“We have three hours until Terce. I can pack in that time. If I must remain with the other ladies, then I shall use them as a shield as much as any of you. No one will dare approach me in the keep with so many others around, especially if we are in the queen’s company. I will make certain I’m never separated from the group.” Caitlyn wrapped her arm through Alex’s as the group made their way to the ladies’-in-waiting floor. Two men stationed themselves at the top of the stairs while pairs went to either end of the passageway. Alex waited outside Caitlyn’s door. She’d forgotten entirely about her roommate until she held the door handle.
Caitlyn slipped inside the chamber and lit the candle on her bedside table. Moving as silently as she could, she opened her trunk then crossed the chamber to her armoire. She pulled out an armful of gowns, laying them on the bed before carefully folding each one and stowing them away in her chest. It didn’t take her long since she’d always preferred a smaller wardrobe than most ladies. She kept aside three gowns that she intended to give to Blythe since they were nearly brand-new and had been an impulsive splurge during a trip into town. She knew Blythe liked them and would wear them, even if the hems had to be let out. She gathered her toilette items from the table with a looking glass. She rolled the vials and bottles in cheesecloth before tucking them into a burlap bag. Layering chemises and stockings on top of her fine gowns, she placed the bag inside. She’d kept her Kennedy plaid spread across the foot of her bed since she arrived. It was a rare occasion for her to wear it, but it had been a piece of home when she’d felt homesick. She placed that as the last layer before closing the lid.
Caitlyn glanced around the chamber and glanced at her roommate, who had stirred but had said nothing. She’d longed for the day when she could leave this space behind, either to return home or to marry Alex. For weeks, she’d feared she would leave it because the king ordered her to marry someone else. She’d sensed that decision had been coming, but it had made it no easier to learn of it. Now she glanced around one last time as she spun the ring on her left hand. A sense of rightness filled her, knowing she was leaving the chamber and the keep behind for the reason she wanted most: a future with Alex.
Nineteen
Alex and Caitlyn passed the three hours before Terce by catching up on their sleep after one brief interlude. Caitlyn drew back the window hanging, and they left the bed curtains open. Alex was certain he slept peacefully from the extra light and Caitlyn’s presence. He felt the tension he hadn’t realized he carried in his back and shoulders release as he fell asleep. He woke refreshed, and his arm didn’t ache for the first time in six months. Caitlyn’s rosy cheeks when she woke stirred a tenderness in him that he didn’t know he possessed. He’d been so singularly focused on her protection, and his assumed inability to provide it, that he’d lost sight of why he wanted to marry her. It was quiet moments like this when the rest of the world didn’t exist. It was waking with her in his arms and feeling like he could face the world with a partner he trusted implicitly.
Caitlyn ran her fingers over Alex’s beard, the prickliness still tickling even after all the kisses they’d shared in the past couple of days. He kept it well-trimmed, or at least had when he arrived. She’d taken scissors to it during his convalescence, but neither had done much in the days since he left his sickbed.
“You don’t like it.” Alex grinned as Caitlyn tugged.
“I don’t mind it, but I miss seeing your handsome face.”
Alex’s expression darkened as he glanced away. Caitlyn pressed his cheek, but he refused to turn back to her. His arm throbbed when he realized that his left hand tried to curl around the bedding.
“Alex, I won’t press if you truly aren’t comfortable with it, but I’ve always preferred you clean shaven. I enjoy looking atallof you.” Caitlyn’s eyes glided over Alex’s naked body, and she was certain to drool if she weren’t careful.
“You haven’t seen how bad it is.”
“Do you intend to keep that from me forever?”
“You make it sound as though it were some great secret.”
“It feels like you’re hiding something. I know it’s ridiculous and selfish of me to ask you to do something that you don’t want. But I really miss seeing all of your face. I can’t explain why, but I always found your chiseled jaw to be so appealing. I used to imagine stretching to kiss you and only being able to reach your jaw.”
“You pictured that, did you?”
“Yes. I pictured kissing you in many ways, but for some reasons that’s what I always thought of when I pictured us married. It seemed wifely.” Caitlyn shrugged, ready to abandon the topic and feeling foolish for bringing it up.
“Will you help me?” Alex moved to the edge of the bed. “I need no more scars.”
“Really?”
“How could I deny my bonnie bride her wifely privileges?” Alex felt no small amount of trepidation knowing he intended to expose his face. He couldn’t imagine what he might do if he finally discovered his face made Caitlyn recoil. He wasn’t eager to face the courtiers either, but this trip to court had done more to help him reclaim his old sense of self than even entering the lists at home. He was aware that had more to do with Caitlyn than anything else. He certainly would have preferred not to be attacked twice, but those events forced him to realize he wasn’t as helpless as he believed.
“Mayhap I could just trim it really close to start with.” Caitlyn followed Alex to the washstand. As she lathered the shaving cream, she wondered which ancient people created it. She started on the unmarred side, cautious not to nick Alex. When she struggled to reach, Alex smirked and drew her forward to straddle his lap. “You will leave here with only half your face shaved if you distract me.”
“So I shouldn’t do this?” Alex kneaded Caitlyn’s breasts and ran his thumb over her nipples until they pebbled.
“If you don’t want me to, then I won’t.” Caitlyn kept her voice low, but the nervousness rang like a church bell in their quiet chamber. Alex pressed a kiss to Caitlyn’s lips, only getting a slight smear on her cheek.
“Caity, I would have told you no if I really didn’t want to. I’m enjoying myself, not trying to distract you. If aught, I’m distracting myself.”
Caitlyn nodded and brought the razor back to Alex’s cheek, but hesitated. Their eyes locked, and she saw his encouragement. She worked efficiently as she scraped away months’ worth of growth. When she finished, she leaned back and wiped away the remnants of the shaving cream. Her heart swelled as she finally laid eyes on the visage she’d fallen in love with nearly a decade ago and had known almost her entire life.
“By the saints, you are the most handsome mon I have ever seen.” Caitlyn grasped Alex’s jaw in both hands and swooped in for a kiss that stole Alex’s breath. The ferocity surprised him, but the relief that swept over him that Caitlyn still found him attractive nearly overcame him. She adjusted to take his lengthening rod into her core and rocked her hips before he wrapped his muscular arm around her, easily rising from the chair. They landed on the bed, and it wasn’t long before the same fierceness that drove their first lovemaking in that bed returned. Caitlyn peppered kisses over Alex’s face before returning to his lips. When his tongue slid past her lips, she sucked. Alex’s responding growl made her giggle, but it was only a moment later that she moaned her release. Alex followed as his body went taut.
“Mayhap you should grow the beard back,” Caitlyn teased. “Neither of us shall get aught done now that all I can stare at is your handsome face.”
“I’m glad someone thinks that.” Alex made to roll to his side but froze as anger then hurt flashed across Caitlyn’s face. “What is it?”
“Do you wish other women would flirt with you still? Do you want to flirt with them?”
“Caity.” Alex shook his head, realizing how his flippant comment sounded. “I need no one’s attention but yours. I only fear how people will react. Even with the beard hiding half, it disgusted people. I’d hate to frighten children or make some lady swoon.”
“You already make me swoon.” Caitlyn laid the back of her hand over her forehead and closed her eyes, sighing. Alex nuzzled her neck, tickling her in a place he’d discovered the night before.
