Dagobert shook his head to silence whatever his friend might have said and turned his attention to the girl.“Explain yourself, if you please.”
Giselle took a gulping breath, nodding even before she spoke.“She said she would have a moment alone with him totalkto him.”
To talk to him?Alienor was talking to the goat?
Dagobert had never imagined that she truly believed the tall tale she had been told, and her inquisitiveness of the past few nights had convinced him that she sought his daytime identity.Apparently, he had been mistaken and he was disappointed for a moment that her wits were not as keen as he had believed.
But what on earth was she telling the goat?
Dagobert’s eyes widened at the realization thathewould be expected to know what she had confided in the creature.Eustache’s chuckle revealed that his friend had come to the same conclusion.His lady was no fool!
Dagobert swore under his breath and darted out of the room, taking the stairs three at a time.Giselle ran in his wake, and Eustache laughed heartily far below.
When the maid was gone,Alienor reached out to grip the tufted beard beneath the beast’s chin so that it would not turn away from her.Her fingers tangled in the kinky white hair and she was momentarily surprised by its silky texture before her resolve hardened anew.This was certain to be ineffective, but she had to talk to someone.And who knew the truth?Perhaps some element of Dagobert’s tale was true, unlikely as that seemed.
“So, you would punish me for my curiosity, my lord, for demanding more of you than your touch in the night,” she murmured.The creature stared fixedly at her, its chewing stilled for the moment.Surprisingly, she did not feel silly addressing the unicorn for she had the sense that it was actually listening to her words with rapt attention.
“I would have your touch rather than naught of you at all, sir,” she admitted, finding herself rubbing the hard nub of its chin beneath the beard.“Should you return this night, I vow I will ask no more than you would willingly give.”
Alienor fairly held her breath while the creature looked over her features as if it would discern whether she spoke the truth.The tension eased in her shoulders when it began to chew once more and tugged impatiently against her hand to free its beard.She could only interpret the gesture as one of acquiescence.She smiled as the silky beard slipped through her fingers, certain that her ardent lover would be back in her bed this night.
Perhaps she had dismissed the old tale too readily.
Perhaps there were mysteries at Montsalvat beyond all expectation.
Too late,too late.Dagobert’s heart sank when he crossed the threshold and saw Alienor’s satisfied smile.She was stepping away from the unicorn, their conversation clearly at an end.If only the creature could talk and tell him what it had heard!His chest tightened as he recalled his mother interrupting his councils with the news that Alienor had refused her draught of wine.He studied her, wondering what she had seen, ornotseen, during the night past, and what she had made of that.
She evidently sensed his presence, darting a glance over her shoulder toward him.He saw the dark shadows beneath her tawny eyes, the tired droop to her full lips.Her sleepless night was echoed by his own exhausted body and he stifled the urge to gather her up and carry her back to bed.
Their eyes met and she flushed scarlet, her shielding hands drawing his attention to the sheer gauze of her chemise and how little of her femininity it concealed.He caught a glimpse of one rosy nipple hardening to perfection and felt his own body respond in kind.He wondered how he had managed to spend even one night without her caress.
“Do you not knock?”she demanded, and he almost smiled at the breathlessness in her voice.Truly they were each as aware of the other and he was amazed that she had not guessed the truth.He inclined his head now, playing the role of meek goatherd as well as he was able, gesturing with one hand to his four-legged ward.
“My pardon, my lady, my concern was that Dagobert see the stables in time to avoid you embarrassment.As the door was open, I thought you gone,” he explained.“I will be only a moment.”His heart pounded as he realized that his path to the unicorn would take him within an arm’s length of his lady.
“I would ask that you be hasty about it,” Alienor said.She turned her back to him, tugging a cloak over her shoulders and holding her hands out to the fire in the brazier.Dagobert stepped quickly across the stone floor, though the alluring scent of sandalwood that teased his nostrils when he drew near Alienor made him grit his teeth.
He spared one glance to her and immediately regretted it.The thick ebony mane that tumbled down her back called to his fingers to tangle in its wavy length.The pale curves of her figure beneath the cloak invited his caress.Even the delicate bones of her ankles fed his desire this morn and he had difficulty grasping the unicorn’s leash as he made his way from the room.
Tonight, he vowed to himself, tonight his wife would learn the meaning of passion.
It seemedall went awry for Alienor that day.Alaric barging into her chambers and seeing her nearly nude, never mind her clear awareness of his presence, set the tone for the day.Her needle seemed cursed as she worked in Iolande’s solar and she was certain she ripped out three stitches for every one she made.
The unicorn’s failure to change troubled her more than she might have hoped, and as the day progressed, she found herself growing more skeptical of the tale.That, in turn, led down a dangerous path, one that left her wondering where her husband secreted himself during the day and why he did so.Both of these thoughts were disturbingly inconsistent with her vow to honor his privacy, but Alienor did not know how to still her mischief-making thoughts.
Alaric did not come to sing to the women this day, which was a disappointment to Alienor, for despite the embarrassment of this morning, she had looked forward to seeing him again.To make the day complete, one of the knights had killed a boar at the hunt and all were compelled to partake of the meat and salute his skill at the board that eve.
Alienor excused herself early from the celebration, unaware of how many watched her departure with avid interest.She dismissed Giselle quickly and crawled into the great bed, cold and lonely.All day long, she had fretted about Dagobert’s agreement to her vow, hoping against hope that she had not misread her husband’s intent, and now her fears returned to haunt her.
If he was not truly the unicorn by day, how would he know her desire?
What if he did not ever come to her again?
Alienor’s heartleapt when the bed curtains were pulled open and she sat up startled.A tall, broad-shouldered man stood at the foot of the bed, silhouetted against the dying embers of the fire.He surveyed in silence, his long hair streaming over his shoulders.Alienor almost panicked, but then a gold circle hanging against his chest caught the light.
“Dagobert!”Alienor threw herself on her husband with delight.“You came!”She had the chance to say no more before his arms closed around her and his lips claimed hers, his hunger as fevered as her own.The intensity of his kiss made her head spin and she gripped his shoulders, closing her eyes against her instinctive response to his touch.His tongue was in her mouth, the sure grip of his hand on her nape holding her captive beneath him, his other arm binding her against his chest as he carried her to the center of the bed without breaking his kiss.His demanding embrace was all she had ever wanted and more.
It was too much, this passion of his, it was everything, and she feared she would melt in the heat of it.Even then, she did not care.Her skin was on fire, her blood turned to molten metal, her heartbeat echoed in her ears and she wanted only more.She struggled to return his caresses, to touch him as boldly as he touched her, but she was lost to sensation, stretched to endurance to merely respond to his demands.
