“Ilsabeth, ye have only been here two days. Ye dinnae smell dirty at all.”
He kissed her on the neck and nipped gently at the tender skin there. Ilsabeth was so glad to have him with her but she knew she could not enjoy his company until she told him about Henry’s threats. She needed Simon’s assurances that the children were safe.
She leaned back in his arms until she could see his face. “Simon, just heed me for a moment. ‘Tis about your brother. He... he threatened the children.” She watched his eyes narrow and saw a glint of that anger Henry always brought into Simon’s eyes. “He told me that he kenned I had weaknesses and he kenned what they are. He said I should think on that ere I refused him.”
“Refused him what?”
“Ne’er mind that. He threatened the children. I wouldnae be surprised if he was threatening Old Bega and MacBean, too. He said I should think hard on those weaknesses and how he will use them to make me do what he wants e’en if it meant he got a wee bit of blood on his hands. But, the worse was that he said, ‘the sweetest blood is said to be that of the tender wee lasses. It runs smoothly and brightly o’er the hands.’ He meant Elen, Simon. He meant our wee sweet Elen. Ye have to get the children somewhere safe.”
He pulled her back into his arms and rubbed his hand up and down her back. “ ‘Tis done, love. They have been sent to Tormand and Morainn this verra night. Morainn saw the need for that, too. She didnae name a threat but when she says something about having to get the children to her now, ye do it.”
“Oh, thank God. I was so afraid. There was no one to tell, no one to come and take a message to ye.”
“In truth, Ilsabeth, ye sent me and Morainn a message.” He grinned when she looked at him in shock. “Aye, I was yanked out of a sound sleep and was trying to understand what had done that, but all I kenned for sure was that I had to get to ye and naught would get in my way. Peter came then and told me that one of our men was butchered in a way that is my brother’s favorite so I was distracted from that urgency for a while. A short while later Tormand arrived and said Morainn wanted me to get to ye now. He began to repeat what message Morainn had heard and I finished it, suddenly able to recall the words that had slapped me awake. I think ye yelled it out so loud it did get sent and ye didnae e’en have to write it down.”
“I might have a gift?”
She looked so delighted at the thought that he had to smile. Holding her close as he was, however, his thoughts swiftly wandered to how long it had been since he had last held her. The guard was being kind, but Simon was certain that the man would grow uneasy if he stayed with Ilsabeth for too long. He wanted, needed, to steal some of that time to love her, hold her, and savor the passion they shared. Try as he did to ignore it, a little voice in hismind kept warning him that what he shared with her might not last much longer.
“Shouldnae ye be trying to see where it was that Walter and Henry got in unseen?” Ilsabeth asked as Simon pushed her down onto the rough pallet.
“There is time to do that,” he replied as he started to slide his hand up beneath her skirts. “Right after I feed a hunger that has gone unfed for far too long.”
“Only two days,” she murmured, although she shared his hunger. “Far too long.”
“Ye mean to make love in a dungeon?”
“Aye.”
“The guard...”
“Handed me a torch and the key and told me to fetch him when our visit was over. Now, hush,” he whispered against her mouth, and then kissed her.
Ilsabeth hushed. She was hungry, too. She had missed Simon, missed the way his big, warm body curled around her as they slept. Most of all she had missed the way he made her feel safe. She was desperate to feel safe, even if only for the time she was in his arms. Safe and warm, she thought, even as she lost herself in his kiss.
It took only a kiss to cause their passion for each other to run wild. Simon was starved for her, but part of what had him so desperate to bury himself deep inside her was his fear for her, a fear that had been eating at him from the moment he had been told that Walter had taken her. Suddenly, his house was empty, his bed was empty, and, he realized, a large part of him was also empty without her. When he finally thrust inside her, he stilled, savoring the heat of her and a deep sense of belonging. “Simon?”
“It feels so good,” he whispered. “Aye, it does.”
Ilsabeth did not know how long she could wait for Simon to give her what her body was crying out for, however. It moved her that he found the way their bodies joined together so perfectly, the way that joining brought them close in so many ways, something to savor. Any other time she would savor it, too, be pleased with sharing a time that was both sensual and peaceful. This time she needed more; she needed fire and rough passion.
“I think today it might feel a wee bit better if ye moved,” she finally said.
Simon looked down at her and grinned as he slowly pulled back until he was nearly free of her body and then ever so slowly pushed back in as deep as he could go. “Like that?”
Ilsabeth looked at that grin and narrowed her eyes. Then she smiled and dragged her fingernails down his back, no longer afraid that she would hurt him. The first time she had done it in a moment of heightened passion he had shuddered as he did now and she had quickly apologized. Simon had explained to her that he needed the rougher touch, that the damage done by the whip Henry had so viciously wielded had made it difficult for him to feel a soft caress.
Now she took full advantage of the fact that he found her scratching his back intoxicating, relishing the fact that he felt anything at all. She did it once more and finally received the hard loving she needed. They raced toward that bliss she craved as one, and when he joined her in that release from a blinding need, their voices blending as they cried out from the force of it, she prayed she would soon be free to enjoy this as she had before Walter had dragged her away to this dark place.
Appreciating how long he held her close after their lovemaking, Ilsabeth made no complaint when he finally straightened their clothes and tugged her to her feet. “Time to go, aye?” she asked as he brushed a kiss over her mouth.
“Aye,” he replied. “Soon, Ilsabeth. I will have ye free of this place soon.”
He kissed her again and started toward the door, hesitating and sending her a tortured look when he realized he would have to lock her in. Ilsabeth walked over, pushed him out of her prison, and closed the door. He had to stop the men planning to kill the king and, in truth, with Henry still running free, she knew she was safer right where she was.
“Lock it, Simon,” she said. “I ken ye will solve this trouble soon and that my stay here will be a short one.” She leaned against the door as he locked it and then smiled at him. “And, I was just thinking that Henry cannae reach me here.” The expression that crossed his face and the way his eyes narrowed told her that that might not have been the wisest thing she had ever said.
Simon locked the door and looked at her. “What else did Henry threaten ye with?” When she just shrugged and tried to step back, he caught hold of her hand and pulled her closer, only the bars separating them. “Ye cannae slip back and hide away, nay with these fine new doors the king had put on these cells. Do ye ken why he had them built? Too many guards were hurt by the prisoners because they couldnae get a good look inside there before they had to step inside. E’en the prisoners who were chained could prove dangerous. The king decided the guards needed to see the whole of the inside. So, I can easily see that ye are hiding something no matter where ye stand in there. Tell me, what else did my brother threaten ye with?”
