Chapter Twenty-Seven
Raglan Castle, 4th July 1646
‘Can you see to that man in the corner, please, Arabella. He’s got a slight wound to the thigh and it needs washing.’ Mrs Watson pointed to a mattress in the far corner of the room and Arabella’s heart sank.
Glyn. Who else?
She debated whether to tell Mrs Watson that she didn’t want to treat Glyn and ask for someone else to do it, but she could see his mocking gaze from where she was standing and she wasn’t a coward. She’d face him, damn him, and if he accosted her here she’d scream for all she was worth. Besides, telling Mrs Watson would involve explaining why she didn’t want to do this task and it was far better to keep that a secret.
‘Well, well, my luck must be in.’ Glyn had a gloating expression on his face as she approached with a bowl of water and some rags for cleaning with. ‘Your lover not around to beat people senseless today? Has he been killed, perhaps? Wouldn’t that be a shame.’
Arabella didn’t reply. She knew Glyn was just goading her and she didn’t want to speak to him at all. She’d just finish her task and leave.
‘I suppose you’re disappointed I’m not more severely wounded,’ he commented as she rolled the leg of his breeches up to expose the wound.
She was but then she’d known he wouldn’t be killed in any of the skirmishes. He had the devil’s own luck and Rhys had told her Glyn feigned illness most of the time so didn’t do much actual fighting. He’d always been a coward and a cheat. It wouldn’t surprise her to hear that he always hung back, skulking at the rear whenever he was forced to take part. No, the small cut she was looking at must have been just an accident. Or something to lull the Royalists into thinking him one of them. Either way, he was despicable and she wished she could plunge her own little knife right through his heart.
She dipped her cloth in the bowl, slightly shaken by the force of her anger. She’d never been a violent person and the thought of killing anyone in cold blood hadn’t ever entered her head before. Glyn had that effect on people though and he didn’t care. She took a deep breath and began to clean his wound.
‘Nothing to say for yourself today, then?’ he sneered. ‘You were in good voice the other night, more’s the pity. Brought that whoreson to your rescue. But don’t you worry, I’ll get rid of him, then we can finish what we started.’
A cold feeling settled in the pit of Arabella’s stomach at the thought of Glyn harming Rhys. But he was probably just bluffing and she’d tell Rhys to be on his guard.
She cleaned his leg and bound it up without adding any wound powder or other poultice. She probably should have done, but if it became infected and killed him slowly, so much the better as far as she was concerned. He didn’t seem to notice the omission as he was becoming more and more frustrated at her refusal to speak to him.
‘Act the high-born lady if you want to,’ he hissed. ‘But once we are safely married you’ll be dancing to my tune and you’ll damn well answer when I speak to you, understand?’
He grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him, much too close for comfort. Arabella tried to control the shivers of panic skimming through her and reached a hand inside her pocket. She threw a quick glance across her shoulder to check that no one was watching, then brought out the knife and pushed it against his chest so that he could feel the lethal tip against his lower ribs.
‘Touch me again and I’ll kill you myself,’ she whispered back through clenched teeth. ‘Understand?’
His eyes widened and he let go of her before swearing most foully. ‘Bitch!’ he spat and shoved her away from him. ‘If it wasn’t for your damned possessions, I wouldn’t want to come anywhere near you.’
‘See that you don’t.’
She picked up the bowl and walked away, still shaking but pleased that she had stood up to him. Now all she had to do was warn Rhys.
Raglan Castle, 4th July 2016
‘Tess? Are you okay?’
Tess blinked and found Josh crouching in front of her, concern in his eyes. The images of wounded men, bandages and bowls full of blood faded and were replaced with a surge of relief that she was here, with Josh, and the horrors of that long ago summer were gone. ‘I’m fine. Just, you know, channelling a bit again. Sorry.’ She shivered, despite the sunshine.
‘No worries.’ He pulled her to her feet and headed for the Fountain Court. It was a grassy expanse covered with daisies and with some flat stones in the middle where presumably a fountain had stood. As they descended some steps, a man came sauntering over from the South Gate, his ginger hair stubble glinting in the sunlight, his suit incongruous in these surroundings.
Tess drew in a sharp breath. ‘Not again!’ she hissed.
Josh looked up and stiffened. ‘Bloody hell,’ he muttered.
‘We meet again.’ Marcus smiled as he came closer. ‘Lovely day, isn’t it?’
Tess nodded, but alarm bells were ringing inside her head and she had the urge to run. The feelings of loathing and revulsion she’d experienced in her vision just now returned with a vengeance, and for a moment the two men – Marcus and Glyn – became one, their faces blurring into each other. Tess repressed a shudder. There was something about the controlled way Marcus held himself that terrified her, as if he was keeping violent emotions tightly leashed. She cleared her throat as some sort of response was clearly expected. ‘So you fancied a bit of sightseeing then?’
Marcus nodded. ‘Yep. Friend of mine recommended this place. Said the sights were spectacular.’ But he wasn’t looking at the castle ruins. Instead his gaze travelled over Tess and the implication was clear – she was the sight he’d come to see.
She pushed her hands into her pockets to stop them from shaking.
‘Listen, mate—’ Josh started to say, but Tess interrupted him.
‘Sorry, but we must get on.’ She plastered on a fake smile and gave Josh a little push towards a staircase leading underneath the castle. She didn’t want a confrontation just then. It would ruin everything and that was clearly what Marcus wanted. Why give him the satisfaction? ‘There’s so much to look at. Enjoy the rest of your day.’
Josh hesitated for a second and threw Marcus a death glare, but then he shrugged and walked down the steps. Tess followed him into what looked like an underground storage area and sagged against a cold wall as soon as they were out of sight. Thankfully Marcus hadn’t followed them but she heard him start to sing in a low but penetrating voice – a Def Leppard song, ‘Two Steps Behind’, and something in the chorus about ‘you can run, but you can never hide.’ She shivered violently.
‘Why did you stop me?’ Josh’s eyes flashed. ‘He needed to be taught a lesson. The guy is stalking you, for Christ’s sake!’
‘I just wanted to get away from him. Show him he can’t rattle me.’ Although he had, definitely.
Josh let out a huffing breath. ‘Yeah, like that’s going to work. His type need to have things spelled out for them in more forceful ways.’
Tess put a hand on his arm. ‘Next time, okay? If he does it again, I’ll let you deal with him. For today, can we please just pretend that didn’t happen? Not let him spoil things?’
‘Okay, fine.’ Josh looked around and seemed to make an effort to calm down. ‘What is this? Storage space?’
‘No, I read about it. I think they used it as a sort of makeshift stable during the siege. Poor horses! It’s so dark down here.’
She’d been skimming through the books about the castle that she’d found in the library and she’d learned quite a bit about the siege.
‘Not that dark.’ Josh pointed to several openings high up in the walls that allowed daylight to penetrate the gloom. ‘But, yeah, I don’t suppose they liked being down here much. Me neither. Come on. Let’s see if that bastard’s gone yet.’
There was no sign of Marcus so they went up a staircase to access the bridge to the Great Tower, which Josh insisted on climbing. Tess waited for him at the bottom, remembering how terrified she’
d been the previous time. When he came back, all enthusiastic about the amazing views, she led the way down to the moat. At almost exactly the same place where Tess had sat the last time, Josh sank down onto the low stone wall and patted the place beside him. ‘Let’s enjoy the sun here for a while.’
The stones were slightly uneven, but pleasantly warm. Around the base of the tower the grass had been flattened by all the visitors, but a few daisies still managed to thrive. It was peaceful here, with the heavenly scent of newly mown grass drifting in.
‘So can I see that earring then?’ Josh smiled at her.
‘Oh, yes, sure.’ Tess took it off and handed it to him.
‘Wow, that’s quite something, huh?’ He held it up to the light and studied the intaglio. ‘Can I try it on?’
‘You’ve had your ear pierced?’ She didn’t know why she was surprised.
‘Sure, why not? I was a rebellious teenager once.’ He managed to put the earring on and turned his head for her to see. ‘So what do you think, does it suit me?’ He grinned.
‘Actually, it does!’ Tess didn’t add that the sight of him wearing it also made her stomach flutter and she thought she heard that Welsh word again – cariad.
Josh had gone quiet and was staring out across the moat with a faraway look in his eye. Was the earring having a weird effect on him too?
‘Josh?’ She gave his shoulder a little push. ‘Hey, you can give it back now.’
‘What? Oh.’ He blinked. ‘I … that was strange. I felt almost dizzy there for a minute.’
‘That’s how it makes me feel too sometimes.’ She held out her hand and he gave her back the little jewel.
Tess fingered the earring. A tingling feeling surged through her and she looked at the water in the moat, which was completely still today with a thick tangle of green waterweeds almost choking it. She had that weird sensation of the water rising up towards her, sending her head into a spin. A voice washed over her, as if from far away, and she turned to look into a face that was familiar. Rhys.
Her heart started to beat triple time. It was happening again.
‘Cariad, don’t ever leave …’ he whispered, the Welsh word as always washing over her, soothing her fears.
A part of Tess was aware that he wasn’t really talking to her, but the woman he’d loved. She closed her eyes, waiting for his touch, but the world tilted again and she had to open them in order to stop the nausea from taking over.
She found herself still looking into mesmerising green eyes fringed with thick, dark lashes, but there the similarities ended. Instead of the long-haired Rhys, she was staring at Josh. Josh, with questions in the depths of those eyes, asking permission to do the same thing the Cavalier had wanted. She blinked in confusion and he took that as a yes.
As his mouth moved over hers in a kiss that was in a whole different league to those they’d shared before – fiery, sensual, electrifying – she gave herself up to the pure enjoyment of the moment. She’d been hallucinating just now, her imagination working overtime, but it didn’t matter. She was safe. She was with Josh. This was who she wanted to kiss, not centuries-old dead Cavaliers.
When they came up for air, he murmured, ‘Whoa! I didn’t think you were ready for that.’ There was a teasing note in his voice, the lovely Kiwi accent every bit as enticing as that Welsh one. No, more so.
She sent him a mock glare. ‘I guess you’re just too irresistible.’
‘Yeah? Music to my ears.’
She pushed him away, jokingly, and stood up, ready to leave this place which was confusing her. Josh didn’t seem to mind, even though they’d only just sat down. He took her hand, twining his fingers with hers and it felt so good. She relished even this small connection between them and couldn’t deny it any longer – she was in love.
Tess and Josh lingered for a while outside the South Gate on a grassy terrace overlooking the A40 in the distance. Beyond some trees the hill sloped down towards Raglan village and the fields where the besieging army had apparently camped. Josh could picture them in his mind, their scarlet coats vivid against the dusky green background, with tents and campfires spread out over the field some five hundred yards away. He had no idea why he imagined their coats were red. Possibly because he’d heard the British Army always wore scarlet later during other wars. When he blinked, the image disappeared and all he could see was the tranquil, rural scene in front of them. Although it was clouding over now, the air was very clear, and on the faraway hills were squares of light green fields divided by darker green hedges, a beautiful sight.
He kept hold of Tess’s hand, plaiting his fingers with hers. He wanted to be patient, but at the same time he was desperate to repeat that spectacular kiss. Out here wasn’t really the place though and he thought it best to let her dictate the pace. If anything more was to happen between them, it should be because she wanted it as much as he did and he wasn’t sure of that yet.
‘I think it’s going to rain,’ Tess commented. ‘We’d better go.’
‘What? Oh, yeah, you’re right.’ Josh looked at the sky and saw that the dark clouds had turned menacing.
As they headed back into the courtyard, thunder rumbled above them and within minutes the heavens opened. A veritable curtain of rain slashed down, pelting them as they ran towards the former private apartments, which would lead them to the main gate. They sheltered in a doorway at first, watching as the Chapel and Great Hall turned into impromptu swimming pools in a short space of time. But they were getting very wet and Josh became impatient.
‘Let’s find somewhere drier. In here?’ He pulled Tess into a tiny exhibition room just before the main gate. It must have been a guardroom at one point as it was so small, but there were a couple of chairs and some glass cases with a few exhibits. ‘We might as well wait for a bit. I bet the rain will stop as quickly as it started.’
He shook his head, sending droplets of water sparkling through the air, and Tess laughed. ‘That’s what Vince does.’ She bent over and shook her own hair out, dripping onto the floor.
‘Are you comparing me to a dog? You’ll pay for that.’
Josh grabbed her from behind, putting his arms round her waist and pulling her down onto his lap as he sat on one of the plastic chairs. Tess squealed in mock outrage, but she was smiling when she squirmed around so she was sitting sideways instead and her eyes were shining. ‘Oh, yeah?’ she challenged, but he was sure she knew what her pretend punishment would be.
They were alone in here, all the other tourists presumably having fled to other parts of the castle, and Josh didn’t waste the opportunity. He captured her luscious mouth with his and kissed her with all the pent-up desire he’d been holding in check outside. It was even more spectacular and as they didn’t have a possible audience, he allowed his hands to explore as well. He cupped the enticing behind he’d been eyeing up earlier and it was exactly as perfect as he’d thought it would be. After a while, he dared to roam higher up.
Tess gasped, but he continued to kiss her, not giving her a chance to push him away now. He wanted her to be as hot for him as he was for her, even if they couldn’t do anything about it here. He felt her quivering with desire as he caressed her, and his own jeans were being strained to breaking point.
It was time to stop.
Josh was breathing heavily, as was Tess, and he pulled her close, holding them both still. ‘I think we need to get a room,’ he joked feebly. ‘A better one than this anyway.’
‘Mm-hmm. One with a closed door and a lock would be good.’
A glow spread through him at her words. They were on the same page, at last.
Josh looked out the window and noticed the rain was slowing down. ‘We’d better go back to Merrick Court then.’ He tilted her chin up and gave her a long, slow kiss, before looking into her eyes. ‘And just so you know, you decide what happens when we get there. No pressure, okay?’
He was trying to be a gentleman because he sensed this was too important. This wasn’t about hav
ing a bit of fun; he’d gone way beyond that. And if he slept with her, he wanted it to mean something to both of them. But, hell, he wished he could just take her right here, this minute …
She nodded. ‘Okay.’ She kissed him back and smiled. ‘Thank you.’
But when they got back to Merrick Court and walked into the kitchen half an hour later, they weren’t just greeted by Louis and Vince – who should both still have been in the garden as it was only mid-afternoon and the rain had stopped. There was also a teenage girl sitting at the table and as she caught sight of Josh she looked up and glared.
‘Hi, Dad. Nice of you to be at home when I come to visit. But then again, if you’d wanted me around, I guess you wouldn’t have moved to England.’
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Merrick Court, 4th July 2016
Tess let go of Josh’s hand and glanced between him and his daughter, trying to swallow down her disappointment that their afternoon hadn’t ended quite the way she’d envisaged. Although perhaps it was for the best? They had been rather carried away and so quickly. She shouldn’t have gone along with that, but the very air at the castle had seemed charged with desire and she’d been caught up in the moment.
But his daughter! What on earth was she doing here? It was clear from the shocked expression on his face that he hadn’t been expecting her.
‘Shayla? What the hell …? I mean, how did you get here?’
‘Er, hello? Airplane? Bus? It’s not the Middle Ages, although you kind of wonder around here.’ The girl glanced at the kitchen with a frown.
She seemed to have plenty of attitude and from what Tess could see Shayla wasn’t particularly fond of her dad, just as he’d said. So why had she come then? Wearing a low-cut top that must have had Louis’s eyes nearly popping out of their sockets, she was dressed to provoke any parent. The top ended just below her bra and showed a flat stomach with a navel piercing above minuscule shorts. To be fair, she was wearing black leggings underneath the shorts, so her legs weren’t on display, but somehow that just made the outfit worse, especially as they were teamed with biker boots. Tess looked at Josh – would he go ballistic?
The Velvet Cloak of Moonlight Page 25
