She shook her head violently, wanting desperately to be free of him, yet with the same breath wanting him to continue touching her. But she could not tell him so.
“N-nay,” she sobbed.
Richmond knew he should not touch her any more than he already was. In fact, dragging his fingers across her silken cheeks was a dangerous enough sport, but he lacked the will or desire to prevent himself from following his instincts. And when she began openly weeping, his arms suddenly took on a life of their own and drew her into a crushing, protective embrace.
She couldn’t pull away from him. His scent, leather and horses and pine, filled her nostrils and she felt her arms going about his neck, burying her face deeper and deeper into the crook of his shoulder. The tighter she clung, the more fiercely he held her.
This is dangerous! Richmond’s common sense screamed to him. But, God’s Teeth, he’d never held anything so sweet and womanly in his entire life. He could smell the gardenias from the pomade she was so fond of making, pomade that had nearly cost her her life.
His face was in her hair, black silk that assaulted him more brutally than any warrior he had ever faced. His fingers began stroking her luscious mane of their own accord, winding themselves tightly within the strands. Before he realized it, he had her entire head gripped in his two massive hands.
Her weeping had ceased. Her face, free from the shielding comfort of his shoulder, was suddenly in front of him. He’d never beheld anything more beautiful in his entire life.
“My lord?”
It took Richmond a moment to realize that Arissa had not uttered the words. Her quivering rosy lips were inches from his own. He could feel her warm breath, the heat from her body.
“My lord?”
His eyes widened and he immediately dropped his hands from her head. Rising to his feet with shocking speed, Mossy was already in the door and Richmond heard it slam. He had no idea how long the old man had been watching them.
“Did you knock?” he demanded, more harshly than he should have.
Mossy did not pay him any attention. “Ye did not hear me,” he dug about in his bag. “Arissa, how did ye burn yerself?”
Arissa was in a daze. She was shaking so violently that she could barely function much less answer a simple question. Mossy turned to her, his ancient eyes grazing her stunned expression.
“Riss?”
She drew in a deep breath that sounded more like a sob. Senses returning somewhat, she raised her eyes to him. “Wax,” she whispered.
Richmond was standing across the room, attempting to recover his composure. He couldn’t believe how close he had come to kissing her. He couldn’t believe he had actually allowed himself to be placed in that position. What in the hell was he thinking?
Mossy was bent over Arissa’s arm, examining the red blotches. After a brief look, he took a vial of salve from his bag and smeared it on the wounds. Arissa winced and tried to jerk her arm away, but he held up a curt finger.
“None of that!” he said sharply. Mossy had never known a day of irritation or anger in his life, and Arissa was shocked to hear his tone. Before she could apologize, the old man turned to Richmond. “Come and hold her still, my lord. She cannot move about while I am trying to apply this salve. It must be applied precisely.”
Richmond did not hesitate, although he felt as if he were about to drown. He still was not recovered from the last time he’d touched her.
As Richmond reached the chair, Mossy pulled Arissa to her feet. “Sit, my lord, sit,” as Richmond moved to do so, Mossy gently eased a very stiff Arissa onto the knight’s lap. “There now, lass. Sit still. Richmond, put your arms about her so she doesn’t move. I cannot have her moving about, disrupting my work.”
Richmond swallowed hard. With the greatest reluctance, one massive arm snaked around Arissa’s slender waist while the other held her arm still. He could feel her shaking violently underneath his grasp. Or mayhap it was his own quivering. He couldn’t tell.
“That’s the way, my lord,” Mossy said softly, all of the fire suddenly gone from his tone. “Hold her tightly. Very tightly.”
The old man began to carefully apply a salve that had a burnt smell to it. He seemed to be putting a good deal of time and concern into a task that could have just as easily been accomplished in a few seconds. Richmond watched, Arissa quivered, as Mossy continued to stroke her arm gently.
“Hold her still now,” Mossy said, replacing the cork in the salve bottle and moving to place it in his bag. He continued to rummage about in his satchel for some time while Richmond maintained Arissa in a motionless position.
Seconds stretched into minutes as Mossy busied himself in his bag. Richmond could smell Arissa’s gardenias and they threatened to undo him. Her waist, slim and long, was barely an armful for him, and her rounded buttocks seated on his hard thighs were mayhap the greatest torture he had ever known.
’Twas silly, truthfully. He couldn’t count the times that Arissa had sat on his lap, giggling as he tickled her or sleeping peacefully in his arms. When she had been very small, she almost always fell asleep in his arms. She was afraid of the dark and he had made her feel safe. Odd, he thought, that a situation that had occurred habitually for several years was suddenly the most erotic event he could ever recall.
If Richmond was feeling vastly peculiar, it was nothing compared to Arissa’s slow death. To feel him touching her, holding her, was bliss beyond compare. She’d been in this position before, seated on his lap while he told stories of battle or tales of fairies. She’d always relished the feel of him, the comfort of his closeness. But at this moment, she wished she were seated anywhere but upon his lap.
She knew he could feel her emotions, seeping through her skin and infecting him. He had always been highly intuitive of her emotions and she was positive he knew her innermost feelings. For the sake of her foolish emotions, she had never been more ashamed.
Mossy was spending an excessive amount of time digging through his bag. Arissa sat like a stone and Richmond’s palms were beginning to sweat.
