She was groaning with pleasure as he caressed her. “Aye, my darling?”
“Tell me you love me.”
“I love you, for always.”
“And I, you. For always.”
To the snapping of the gentle fire in the hearth and the howl of the snowy winds outside, Hallam fondled her breasts until he finally lay her back on the table, on top of maps and papers Covington kept, and tossed her skirts up all the way, kissing her belly, finally suckling gently on her breasts.
Alice let him. She let him go on and on, doing what he wished to her, as the night deepened. When he took her again, she didn’t protest. She was a willing participant. For the lonely nights she was forced to face, from now until the end of her life, she would keep the moment tucked away to bring her comfort. To remind her that she was loved and worthy of love.
To remind her that her love for Hallam was the most important thing in her life.
Every moment they spent together was another moment when their tryst could be discovered, so there came a point when Hallam knew he had to leave. But it was with great sorrow. When they finally parted that night, Hallam off to find materials to help secure Lady Emelisse’s shutters and Alice off to her chamber, it was a parting of souls.
Parting, yes. But never separated.
From this night forward they were, and always would be, as one.
CHAPTER TEN
Hallam had beengone for some time, yet the situation in Emelisse’s chamber hadn’t changed.
It was still the same, with Caius on the floor and a struggling woman in his embrace. He was glad that Hallam had gone after Lady de Wrenville as she went on her altruistic mission to intervene on behalf of Emelisse. Although Caius appreciated the lady’s great concern for her husband’s prisoner, it simply hadn’t been a wise move on her part.
Hallam saw it that way, too.
More and more, Caius was coming to trust the knight. The man was proving himself worthy, little by little. With Lady de Wrenville being tended to, Caius could focus on the wildcat in his arms, but as he did, he began to wonder where he seemed to have grown a heart. He wasn’t usually concerned for others that were not his immediate circle. He’d made a career out of keeping his emotions bridled. Therefore, he tried not to let his sudden burst of concern for people he didn’t know unsettle him, for in his line of work, emotions like that could have dire consequences.
With his arms still around Emelisse, he sat up, taking her with him.
“Come along,” he said, grunting with effort as he stood up and pulled her to her feet, all of this while keeping his arms around her, which was something of a feat. “Let us get off the cold floor and onto something more comfortable.”
When he moved, it seemed to stir her out of her stupor and she began to struggle against him again.
“Let me go,” she insisted.
“I am not letting you go.”
“I do not want you here!”
“And I do not care.”
Thwarted, she growled and grunted as he dragged her over to a small table which now contained a large platter of food and a full pitcher of wine. He could see it steaming. He tried to sit down with Emelisse on his lap, but she stomped on his feet and tried to kick him in the knee, so he rethought that strategy.
It had been easier on the floor.
He couldn’t very well stand up with her all night, or even lay on the cold floor. Somehow, he had to secure her so he wasn’t on his guard all night long, for he knew he could not leave her, not until this madness passed.
If it ever would.
One big arm held her fast as he used his free hand to unstrap the belt at his waist, the one that secured his sheath for his broadsword. It took some doing as she continued to fight. At one point, she got away from him, but he grabbed her by the hair. That effectively stopped her, but she tried to beat him with her fists as he separated his belt from his sheath, and the strips of leather that secured the sheath to his belt and to his thigh.
On and on it went, with him holding her by the hair and her trying to kick him and hit him. All the while, she never said a word and neither did he, but they didn’t have to. The stakes wereestablished. Caius knew what would happen if he let her go, and Emelisse was trying her very best to force him to release her.
But he wouldn’t.
Somehow, he managed to maneuver her into a chair and, using his belt, he tied her wrists and secured them to the back of the chair. Her feet were a little more challenging and at one point, she kicked at him so hard that she topped the chair backwards, onto her arms. That was a painful fall, but as she lay there mostly unmoving because it hurt her arms the way the chair had fallen, he managed to tie off both of her ankles to the legs of the chair.
