memory of this night with you all the days of your life. Then at least I would know I mattered to someone. You will remember me kindly, will you not?”
He was losing the battle with his knightly honor and with his conscious. Each soft word, each pleading argument was making her request of him seem not so outrageous. He could almost convince himself he would be giving her what she most wanted, granting the dying wish of a friend, and perhaps, a one-time lover.
“Melissa.” Her name echoed in the air around them as he stared up into her hopeful expression. The fever gave her skin the fragility of an infant’s. Her eyes were deep blue pools framed by thick dark lashes. What he read in them chased away the last of his doubt. But he refused to dishonor her, now at the end. “You said you never thought to wed.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“I did not think I could ever trust a stranger to have such control over my destiny.”
“We are no longer strangers, Melissa.”
Her brows drew together in confusion. “Luke, there is no time for such formalities to ease your foolish conscience.”
The corners of his lips kicked up at her rebuke. “If there was a priest among us, I would ask him to bless our union before I lay with you as a man lays with his wife.”
“You are so incredibly sweet.”
His shoulders shook with laughter at her adjective. “But since there is no priest available to us, I will instead ask that you bind yourself to me in your heart. Lady Melissa will you join your life with mine? Will you accept me as your husband?”
Melissa stared down into his sinfully handsome face, was stunned at the beauty of his request and his proposal, even if it was only to salve his conscious at what he felt would be the loss of his honor if he acquiesced to her appeal to him. She tricked him into giving her his vow before he had an inkling of what her request would be. She could grant him this small concession. She could agree to bind their lives together for the short time left to her. “Yes, Luke, I would be honored to be your wife. At least until death brings about our inevitable parting.”
“I am quite certain that will not be long enough for me.” He drew her face towards him and sealed their vows with a gentle kiss. Then he reached behind her back and drew the ring bearing his family crest from his first finger. He lifted her left hand where it rested against his chest and placed it on her much smaller finger. Melissa stared at it wonderingly even as the heavy gold band circled loosely around her finger. She closed her fist to keep the ring from sliding off. The eyes she lifted to Luke’s were filled with awed tears.
“You honor me too greatly, Luke. You will be certain to retrieve this when I’m…well you know.”
“No, I will not. It is with the woman I choose for my wife, the one I would share my life with if fate was kinder.”
Their glances locked even as their lips met. There was no rush now that she understood where this journey would take her. They were free to savor each moment, each slow coming together, each fresh sensation. Melissa no longer felt the chill in the air when she sat up and straddled him. He helped her rid herself of the weight of her gown, then set her gently by his side while he disrobed. Naked they fell back into each other’s arms, their hands seeking, mouths searching. Melissa gave herself up to the beauty of Luke’s lovemaking.
There was no regret for what she would surrender to this enemy knight tonight. Luke was not her enemy. He was her lover and her heart rejoiced she would not pass from this world never knowing the glory of giving herself fully to him. She sat up and straddled him once more and felt his male member nestled beneath her. She slid along him as her eyes clung to his and watched him fall deeper under the spell she wove around him. One strong hand cupped her heavy breasts and his thumb toyed with her erect nipple. She quickened her pace, feeling the dampness between her legs. He swallowed the groan he could not completely suppress and lifted his head until his lips closed around her breast. She threw her head back as the intense pleasure soared through her. This was life. This was healing. This was everything.
He pulled her down against him, then rolled over so she was beneath him. He lifted his eyes and their glances locked. His hand trailed down the soft flesh of her belly and sought out the damp curls shielding her woman’s core from him. “Yes,” she whispered as his fingers tangled in the taut curls and pulled gently. His lips curved as he watched her eyes go blind with longing and dazed passion. He slipped one finger inside her molten core and she eagerly spread her legs wider for his further exploration. “Don’t stop,” she begged him as he stroked her, readying her for his invasion.
“I don’t think all of the demons of hell could make me stop now.”
She smiled up at him and her eyes were filled with recognition of her womanly power of him. Luke felt no regret at this newly discovered weakness. Knew it would have always been so with this woman. He understood better now his friend’s complete surrender to his wife’s charming beauty. Surrender didn’t make a woman weak. A woman’s surrender made her mate weak. He knew in this moment there was nothing he wouldn’t do for this woman no matter how outrageous her demand. “Come to me now, Luke. I would know what it is to be joined completely with you, where there is no you anymore and no me, just us, together as the fates intended.”
His eyes held hers as he reached down and lifted her hand and led it to his straining passion. Her hand jerked in surprise as she felt his heat and the softness that covered his erect sword. “Luke?” Her voice was not so certain now, and he knew she was calculating in her head the difference in their sizes and what such a difference would mean to her.
“You must trust me, Melissa. It is too late for the doubts I can see in your eyes and hear in your voice. You are my wife. If only for this one night. I will have your surrender beneath me. No other man will ever touch you.”
“I could never want another, Luke. Even if I lived a thousand years, there is no other man’s touch I could ever crave as I long for yours.”
“Spread your legs for me, wife. Make a place of welcome for me inside of you.” His harsh demand was that of a lord over a submissive subject but surprisingly Melissa felt no resentment rise within her at his bold command. This was what she wanted…what she begged him for. She spread her legs wider, her eyes clinging to the certainty she read in his.
“Trust me,” he repeated as he positioned himself above her.
Melissa thought it was like watching a prized stallion readying himself to mount a mare. She shivered in anticipation as he parted her. Her lips parted in surprise as he began to enter her slowly, savoring each inch. She could see him fighting against his body’s natural urging to plunge into her and claim her virginity in one vicious thrust. Whether it was out of consideration for her condition, or if he thought to prolong their pleasure in each other, she didn’t know. Her thoughts no longing lined up in an orderly manner inside her head. They were all jumbled now, dancing around in an unrestrained fashion she could not hope to bring order to. “Luke.” His name escaped her parted lips on a soft sigh as he pushed deeper within her. Pleasure warred with pain as he penetrated further and further inside until he stopped abruptly and she raised questioning eyes to his face.
His glance locked with hers. Sweat beaded across his brow at the strain of holding his body in check. His naked skin gleamed with a fine sheen of sweat and the muscles of his arms and chest glimmered in the uncertain light. He was every inch the victorious conqueror now as he held himself in check, his eyes piercing her own for any sign of regret, any hesitation on her part.
“Take me now, Luke.”
His mouth captured hers to smother the sound of her scream of both pain and stunned astonishment as he plunged into her and broke through the shield guarding her virginity. Tears filled and quickly spilled from her eyes even as her body jerked upward trying to rid itself of his invasion, unintentionally
driving him deeper into her. They both moaned into the other’s mouth. Melissa against the pain, Luke against the strain of holding back. Melissa tried to turn her head away from his so she could tell him to stop. She was no longer a virgin, and he had been right earlier when he informed her the pleasure she experienced from his stroking hand was far greater than what she would experience in surrendering her virginity to him.
There was no pleasure in this act. Perhaps Luke was doing it wrong, or maybe she was incapable of giving herself to a man in such a way. Then Luke’s hand reached down between them and began stroking her as he had done earlier and she was glad his mouth still covered hers, because he was there to swallow her fresh scream of pleasure at his touch. He slowed his hand and turned his lips to her ear.
“Better?”
Melissa tried to gather her scattered thoughts enough to answer him. “I don’t know. I can’t think. Just don’t stop.”
“No, never,” he promised as he withdrew partially, smiling when she clenched her legs together to try and keep him inside. He kissed her again, as he plunged deeply back into her moist sheath. Her mouth clung to his even as the sound of her erotic moans drove him beyond his control. Instinct took over. Instinct and pure male lust. He withdrew and pushed back into her hot center and Melissa eagerly met each forceful thrust. She wrapped her legs around him and he was surprised by the strength still inside her as she resisted each rhythmic withdrawal. He couldn’t hold back much longer. He reached down to stroke the opening straining to accept his thrusting passion. Her eyes went blind. She lifted her head off the ground and strained against his seeking fingers. When her lips parted on a fresh scream of release, he swallowed it, even as he pushed back into her one last time and finally surrendered to his own passion.
They returned slowly back to an awareness of where they were. The damp, cold ground of the shallow cave lay beneath them. Luke rolled them both over so Melissa would be cushioned against his warmth. Luke had no complaints to voice with their surroundings and from the smile curving her lips where she now rested against his chest, he guessed Melissa had very few of her own.
Chapter Nine
Melissa wasn’t certain what roused her from her sweet dreams. A deep silence hung over the dark corner of the cave where she lay cuddled in Luke’s strong arms. His heart beating against her ear was the only sound she could detect within the warm cocoon of their solitary retreat. An unfamiliar peace filled her, and sighing with contentment she snuggled closer in her lover’s embrace even as she lifted her head to search the shadowed cave for some sign of what woke her. At her subtle movements, Luke’s arms tightened possessively around her though he failed to stir and there was no break in the steady rhythm of his breath. Cold, damp air brushed her bare skin but all she could detect in the shadows was the wispy clouds of her own breaths made visible by the icy air.
Shrugging away her nagging feeling they were not alone in the cave, she lay her head back down on Luke’s chest, reached down to draw his warm cloak closer around them and would have closed her eyes in search of her pleasant dreams when she caught sight of her near the entrance, seemingly taking advantage of the warmth of the fire that burned brightly there. Melissa didn’t move but her eyes met warily the old woman’s amused glance where she sat leaning against the stone wall, her legs crossed negligently in front of her. She seemed unaffected by the cold. Her light cloak was not drawn close around her to block the wind, and the deep hood lay unused on her back, her long silver hair blowing gently in the breeze.
Melissa sighed with regret as her fleeting dream of happily-ever-after fantasies with Luke died in her heart at the woman’s appearance. She supposed that explained why she could no longer feel the searing pain in her limbs, and why her breaths were no longer painful. The old woman’s return spoke to the reason. He had sent her. It was time for her to pay the price of her recklessness. Hadn’t he warned her this day of reckoning would come? So be it. Besides, her dream of a life with Luke was simply that…a dream. Despite Luke’s romantic declaration of the night before, there could be no hope of a future between them. He was her enemy. It was easy to offer foolishly gallant promises when one had no expectation of having to live with the consequences of those promises in the light of a new day. Resigned she turned her attention back to the woman.
“Have you come to tell me it’s time for me to leave now? If so, then I’m ready.” Her words were a whisper so as not to disturb Luke.
“Are you?” The old woman’s voice was so clear it cut through the cold and Melissa was tempted to chastise her for not being more mindful of Luke’s presence. If he woke, things would only get more complicated than they already were.
“Well, perhaps not as ready as I thought I was,” Melissa confessed in a surprising burst of honesty, “but I’m prepared to leave this life without too many regrets to pull me back.”
“You surprise me, child.” At Melissa’s querying look, she nodded to where she lay in Luke’s arms. “Is this not the brother of the man who assaulted you?”
“Yes, but only his half-brother.” Melissa jumped to Luke’s defense.
“And is he not your enemy?”
“He is a Norman if that is what you’re asking.”
“And yet you love him.”
Melissa considered denying her companion’s conclusion, guessed it was probably a futile effort to lie to someone who could so easily cross the veil separating life and death, and admitted, “Yes.” At her companion’s raised brow, she added defensively. “It is no sin to love him.”
Laughter filled the cave. For a moment Melissa wondered why Luke didn’t hear the joyful sound, and why his men didn’t come to investigate the potential threat to their lord, but then belatedly concluded hallucinations could only be perceived by the person having them.
“No child, it is never a sin to love. I am merely reminded of our earlier conversation when you declared you did not wish to learn to love again. Yet here you are.”
“Yes. Here I am.” Melissa sighed and cuddled closer in Luke’s arms.
“How are you feeling?”
“What?”
“I asked how you were feeling.”
“I’m dying. Why would you ask me such a ridiculous question?”
“Are you?”
“You speak in riddles. Am I what?”
“Dying.”
“Of course I’m dying. You told me so yourself.” Melissa thought it was unkind of the old woman to tease her, particularly now, when Melissa could feel the tears stinging her eyes at the prospect of yet another loss this stupid war would demand of her. She supposed the old woman did this a lot. Was it her job then to usher the dead to their final resting place, be it heaven or hell? Was she an angel then? Melissa doubted it. Surely an angel would adopt a gentler manner with those about to depart this life.
“Did I?”
Melissa furrowed her brow in concentration, trying to regain the thread of their conversation. Oh, of course, they were debating the matter of her death. She thought she should drop a hint in her companion’s ear that in future such endeavors she would do well not to dwell on the unpleasant topic with the dying soul any more than was absolutely necessary. Piqued at the woman’s puzzling riddles and questionable manners, she demanded. “Why are you here if it’s not to lead me to the other side beyond death?”
“Why indeed?”
Melissa did not care to debate the matter any further with her mysterious companion. “I am going back to sleep now. I am not quite ready to leave just yet. Come back at dawn. I’ll go with you then. Think how embarrassed Luke would be if he woke in the morning only to find me still alive. I will not break my promise to him when I insisted he keep his to me.”
“What promise is that?”
“I promised Luke he wouldn’t be stuck with me. I’m dying and that’s that.”
The old woman laughed at her definitive pronouncement. Melissa figured she should probably be offended by her imaginary companion’s amusement at her expense.
She was reconsidering her earlier conclusion the woman was one of God’s beloved firstborn. The old woman didn’t appear very angelic to her way of thinking. She doubted one of God’s heavenly companions would be having so much fun at her expense.
Melissa felt her lids grow heavy and she burrowed closer against Luke’s warm flesh, comforted by the strength of his arms surrounding her, holding her close against his heart. She was definitely dying. Hadn’t she been drifting in and out of consciousness these past days and nights? Wasn’t the lethargic heaviness of her limbs binding her physical body more closely to earth while at the same time a lightness of spirit seemed to be calling her to heaven? When she woke in the morning it would be in a place far removed from this cold, dark cave. And far removed from where Luke would still linger in the land of the living. Would he mourn her? She thought so, perhaps a little. They were unlikely friends before they were lovers. Friends did not break their promises to each other, even if lovers sometimes did. She would honor her vow to her very dear friend. Luke would not be stuck with her. She was dying and that was definitely that.
Only, when she stirred before the fragile light of dawn pierced the darkness hovering over the entrance to the cave, she wasn’t…dead that was. Melissa was so stunned to wake up and find herself in the same damp cavern she didn’t know whether she should be relieved or disappointed. She couldn’t regret knowing this sensation, of waking in Luke’s arms, of feeling his breath disturb the tendrils of her hair where she rested against his heart. She breathed deeply of his uniquely masculine scent, and noted surprised how easily her breath came. It didn’t seem to make the rattling sound of approaching death she’d grown so accustomed to lately. In fact, her chest no longer hurt when she drew a deep breath the way it had only a day earlier.
Confused by the contrary evidence presented her, Melissa took stock of the rest of her injuries. The scratches on her arms and legs didn’t burn as intensely. Her limbs didn’t seem to be filled with the lethargy of approaching death. Her thoughts raced more clearly through her head. What was going on? She was supposed to be dead by now, not recovering from what she knew were her mortal injuries. Was the old woman playing some sort of trick on her?
