She hurried to the door without looking at him, but to his satisfaction, did not open the door. She stood facing the exit, waiting for him.
He smiled. Either she feared going out without him, or she was growing fond of him. Probably the former, but he’d take what he could get.
* * *
Sir Barrett had a bath sent up to his room after supper. To Daisy’s annoyance, the same serving wench from outside, Margrite, was one of the women who carried up buckets of warm water. She paced a small path near the window where she’d watched her…husbandall afternoon. It seemed impossible she could be married, and yet Father David had pronounced them man and wife. She now had a husband. She belonged to Sir Barrett.
How odd that the thought did not distress her nearly so much today as it had the day before. The bedding part, yes. She still did not want to have anything to do with coupling, not even the electrifying things he had done to her the night before. But she liked Sir Barrett, despite it all. He had spanked her—three times already. He had tied her wrists and made a spectacle out of feeding her on his lap. He had locked her in his room like a prisoner of war and yet… she could not hate him. She could not even dislike him. In less than two days’ time, he’d already become familiar to her. Here at Rothburg, he was the only person she knew. But more than that, she felt close to him. As close as she’d felt to her sisters, God rest their souls. He knew her darkest secret, after all.
Margrite and her cohort clomped into the room again, carrying two more buckets, which they emptied into the wooden tub in the center of the room. “Is that enough for you, my lord?” Margrite asked.
Sir Barrett looked at the water level. “Yes, that should do. Thank you.”
Margrite set her pail down and sauntered over to stand far too close to Sir Barrett. “Would you like us to bathe you, my lord?” she asked in a sultry voice.
Sir Barrett smirked. “No, I have a lady wife for that now,” he said, tossing Daisy a wink.
“Are you sure?” Margrite asked, her voice dripping with honey. “We could show her how you like it…”
“Out,” he said, making a shooing motion with his hand. “Go on, move out. I am married now, and your flirtation offends my wife.” He did not seem angry with the wenches, though, only amused.
It irritated her even more to think he offered that same patient amusement with all of her antics. Mayhap she was not special to him at all, but just a female who offered a challenge for his seduction. She folded her arms across her chest and glowered at him when they left.
“You cannot be angry with me for the girls I tumbled before we were married. I will not be unfaithful to you unless you drive me completely from our bed.”
A cold, sinking sensation took hold in her abdomen. It was the answer to her dilemma—the way to be rid of his amorous intentions. And yet, the idea of him lying with another made her almost dizzy with nausea.
She looked up to find him studying her. “You are actually considering it, aren’t you?” he asked, sounding offended for the first time since she’d met him.
She hesitated. Lying would only earn her another trip over his knee. She shook her head and turned away. “I’m just—confused,” she said, which was truth.
“Fair enough. Come here, little wife and learn to serve your husband.”
She walked to him and knelt at his feet, unlacing his boots.
His large hand tangled in her hair, mussing her braid. He lifted the plait and cut the thread securing the end with the blade of his dagger. “Unwind your hair,” he said, his voice deepened.
She closed her eyes, breathing. Why did such a simple command have an effect on her body? Her breasts had grown heavy, the nipples tight and achy. The now-familiar swirling sensation had taken flight in her belly. Her fingers shook as she unwound the braid until her blond hair fell across her shoulders in thick waves.
Sir Barrett pulled off his tunic and undershirt, revealing his chiseled muscles. She had never found men appealing, but the mere sight of his chest made her heart pick up speed. Something about the power so evident in his naked form made the muscles clench between her legs in a mixture of fear and… what? Desire? Surely not.
She scrambled back and lurched to her feet, away from him when hepulled off his leggings. It may have been better to stay close, because now she had a clear view of his manhood, standing straight out like a jousting rod.
She must have shown her shock, because he grinned and covered it with one fist as he stepped into the tub. “Don’t be afraid of it. I’ll never take you before you’re ready.”
“Before I ask, you mean,” she said.
“Yes, that, too. But I mean after you’ve asked, when you’ve given yourself wholly to me. I still would never let it be difficult for you.”
Panic at the topic only added to her confusion. “I-I’m afraid I do not understand you, my lord.”
“Come over here,” he said.
The last thing she wanted to do was get closer to his naked body. But they had made a bargain, and if she wanted him to uphold his end, she had to keep hers. She came two steps closer.
He patted the floor beside him. “Right here. Kneel by my side and wash me.”
Bubbles of fear fizzed inside her but she obeyed, lowering to her knees and picking up the scrap of linen. Her hands refused to touch him with it, though. She just remained there, frozen by his side, staring into the water at his enormous cock.
