Page 26 of A Knight in Tarnished Armor

She closed her eyes, knowing this decision was hers. She opened them and looked at him. "‘Tis midsummer's eve."

"I know," was all he said.

"A time for magical things to happen."

"Aye."

The silence hung between them. Finally he started to leave.

"William!"

He turned back.

She took a deep breath, then whispered, "I love you." A moment later she was in his arms, his mouth on hers, and he lifted her off the ground.

"Linnet," he murmured. "My sweet bird, Linnet. God, how I want you."

He laid her back in the pillows and joined her. Their clothes fell away, slowly, leaving time to savor each discovery, each soft new touch, each whisper of love against her skin, against his ear. Her name was a prayer on his lips, his name a promise as yet unfulfilled.

For long moments he would just look at her and she had never felt so cherished in her life. When he touched her and kissed her, he did so as if it were the most important thing he had ever done. He used his tongue deeply in her mouth and taught her how to respond, how to touch him. He loved her breasts, her belly and lower with his lips and mouth and sent her to the stars more times than she could imagine. He kissed and stroked her feet and legs, and in between until she was hoarse from crying out.

She wanted William, wanted to spend every moment with him, wanted this powerful loving between them to last forever. She told him, the moment he entered her, after the pain that made her gasp. And as soon as she spoke the words she could have sworn there were tears in his eyes.

He taught her loving, taught her caring, taught her tenderness and patience and spent eternal moments to assure her pleasure. ‘Twas the most profound moment in her lifetime when she cried out and his life poured into her.

And when their breath slowed and their bodies cooled, he wrapped her hair around them and brought his lips to her ear. "You have sunset in your hair, my love. Sunset."

She smiled. "Does that mean it's going to rain?"

He laughed, a sound that was deep in his chest, but they were so close she felt the sound keenly. "That is why I purchased the tent."

"I adore the tent. But I miss the stars. These past nights at the inns were lonely, William. I missed the sound of your breath and the stars above us."

He rose from their bed and grabbed his sword. In a flash he cut a square flap in the top of the tent. Then completely naked, he bowed, "Your stars, milady."

And it was her turn to cry.

10

They arrived at the abbey late the next afternoon, and a rather sorry caravan they were with the tether of pack mules, twenty-six cats, five rabbits, and two ducks. But William and Linnet cared not, for they rode on the same horse, stopping every so often to exchange kisses and lingering looks of love.

Once a proud castle that guarded the borderlands, St. Lawrence Abbey was perched atop a lush and green English hillside. Guards with crossbows no longer stood sentinel at the battlements. The only things on those crenellated walls were doves cooing at the sunshine and a trumpeter who heralded arrivals.

Now those who came to the abbey sought succor not from men and arms, or marauding barbarians, but from nuns skilled in healing the body, the mind, and the spirit. Ducks and swans floated in the waters of the moat and sheep grazed fields. The armory, built for pounding out weapons and mail, was now just a building used for drying herbs and brewing medicinals. Lush ivy and tansy threaded with pale roses meandered up an iron trellis on the castle tower that was no longer a stronghold, but a peaceful place to find strength of mind.

William and Linnet rode through the curtain wall gates and reined in before the massive abbey doors just as matins were chiming. He dismounted and helped Linnet down, pausing to hold her for a moment longer than necessary.

The abbey doors flew open and a bevy of dark-garbed nuns trotted down the stone steps.

"Linnet!"

She turned in William's arms and laughed, then ran to a tall and regal-looking woman. "Aunt Bess!"

Just then another person came down the steps.

"Grandpapa?"

William went as still as stone. His angry gaze met Arden's. Slowly he walked toward the steps until he faced the earl. The tension grew thick and hung like fog in the air. Slowly, the other voices tapered off.