“These should do nicely,” she said. “Thank you for your help with them. I couldn’t have finished them all on my own.”
Isabail wasn’t the greatest seamstress, but she got the job done. “We’ll loop hemp rope through the seams at the top and the bottom so ye can open and close them,” she said. “Can ye mind Nikki? I’ll go hunt for the rope.”
Diantha was happy to watch the boy. “Of course,” she said. “He can help me watch the bee.”
With her son occupied, Isabail slipped out. No sooner did she leave, however, than there was a knock at the door. Diantha opened it to Aurelius. Enormous and muscular, he had skin as white as cream, pale-blue eyes, and big, straight teeth. He smiled timidly.
“Buenos días, Señorita Abeja,” he said. Good day, Lady Bee.
Diantha was teaching him Spanish. Spoken in his heavy Celtic accent, it sounded funny to the ear, but he was trying very hard to learn. She smiled politely at him.
“Buenos días,” she said. “Cómo estás hoy?”
His smile vanished and he stared at her, trying hard to think of the answer. Then his eyes widened and his grin returned.
“Bueno,” he said.
Diantha laughed softly. “Excellent, Aurelius,” she said. “Come in. Nikki is visiting today.”
Aurelius came into the cottage, filling it up with his bulk. He sat down on one of the chairs at the table, next to where Nikki was standing. The little boy pointed out the bee and flowers to Aurelius, who pretended to be interested. As that was going on, Diantha stood over by the hearth.
“Let us see how much you remember from last week’s lesson, Aurelius,” she said. “Did you write the words like I showed you?”
Aurelius nodded. “Aye, Lady Bee,” he said. “I wrote them twenty times in the dirt.”
“Good,” she said. “Now, what’s this?”
She was pointing to the fire in the hearth. Aurelius’s brow furrowed as he thought on the question. “Fuego,” he said.
“Very good. And this?”
She was pointing to the stone wall. He continued to look thoughtful. “La pared,” he said.
Diantha praised him. She went through about ten more everyday household items, and he remembered all of them. Pleased, she moved back over to the table where she had some sentences written down on vellum, but his last word question was for the bee in the bowl.
“La abeja,” he said.
“Abeja!” Nikki echoed.
Diantha laughed at the toddler, who was just learning to speak English. “Excellent, Nikki,” she said. “Now I have two students.”
Aurelius was perfectly happy sharing his lesson with Nikki, who was surprisingly attentive for a toddler. He ended up sitting on Aurelius’s lap, listening to Diantha’s lesson as she taught Aurelius small sentences related to household or everyday phrases, his favorite being Me gustaría agua.
I would like water.
The lesson went on for about a half hour before Magnus returned, and Nikki jumped off Aurelius’s lap to run to Magnus, who greeted the child fondly. He didn’t pick him up or hug him, but simply put a big hand on the boy’s head and asked him about his visit with the bee. Magnus wasn’t hugely fond of children, mostly because he’d never been around them, but he was learning, little by little. Nikki seemed to have a great affection for him, and Magnus genuinely liked the child.
Magnus’s return, however, signaled the end of the lesson, and Aurelius paid Diantha two silver coins in exchange for his homework, which was writing phrases in the dirt that she had written down on a piece of vellum. No kicking or anger this time, which was progress where he was concerned. When he was gone and Nikki ran back over to the bee in the bowl, Magnus took Diantha in his arms.
Freely and fully, he did that these days. He embraced her long and sweetly whenever he saw her, holding her against him and savoring the feel of her soft body against his. Sometimes, he just stood there and held her, inhaling her scent, feeling her heartbeat through her clothing. Her heart thumped so hard sometimes that he could feel it mingling with his own.
“Did that big Irishman throw anything today?” he asked.
He felt her giggle. “Not today,” she said. “He was well-behaved.”
“Good,” he said, releasing her so he could look her in the face. “And ye? What have ye done since I left ye this morning?”
She pointed to the table with its curtains and little boy. “Sewing,” she said. “And Nikki and I have been watching the bee.”
He wasn’t much interested in the sewing or the bee. He was looking at her face. “Can I kiss ye in front of the lad?”
“You know what happened when you did that the last time.”
“He cried.”
“Do not feel too bad. Isabail says he cries when Lor kisses her, too.”
Thwarted by a temperamental child, Magnus let her go and went to sit at the table as Diantha went to the hearth to prepare his meal. She always had it waiting for him. Whenever he came back from training, he would eat, nap, and then go to the Fields of Mars for the evening’s fights. On the evenings when he wasn’t fighting, they would sit before the fire and talk of any number of things.
Over the past two weeks, their lives had changed so much.
But it was a wonderful change for them both. Diantha put a bowl of boiled beef in front of him with a second bowl that contained honeyed carrots. Half a loaf of bread ended up next to him, and Nikki became interested in the food.
Diantha gave the child his own little bowl and Magnus put carrots and soft pieces of bread in it, which Nikki happily devoured. He was just making his move for Magnus’s beef when there was another knock on the door and Isabail entered without being invited. When she saw Magnus, she gasped.
“I am sorry, Magnus,” she said. “I dinna know ye were in here.”
Magnus grunted. “Take yer glutton of a child out of here,” he said. “He wants all of my food.”
Fighting off a grin, Isabail went to collect her child, who wasn’t too happy at being taken away from Magnus and the beef. He whimpered as she took him out, and they could hear his crying as it faded away.
“Poor Nikki,” Diantha said, bringing her own bowl of beef over to the table. “He only wanted to eat with you.”
Magnus scowled. “He wants everything I have.”
She laughed softly. “You are doing very well at sharing with him.”
“If I dunna, he’ll scream and ye’ll probably berate me, so I have no choice.”
He made a good stab at being disgruntled, but he didn’t really mean it. Diantha continued to smile as she dug into her meal. “How was training today?” she asked.
He shrugged. “The same,” he said. “Clegg has a special visitor from Provence, a warlord who is said to be the richest in all the land. He wanted tae watch us train, but I have a feeling he is here tae make an offer for one of us.”
She slowed her chewing. “He wants to buy one of you?”
Magnus nodded. “He will buy out the remainder of our contract with Clegg,” he said. “Ye know that when a man comes tae fight for the Cal, he promises tae give it seven years of his life. In two years, my contract will be finished, and I’ll be free tae do as I wish.”
Diantha stopped chewing entirely. “And if this warlord offers to buy out those last two years, does that mean you will go to Provence?”
Magnus shook his head. “I’ll not go,” he said. “We have the choice of accepting an offer or not, and I’ll decline. I’ve declined eleven offers since I’ve been at the Cal. I like it better here than in some warlord’s army.”
Diantha had to admit that she breathed a little sigh of relief. “I am sure they offer a lot of money for you. You are worth every pence.”
He shoveled beef into his mouth. “Of course they do,” he said. “They always do. More money than most people see in a lifetime, but I
still willna accept it. I think Clegg would rather have me here, so he doesna push me. Too many people come tae see me fight and he doesna want tae lose that income.”
Diantha resumed her meal with gusto, confident that Magnus wasn’t about to end up somewhere in Provence.
“Do you see yourself remaining here for the foreseeable future, then?” she asked.
He sopped up beef juice with his bread. “For a while, anyway,” he said. “The Cal has made me very wealthy from the purses I’ve won and the women who’ve paid tae—”
He suddenly froze, remembering who he was talking to. He looked at her, his expression full of remorse.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I dinna meant tae—”
She cut him off, though not harshly. “Do not worry so,” she said. “You told me that part of your life is over and I believe you. But I acknowledge that it was part of your life. It cannot be undone.”
It was his turn to heave a sigh of relief as he reached out and grasped her hand, squeezing it. “I will be honest,” he said. “The money is the only thing I miss. The rest of it…it had become habit. Sometimes, it’s difficult tae break a habit. But it is surprising how much I canna stand tae look at another woman when I know ye’re waiting for me. Ye’re the only woman I want tae see.”
She smiled, watching him kiss her hand over the tabletop. “I see them at the gates near the staging area, still waiting for you,” she said. “I’ve also seen you flex your muscles for your adoring throng so they’ll throw more money at you.”
He bit his lip to keep from smiling guiltily. “Does it distress ye? If it does, I willna do it anymore.”
She laughed, mostly because he looked so guilty. “As long as you do not touch them and they do not touch you, I am unconcerned,” she said. “Besides…they have good taste. They may want you, but I have you.”
He snorted. “A very wise attitude,” he said. “The money is for us, after all.”
She cocked her head. “Us?”
He nodded, returning to the last of his food. “Money tae pay for passage back tae Navarre,” he said. “Money tae travel the world. Money for a home for ye. For us.”
The smile was back on her lips. “A home for us?” she repeated. “Magnus, are you proposing marriage to me?”
“I dinna say marriage, ye greedy woman. I said a home.”
She was trying hard not to laugh. “So you intend to buy a home for us but not marry me? I am not entirely sure I like that.”
He wouldn’t look at her. “Ye live with me here and we’re not married.”
“Do you ever want me to share your bed?”
He shrugged. “Mayhap. I havena decided.”
He was teasing her. She ripped her hand from his grip. “Is that so?” she gasped, though she was mostly jesting. “You conceited whelp! I’ll go find another man to tend house for if this is your attitude.”
He started laughing. “I’ll kill any man ye try tae charm,” he said. “Ye’d better stay with me. Only I know how tae handle ye.”
“You think so, do you?”
He finally looked up from his food, a grin tugging at his lips. “Of course I’ll marry ye if ye’re going tae cry about it,” he said. “Is that what ye want tae hear?”
She shook her head slowly. “Magnus, you are as romantic as a bellyache,” she said with disapproval. “Ask me nicely and I may agree.”
“Ye’ll agree any way I ask ye.”
“Eso crees, querido?”
The only word he recognized was querido, a sweet term she’d been calling him for the past few days. It meant “darling” or “sweetheart” in Spanish. But he didn’t recognize anything else, and his lips pressed into a flat line.
“If we’re going tae argue, have the decency tae do it in English.”
She began to laugh. “You are far too confident. A man with humility is appealing.”
“A man with humility doesna get the prettiest lass in all the world,” he said. “I’ve got ye and I intend tae keep ye, Bee.”
Diantha didn’t have the energy or the desire to keep up her act of indignation. When he started flattering her, she caved easily.
“Very well,” she said. “If it will make you happy, I will marry you.”
“If it’ll make ye happy, I’ll marry ye.”
“When?”
He set his spoon down. Standing up, he went to her and pulled her up from her seat. Wrapping his big arms around her, he kissed her deeply, his tongue licking her lips and tasting the watered ale on them. His hands moved down her body until they came to her buttocks, which he clutched through her garment. She gasped when he pulled her pelvis against his and she could feel a hint of arousal.
“The sooner the better,” he murmured. “I dunna know how much longer I can hold out. ’Tis torture sleeping in a bed, knowing ye’re in the next room and I canna lie down beside ye. Not for the act of it…but because I just want tae hold ye and never let ye go.”
Diantha wrapped her arms around his neck, squeezing tightly, her supple body pressed against his.
“I never imagined I would want that, too, but I do,” she murmured. “I love you, Magnus. I cannot remember when I have not loved you.”
He stopped fondling her. After a moment, he pulled back to look at her, his eyes glimmering with bewilderment and joy.
“Why?” he finally managed to say. “I feel as if I’ve done nothing tae earn it.”
She reached up, gently cupping his face. “But you have,” she said. “You are who I thought you were, or at least you are trying very hard to be. I never have seen anyone work harder, but at the same time, you have been effortless. It has not seemed like work at all. I have always known the sensitive, compassionate man that is inside you. He exists, no matter how hard you pretend otherwise.”
Magnus grinned, embarrassed. “He’s only there for ye.”
“I know.”
“Do ye want tae know something?”
“What is it?”
“I love ye, too.”
She giggled. He laughed. It was the first time he’d said it outright to her. Suddenly, she was in his arms and he was spinning her around until they were both dizzy and giggly. It was delirium, it was joy. It was everything they hoped it would be and more.
It was everything.
Eventually, he settled down, long enough for her to direct him back into the bigger bed so that he could sleep for a couple of hours before he had to go to the arena. She pushed him down onto the bed, but he grabbed her and she ended up falling atop him.
As Diantha struggled to push him away and get up, Magnus’s mouth found the flesh of her neck and shoulder, suckling her skin, tasting her.
“Nay, querido,” Diantha said, weakly trying to get away from him. “You must sleep.”
He had her in his arms, in bed, and he wasn’t going to let her go. “I will,” he murmured against her flesh. “In a moment.”
Diantha knew this wasn’t a good idea. The more they discovered each other, the more they kissed, the more they wanted in a physical sense. Diantha was a maiden, but even she felt fire stirring in her loins when he gently kissed her neck and shoulder. Everything about the man set her on fire in ways she didn’t fully understand, but she knew she would, one day.
She had to admit that she was looking forward to it.
As he peeled back her dress, exposing her right shoulder and much of her right breast, she tried to give him one last shove, but she ended up losing her balance and falling off to the side. Magnus was on her in a flash, his mouth on her. One arm was pulling her closer while the other edged the top of her dress down lower.
“Magnus, please,” Diantha whispered. “If you do not let me go, you will never get to sleep.”
Her words said one thing, but her body said another. Her hands were on him, clutching him, and she wasn’t resisting him i
n the least. He lifted his head to look at her.
“Do ye want me tae let ye go?” he purred.
“Well…”
“’Tis not a difficult question. Ye do or ye dunna.”
Before she could answer, he slanted his lips over hers, kissing her lustily. His arms went around her, pulling her tightly against him, drowning her in a passion she’d never before known. It was on the tip of her tongue to be firm and demand he release her. But gazing up into that beautiful masculine face, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
She lusted after him as badly as he lusted after her.
Magnus knew he was lost the moment she latched on to him with her soft mouth. He lost himself in her honeyed lips, his hands entangled in her hair. He was more forceful in his kisses than ever before because, for the first time, he felt as if she had no restraint. He had no restraint. She was giving him permission to touch her, and touch her he would.
The broadcloth dress she was wearing came off as his eager hands stripped her. Somehow, his lips never left her mouth, and before Diantha realized it, her dress was off and so was her shift. They lay in a pile next to the bed. Magnus lavished kisses upon her mouth, her face, as he removed his own clothing.
Suddenly, they were both naked.
Magnus’s big body came down on Diantha’s soft, slender one, enveloping her in power and heat. His mouth left her lips, feasting on her neck as he moved down her body. He tasted every inch of skin on her shoulders and arms before depositing lusty kisses on the swell of her bosom. A big hand kneaded her breasts as his lips finally found her nipples, moving from one to the other hungrily.
Beneath him, Diantha squirmed and gasped.
His weight on her was significant and she instinctively parted her thighs. His lower body slipped through, finding rest upon the mattress as his upper body covered her torso. She was delicious and nubile in every way, and as one hand slipped beneath her to grasp her tender buttocks, the other slipped down her flat belly as his mouth began to move along her abdomen.
Magnus knew what he was doing and Diantha let him.
In truth, she was in a haze of delight. She was only thinking of how deeply she loved him. They were to be married, were they not? Already, she belonged to him, body and soul. All she could feel was her love for him and a primal need she was trying to understand. It was flesh against flesh, and Magnus wasn’t shy about sharing his experience with her, but he also had some restraint.
Highland Legend Page 18
