The Conquest

by Julia Templeton

  Fury nearly choked him, almost as much as the jealousy squeezing his heart.

  They made it to the tower without saying a word to each other. As they climbed the spiral staircase, Elspeth glanced back at him, but it wasn’t until they reached the chamber door that she whirled around. “Ye saw her, didn’t ye?”

  He did his best to look confused. “Saw who?”

  She frowned, and dropped her gaze to her feet. “I thought…”

  Before he could respond, the chamber door whipped open and Rhiannon appeared, a wide smile on her face. “Elspeth, I cannot believe how wonderful that was. Thank ye so much. I shall never forget—”

  All the hope Adelstan had been feeling shattered as Rhiannon’s smile faded from her lips, her gaze shifting from Elspeth to Adelstan, who had stepped from the shadows.

  “Adelstan, what are ye doing here?”

  Adelstan put a hand on Elspeth’s shoulder, and pushed her gently aside. “I would like a word alone with your mistress.”

  “Sir, please do not do anything ye will regret,” Elspeth said, grabbing on to his tunic. Her tone and expression intense. “Give me your word.”

  He looked down at where she held a fistful of tunic, and she quickly released her hold on him.

  Chapter 11

  The last person Rhiannon expected to find at her chamber door, especially this time of night, was Adelstan Cawdor.

  Indeed, she’d been so excited to talk to Elspeth and thank her for sharing such an intimate moment with her, that when she’d seen Adelstan, her shock must have shown tenfold.

  From the look on Adelstan’s face, he was not here for a friendly visit either. In fact, he looked furious.

  The stable door had been locked, so no one could have known what had happened within those walls, right?

  Unless someone had seen her leaving…

  Composing herself, she walked away from the door.

  Without taking his eyes from her, he stepped in and shut the door firmly behind him. A moment later he slid the bolt in place.

  Her mouth went dry, and she lifted a goblet of ale with a trembling hand, bringing it to her lips.

  “Explain yourself.”

  Setting the goblet down before she toppled it, she nervously wrung her hands together and paced before him. “What would ye like me to explain?”

  “Why you, Elspeth, and Antony were in the stables behind locked doors.”

  Damn!

  What had Elspeth told him? Already she could feel her cheeks grow hot. “I do not want to say for fear of what ye might think of me.”

  He ran a hand through his thick, blond hair, and she was shocked to find he trembled as well. “I can assure you that whatever you have to say cannot be worse than the images racing through my mind.”

  She stopped her pacing and turned to him. “What images?”

  “I prefer not to say.”

  She stared at him for a long, awkward moment. “Oh my God, ye actually think I was with the two of them, don’t ye?”

  “Are you telling me you did not participate?”

  “Not in the way ye are implying.”

  He shook his head as though he had not heard her correctly. “Then pray, tell me what you mean.” He grabbed a chair, pulled it toward her, and straddled it, crossing his arms over the back. “I am all ears, my lady.”

  If he meant to intimidate her, he was doing one hell of a job. But even more, she found the way he sat now, his legs spread wide, his strong forearms braced over the back of the chair, sexy and masculine. He leaned forward, his light green eyes watching her closely as she paced back and forth.

  “I am waiting, Rhiannon.”

  Taking a deep breath, she turned to face him, folding her hands demurely before her. She could see the nerve play in his jaw, the way his gaze slid over her.

  She smiled inwardly. He was jealous. Jealous of what he believed had happened in that stable. What were the “images” that raced through his mind?

  He cleared his throat.

  “I have been curious as to what happens between a man and a woman for some time now, and since I am engaged and will be expected to share my husband’s bed, I thought it wise to ask someone for assistance.” Rhiannon took a deep breath, released it. “I have no mother to ask about such things, so instead I asked Elspeth to answer my many questions.”

  He shifted in the seat, looking increasingly uncomfortable.

  “When Elspeth offered me the opportunity to watch her and Antony make love in the stables, I told her I would like to.”

  His green eyes narrowed. “So you watched your servant and her lover engage in sex in order to know what to expect on your wedding night?”

  She met his gaze without blinking. “Aye, that is exactly what happened, whether ye choose to believe me or not. Do ye think me wicked?”

  “Did this experience answer all your questions?”

  “Nay.”

  He frowned.

  “Do ye think me wicked, Adelstan?”

  The corners of his mouth lifted the slightest bit, and she relaxed a little. She had shocked him perhaps, but she could also see the relief in those light green eyes of his.

  “I do not think you wicked, Rhiannon,” he said, his voice silky soft.

  * * *

  Adelstan was so relieved. Nails that had been digging into the chair rail relaxed and he even managed to smile.

  Rhiannon smiled in return, her chest rising and falling as she took a deep breath. The garment only reached to her ankles, showing off small, dainty feet.

  As he continued to watch her, she walked toward him, this bold girl, coming to a stop not an arm’s length away. He could see the outline of her pale nipples, and the triangle of hair that covered her sex. “This was not the only time I have seen two people making love.” A smile played at her lips.

  His cock lengthened and hardened. “If you walk around any castle, you are sure to find people making love in almost every dark alcove.”

  Her smile widened, a knowing grin that made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. “Even in a bakehouse?”

  He could feel blood rush to his face as her violet eyes stared into his.

  She had seen him with Machara, just as he’d suspected. She had not been leaving the chapel after prayer. Rather, she had been spying on him. Perhaps intentionally.

  “Your complexion has changed, Adelstan,” she said, the coy smile disappearing from her angelic face.

  “What I do on my own time should make little difference to you,” he said, the words coming out colder than intended.

  Her hands settled on her hips, pulling the material tight. He wished she wouldn’t have done that, because now he could make out every detail of her beautiful body. “Why should I have to explain myself if ye do not?”

  “You are to marry Baron de Cion, and he expects his bride to be chaste.”

  “Is he chaste?”

  Adelstan opened his mouth and closed it as quickly.

  She sighed in disgust and he noted her hands were closed into fists at her sides. “Why is it that a man can experience all lovemaking has to offer before he marries, and yet a woman is not allowed to do the same? I would be damaged goods if I slept with another, but I must accept him, a man who has been with many women, and even a wife! It is so unfair.”

  Pressing her lips together, she started pacing again. “I wish I had been born a man.” She looked at him then, caught his gaze. “If I were a man, I would want to be as tall and strong as ye, and as handsome.”

  His stomach tightened.

  “Ye are the perfect specimen, Adelstan. I have watched the women in this castle turn to pottage when ye come around. They begin to giggle and twitter amongst themselves, each vying for your attention, waiting for the moment ye notice them.”

  Uncomfortable with the direction the conversation had taken, Adelstan stood, and put the chair aside. “I have kept you too long. You must be tired.”

  “Do not leave yet,” she said, the words desperat
e. “Please, Adelstan. I don’t want ye to go.”

  She took a deep breath, her chest heaving as she awaited his answer.

  All the blood in his body went straight to his cock.

  “I do not wish to cause speculation by being with you in your chamber.”

  “Why are ye always worried about what others will think of ye? Why do ye care so much?”

  His heart slammed against his chest as she walked toward him. “What do you mean?”

  She stopped before him, and looked up, deep into his eyes. “Ye asked me earlier if watching Elspeth and Antony had answered all my questions about making love, and I told ye no, that it hadn’t. Do ye know why that is?”

  He shook his head, fearful of her next words.

  “I want to know everything there is to know when it comes to making love. I want to make my lover happy, and please him in every way. Most women in my shoes know that a man comes to her bed, and lies with her, and that she may have a child. That is all she knows. But I know there is so much more, for I have seen it with my eyes, have watched it unfold and felt my body respond to what I was seeing.”

  His cock bucked and he grit his teeth at the wicked images racing in his mind.

  “I know that true pleasure can be experienced when a man slips his sex into a woman’s entrance,” she said, running her hand down her belly, to her mons.

  He swallowed hard, tried not to look at where she touched herself, but failed miserably.

  “I know how to take a man’s length inside my mouth and fondle his ballocks while I—”

  “Rhiannon, enough,” he warned, cutting her off, trying to ignore the pulsing ache deep in his cock, and the intense fire that burned within his veins.

  Her gaze shifted from his, down over his chest and belly, to the obvious ridge of his hard sex.

  She reached out, touched him there with the same hand that had been on her sex just moments before. Her elegant fingers cupped his cock. He wanted to pull away. God help him he did, but his legs were like stone, much as his cock, and he couldn’t move to save his life.

  “This is what I want. To feel the very essence of your manhood in my hand.” Her fingers molded around his thick length and he groaned low in his throat. “Can I feel ye, Adelstan?”

  He opened his mouth to speak, and her hand moved to the cord of his braies. Warning bells rang in his head, and yet he ignored them as his braies loosened about his hips and her hand found him.

  Her innocent touch was his undoing, and when she looked down at him, her violet eyes dark with desire, a wide smile on her full lips, all his willpower dissipated.

  He lifted her in his arms and marched toward the bed, tossing her on the blankets that had already been turned down. She went up on her elbows, alarm on her face…until he reached behind his neck and pulled the tunic from his body.

  * * *

  Rhiannon could scarcely breathe. She had wanted this from the first moment she had set eyes on Adelstan.

  His hair was mussed from pulling off his tunic, the locks falling past his broad shoulders in thick waves. He tossed the garment aside, and she stared at the wide expanse of chest, the flat, small nipples, the hard planes of his abdomen that bunched with each movement.

  A familiar ache built within her, settling between her legs, making her hot and wet. She had never been so excited in all her life. She wanted this more than she’d ever wanted anything.

  She scarcely blinked as he stripped off his braies, his cock jutting from his body, large and proud.

  Then he was on the bed, crawling up, settling over her, his erection wedged between them. She had never experienced anything so wonderful, so beautiful, so special. Having every hard inch of his body pressed against hers sent jolts of pleasure throughout her.

  His mouth covered hers, and she opened wide for him. For long minutes they just kissed, exploring each other’s mouths, tasting, touching, followed by a longer, deeper kiss that had her shifting beneath him, wanting to feel him inside her.

  Her hands wandered from his shoulders, down over his strong back, to his narrow waist, and the high buttocks, which she squeezed tight. He smiled against her lips and she opened her eyes to find him staring at her, his long dark lashes casting shadows on his sharp cheekbones.

  So beautiful, this English warrior.

  She remembered the way Elspeth had moved against Antony, and she lifted her hips against Adelstan. He smiled again, and dipped his head to kiss her. She closed her eyes, too, and enjoyed the moment, just the feel of lips against lips, tongue against tongue, heart pounding against heart.

  His hands moved down her side, grazing a breast, but not stopping there. He traced her ribs, her waist, her hip, before taking the same path up again, this time stopping at her breast. His large hand covered her there, and she released a sigh.

  “Ye have no idea how long I have waited for this,” she whispered against his lips.

  The sides of his mouth curved slowly. He pulled gently at her nipple, rolling the bud between thumb and finger. The sensations within her built by the second, a need that shot from her breasts to her wet, aching sex.

  Wanting to do some exploring of her own, she urged him to roll over. Instantly, she liked the sensation of being in control, of having the freedom to touch him how she wanted.

  Adelstan reached for her undertunic, and brought it up and over her head, tossing it aside. Her first reaction was to cover herself, but she stopped short of doing so, dropping her hands to his chest.

  “You’re so beautiful,” he said, his gaze shifting to the rose-colored nipples that tipped her magnificent full breasts. The firm mounds were a perfect handful and he palmed both of them. The hair at her sex already glistened with her dew.

  She was so ripe, so ready.

  She touched his jaw, his neck, his chest, her fingers splaying over the wide muscle there. Her lips followed the trail her fingers had begun, and she could see and feel the hair on his arms stand on end.

  Continuing downward, she kissed his flat abdomen, his navel, her tongue drawing tiny circles around and inside the small valley, before following the line of hair to the glorious cock that bucked at her attentions. The heavily veined appendage sprouted from a nest of golden hair leading to an impressive crown and a small slit where a drop of fluid had already formed.

  She licked the bead from his cockhead, before her mouth closed over him.

  He let out a groan that pleased her to the core. Aye, she would never forget that sound for as long as she lived.

  Concentrating, she tried to mirror Elspeth’s motions earlier, but knew she had much to learn.

  Adelstan’s blood burned within his veins. His balls were tight against his body. He would not come before he had her. He could not. They had come too far for that.

  “I will not last,” he said, reaching for her, pulling her up, and then flipping her over yet again, needing her beneath him just as he had envisioned a million times in recent days.

  Her arms wrapped about his neck, pulling him close. He used his knees to nudge her thighs open wide. Guiding the head of his cock to her entrance, he had to grit his teeth when she lifted her hips to greet him.

  He kissed her at the same time he entered her, capturing her cry with his lips. He moaned as he settled fully within her, her inner muscles cradling him like a glove, so unbelievably tight, so hot.

  And then he began to move.

  With each thrust, the pain subsided, followed by a pleasure that had Rhiannon eagerly meeting each stroke. One of his large hands moved down her side, reaching for her buttocks, cradling her. With the other, he touched her breast, his fingers playing with her nipple, bringing her need to a fever pitch.

  He bent his head, kissed her throat and the tops of her breasts, before taking a rigid nipple into his mouth.

  The dual sensations of being filled with his cock and him sucking her nipples were almost too much for Rhiannon to bear. He dropped his forehead to hers, increased his strokes, faster and faster, and she met each th
rust, her fingernails digging into his shoulders.

  Her heart slammed against her chest. With each thrust she came closer to orgasm, her insides tightening, her breathing increasing, and then it happened…her world exploded, her inner muscles squeezing him tight, taking her to a place she could only describe as paradise.

  Adelstan felt the tremors clamp around his cock, pulling him in deeper. He caught Rhiannon’s soft cries with his mouth, and as she held on to him, he thrust again and again. He groaned loud when his release came, pulling out of her sweet body just in time.

  Chapter 12

  Adelstan woke up, felt the soft body beside him, and knew with a sinking feeling he had done exactly what he’d promised himself never to do.

  He had made love to Rhiannon MacKay.

  Malgor de Cion, and quite possibly Renaud, too, would see him swing from the highest rafters while the soldiers he had fought side by side with for over a decade applauded.

  Why in God’s name had he come to her chamber last night?

  Because you were jealous of Antony, and you wanted to discover for yourself if she was as true and as chaste as she claimed to be.

  And chaste she had been, of that he had no doubt. He had broken through her maidenhead, heard her sharp cry of pain. Last night he had found heaven in her arms, and had been stunned at the depth of the emotion he felt for her then, at that moment, when he’d looked into her incredible eyes as he made love to her. And now, as she lay sleeping beside him, the last thing he wanted to do was leave her, but leave her he must, before day broke over the land.

  Damn, what had he been thinking?

  He ran a trembling hand down his face, wondering how on earth he could fix what had been done.

  Removing Rhiannon’s hand from his chest, he sat up and went completely still when she shifted beside him, a soft moan coming from her full lips.

  He looked down at her sleeping form illuminated by the light of the moon through the small window above them, and could not help but smile. It was hard to equate the innocent sleeping beside him with the vixen in this very bed hours before.