The Rose Of Lorraine Part 9

"Oh." Henri looked baffled. "I didn't hear it, Papa."

"Henri was with me in the chapel," Bella explained as she very carefully got to her feet. Again her right knee let her know that all this bending, stooping and kneeling wasn't doing her injury any good. "He fell asleep waiting." "Then you have an excuse for being tardy to lessons with me, but I doubt it will be good enough for Master Wynford. Run along, Henri."

"Yes, Papa."

Sir John watched his youngest son run from the stable before he turned to Bella and said, "If you heard the bells, you should have sent Henri on his way to his lessons."

Bella brushed straw from the front of her surcoat. "Yes, I realize now I should have." She straightened and stepped out of the stall. "But as I was enjoying his company, I did not think a few minutes away from the study of Latin would hurt at his age." She crossed her fingers, hoping she was making a correct guess.

"You indulge Henri too much, Bella. That will weaken him. Come, you are needed in the manor."

As far as she could tell, the services of Lady Isabel were not vital anywhere. The whole castle was under such strict regime, his, that she couldn't see anything the lady of the house needed to contribute. Maybe that's where his marriage had gone wrong.

As he offered her his arm, she took it, slipping her fingers into the crook, laying them at the crease where his biceps pushed out the fullness of his sleeve. He walked with a measured step, matched to her pace. That surprised her, because she had always had to quicken her step to keep up with Ari. Today, she certainly couldn't have matched anyone's pace for more reasons than just the throbbing ache in her knee.

As they stepped into the sunlight, she asked, "Did I get all the straw brushed off?"

He looked over his shoulder in a sweeping glance down her unbound hair to the hem of her trailing skirt. He responded, "Sufficiently."

Across the ward there was a flurry of activity at the kitchens and the smell of meat roasting filled the air.

Again the doors were wide open and there were lots of hungry men gathering for the midday meal. Bella's own stomach grumbled. She thought this hunger of hers must be part of the shock of warping into another time plane. Normally, she was a very light eater.

They took their places, standing while the crowd filled in. Several ladies with conical coifs came running into the hall with scarfs trailing like standards behind them. The shuffling stopped and everyone bowed their head, folded their hands as Sir John used a stentorian voice to lead the noon prayers. Bella added her own prayer of thanks that he'd come to get her so that she wasn't late again.

She took her seat and after depositing her napkin on her lap, took advantage of having one hand under the table to guardedly probe the uncooperative joint. Some parts were just too painful to touch and in general she was certain there was marked swelling. Ice packs weren't an option. Neither were easy to use tubes of antibacterial ointment. That made her think of all the minor injuries that could turn into major medical emergencies without drugs and well trained physicians to tend them.

"I hope you have more appet.i.te than you displayed this morning, Bella." That solicitous comment from Chandos brought Bella's attention back to him.

"Yes, I'm very hungry," she admitted.

"Good."

The custom was to share platters. Again Sir John selected from the trays loaded with food presented to him, broke each choice in two or cut it with his eating knife and laid Bella's portion on her side, his on the other. He really meant it when he said by his hand she was fed. While she dwelled on the intimacy of this eating arrangement, he asked if she like the boar steak.

"Boar? As in wild boar?" Bella asked. She had a long standing aversion to javelinas that were the bane of farmers back home in Texas.

"All boars are wild," Chandos informed her of a patent truth.

"Where did it come from?"

"Graham and I brought it down yesterday morning during the search for you. It's not too gamy, is it?"

Bella shuddered distastefully at that particularly gruesome and scary thought. She'd lain unconscious and vulnerable at the same time a wild animal roamed the countryside. So as not to appear cowardly, she tasted one small bite. "I can't say its gamy."

"You might tell that to cook when you speak to him about the morrow's meals. Everything needs must be perfect for Robin's feastday. King Edward has a.s.sured me he will attend the celebration."

"Ah, yes." Bella nodded, aligning more tidbits, scolds and inferences while mildly wondering why it had no lasting effect when the lady of the house threw a guest out. So what if the guest was the king? An obnoxious guest was an obnoxious guest. She didn't waste her breath voicing that own question. Only the almighty lord and master had any say over who or who could not be within the castle walls.

"Anything special you would like?" She sought a clue.

He paused over the carving of more bites of the boar steak to parcel onto her side of the platter and shot

her the most adorable, shyly winning smile she'd ever seen. G.o.d, if the man wanted to, he could sell snake oil to serpents, he had that much endearing charm, not that she was going to succ.u.mb to it.

"Those jelly rolls your chef makes only for you." So he had a sweet tooth, did he? Bella suppressed the smile that inched across her lips. She bent her head over the spoon she worked into the lentils and pepper sauce. "Are you asking for yourself or is it the king you seek to appease with sweets?"

"Why, the king, of course," he said. "And Robin, too.

'Twill be an important day for the lad."

Bella looked up to judge Chandos' expression which showed no sign of latent humor inherent to his

offhand allusion to the king. So much for insight into his mind.

And she reminded herself, so much for even wanting insight into his mind. He wasn't going to charm her out of her justifiable anger. She nodded politely, saying, "I'll see what I can do after I've had a nap." "A nap, you say?" he replied quickly...too quickly. Bella shot him a look that said clearly, don't you even think about it! This time she found his bland expression a challenge. Her mouth tightened. His brow arched. She stopped herself from kicking him under the table. "A nap sounds most appropriate this afternoon," he drawled as he held his goblet out to a steward to fill with wine. He tasted the drink then held the jeweled cup out to Bella. "Drink, Bella. You know you cannot refuse." "Can't I?" her reply had a sting to it. "No," Chandos said as he put the goblet to her lips.

She brought her hand up, intending to push the cup away, but he deliberately tipped it and it was either drink or get thoroughly stained by red wine. Bella drank, though she did manage to get her fingers over his and press some distance between the potent liquid and her mouth. She was no expert or connoisseur, but that fermented brew had the impact of hundred and ten proof brandy.

Bringing her napkin to her mouth, Bella asked, "What is that stuff?" "You don't like it?" Chandos asked blandly. "I didn't say that. I want to know what it's called." "Burgundy, I believe. Compliments of the vineyards of Jean de Vienne. A bit heady for midday, but suitable if one intends to have a bit of a rest." He put the cup in her hand. "Drink it, Bella. Wine aids digestion, they say." Sir John turned his attention to finis.h.i.+ng the meal set before them. Wary, Bella did the same. She made a sandwich of sorts from the cheese and crusty bread and missed mayonnaise and lettuce as she ate it. Halfway through the wine, she no longer cared about the missing condiments.

When she put the empty goblet on the table, she had to hide a deep yawn behind her hand. So she excused herself at that point and began to rise from her seat. Her knee didn't want to cooperate. Bella had to catch hold of the armrest of Chandos' chair to steady herself when her right leg buckled.

"What's wrong?" he asked, immediately concerned.

"Nothing," Bella said. "Just a sore knee from too much kneeling this morning, thank you very much."

He was out of his chair before she could stop him. "Then you shouldn't be walking on it. This is the same

knee I noticed was cut yesterday." "I'm perfectly fine," Bella lied, straightening, and locking the joint. "We shall see." Chandos effortlessly picked Bella up in his arms. "Put me down this instant!" she protested. "Stop issuing orders to me, woman." Bella's belly drew tight as she perceived his true intention to bed her this very moment. She regretted the s.e.xual taunt she'd delivered when she'd come to hall that morning.

She gave in with ill grace, only because to protest more in the crowded hall only served to bring more

attention to them. As he stepped down from the dais, she put her arm around his shoulder. That only made her more aware of his great size.

"I am perfectly capable of climbing stairs on my own."

"And I am capable of carrying you," he answered smoothly, his will triumphing over hers. "Be quiet,

Bella."

The quality of the light changed dramatically in the bartizan. Little light entered that winding structure save

that which pierced the cross and orb arrow embrasures. A narrow band of direct sun swept across John's face briefly as he mounted the stairs. Bella caught the intensity and heat of his gaze. Words were unnecessary to state his intent. His eyes dilated black with desire.

Bella drew back against his arm at her shoulders, d.a.m.ned if she would surrender to him. Not after last night. A few steps later he reached the solar. Plenty of muted afternoon light warmed that interior through the long clerestory windows that faced the rising sun.

To Bella's chagrin, the footmen were back at their posts. They opened the doors and bowed to the lord of the manor. He dismissed them curtly. The doors closed soundlessly and they were alone. The tension exchanged between their bodies intensified and Bella tried to squelch the throbbing that had begun deep within her belly.

The stone walls enclosed cool, midday shadow. The lone window stood partly open, allowing a muted breeze entrance and a slanted beam of sunlight to graze the polished floor and light the coverlet strewn bed.

John's arms tightened at her back and knees, lifting her. Bella countered, stiffening neck and shoulders, using both hands to maintain scant distance between their heads. Her resistance accomplished nothing, for Chandos merely increased his power and dipped his mouth to possess hers.

Her hands tensed, palms pressing against his upper chest, fingers lifting away from the heat that radiated out of his body. His head slanted. His lips expertly coaxed hers into softening.

The next she knew she was laid her against the pillow strewn bed and strong, capable hands divested her of the heavily embroidered surcoat. Beneath that was the sinfully sheer, silk undergown.

Chandos eased his hip beside her on the bed and let his scalding, hungry gaze pa.s.s over her from head to toe. By G.o.d's sweet splendor, his wife was the most beautiful and maddening creature under the heavens. He parted her under cotte, untied its tapes at her waist and laid it open. Laid naked before him in the full exposure of the beam of light, Bella trembled.

He gently rested his left hand on her quivering belly to calm her, his thumb just grazing the crest of brilliant red curls. He slipped his right hand between her thighs and lifted her knee, bringing the injury into the beam of light. Her fair, freckled skin was blemished by a myriad of bruises and minute scratches, as though she'd run through a briar patch.

"This has the look of a burn to it," he said after a moment's curious and intense study. "I've never seen anything like it."

"Indeed?" Bella delivered a testy response. She set her teeth against each other, incensed by his proprietary inspection. His thumb very gently followed the tracery of the wires left on Bella's flesh. She didn't try to explain what had caused it. The concept of electricity was beyond his understanding and her ability to describe it.

"I will fetch some salve to treat it," he told her. "Later."

He removed her slipper and discarded it, then unfastened the garter below her knee and slid her silk stocking off her foot. With exquisitely aching slowness he divested her other limb of shoe, stocking and lacy garter.

"Your recklessness appalls me, wife." He caught her shoulder and drew her upright to a sitting position to strip the under cotte from her arms. "You are scratched and bruised from head to toe."

"Thanks to you," Bella said accusingly.

"Nay," he denied that. "The marks of my justice are confined to your plump and ample bottom. Every stroke was well earned, though I can see by your sharp tongue and coldness, the lesson hasn't sunk in. Even stripped and naked here before me, you defy my will."

"I don't." Bella denied that charge vehemently.

"Aye, you do." He stood beside the bed unfastening his sword belt, then his cotte hardie. Both were cast aside to a trunk at the foot of the ma.s.sive bed. "So another lesson is necessary."

"Lesson?" Bella gulped. She sat up, her hair spilling across her body like a curtain.

"Aye." Chandos replied. He deftly unfastened his breeks and stripped them from his body. "I know what

you have been thinking since the moment you came down to hall, wife."

"You can't possibly know my thoughts," Bella said with certainty. Her eyes widened in shock. Daylight

defined his body clearly. In last night's shadows and darkness she'd felt his size with her own two hands but in the light of that sunbeam came full comprehension.

"But I do know your thoughts, Bella." He climbed on to the bed, catching her foot as she made a belated

effort to scoot out of his reach. "You think, 'I won't kiss him'."

She struggled ineffectively. "So what?"

"And you think, 'it will be a cold day in h.e.l.l before he touches me again', don't you?"

Bella's chin thrust forward. "And if I do? You can't stop me from thinking what I may."

"That's defiance, Bella. I warned you last night not to cross my will again. Hence, I will kiss you. I will

touch you in every way a man may touch his woman. We will begin this lesson now. Come, I am ready to mount you. Lie down beneath me and open your legs."

"Like that?" Bella gasped. "Just lay down so you can f.u.c.k me?"

Sir John's brow furled. His wife had never said such a crudity in his presence before. He tightened his grip upon her left ankle, pulling her to him. She kicked at him with her right foot. He caught that one, too, and forcibly parted her legs wide enough to accommodate him.

She batted her fists and clawed at him with her nails as he pressed her flat on her back. Her struggle hardened his shaft to iron, making it all that much easier to enter her. She was hot as a skillet and dripping wet despite the fact that he had not stimulated her in any way.

He pinned her beneath him, gathered her kicking legs under his arms and began to thrust in and out of her, seeking his pleasure only. Last night he'd seen to her pleasure and still she defied him with sullen words and sulks.

He gripped her head and neck, commanding, "Open your eyes, Bella, you will look at me and watch me take my pleasure."

"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d," she hissed angrily and clawed at his arms. He batted her hands away, dropping down to pin her more thoroughly beneath him as he savagely drove his shaft deep inside her. "What? You do not like this rutting, Isabel?"

"No!" Tears flashed from the corners of her tightly shut eyes.

Chandos caught her chin between his fingers. "Are you saying you want to be kissed, touched intimately so that you receive pleasure too, Isabel?"

"Yes," she opened her eyes, looking at him with hurt and angry eyes. "Please."