Passions - Healing Passion Part 13

The king tapped his chin with a grandly beringed finger. "We cannot let this go completely unanswered, or we shall have ladies the kingdom over feeling they can say nay to their husband, should it please them, and bas.h.i.+ng them over the head when their husbands object. 'Twill not do. Yet we cannot condemn the lady too harshly for defending herself."

A few more taps on his chin followed as he considered what to do. Finally, the king's face cleared and he nodded to himself. He looked up and glanced around the court.

"Sir Thomas," he called, finding the person he sought. "Come forward."Thomas joined them on the steps of the dais, standing on her right side, opposite the Prince on her left. Nonetheless, the king's next words were addressed to her.

"Lady Juliana, as a sign of your penitence for having had a part in your husband's death, it is our order that you complete a pilgrimage to the shrine at Canterbury sometime within the coming year. Since this is a penitential pilgrimage, you will go on foot." The king nodded to himself. "We also feel it necessary that we immediately find another husband for you, one who will be able to take you in hand and teach you a wife's place and duty."

The king looked at Thomas. "Sir Thomas, you've done us good service, but we dare ask one last boon of you. If you're willing, we would have you take this lady for your wife. We realize there is a danger in wedding one who has already contributed to the death of a previous husband, but knowing your prowess in battle, we believe you are adequate to the demand."

His Majesty looked over Juliana and his mouth crooked into a small smile. "Though perhaps, given the lady's beauty, the risks of bedding her may well be outweighed by the pleasure in it." He shrugged and turned again to Thomas. "Will you do this for us?"

Thomas reached out and took Juliana's arm, tucking it into the crook of his. "Aye, Your Majesty. I'll wed the lady."The king's face broke into a wide smile. "Excellent. We have every confidence in your ability to prevent future incidents of the kind she had with Lord Groswick. We would like you to marry this time tomorrow, right here. We'll be your chief witness."

"I'm very sensible of the honor you do us, Your Majesty," Thomas said."Aye, just so." He raised one ironic eyebrow for a moment, then grew serious again.

"We make it your duty to ensure she makes the pilgrimage we've designated. We trust you'll also discipline her as necessary and care for her as she deserves.""I give my word on it, Your Majesty.""Excellent. Sir Thomas, we've been pleased with your service, and grateful for it. You've fulfilled the mission we set for you admirably, and have just now done us an additional boon. Your faithfulness has earned reward." The king tapped his chin again. "We have now a keep with no lord at Groswick. You've seen this keep, Sir Thomas. What think you of it?"

"For the last year or more, the keep has been well managed, Your Majesty, though prior to that, I understand, there were difficulties. The keep I sheltered in for several weeks was a prosperous and well-favored place."

"Excellent. You will not, then, deem it too great a burden should we name you Baron Groswick and give the care of this keep into your hands?"Thomas drew a sharp breath. "I should be exceedingly honored and grateful, Your Majesty."

"Aye, well, you understand the responsibilities and obligations that accompany the appointment."

"I do, Your Majesty.""Very well. Go then, both of you. Prepare for your wedding tomorrow. Lady Juliana...We've given you to a husband both strong and worthy. See that you honor him as is his due."

Juliana smiled at Thomas before she answered. "You may depend on it, Your Majesty.""Very well, then. We're sure you have much to settle between you."Before she stepped down, Juliana turned to the Prince, who had remained beside her throughout the king's exchange with Thomas. "Your Highness, I'm exceedingly grateful for your a.s.sistance.""It was our pleasure," the Prince a.s.sured her. "Go now and be happy with Sir Thomas. You'll find in him all that was lacking in Groswick."

The Prince went back to his seat near the side of the dais. Still arm in arm, Juliana and Thomas walked out of the room. In a daze of disbelief and astonishment, they made it back to her quarters, dismissed Ellyn, and barred the door behind them before Juliana flung herself into his arms and pressed herself against his chest.

"Is it true?" she asked him, "Can it possibly be true? I am allowed to live? And we're ordered to wed on the morrow. I can scarce credit I'm not dreaming it. And you've been made Lord Groswick. The people will rejoice."

"Perhaps as much because they'll continue to have you for their lady as for acquiring me as lord.""Nay, not so. They do admire you. The guards you've trained have great praise for you. And all the household respects you as well."

"Except for Peter Randolph," Thomas pointed out.

"Aye, well. Except for Peter. But if you return as my savior rather than my potential doom, I think in time even he will be reconciled.""He'll be reconciled if he wishes to remain at the keep," Thomas said. And then he leaned down to kiss her, and they didn't speak again for a while.The kiss sent its usual waves of fire pouring down her back and into her gut. She couldn't get close enough to him and lifted his court tunic and s.h.i.+rt to get her hands on his chest. He tugged at tapes and laces. A few hectic, occasionally awkward and tangled moments ensued as they shed their clothes.

Relief and the lifting of long built-up tension made Juliana light-headed, almost giggly.

Thomas didn't seem to mind, though, that getting him wrapped up in his own s.h.i.+rt made her dissolve into laughter. He smiled on her mirth and mussed up her hair, tugging it free of the pins that held it up, in revenge for her pulling on his as she finally got the s.h.i.+rt over his head.

He buried his fingers in the released tresses and drew her to him for another long, deep kiss. She drank in the sweetness of that joining, knowing she'd never tire of it and never get enough of it. His jutting c.o.c.k pressed into her belly. Hands roved over her back, running up and down her spine, then moving around her sides to stroke her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. She met his eyes and got lost in the fiery blue depths of them. This man was her fate, her destiny, the one she'd love, honor, and cherish forever.

They tipped over onto the bed in another awkward tangle of limbs. It set her laughing again. Between giggles, she tried to apologize. "I feel like a silly child, laughing over the most ridiculous things. I cannot seem to help it. The relief is so great."

His smile was tender and indulgent as he traced the outline of her lips with a finger. "I like to hear you laugh. I'm sure you've done little enough of it in your life."Then he ran a hand down over her breast, brus.h.i.+ng the nipple, and the jolting pleasure of it chased away the laughter, replacing it with a sharp gasp. He teased the peak with his fingers, then with his tongue, until it stood up hard and she was squirming beneath him. Fire lit the blood in her veins to a boil.

He licked down her stomach, stopping to dip into her belly b.u.t.ton, and continued downward to her cleft. Juliana held her breath. His clever mouth explored the petals of her quim before his tongue speared through them and dove deep into her. She gasped and wound her fingers tightly in his hair, holding him to her. With sharp little flicks, he teased her pearl until she writhed with the extremity of sensation.

When he drew back and moved so he could kiss her mouth again, she tasted her own

juices on his lips.

Wanting, needing to return the pleasure, she grasped his c.o.c.k and began to caress it with her fingers. When he moaned softly, it thrilled her to know she could give him pleasure equal to what he brought her. Touching his flesh in this intimate way sent s.h.i.+vers rus.h.i.+ng up and down her. The hardness of his need roused an equal response in her. Her quim swelled and tightened, demanding the fulfillment of his invasion. She wanted him, but, even more, she wanted to give him every pleasure possible in return.

Indulging a sudden impulse, she leaned over and pressed her lips to his c.o.c.k. He gasped sharply. "Does it please you?" she asked.

He had to take a deep breath before he could answer. "More than I can say."With the tip of her tongue, she licked up along its length to the soft sleek bulb at the top. A drop of liquid oozed from the tiny hole. He groaned when she tasted it. She cupped his b.a.l.l.s in her palm, kneading them carefully as she brushed across the sensitive ridges and folds of his c.o.c.k.

After a moment, he stilled her. "No more, Juliana. No more, lest I explode right now.

Turn over."Instead, she paused and levered herself up on her elbow, looking him in the face. "We're to be married tomorrow, my love. Can we not share fully this evening?"

"But what if I disappoint you? Will you refuse to accept me tomorrow?" Sparkly lights danced in his blue eyes as he teased her."I don't believe the king would allow it," she mused. "But it will not be. You couldn't disappoint me. The man you are is all I will ever want."

"As you are the lady I've waited and searched for so long."He reached down to her quim and dipped his finger into the sensitive folds of flesh there. He found her bud and teased it until she squealed. His stroking of her pearl brought her to a s.h.i.+vering tension that demanded his intrusion for completion."Please, Thomas," she begged. "Come into me."His c.o.c.k bobbed in her hand, eager to spear her. Thomas gathered some of the moisture seeping from her on his fingers and spread it on the end. Then he moved to position himself over her. The tip of his c.o.c.k sought for the entrance, and finding it, began to nudge itself in.

It was uncomfortable for a moment or two as she adjusted to his size, which stretched her. He waited patiently for her to signal her readiness to continue. When she relaxed and smiled at him, he pushed deeper and deeper until he was buried in the depths of her body. Her womb swelled around him and spasms jolted through it that held him tight as her arms wound around him to keep him close to her.

He watched her steadily. The love and joy in his expression was an added pleasure in the steadily growing tempest of desire. The fire that burned in him spread to her and blazed through her, a shared benediction of the spirit that joined them.

He withdrew partway, then slid back in. It drew another spasm of pleasure, this time from deep within her womb. When he saw that it pleased her, he drew back and pushed in again, harder this time.

His face scrunched up with joyful strain as he thrust into her again and again.

Tension built inside her as though she ascended a steep hill. Each pleasurable spasm took her higher and higher, increasing the antic.i.p.ation of getting to the top. Her back arched; she surged upward to meet his thrusts and bounced in a small, needy spasm

when his c.o.c.k hit its home inside. Her fingers dug into his back as the tension grew so huge, she could scarce bear it.As she neared the peak, her breath couldn't come fast enough. The need demanded he go faster and faster.

Just as she was about to reach the top, he withdrew and stopped partway out for a breathless, endless moment. They shared a brief look steeped in shared love, endless

promise, and desperate need for each other. Then he thrust into her again, deep, deeper, deepest. It sent her to the top of the hill and over.

Huge spasms rolled over her, making her jolt and buck against him. He grunted deep in

his throat with the explosive relief of his tension. They held onto each other while each rocked with the joy of their mutual climax. She didn't so much roll down off the top of the hill as float down from it.

The peace that filled her as the spasms of release began to abate was like nothing she'd ever experienced. It held fulfillment, and love, and a saturating joy.Thomas collapsed on top of her. His dear weight pressed against her chest and belly, while his head fit into her shoulder, his face alongside hers, cheek to cheek. It interfered with her breathing, but she didn't care. If she were to die this way, she would die happy, but she knew he wouldn't allow that to happen. They held onto each other and their complete, perfect melding of two individuals into one. It wouldn't last, but the memories and renewals of it would.

Finally, he pushed himself off and rolled over to lay beside her. He took her hand. "Juliana, as G.o.d is my witness, you are my lady, my wife. You're mine from this moment on. I promise to love, protect, cherish and honor you for the rest of our lives."

She looked into his blue eyes as she brought her other hand over to cover their joined ones. "Thomas, as G.o.d is my witness, you are my love and my husband from this moment on. I promise to love, honor, and cherish you as well for the rest of our lives."

Tomorrow they'd make those vows in front of witnesses, where they would be legally binding. But these were the vows that would bind their hearts and souls for the rest of their lives.

"And now that we've slaked the most immediate desperate need, we have yet all night for more," he said. "I plan to take you more slowly next time. I want to touch every square inch of you and kiss it as well. I want to show you a thousand more delights. I hope you have no plans to sleep tonight, my love."

Juliana touched his cheek, and ran her hand down his chest to his already swelling c.o.c.k. Love for him swelled so full in her breast, she wondered she didn't burst with it. "None whatsoever, my husband."

About the author:.

Katherine Kingston welcomes mail from readers. You can write to her c/o Ellora's Cave Publis.h.i.+ng at P.O. Box 787, Hudson, Ohio 44236-0787.

Also by Katherine Kingston:.

Binding Pa.s.sion Daring Pa.s.sion Equinox Ruling Pa.s.sion Silverquest.

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