The Lady Of The Storm Part 26

Cecily nodded. She would find it.

"Climb up to the second boulder, and then under the falls. It's dry near the back of the cave and yer fellow servants have probably left a blanket or two in there. Oh, and there's a black rock near the entrance. Don't forget to put it on the top of the boulder if ye don't want to be disturbed."

Cecily admired the efficiency of the method. "Thank you, Ellen. Truly." And she clasped the other girl's hands within hers and gave them a squeeze, then went to Lady Longhurst's writing desk and withdrew a piece of paper, dipping the quill in the inkpot only a few times to scratch out her message.

She sealed the note with a drop of wax and turned and held it out. "Here, Jimson."

Ellen started and glanced around the room suspiciously.

The lad materialized from his mist. "How do ye do that? Most of the n.o.bles can't even tell when I'm around."

Cecily ignored his question. "Can you deliver this message for me?"

Jimson scowled, glaring at the missive. "To the man with the ugly mark on his face?"

Heavens. He'd been following her for longer than she'd thought. And saw much more than the average person. Lord Longhurst had done well in hiring the lad. "Indeed."

He gazed up at her with questions in his eyes, and she glanced warningly at Ellen, then shook her head.

"All right, then," he finally said. "But I'm tellin' his lords.h.i.+p about it."

"You certainly will not," snapped Ellen. "This is a private matter, Jimson."

He looked mutinous until Cecily nodded. "Do what you think his lords.h.i.+p would wish."

He smiled in relief and dashed off, and Cecily went to start her sewing, and then prepare for her midnight rendezvous.

Thirteen.

Cecily crept out of the palace using a pa.s.sage she hadn't explored before. It branched several times. One way presumably led to the great hall, and the other to a conservatory, but since neither room was remotely close to the elven lord's, she hadn't bothered with the tunnel.

Until now.

She doused her lantern before she slipped through the hidden door in the palace wall. The moonlight provided adequate light for her elven sight, and so she left her lantern outside to mark the location of the entrance and pushed the door closed, the opening disappearing beneath the continuous fall of water that slithered down the outer walls. With her hood now plastered wetly atop her head, she made her way across the palace grounds and through the gardens, the rest of her cloak soon becoming equally damp.

Cecily kept to the shadows cast by the full moon, using Jimson's trick of hiding within a mist to avoid the notice of the palace guards. She'd never thought to use her magic in that way, and after the dreadful knowledge she'd learned of how her gift could be perverted, she felt grateful to Jimson for showing her such a benign new skill.

As she neared the waterfall, she wondered how Giles might manage to sneak away to meet her. Jimson had said he'd delivered her missive, but the man had taken it with nary a word in reply.

Her heart sank as she gazed around the enormous fall of water. Surely Giles would come. He would have questions for her about her mission, for he would need to know what she'd discovered in order to plan on how to protect her.

Although Cecily had no intention of talking to him right away. She had already tried words and they had not worked.

She made her way to the side of the falls, near a tree that surely could not be native to England, for it sported ma.s.sive fan-like branches that fell to the ground like the fall of the back of Lady Longhurst's new sacque dress. Cecily stepped across the leaves, staring up at the large boulder Ellen had spoken of. With her elven sight, she could see quite clearly by the moonlight, but she doubted Giles would have such an advantage with his human eyes.

A hand closed over her arm and pulled her backward beneath the fans of the tree, Cecily stifling her yelp of surprise.

Familiar warm arms enfolded her. "Do you think this was wise?"

Cecily placed her hand over his mouth. "It's not safe here. Come."

He hesitated but a moment before he released her and then followed, up to the second boulder, raising one dark brow as she placed the black rock behind them. But he took her hand when she held it out to him and followed her as she plunged through the thin cascade of water at the sides of the main waterfall.

The stone shook beneath her shoes, the ma.s.sive torrent tumbling down in a roar that pounded at her ears and sprayed a chill mist within the cavern behind it. Cecily could see that the cave extended far back into the mountain of crystal, probably deadening the sound of the falls and ending in a cozy chamber as Ellen had promised. But she did not head in that direction.

Cecily stopped near a smooth boulder and turned to face Giles, the stone at her back and the water pounding at her front, just behind him. The moonlight penetrated the chamber enough to outline his full lips, to allow her to see that he shaped words. But she could hear nothing against the cras.h.i.+ng might of the falls.

Cecily smiled. Used her elven speed to undress faster than she had ever managed to accomplish that feat in the past, her sodden cloak falling heavily at her feet, her girdle unbuckling with nary a touch, her loose gown flying from her shoulders, the purposely loose ties of her stays leaping out of their holes, her petticoat dropping down her hips with ease, her chemise following. Until she stood in nothing but her stockings and shoes.

She stepped lightly out of the shoes.

His eyes stared at her blindly, and he probably a.s.sumed that she could see little as well. That his blemish was hidden to her sight.

Cecily reached up and stroked the shadow on his face, which glowed an eerie green even in the darkness. Giles jerked backward toward the fall of water, his mouth moving in some muted protest.

Cecily continued to smile as she called her magic, creating tendrils from the water and using the strength already existing in the falls to gently nudge him back toward her. She had him at a disadvantage and intended to make full use of it. How long had it been since he'd last touched her? Surely he must long for her as much as she did for him.

She reached up again and stroked his cheek, his jaw. He responded by fisting his hands at his sides, by locking his muscles. Cecily brushed the hair away from his face, gloried in the feel of the thick silkiness of it. She rose to her tiptoes and put her mouth against his, trembling as that touch raced an excitement through her veins.

He did not try to push her away. But he did not relax his defenses, his muscles now clenched to s.h.i.+vering tautness.

"So strong," she breathed, her words as easily m.u.f.fled by the roar as his own had been. Her fingers slid down his neck to his hard shoulder. She reached out her other hand and slid off his soldier's coat, the cheap wool scratchy against her palms. "You have taught me well, Giles. I am no longer the hesitant innocent who traveled with you to Firehame. I have learned your desires and I know that you love me."

She shed his plain waistcoat just as easily, despite his refusal to help her, his arms still fisted at his sides. The b.u.t.tons of his s.h.i.+rt proved difficult, slippery with the spray that surrounded them, but unlike her own clothing, she took her time, and managed to strip his chest bare. "Will tonight make you see how foolish you're being?"

His bare flesh p.r.i.c.kled as she slid her hands over the curve of his muscles, down the ridges of his belly. Sleek skin. Hard muscle beneath. Cecily's breath quickened.

She unb.u.t.toned the flap of his breeches. Felt his sword tremble in its sheath. But the stubborn man refused to respond.

"So that's to be the way of it, then?" Cecily rather enjoyed speaking without him able to hear. She reached up and untied the handkerchief knotted around his throat. "I must play dirty?"

He swallowed. She grinned.

"The skin at the side of your neck is sensitive, is it not?" Cecily leaned forward and kissed him just beneath his ear, traced a path with her tongue slightly toward the back of his neck until she reached the spot that she knew would drive him mad. She opened her mouth and sucked, the salty-sweet taste of his skin so very delectable.

Giles broke.

A shudder ran through him and his arms closed around her. His hands swept down her back and quickly to her bottom when he felt nothing but bare skin. She could not hear his groan but she felt it, from his chest to hers as he flattened her body against his.

His large hand grasped the back of her head and pulled her mouth away from his skin with a tug, his lips finding hers unerringly, his mouth hot and demanding, his tongue a tender weapon against her own. Cecily wrapped her arms around his neck for support. Her feet had left the stone floor. "Giles."

He must have felt the vibration of her voice for she felt his answering growl. Cecily's legs rose seemingly of their own accord, wrapped around his waist, until she could feel the soft heat of his skin, the hard muscles of his belly, against the most private part of her.

A distant part of Cecily's awareness knew he held on to her with one hand, while the other yanked down his breeches. But she could focus on nothing but the feel of his mouth so demanding against hers, the glorious rise of joy that blossomed with the knowledge that, try as he might, he could not resist loving her.

Words had not worked with Giles. But surely he understood what she told him with her body?

She loosened her legs slightly and slid down atop the hard length of him.

She focused on that heat, rubbed back and forward across the base of it until his tongue began to mimic the rhythm.

He blindly took a step forward, then another, until the curve of the boulder against her back brought him up short. His arm cus.h.i.+oned her from the chill of it. Giles trapped her between his hard heat and the unyielding stone, braced his arm against that solid surface and cradled her bottom with the other.

He tore his mouth from hers and buried his face in her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, feasting on them like a man who had been denied sustenance for far too long.

Cecily moaned. Arched against him. Buried her fingers in his hair, every touch conveying her love for him. Her want of him.

s.h.i.+vering heat raced from her b.r.e.a.s.t.s to her core, making her squirm atop his large hand.

Giles did not hesitate. In one smooth movement he pulled her up and lowered her onto his shaft, entering her with a swiftness that stole her breath. That filled her until she thought she might die from the sheer pleasure of it. He slid out, then penetrated her again and again, until she felt a scream well up in the back of her throat.

"More!"

Surely he could not hear her cry, but he understood the sense of it, his thrusts more powerful, slamming into her until she clutched his shoulders with a fierceness that almost frightened her.

Almost.

Cecily lifted her face up to the water that flowed over them, the sweet liquid flowing into her open mouth and cras.h.i.+ng over Giles's bent head. Lud, when had she called up her magic? For a portion of the waterfall now curved in an unnatural angle into the chamber, to tumble down their joined bodies, to cover them with a slick layer that allowed their skin to slide easily across the other's.

Giles raised his head, staring blindly at her, a sudden smile lifting his lips. He said something, and then his mouth descended on hers, sucking at the water on her lips, pulling away to let the water flow across them before repeating the pleasure.

And pushed himself even more deeply inside of her. Until the rhythm he set seemed to echo the pounding rush of the falls. Until the water that had come to Cecily's call spun about their entwined bodies with a motion that tugged her hair from her coiffure and swirled it around her head, raced across her skin with a cool heat that made her body tingle.

Giles flung back his head, shouting something as his entire body shook with pleasure. And then Cecily succ.u.mbed as well, her eyes closing as wave after wave of sheer delight controlled her body.

They clung to each other for a long moment, joined as one being. Until Cecily's magic faded away, the water flowing down their bodies to pool on the stone floor, to slowly join the larger rush of the falls.

Giles gently lowered her to the ground, his arm still about her, kissing her softly on the top of her head. Cecily hesitated to end this moment, but he did not have her affinity for the water, and already she could feel the chill of his skin.

She loosed him and gathered up their clothing while he stood blindly, trusting her to take the lead. Cecily caught up his hand, shed the water from their bodies and their clothing, and led him into the cave at the back of the falls. The pa.s.sage curved, blanketing the sound of the waterfall, and they entered a small chamber that held not only the blankets Ellen had predicted but a small chest besides.

Cecily could barely make out the simple shapes in the gloom of this chamber. When her hand explored the top of the chest and found a flint box and several candles, she quickly used them.

Giles blinked in the sudden brilliance, those heavenly eyes gazing about the mossy stone walls of the chamber before returning to her face, a smile spreading across his full lips. The old smile that Cecily had missed for so long.

And then his eyes hardened and he lowered his head, his thick hair falling to hide the mark on his face, and busied himself with b.u.t.toning up his breeches, checking his belt, which had gone wildly askew during their lovemaking.

Cecily's heart fell. She pulled on her chemise, suddenly feeling a bit vulnerable. She held up her stays. "Will you help me with this?"

Giles glanced up and that grin returned. Although not as easily as it once had. He closed the distance between them and wrapped the garment around her, lacing it up with deft fingers. "This d.a.m.n thing is the bane of any man's existence."

"I have missed you."

He ignored her words. "Tell me, Lucy. How goes your mission?"

She smiled at the use of the name. "You know the details, then?"

Giles frowned. "As much as you were told before you left. I followed you at a safe distance, but I don't know everything that has happened to you since you entered the palace." He tied the ends of her laces. "Although I have learned enough to know how you fare."

Cecily backed away from him, stepped into her petticoats, and wrapped her gown about her, taking a seat upon one of the blankets. Being clothed allowed her to feel a bit more confident. A bit more protected against his pretended indifference.

Giles remained standing in the shadows.

She carefully arranged her skirts about her. "So you did not come to Dewhame to join Breden's army and find glory on the battlefield?"

He s.h.i.+fted his feet, boots swoos.h.i.+ng on the stone floor. "Of course not, as much as my devil-blade might like the idea."

"Then... I cannot believe Sir Robert allowed you to follow me. Or does he know where you are?"

"He knows. Although he's not happy about it."

"So you have the Rebellion's blessing to help me? How did you manage it?"

He picked up his s.h.i.+rt and shrugged into it. "Did you not hear Mor'ded of Firehame say they owed me a great service? I called in the favor... although truth be told, I would have followed you anyway. I think Lady Ca.s.sandra knew that. She looked oddly... happy about it."

Cecily tried not to allow the leap of hope in her breast to flare too brightly. "You have reconsidered, then?"

He stiffened, and then let out a breath, stepping into the light. "I told you I would always protect you. But this... this shouldn't have happened. I'm sorry."

Cecily raised her chin. Dunderheaded man! When would he realize the physical act of their love reflected only what lay in their hearts? His vow of protection was but a ruse to satisfy his head as he followed his heart.

She allowed her irritation to flow out of her as quickly as it had come. He had followed her to Dewhame, and that was the important part. It would just take him some time to realize he would follow her to the ends of the earth. She just chafed at the delay. It had felt so wonderful being in his arms again, having him inside of her, that she despised the thought of having to wait another week or month for it to happen again.

A month? Oh, surely not!

Cecily huffed out a breath. "So, Mor'ded allowed you to complicate my mission." She felt a wicked sort of satisfaction at the way her words made his eyes narrow. "I would have enjoyed being there to see his face. Or did Sir Robert actually agree to it?"

Giles picked up his waistcoat and crouched next to her. "Not until I showed him this." And he pulled a small tube of crystal from the pocket, a series of small circles engraved upon the side of it.

Some of the circles had been filled with a black stone, while the others were hollow. It took a moment for Cecily to understand the symbols. "It shows you where to place your fingers."

He nodded. "Indeed. It is the very flute that Thomas used to gain entrance to the crystal mountain. I... I took it from him when I recovered the ring."

Cecily ignored the pain her father's name evoked in her and focused on Giles's handsome face. He had used the object to bribe Sir Robert into allowing him on this mission. "But what possible use could he have for it?"

"It does not matter. It's an artifact of power, and Sir Robert h.o.a.rds them as a miser h.o.a.rds his gold. I believe he thinks that one day the Rebellion will ama.s.s enough artifacts to conquer the elven lords."

Cecily snorted and Giles nodded in agreement before tucking the crystal flute back into his pocket. "I promised to give it to Sir Robert after I helped you. So now you know how I managed to 'complicate' things. I take it you have formed a plan, then? Other than gaining the attention of General Fletcher?"

She felt her cheeks flush. "That was not my intention. I met him on my first day in the palace and for some reason he has singled me out."

"For some reason... dammit, Cecily. He's dangerous. And perverted. I will kill him if I see him touching you again, mission or no."