Choose the Sky: A Medieval Romance (Swordcross Knights Book 2) (24 page)

She added a few shavings of a bar of her favorite soap, and dipped a sponge in the water.

Luc needed the wash. The smell of battle—sweat and blood—clung to him. “Is this how it felt before?” she asked. “When you got the scar you showed me?”

“That was worse,” he said. “Far worse. I had no caring wife attending me after that battle.”

“Don’t make light of this!” she snapped, plunging her hands into the water again.

“Mina, I’m serious.” Luc reached down to put his hands over hers. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

She shook off his hands, then wrung out the sponge. He was clean enough, she decided. Being too close to Luc was making her addled. “All I did was wash and bandage a wound.”

“You did more than that. You always do more than you have to.”

“You should rest now,” Mina said. “You need to sleep.”

“The castle needs to see me walk,” Luc argued. “There’s already one lord here who is confined to a bed. They can’t see another like that.”

Mina closed her eyes. His words cut her.

“I don’t mean to hurt you,” he said. “I’m thinking of Trumwell. Put yourself in the shoes of one of the servants here. They need to see someone in control.”

“I’m in control.” Dear God, she was not.

“So you are, but when another decides to test the strength of this castle, it won’t be you who rides out. Am I right?”

“You won’t let this go, will you?”

“No,” he said. “Now. Help me get ready.”

Luc could barely stand up
, but if this was what it took to have Domina close to him, he would ride into battle every day. The scent of her intoxicated him.

At his order, they dined in the hall. The kitchen servants managed to produce something resembling a feast—the food was plain but abundant, and the wine flowed in celebration of Trumwell’s stalwart defenders. The mood was jubilant

Luc was determined to shrug off the effects of the wound. He wanted every man in the castle to know he was as strong and as capable as ever. Domina, without speaking a word, supported him invisibly as he made his way to the high table. She pretended nonchalance, but her body leaned against his, subtly lending him strength. Domina might not like him, but she understood the importance of presenting a strong front. She demonstrated again and again her mastery of battle.

Before he could sit, Eva entered and rushed up to him. Damn, she’d kill him with her embrace. Mina suddenly put herself in front of Luc just before Eva reached them. To anyone watching, it looked as if the two women were embracing out of relief.

Luc heard Mina whisper, “Smile, dear. And don’t crush him. We are putting on a play.”

Luc was so proud of his wife at that moment, it almost hurt more than the wound itself.

Eva smiled, her eyes scanning Luc, who smiled back.

“You’re not rid of me yet, sister,” he said.

“Praise God,” Eva murmured, giving him a very gentle embrace. Then she turned and took her seat next to Luc, with Octavian on her other side.

Luc sat down in the chair set at the very center of the high table. Domina moved away to take her own seat next to him, and he missed her closeness. If only she truly wanted to be close to him.

As a play, the meal went perfectly. There were toasts, naturally. Domina lifted her glass high each time, but drank barely a drop. The toasts went on. Toasts to Luc, and toasts to the garrison, and for the Welsh to go to hell.

“Was it the Welsh?” Eva asked in a low voice.

“No,” Luc said, “but if that’s the conclusion they’ve reached for the moment, let them be content with it.”

“If not the Welsh, who was it?” Mina asked.

“I’ll explain later,” he told her. “Believe me, a few hours won’t matter.”

Mina studied him, but said nothing.

He felt much better after eating and drinking, so that he could walk back up to the bedroom perfectly well on his own. He didn’t tell Mina that, enjoying her pressed against him as she provided support he didn’t strictly need.

She helped him remove his clothes and helped him into bed.

“I’m not an invalid,” he groused. He disliked heartily that she was treating him like a child...and not like a man.

“Of course you’re not, Luc. Trust me, I know well the difference.”

Naturally, Domina blew out the candle before she stripped down to her shift, denying Luc even the small, torturous pleasure of seeing her half dressed.

She slid into the bed next to him. “Are you comfortable?” she asked in low voice.

“As comfortable as I can be with a slice out of my back.”

“Lay with me,” Domina urged him.

“What?” He didn’t quite believe the words uttered by his wife.

“You’ll never be able to sleep lying on your back. So use me as a bolster. Please.”

Ah, she wasn’t asking what he wanted her to ask. Luc sighed, but she took it for a sound of pain.

“Now, Luc.” She put a hand on his arm, encouraging him to roll halfway onto her. Luc was all too aware of the softness of her body, even with the hateful fabric of her shift between them. He tried desperately to ignore her closeness, the scent of her skin. Domina was offering comfort, not desire.

“There’s something I should tell you, about the fight today,” he said.

“What is that?”

“The leader of the group was Haldan.” Luc said it as simply as he could, but he could feel Domina tense up.

“He was? How dare he… Well, I suppose I know exactly why he dared.”

“Which is why?”

“Because he knew the strength of the garrison, or he thought he did. He had intelligence from his time here, and he put it to use as soon as he could gather enough men.”

“I’m not sure that was the whole reason.”

“What other motive could he have?”

“You forced him away from here.”

“That was you,” she objected. “I remember the encounter.” She shivered as she spoke.

Luc cupped her head in his hand, hoping to soothe her. “My point is that he was embarrassed by how he was forced out, and sought to restore his reputation as a fighter.”

“That didn’t go so well for him, did it? Not when he fought you.”

“I was lucky today. But if Haldan had been more clever—attacked at a different time, had a few more men…it might have gone very differently.”

“You would have won,” she said. “I know it.”

She shifted slightly, pulling his hand from her head and resting it on her chest, tantalizingly close to her breast. She entwined his fingers with her own. Luc felt as if a rare bird chose to alight near him. He hardly dared to breathe.

He waited a few interminable moments, feeling her heartbeat beneath his hand.

He wanted her so badly he couldn’t speak. Not just out of lust, though there was a healthy dose of that, but to have her next to him, touching him, a body as warm as his own. Every night.

Luc slowly drifted to sleep, lost in a pleasant haze of dream and desire. He blamed Mina’s scent, an unnameable aroma—partly her and partly an herbal blend, sharp and clean and cool. Not a single flower in it, he was sure. Domina was not a woman for roses. She would insist on being different.

He loved her scent. This night, with him in the wonderful position that he was, with his head on her shoulder and his body half over hers, the smell enveloped him, making him dream of her with more vividness than ever before.

In his dream, she touched him. He could almost feel the strokes as she explored him. Domina moved one hand to his arm, trailing a finger up and down slowly, feeling the muscles under the skin. Then she boldly moved to his chest, and explored the flesh not hidden by the gauze. She let her touch linger there, curious to feel the curling hair under the pads of her fingers.

She followed the contours on his body down to his torso. Luc could hear her breathing, even the tiny catch in her breath when she ran one finger along his old, ugly scar.

With a jolt, Luc realized it wasn’t a dream at all. Dear God, Mina actually was touching him.

He kept his eyes shut, lest the slightest flick of his lashes against her skin warn her. He struggled to keep his breathing even, as if he slumbered on.

Every passing moment made that more difficult. He wanted to touch her back, to beg her to let him try again to please her as she was pleasing him now.

Every brush of her fingers made him want to moan. Since he was lying as he was, she could surely feel him harden against her soft skin. Yet she continued with those lovely, maddening strokes that woke his whole body. If this went on, even if she touched no more than his
arm
, he’d spill. 

That would horrify her. He had to stop her. Domina was so intent on her explorations that she was taken by surprise when Luc suddenly grabbed her hand.

“What are you doing, my Mina?” he whispered, his voice hoarse with need.

“Oh! I didn’t mean to wake you.” She inhaled sharply, causing her breast to rise, to press into him, a move he warmly welcomed.

“Did you think I could sleep through that torture?”

“Torture? Did I hurt you?” she asked, concerned.

“Hurt me?” He laughed. “You’ve been tantalizing me for what feels like an hour with your sweet hands, and yet I’m not permitted to touch you. Yes, that hurts.”

He guided her hand downward, until Domina’s fingers brushed against his shaft, hard as rock. “Just so you know,” he growled.

He let her hand go, and she immediately pulled it back. “I…my touch did that?” she whispered.

“Just thinking about you can do that, Mina. Imagine how I feel when you are actually here, next to me, and touching me like I dream of you doing.”

“You don’t dream of me.”

“How would you know?”

“I suppose...I do not,” she admitted.

He rolled onto his back, sighing.

“Don’t!” she hissed. “It must hurt to lie like that.”

“Believe me, it’s a welcome distraction,” he said, his breath nevertheless coming out in a hiss of pain. “It’s certain I couldn’t have endured much more of your curiosity without breaking my word.”

“I didn’t think,” she said. “I’m so sorry.”

“So am I,” he said, though with a different implication.

“Does it hurt your back now? To lie like that?” She rolled on her side to watch him better, though the embers gave little light in the room.

“Yes,” he said unwillingly.

Domina said nothing, and he closed his eyes. God, why had he ruined it by letting her know he was awake? He would have happily endured another hour, or minute, or instant of her touch.

Taking a long breath, she laid her hand on his chest.

“Domina, do you hate me?” he asked, his voice choked. Did she really intend to torture him now?

“No,” she whispered. “If I hated you, I wouldn’t care how you felt. But I do. Let me touch you,” she said.

Dear God, yes
. “Please. Please touch me, Mina.”

She resumed her explorations, now fully aware of his reactions to every shift and stroke. He no longer had to hide his reactions—not that he could at this point—and he let her know exactly how much he loved her touch.

Domina seemed to enjoy touching him as well. She asked, in a whisper, “Does this distract you from your pain?”

“What pain?” he asked, with a low laugh.

Amazingly, she laughed too, shyly and charmingly. He didn’t think she could do anything to make him want her more, and then she did it.

Then her laughter stopped. She asked, in a hesitant way, “Luc…would you like it if I…”

She touched the tip of his shaft with one finger. He went completely still, desperate not to scare her off.

“Don’t stop,” he said finally. “Don’t stop.”

“What should I do, though?”

He put his hand over hers, and he showed her what to do. Mina was a devastatingly quick learner. A stroke of her finger wreaked havoc in him. He loved it. He adored having her this close to him, this interested in him.

He was going to spill any moment. He couldn’t let that happen yet.

He grabbed her hand, probably too roughly.

“Did I do wrong?”

“Mina, one more touch and I’ll be done. I don’t want to end yet. Let me recover.”

“Did you like it?”

He laughed. “You know I did. I just want to enjoy you as long as I can. I know you won’t let me enter you.”

Mina paused, then whispered, “I would.”

“You hated it. You said you never wanted me like that again.”

She took a breath, then said, in a low voice. “I told you that because I was angry. At how you told me of the marriage. How you…took over. My life. Everything.”

“I haven’t been fair to you.” Even now, he kept the full truth from her. God, he didn’t deserve what he truly wanted from her.

“If you would accept me,” she said, “I would begin again. Laying with you, I mean.”

“Mina, is that true?” he asked desperately. “You’re not just humoring me now.”

“I…I…thought you were…from the first.”

“Thought I was what?”

“You don’t need me to tell you you’re handsome. As you made clear, you had plenty of other women to tell you that.”

“Who were just flattering me.”

“No. Not flattery. Or at least, not dishonest flattery. You’re so gorgeous, in face and body. You stir me. You know that.”