Her hands grew damp and she rubbed them down hercyrtel. Straightening her shoulders, Fayth met his gaze.
‘I am suggesting myself, my lord.’
Chapter Seven
Giles’s plan could not have gone better than this, for involving the lady had been his intent all along. Fearing that Fayth would refuse his request to do so, he’d dangled before her the duties that she’d carried out for her father over the last two years since her mother’s passing. That information had come from Father Henry himself and was invaluable to understanding Lady Fayth.
And though everyone had called Edmund the earl’s steward, Giles suspected that he held another position within Bertram’s men, if any at all, and it was Fayth who in truth served her father as steward or chatelaine. Now was his chance to discover more about his new wife and the man who would have claimed her.
‘I have worked at my father’s side since I was but a small girl, my lord. I am organised and, though you believe me not, trustworthy in my efforts. More importantly, I seek only to protect my people…’ He noticed her pause and wondered if her memory had lapsed and she’d forgotten who stood before her. Giles could almost hear the rest of it—from you.
‘You have much to prove, lady,’ he said, not yet agreeing though he knew he would. ‘How do I know you will not aid Edmund and those who left with him to fight on another day?’
Giles sensed her yearning to be placed in charge and be in control of her people once more. He hoped his question and her claim of trustworthiness would force her to speak the truth, but sadness filled her gaze and she sighed once more.
‘You cannot know because I do not know what I would do if put to that test, my lord. I am not certain I could withhold food from anyone starving, be they my people or yours or those who threaten our safety or those who tried to keep you out and now flee for their lives.’ She sat back down in the chair and leaned her head against the pillow that cushioned the top edge. ‘I cannot promise you that.’
He did not expect this turn in their discussions or for her to reject his offer. Convinced that she would indeed step into the position and aid his efforts, Giles had been overly confident and now faced failure. She’d surprised him once more.
‘I am pleased at your candour, lady, and think it is easier to accept your confusion over the question than an answer given smoothly and without hesitation. We should both think on and consider this matter more before any decisions are made.’
Pray God that she’d told the truth about her in Edmund’s plans and that she came to him a virgin and had tried to marry her father’s man only in exchange for his help in avoiding Giles’s claim. There could be so much between them if only he could trust her and trust her word. But, until she was proven or not, trust would have to wait.
‘Come, seek your rest,’ he said, holding his hand out to her.
‘I will sleep here, my lord.’ She began to lift the blanket up to her shoulders.
‘Did I harm you last night while you slept?’ He clenched his jaws together. She was a stubborn woman when she wanted to be.
‘I did not sleep last night.’
He knew that. She’d never moved from her place against the wall. He’d listen to her breathing, which had never levelled into the pattern of sleep. The darkening skin around and beneath her eyes spoke of her exhaustion as well.
‘We cannot be strong in the day without a night’s good rest, lady.’
Meeting his gaze, Fayth knew this was about more than sleep. He was asking for her to believe his promises, ones that held not only dread but also a sense of anticipation for her. She did fear what would happen between them, but when she thought of the pleasure given by his kisses and his touch she wondered about the rest of it. Yet, the guilt of enjoying his touch struck her.
Catching sight of the ring that sat on her finger, she understood the bond between them and that, come sooner or come later, she would be his wife in truth and there was no way to avoid that day. It could be worse for her—her husband could have ravaged her and beaten her and kept her imprisoned for trying to take away what he believed was his legal claim to her and her lands. Others would surely have done so.
But not this Breton knight.
And mayhap if a sense of ease grew between them, she could discover the truth of her father’s death and how this man had been given Taerford…and her. Accepting his hand, she stood and walked to the bed where he’d thrown the coverings open. Turning her back to him then, she reached up, gathered her hair in her hands and lifted it away from the neckline of hercyrtel.
‘My lord?’ Daring a glance over her shoulder, she noticed his surprise. ‘I cannot untie the laces.’
He did not react for a few moments, but just as she began to ask once more she felt the touch of his fingers at her neck. The skin there tingled as he brushed her hair aside and tugged at the laces. She felt his hands move down her spine, pulling the laces free from her neck to her lower back. Hercyrtelopened then and the heat of his hands warmed her back as they moved ever lower.
Would he touch her again? It would be easy enough for him now that hercyrtelopened. She held her breath for a moment when he finished loosening the ties. He gripped each side of the dress and tugged at it to widen the gap more. And still she waited, holding her breath as her skin tingled and her stomach tightened in anticipation.
Giles pushed the kirtle forward, off her shoulders, and took a deep breath to release the tension growing within him. Allowing himself the weakness of one kiss, placed chastely on her neck, he fought the urge to slide his hands around her, to touch her breasts and tease the tips until they hardened, much as he was. There would be time and opportunity enough soon to touch her as he wished, and if her unashamed staring at him in the yard this morn gave any indication of her interest, she would allow it.
Soon.
His body reacted to the nearness of her, to the scent of some unnamed herb or flower that rose from her hair, to her exposed skin and the open shift. His male part hardened more, again, his loins ached and his mouth watered for all that her body offered. Shaking his head, he realised that he might have to add ‘harlot’ to his list of workers needed in Taerford if she did not prove her innocence soon.
Giles let his hands drop to his sides. He ignored the glances she cast, as though she’d expected him to do more, and waited for her to climb into the bed. He tried not to notice the thin gown she still wore or the way he could see her nipples pebbled against the fabric. He especially tried not to watch the way she crawled on hands and knees to the other side of the bed, giving him a view of her bottom that enticed and tempted him at once.
Before he could stop it, the image of her kneeling like that in front of him, with her hands placed against the wall, invaded his thoughts and another of him tossing up her gown and burying himself deep into the place between her legs burned itself into his mind. He would lean over her, hold those breasts in his hands, tease the nipples ever tighter and then thrust himself as far inside her as he could go. She would moan, for he would prepare her body first, using his mouth and tongue and hands and fingers, to make her hot and wet. And then he would mark her with his seed and his mouth so that every man would know that she was his alone.
