by Jill Hughey
The would-be thieves agreed with him heartily.
“What do you think, Theo?” David asked grimly.
Theo rode around them, looking them up and down, before announcing decisively, “We kill them. I get the crying one, you take the one who has wet his braise.”
Rochelle nearly shouted a protest, but the bandits beat her to it.
“Oy!” yelled the thief with the club as he took off running, his partner on his heels. David and Theo watched them go. Magnus perked his ears for a moment, then settled back to panting.
As the sounds of crashing brush and panicked whimpers faded, Theo shouted with laughter, slapping his leg with mirth. “God forgive me, I never get tired of that,” he finally chortled, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. “Told the others to wait on the road. I will go tell them everyone is all right.”
“Tell that worthless man of yours that guarding someone usually means keeping her in sight, and moving his fat ass when a dog sounds an alarm!” David said angrily. Theo waved over his shoulder as he rode away.
Rochelle leaned over to gulp calming air into her lungs, her free hand braced on her knee while her other hand still clutched the dagger. “What just happened?” she finally stammered.
David slipped off Woden’s back and came to her side, putting his hands at her waist to help her straighten, then turning her to face him. “We saw those two on the road coming toward us. They ran off through the trees before we could speak with them. I came back to make sure they did not bother any of you. You were gone, so I came to find you.” He stood very close to her, the planes of his face hard and lean. “Your absence scared the hell out of me, Rochelle.”
She leaned into him a little. “I told Mother and –“
“You did nothing wrong,” he said sharply. He let out a puff of breath, then pulled her fully against him in a gentle hug. “At least Magnus made enough noise to bring me straight to you.” They stood for an astounding minute, her cheek against his cloak, his arms around her. Tears prickled in Rochelle’s eyes as she absorbed the comfort and security she hadn’t known she needed. She tentatively put her arms around his waist. He stiffened. “Be careful with that dagger.”
“Oh, I am so sorry!” Rochelle cried as she dropped the dagger on the ground. She pulled out of his embrace.
“I should not have said anything.” He retrieved the weapon to hand it to her. “You obviously do not know how to use it anyway. A dagger is only useful in close proximity. This little thorn will not frighten any man worth his salt. In your case, surprise is your best defense. Conceal it in your cloak, like this. When an attacker approaches, strike quickly before he overpowers you.” He gripped her hand to point the dagger at various points around his neck and head. “Go for the neck. It is usually unprotected by heavy clothing. Right under the jawbone will bleed him out quickly. The temple is good but hard to hit cleanly. A stab straight in the eye will back anyone up.”
Rochelle screwed up her face at the thought of stabbing someone’s eye.
David reached out and pulled her up tight against him. “Of course, if he has hold of you thus, a shot to the body might be your only option. Go for the belly if you can. Or back here,” he said, illustrating with his own fingertips pressed into her back above her hip bones, “back here will work, but you have to punch it in like you mean it or you will not get through all the cloth and muscle.”
He kept his hands there, shaking her a little as though hoping to make some of this nonsense settle into her brain. She could only gape up into his face, still taut with anger.
“You are really teaching me how to stab someone?”
“I am teaching you how to not make a fool of yourself when you are being robbed.”
“A fool! I did not cry or faint or…or…. I told them to leave your dog alone! I was over here gathering herbs for you, you thoughtless cur. And all you can say is I made a fool of my self?” She tried to wrench herself out of his grasp.
He clamped his mouth shut for a moment. “It would never occur to me that you would succumb to hysterics,” he retorted. He pulled her closer and rested his chin on her head. “You were very brave.” His voice had softened and grown a little hoarse. Rochelle quieted against him. His legs pressed against hers like iron and the wool of his cloak rubbed pleasantly on her chin. It was calming to be held after such a harrowing experience.
“I do not like to think of what would have happened if Magnus had not been with you.” He tightened his arms around her. “Waving your dagger around would not have slowed them down for long.”
“I will try to do better next time,” she said, sarcasm lacing her words.
He pulled his head back to look in her eyes. “I hope you are not planning to make a habit of this. I might faint the next time.”
Rochelle giggled. “More days like this are not in my plans for the future.”
His eyes bored into her with greater intensity. “What are your plans for the future?”
Rochelle could not hide her discomfort at this sudden change in topic. She thought she knew where his questions would lead. Her gaze slid uneasily away. “I will return to Alda with all haste. There is much to do in preparation for winter. There is always…much to occupy me.”
“I am coming with you. This encounter today has made my duty clear. Rather than teach you to use your dagger, I should take my role as your protector more seriously. I am sure you will be welcome to rest a day or two at Theo’s house while I gather my belongings, then we will continue to Alda.”
Rochelle extricated herself from his embrace and sheathed her dagger. “That is not necessary. I have never heard of anyone attacked on the road between Ribeauville and Alda.”
“There are thieves everywhere,” he argued, following her to Denes’s side.
“Perhaps on the roads you travel, but not where I am from.” She led Denes on an earnest search for a mounting platform.
“Even you are not that naïve. Stand here and talk to me! Why are you leading that horse around?”
She turned on him. “My only mistake today was not knowing where I could mount up again. I had plenty of time to get away except I could not get on my blessed horse. This journey has broken some of my better habits. I think you are fully aware of this, and I must tell you, I understand what you have been doing.”
“Doing?”
“You have been trying to make me depend on you and become comfortable with you. Look where it got me.”
“Somehow it is my fault you cannot climb on your own horse?” David retorted with obvious exasperation.
“Yes. And it is just such dependencies that I loathe. I do not want some man hovering around to pick me up and put me down and tell me when I will travel.” Rochelle marched through the woods again. Surely there must be a downed tree somewhere!
“How can you accuse me of creating dependency when I just taught you how to kill a man with your own dagger?”
“Then promptly explained that I will never need to do so because it is your duty to protect me.” Even Rochelle knew her logic was shaky at best, but her resolve against him eroded daily. Tiny grains of independence trickled away on streams of his kindnesses and touches and private glances. It was beguiling, was it not, the thought of a life with him, each tending to the other’s needs? She feared at some point his needs and wants would take precedence over her own, and then what would she have?
He thrust his hand into his hair with a growl of frustration. “We are talking – and walking – in circles! It is my duty to protect you. That does not mean I have any intention of hovering over you or controlling every movement you make.” He reached to turn her to face him but stopped, realizing that physically maneuvering her against her will was not the best tactic at the moment. “Do you believe me?” He asked her retreating back. She stopped walking. “Do you?”
“I want to believe you,” she said, her voice quavering.
“Then do,” he answered simply. “You have seen me at my weakest, Rochelle. I have bee
n flat on the ground completely at your mercy, completely in your care. Somehow, with these sticks and leaves you collect, you can ease my way through this life a little bit. Is that a power you intend to use to control me?”
She whirled, indignant. “Of course not!”
“Why do you think I would do that to you? Just because I could does not mean I will.” He paced. “If I have been trying to do anything in the days past, it is to show you how well we complement one another. In areas where I need help, you are already strong. And vice versa, although you are so fiercely protective of your independence it is almost impossible to even find a way to help you. It is maddening, Rochelle!”
She scuffed her feet in the leaf litter. He had shamed her, reminding her of his headache, of how overwhelmed by pain he had been. It had not lowered her opinion of him as a man. If anything, his brief weakness had deepened her regard for him by making him seem more human, and more approachable. Why was the idea of being at his mercy, even in much smaller ways, so galling to her? She didn’t have a good answer.
“I cannot explain how I feel.” She ran her hand over her face. “I do not know my own thoughts. It is as if…as if I have lost my bearings.”
“Then do not stray too far from me,” he said sharply. “I have never arrived in Bavaria when I was trying to get to Breton.”
She stared at him, wishing she knew a way to break the tension of their conversation.
“Here is that stump you have been looking for. Mount up and come back to Woden. We will find the others.”
He walked away from her. She found very little satisfaction in climbing onto the stump or sliding into the saddle on her own. It was, indeed, a very small accomplishment. There were no blaring horns of triumph to replace the squeeze of his fingers as he gave her the reins. The thick leather pommel did not send sparks up her arms like the warmth of David’s broad shoulders. And something about the view of those shoulders as he stalked away from her in anger tore at her heart.
Chapter Eleven
That night, they all sat around the fire discussing the plans for parting the next day. David and Theo would break their journey at Ribeauville while Rochelle, Marian, Gilbert, and Theo’s two men continued on to Alda.
“We should be in town by midday,” Theo said. “Perhaps you will stop for a meal at my home?”
“No,” Rochelle said quickly. She glanced over at David almost guiltily. To his credit, he had not again raised the subject of accompanying her. They had ridden together all afternoon, but he seemed bridled in his treatment of her, as if there were things he wanted to say that he knew were better left alone.
Theo admonished her, “I am sure your mother would enjoy even one night of rest before continuing, Rochelle.”
Although eager to be home, Rochelle did not want to be cruel. She looked to Marian, who quickly declined the offer. “Theophilus, ye are kind to be thinking of me. But I agree with Rochelle. We have been too long gone at an important time of year. Our responsibility now is to our tenants.” She sighed deeply. “Preparations for winter come before my sore posterior.” Everyone at the fire laughed with her. “Having said that, I think my tired bones are ready for the blankets.”
“I will go with you to change,” Rochelle said. Theo and David rose to help them up and find their things in the cart.
“Do not go far,” David said in a low voice. “I do not expect those two thieves to come back, but will not completely discount the possibility.”
Rochelle peered at the dark forest around them. “Oh. I had hoped to go over by the stream to wash a little.”
“Go ahead. We will stand far enough away to protect your modesty but close enough to get to you quickly.” The four of them began to walk, with Theo and David each holding a torch aloft to show them the way.
“And Magnus will be with us,” Rochelle added.
David’s teeth gleamed in the darkness. “He has taken quite a liking to you.”
“He is a good dog. I could not believe the transformation in him today.” At Marian’s question, Rochelle explained how Magnus had held off the bandits until David had arrived. “And then, when David simply said ‘stop’, Magnus did. I had the distinct feeling he has witnessed that scene played out a few times before.”
“Perhaps,” David agreed with a small nod of his head while Theo laughed out loud.
“David and I have a few good stories to tell along those lines.”
“I would like to hear them sometime,” Rochelle said, surprising herself. She was surprised in two ways: first, in saying it out loud, and second, in the fact that it was the truth. She would love to hear their stories and know more about their adventures.
“And so you shall!” Theo agreed boisterously.
The sound of the stream penetrated the darkness. As they reached the bank, Theo thrust the end of the torch into the damp earth so the women would be able to see, then he and David retreated. They stood with their backs to the stream. David was acutely aware that a short distance behind him Rochelle was probably in some state of undress. Thankfully, the sound of the water camouflaged any rustle of cloth or splashing indicative of exactly what she was wearing or doing.
Marian quickly rejoined them. “That water is too cold for me. Walk me back, Theo.” David wordlessly handed over his torch. He sensed, not for the first time on their trip, that he had an ally in Rochelle’s mother. She had allowed him almost unlimited daytime access to her daughter, and now was leaving her alone in his care in the dark. He had no intention of taking advantage of the situation, no matter how tempting it might be. He would not even turn around. He clasped his hands behind his back and rolled to and fro on the balls of his feet thinking about the various agonizing injuries he had sustained on the field of battle.
When Rochelle finally emerged, her left arm was full of clothing. He quickly took the torch from her right hand. Her sweet earthy scent wafted to David’s nose. Desire coursed through him. He slipped his free hand to the small of her back to gently guide her through the darkness.
She smiled shyly up at him. “Thank you.”
“What for?”
“For waiting while I washed. For today. You said this afternoon you think I make it difficult for you to help me, but to my mind you are always on hand to help me when I need it. I know I have been waspish about it. I cannot promise that will change. But at this moment, I do thank you.”
He stopped walking. “Rochelle,” he said, his voice thick. “I think I have to kiss you now.”
“I am sure that is not a good idea,” she said, her eyes flickering in the direction of the campfire.
“It is not an idea, it is a necessity.” Holding the torch far from them, he slipped his hand from her back to her hip. His head dropped slowly to her, his lips brushing across hers, testing. She involuntarily leaned into him, clothing pillowed between their chests. Her free hand crept up to lay on his shoulder. He deepened the kiss, teasing her with his tongue until she parted her lips. With a groan, he pulled her hips forward. She felt the hard length of his manhood against her belly.
When his tongue swirled into her mouth, she jerked her head back in surprise. She had not known such things were done. Not that it had been unpleasant, just unexpected. He gazed at her with hooded eyes, simply waiting without pursuit or apology, until her lips sought his again. They started over, softly testing, press and retreat, until she again opened her mouth to him, this time prepared for his tongue. She tentatively met it with her own, tasting and experimenting until he was the one who pulled back.
He stood for a moment staring into her eyes, then he smiled. “Now I thank you.”
“You looked for a moment like you were in pain.”
“You are killing me slowly, but it is an exquisite death.”
Her brow furrowed with confusion. “I do not understand.”
With a ragged sigh, he released his hold on her. “I do not wish to stop. I do not want to part from you tonight, or any other night, for that matter.”
“But we must,” she whispered, backing away one step.
“So you keep telling me.” He turned to indicate they should continue to the camp. “Theo and I will sleep closer to you and your mother tonight.”
“Do you think those men are lurking somewhere?”
“No, I truly do not. We would rather be prepared.”
As they entered the circle of light, Rochelle saw Marian already settled in her blankets close to the fire. A second bed lay parallel a few feet further from the fire. Rochelle recognized her own blankets near her mother’s. And another again further from the fire. Though touched by the idea that any intruders would literally have to come around or over Theo and David, Rochelle felt a frisson of anxiety at sleeping so close to David.
A strange restiveness already had her jittery. That place inside her that David’s presence kept on edge had been overly stimulated by their kissing tonight. She hadn’t wanted to stop either. She’d seen all manner of animals mating, but knew very little of the ways of a man with a woman. She’d never thought about it much until now, but the thought of lying with him did not exactly make her feel drowsy. What was the word he had used? Maddening? Yes, very apt.
She slipped into her bedding, resting on her side facing the fire. Magnus chose a spot beyond David’s bed. She wouldn’t even have the dog as a buffer.
She studied the play of flame, listening intently for David while the others settled for the night. Finally, when all else was quiet, David walked in from the darkness surrounding them. He squatted down to add several pieces of wood to the flames, then turned to look at her.
“Can’t sleep?” he whispered.
She shook her head. He moved to sit at her feet, forearms propped on raised knees. His profile in the flickering light was primeval, the straight brow, linear nose and strong chin cast in sharp relief against the black of night beyond.
“Have you ever been afraid?” she asked suddenly.
He smiled faintly at the fire. “In what sense?”
