“Some game played between the highest and the mightiest of the lands I suspect, Lord Yves.” Thomas turned to face their host. The baron’s smile in reply was not reassuring nor one she would want to see again. He was clearly more involved with this intrigue than he would admit. “Now, I am done with it. I carried out my part and am finished but for one matter.”
He knelt then before her and took both of her hands in his. Her heart, which had been tearing itself apart, now became whole as he whispered to her the words that she’d never expected to hear.
“Be my wife, Annora? I have little to offer you, less than when this misadventure began, but I offer it to you.”
“Thomas, are you sure? You will lose everything you suffered for and could gain back.”
“Nay, I lost everything through my dishonorable actions and am not certain I deserve their return. You know, when I thought I might lose to le Govic, I did not think of the title or land. I thought of you. And the thought of losing you was too much to risk.”
Annora felt hope flow back into her heart now and allowed herself to believe. She had offered him her body, and now he offered his heart to her. He had vanquished her enemy and saved her soul. And now he asked to share her life.
“Aye, I will,” she whispered back.
“Come now,” Lord Yves called out as his servants opened the door and began ushering those within towards the Great Hall. “A feast, a celebration awaits us there.”
Within a few minutes, they were alone in the solar.
“You may want to wait until I sort this out with the king.” Drawing her up to her feet, Thomas sat down behind her and pulled her onto his lap.
“Are you changing your mind already?”
“Nay, my lady, but you might want to consider if you want this arrangement when you think about what you get out of it.”
“I think we need a new agreement between us,” she said, enjoying the feel of his body so close to hers. She shimmied a bit, and he groaned.
“And what would this new agreement say?” He tugged the veil out of his way, moved her braid and kissed the back of her neck, sending spirals of pleasure shooting through her body.
“I will have you anytime I want you, anywhere I want you, and in any manner I say. And you will allow me to touch you however I want to and in any manner,” she said, her voice growing deeper as the thought of what she wanted to do, and how she wanted to touch him, crossed her mind.
“You still have no idea of what that all entails, do you, sweetling?” She turned to meet his gaze and shook her head.
“Nay, Thomas. But I am certain you can help me find my way.”
He laughed then, a sound she only recently thought she would never hear again. It filled her with warmth and need.
And love.
He filled her with love.
The rest would have to work itself out.
Epilogue
Almost a year later
Kelso, The Borders of Scotland
“Come with me!” she said, tugging his hand to make him follow.
She made her way slowly these days as her belly grew larger. If the midwife were correct, the bairn, as they called babies here in Scotland, would arrive around midsummer’s day. That seemed fitting, since they’d met at a midsummer’s tournament and joined their lives in a way she’d never thought possible.
Now, in the late afternoon, the sun was still high enough in the sky to provide them with several more hours of daylight. And she had a plan for how they could spend it.
“Have a care, Annora,” he urged. “’Tis slippery here. What has you rushing so?”
“I found a place I want you to see,” she said.
He’d mentioned it to her long ago, once more after that first time. Mayhap on their way to see the king in Edinburgh or mayhap on their way here after the king relented and allowed Thomas to keep what he’d been promised? Once the king realized that her father had been insulted and humiliated by all that had transpired, he accepted Thomas’s explanation...and the new wife he presented as well. Annora had tucked this bit of knowledge away as she had many others, for the time when she would need it.
Or rather, need him.
Now, joining with him was more difficult, but that had not diminished her desire for him. Though he was considerate as he’d always been and made no demands on her, she tired of waiting for him to make the first step. She smiled, wondering what his reaction would be when he saw this place. They rounded the last curve on the path, and she stopped.
The nearby river turned just yards away, leaving a pool of water collecting here. She’d checked it and found she could walk into it easily and could stand in it, for there was no current to push her about. And, with the way the sunlight shone on it all day, the water was warmer than the rest of the river flowing there.
“You spoke once of a place such as this where you would take me in the water, over and over again,” she said softly. When he pressed against her, his erect cock did not surprise her. It never did. Annora leaned back and rested her head on his chest, knowing he would let his hands wander over her body.
“I want you here, my love. I want you in the water. I want you over and over. And then I want to lie on the bank there with you and let the breezes dry our skin.”
He cleared his throat several times before forcing a word, any word, out.
“Have I told you how much I love the way you seduce me, sweetling?” He gathered her gown and kirtle up in his hands and pulled them off in one motion, leaving her naked but for her hose and shoes. “Have I told you how much I love you?”
“You may have, but you can tell me again once we are in the water.”
Just a short while later, he did, and she did, and they did.
And their son was born a fortnight later on midsummer’s day, as was fitting.
From the Author:
Thanks for reading my part of our Midsummer Knights series. I had so much fun writing Thomas and Annora’s story – even more because Brisbois is the original form of my (married) name and it apparently does come all the way down from Norman French via Scotland and they were known as the King’s Torturer!
If you enjoyed AN OUTLAW’S HONOR, please spread the word by leaving a review on the site where you purchased your copy, or on another reader site. It’s the best way to help an author. Thanks so much!
Be sure to get the next book in the multi-author Midsummer Knights Tournament World series:
Never If Not Now by Madeline Hunter
They call him the Devil’s Blade and say that the fires of hell burn in him when he wields his sword.
It might be midsummer when Zander arrives at the tournament, but there is winter in his soul. Battle hardened and war weary, he intends to amass spoils, win the champion’s prize, and find a wealthy wife. Then he discovers that Elinor of York has accompanied her father to the tourney. He desired her as a youth, and soon learns that he still does. But whatever he will ever have of her will have to be seized in secret, before the tournament ends.
Elinor was born a lady but the last years have impoverished her. She now sews for coin, and takes care of her lame, aging father, a knight who blames Zander for his diminished fortunes and health. She should ignore the handsome knight whom she teased when they were young, but his magnetism draws her closer. He is not for her ---- he is her father’s enemy and she has no dowry. Yet he evokes sweet memories and deep emotions and a heart-wrenching dilemma-- Can she keep her father from issuing the challenge that will leave one of the men she loves dead?
Meet Terri Brisbin –
RWA RITA®-nominated, award-winning and USA Today best-selling author Terri Brisbin is a mom, a wife, grandmom(!) and a dental hygienist who has sold more than 3 million copies of her historical and paranormal romance novels and novellas in more than 25 countries and 20 languages. Her current and upcoming historical and paranormal/fantasy romances are published by Harlequin Historicals, Penguin Random House, St.
Martin’s Press/Swerve and independently, too.
For more info about Terri, her works and upcoming events visit:
TerriBrisbin.com
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Also Available from Terri Brisbin
MacKendimen Clan series
A Love Through Time – Book 1
Once Forbidden – Book 2
A Highlander’s Hope – a MacKendimen Clan Novella – Coming back soon!
A Matter of Time – Book 3
A Highland Feuding series
Stolen by the Highlander – Book 1
The Highlander’s Runaway Bride – Book 2
Kidnapped by the Highland Rogue – Book 3
Claiming His Highland Bride – Book 4
A Healer for the Highlander – Book 5
The Storm series
A Storm of Passion – Book 1
A Storm of Love – Novella - Book 2
A Storm of Pleasure – Book 3
Mistress of the Storm – Book 4
And more:
Brandywine Brides ~ A Blackwood Legacy Anthology
Upon A Misty Skye
Across A Windswept Isle
Kidnapping the Laird
The Queen’s Man
Sons of Sigurd series
Tempted by Her Viking Enemy (Book 5)
For more info on all of Terri’s books, visit
TerriBrisbin.com
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