As he stroked the softness of her inner thighs, Alex knew that he must stop. Already he was perilously near to losing his own control. His manhood ached with longing for Velvet, and he was regretting that he had ever let the wench tease him into this. Better he had waited until their marriage, when the natural conclusion of such loveplay could be effected. Slowly he removed his hand from beneath her garment and held her close.
“Enough, lass,” he said quietly. “I can bear no more and keep my promise to preserve yer honor. Ye’re ripe as a peach, Velvet, and I am hungry to pluck yer fruit.”
“Please, Alex, just love me a little while longer. I hurt with such a strange wanting.”
He kissed her gently. “Nay, sweetheart. Remember yer promise to me. We must stop now.” Quietly he redid her chemisette, pulling it up and tying the little silk ribbons.
She signed. “Will you love me again soon, Alex?”
“Aye,” he whispered, and then with a sigh of his own, he rose to his feet, holding her against his heart. Without another word, he returned her to her bed and, tucking the coverlet about her, left the room, firmly closing the door behind him.
Velvet lay in the darkness for what seemed a long while, reliving over and over again his every touch, his every kiss. She wanted to rise from the bed and run back to him, but she knew she couldn’t. She could barely await the morning when she might see him again. Dear heaven! she thought. Am I falling in love with Alex? It was her last conscious thought before sleep overtook her.
The innkeeper called them early in the morning, for the queen was to address the troops, and all the court was to be present. As a Maid of Honor, Velvet had to be in attendance on Her Majesty that day. As the new Countess of Lynmouth, Angel would be by her husband’s side in a prominent place amongst the courtiers. In their hurry to get ready, they needed to help each other dress, and any awkwardness that might have been between them was forgotten in the rush. Neither girl could eat the sumptuous breakfast that had been ordered, although Alex and Robin both ate with fierce appetites the eggs poached in heavy cream and marsala wine, the thick slices of pink ham, the loaf of hot bread that each slathered with freshly churned butter and plum preserves. Green apple cider, freshly pressed from the early apples, served to wash their meal down.
“How can you eat like that?” grumbled Velvet at the two men.
“It’s positively disgusting at so early an hour!”
“Sun’s up,” said Robin with a grin, “and besides I find I have a monstrous appetite this morning for some reason.” He sent Angel a passionate look, and she blushed furiously and scolded him.
“Fie, my lord, to tease me so!” But her voice was sweet, and the look she sent her bridegroom equally so.
“And what is your excuse, Alex Gordon?” demanded Velvet, somewhat irritably. For some reason she did not share their good humor.
“When one cannot satisfy one appetite, one satisfies another,” he said calmly as he buttered another piece of bread. “More cider, Rob?”
Velvet retreated to her small bedchamber and, flinging open the tiny window, leaned out. It was a glorious summer’s day, this eighth day of August. She sighed deeply.
“Are you all right, Velvet?” Angel had come into the room behind her and gently shut the door.
Velvet turned from her view of the inn garden. “Areyouall right?” she demanded a trifle nervously.
“Why, yes!” Angel exclaimed. “Why would you worry about me?”
“I heard you …” Velvet blushed scarlet. “I mean after last night …” The color came into her face and neck once more. “What I mean is, did my brother hurt you?”
Angel’s eyes suddenly lit with understanding. Poor Velvet. She was so innocent, but then so had Angel been until last night when her bridegroom had introduced her to delights not even previously imagined. Angel put an arm around her friend’s shoulders. “Robin would never hurt me. He is the kindest, gentlest man alive.”
“Are you falling in love with him?”
“Velvet, it is much too soon for me to know such a thing, but I believe that I shall be able to love him in time. For now, I respect him, and I am grateful that the good Lord has given me such a good and kind husband.” She smiled at Velvet. “What a dear sister you will be to me, Velvet, and having never had a sister I shall appreciate you very much.”
“Am I a fool, Angel?”
“Nay, my dearest. I love you for worrying and caring.”
The two girls then saw to their last-minute toilette as, outside the bedchamber door, Robin exhorted his wife and sister to hurry. Arm in arm, they exited the inn, both looking beautiful, Angel in her turquoise gown and Velvet in an exquisite creation of yellow brocade, the underskirt and the sleeves embroidered with black butterflies. Today the queen was allowing her maids to wear their most elegant gowns instead of their usual virginal white.
Outside the inn they found not the coach that Velvet had expected her brother to supply, but four fine mounts that would take them to Tilbury Plain where the army had assembled to hear the queen. The Earl of Lynmouth assured his sister that as they would be riding slowly there would be little danger of the dust ruining their lovely gowns. Then Robin lifted his bride up onto the saddle of a gentle bay-colored mare, smiling as he did so. Velvet saw a soft, intimate look pass between them.
As she turned away, Alex put his hands about her tiny waist and lifted her into her own saddle. Their eyes met for a long moment, and she felt herself quiver ever so slightly beneath his firm grip. He said nothing, but in his eyes was a look she could not fathom. Then he reached up as she settled herself and gently touched her cheek. Velvet felt suddenly and unaccountably shy of this man whom she claimed as a friend, with whom she had shared a first kiss, and far more. Her brother and his bride, however, noticed nothing, for they were far too involved in themselves.
The gentlemen mounted their own horses, and together the two couples began the short ride to Tilbury Plain. A quarter of a mile from the encampment they met with the queen’s party, and Velvet detached herself to join the other Maids of Honor. Bess, looking pretty and spirited in her scarlet gown, greeted her gaily.
“Is it true?” she demanded.
“Is what true?” Velvet replied.
