Lady Thief (9 page)

William was impressed.
Traditional marriage
this may not be, it could still hold advantages.
“And they will
eventually come to me because they will not wish to do as you say.
Very well, you may have your way with the servants.
Adam will keep
me informed of your progress, and should I catch any man or woman
not obeying your orders I shall threaten them with your lash as
well.”

“My lash?”

He nodded.
“Aye.
‘Twould make for quicker
results if you and I both threatened the same punishment for not
working, yet the servants here already know I have trouble with
lashing them, mostly the women.
So if you are the one cruel enough
to send them to their fates and they believe you capable of it,
they should develop better habits soon.”

Should she be grateful for this or not?
She
should have known by now, he would have to rely on her seeing to
the discipline of the castle since none of the servants expected
their lord to raise a finger to them.

Again she had to remind herself that she was
the lady of the castle.
If it had to be done then she would do it.
She would get everything back in order even if all the servants
despised her by month’s end.

“Very well, but I do not want Adam.”

He cocked a brow and crossed his arms.
“And
why would that be?
You said yourself that he is the only servant
capable of working in my house.”

“If I am to have an escort then I want more
than a shadow.
I would like a woman.
‘Tis lonely here and I would
like another woman to speak with.” ‘Twas a flimsy excuse, but ‘twas
also true.

“You would resort to mingling with the
servants just to satisfy your lack of gossip?”

She straightened her back.
“I want someone to
talk to.”

“I am your husband, you can talk with
me.”

Marianne sighed.
He didn’t understand.
He
pulled her against him before she could say anything to him.

“You forced me to wed you on the belief that
I am was son, whom you have never been introduced until today, all
just to escape Ferdinand.
And you will have me believe that all you
wish for is a conversation partner?”

Her heart fluttered when his hands clasped
her arms, and she hated her weakness.

He leaned closer and she tensed.
Assuming he
would kiss her mouth, she fluttered between disappointment and glee
when he settled for her jaw instead.

She clasped his shoulders with the intent to
push him away, but they stayed where they were, and she allowed him
to kiss her.

“How—how did you know about Ferdinand?” Good
God her voice cracked.

He spoke between kisses and did not lighten
his assault.
“Do you take me for a fool?
I could see the way that
lecher stared at you, at your face.” He kissed her cheek.
“At your
mouth.” He kissed her mouth, touching her lips with his tongue but
not plunging it inside, and Marianne groaned helplessly.
“And at
your breasts.” He finished by squeezing her breast in his hand.
It
tingled through her gown, through her breasts, and shot down
between her legs.

Whatever it was she was sure it was sinful,
but she gasped and leaned into his touch.
God save her she liked
it.

“I saw all of that,” William kissed her cheek
and smirked again, “and your father told me of him.”

“You swine!” Marianne pushed hard and
stumbled away from him, humiliated and angry with herself.

He stared as though what he had done had not
caused his blood to rush like hers did, still did.
She could barely
believe her beating heart.
How was that possible?

Unexpectedly, he chuckled, and it unnerved
her.

She fisted her hands on her hips and prayed
he would not notice how she had reacted to him.
“Now what is
amusing you?”

“‘Tis amusing to know that I truly am an old
fool, no matter how I try to deny it.”

“What?”

“Why else would you stage a kidnapping for
Blaise?
You did not want an old man creating a chill in your bed,
and here I am, doing just that.
No, you are young and wish to feel
the fires of passion, am I correct?”

Marianne swallowed and tried to ignore the
pooling heat in her belly.
How could he have been so right?
Weakly,
she nodded her head, and William did the same, bringing his hand up
to his chin in thought.

“Very well,” he approached her as he spoke,
and she tried to back up only to realize she was still against the
wall.
“If you want passion I shall give you passion.
I shall take
you to my bed and ravish you until you were unable to leave.
I will
give you heated kisses and promises and children.” He stood before
her but refrained from touching her.
“Is that what you would
like?”

She scowled, pushing at him with such a force
that this time she succeeded in heaving him away.
“No!
I do not
want your false promises or your body if all you will think of is
mindless pleasure!
I am not your plaything and never will I be!”
She brought her fist down on his shoulder, and he barely flinched
under the attack.

***

He grinned a predatory grin.
Success!
This
was the fiery spirit he had met in the church, this was the woman
who convinced him with the help of a blade that marriage to her was
the correct choice.

Very well.
He would play along with her
wishes, for now, but soon the time would come when she would not
only be willing, but she would leap into his embrace at his
call.

“I apologize for the assumption, my
dear.”

She bristled at the name and his grin became
wider.
“But regardless, I shall become more attentive to your
needs.”

She eyed him suspiciously, and he got the
feeling she believed he was saying one thing but meaning another.
“Thank you, milord.”

“Call me by my given name or naught at all,
Marianne.”

“Thank you, William.” She said, and he was
surprised that there was no venom in her voice.

***

“You may go now.
Off to show me what you can
do with the servants whom I am incapable of controlling.
I shall
see to finding you a female escort on the morrow.”

Thinking of how lonely she had been over the
last week in William’s castle, Marianne nodded her head
gratefully.

He stepped aside for her to leave and she
scurried out of the room.
Like a frightened child,
she
admonished herself.

She wondered why she felt like such a fool
for turning down his offer to attend to her needs.

Chapter Six

Early the next
morn, Marianne shivered
awake in her chilly bedchamber, ate another cold breakfast, and
felt her anger rising.

This was the end of this nonsense.
She would
show William that she could deliver on her claim and that she could
do it in a timely manner.

She found the serving girl William promised
her.
Instead of a plump, middle aged woman like she expected, Olma
turned out to be a shy little thing, not yet twenty, who could
barely stand the sight of her own shadow.

Marianne circled the girl who was to be her
companion, tapping her chin thoughtfully when Olma did not so much
as look up at her.

What strange behavior in a serving girl.
If
she were to break such poor habits in the rest of the servants she
would have to start with Olma.

“Stand up straight and watch where you are
going.
You do not wish to walk into a wall, do you?”

“Nay, Milady.”

Olma trembled under Marianne’s hard stare and
stern voice.

Be gentle
, she reminded herself.
She
wanted Olma to do her work properly, not scare her half to
death.

Marianne lifted the girl’s chin.
“You may
smile.
I am sure you have a pretty smile and it will help me to
feel better knowing that my companion is actually listening to what
I’m saying.”

Olma’s lips lifted, though she still had
trouble keeping her eyes away from her feet.
With her pale
complexion and light hair the smile did add beauty to her face that
no one would otherwise be able to see had Olma continued to point
her nose at the floor.

Good, she was getting through to her already.
With any luck Mariane would find more maids eager to please and
they would help her train the rest of the castle.

Since asking politely did not help with the
servants, Marianne loudly made her demands known.
She set about to
her task with a ferocity she had not known she possessed.

“
This pheasant is cold!
Send it back up
and tell the cooks that if they try to serve their lord one more
frozen meal they will be sleeping outside come winter!”

“
I want the gardens lush before the month
ends or I’ll have someone’s hide!
There’s still time to have herbs
before the first snow!”

“Look at this!
There is so much dirt on this
shelf that I can make pictures on it with my finger!”

Marianne expected the servants would attempt
to escape the tasks she set out for them.
To stall her efforts most
moved at the pace of slugs.
There were some who were willing to
jump at the high pitched screech of their lady, and Marianne worked
them first.

She received polite smiles when in the same
room as them, but she had Olma to tell her what they really thought
of her.

“I do not wish to upset ye, milady, but the
others do not like having ye here or the rules ye set out for them.
Some of the women say,” she paused to brace herself.
“That ye are
a…a red haired demoness.”

Olma bobbed quickly and averted her eyes
under her headdress as if she thought Marianne would be taking her
anger out on her.

Marianne felt her eye twitch, and she
reminded herself that she had pressed Olma for this information.
“And the men?”

Olma ducked her head further until her chin
touched her chest.
“I do not speak to the men, milady.”

She forced a gentle smile for the girl.
“No,
of course not.
Thank you.
I do appreciate your efforts.”

Along with the cleaning of the rooms and
kitchen, hot meals and hard work, Marianne made a habit of ordering
daily baths since she first arrived at William’s castle, but she
would no longer take cold water from the lake.

The fires were lit, the castle warm and the
evening meals were served hot and on time.

She sighed and sank into her haven.
She could
never bathe every day while in her father’s care, he wanted the
servants at his disposal, not hers, but now that she was a lady she
could do as she pleased and enjoy the water.
Provided she remained
near the fire when she got out.

“I must say that I am impressed,
Marianne,”

She tensed in the tub when William’s silky
voice called to her but did not look up.
Olma and the other servant
girls scrubbed her back and prepared her gown for the laundress as
though he were not there.

And why wouldn’t they?
She thought.
He
was the lord of the castle and she his wife.
He had every right to
be there if he wished it.

Still, despite his promise to become more
attentive to her, he spent most of his nights off doing whatever he
did to occupy himself, and she had not been expecting him.

William stepped closer, and when she did face
him his glittering eyes matched the smirk on his face.
“All of you,
leave us.”

The girls scuttled from the room like mice.
Marianne was suddenly alone with him, naked in her tub and wishing
that at least Olma had stayed.
Marianne had been with the girl for
barely three days and her desperate need for female companionship
had made her love Olma already despite the lack of equal
conversation.

Marianne’s muscles twitched as she struggled
to keep from covering her chest with her hands.
They were visible
to him, so close to the water’s surface that her nipples peaked
above the water just so.
Pretending he could not see them made her
feel only a little better, and she dared not adjust how she sat
lest he see right through her calm facade.

“Impressed with what, my lo—William?” She
quickly corrected herself, swallowing hard and trying to calm her
labored breathing.

He stepped closer and knelt next to the tub.
The setting sun shone in through the small windows and highlighted
his easy posture and expectant smile.
The firelight, so close to
the tub, made everything seem so much warmer and clearer, including
her naked body.

Marianne desperately wished she could throw
her robe around herself, but ‘twas across the room on a chair.
And
suddenly having the tub placed so close to the fireplace did not
seem a particularly good idea as she began to feel overheated.

“Why, I am pleased with you, my dear.” He
casually dipped his fingers into her bath water, creating tiny
ripples when he swirled them close to her exposed breast.

Her face heated, not because of their
closeness, but because she was no longer certain if she wanted to
deny him what was rightfully his.
She had certainly stopped
thinking of an annulment.

That reminded her.
“I have been meaning to
thank you.
For not forcing my hand the night I came here.
I am
thankful for your patience with me.
It recently occurred to me that
I had yet to make my gratitude known.”

She looked at him.
His brows were drawn
together.
“You believed I would have forced you?”

“You said it yourself that night.
‘Twould
have been your right.”

He made a noncommittal sound and looked
away.

While he was distracted, Marianne admired his
face.
No longer did she see the single hairs of silver in his sand
colored hair or the small wrinkles under his eyes as a sign of his
age, but as distinguished features she began to enjoy, features
that would never be found in a man closer to her age, like
Blaise.

He would likely look ridiculous when he aged
and silver weeded through that orange mop of his.

“Today is Tuesday, do you know what that
means?”

Marianne shook her head.

“Tuesday is the day I usually spend with
Blaise, supervising his training.
I have been out of practice with
handling swords and blades as of late, so I tend to let Bryce work
with him as long as I am there.”

She nodded.
That certainly explained where he
went every Tuesday, but did not explain his absence during the
nights.
The rest of his words came to her, and she puzzled over
them.

As lord he should never be out of practice
with his weapons.
What could bring that about?

William continued, unaware of the question in
her head.
“Usually I do a little swordplay with the two of them,
but today I sent Blaise off for his training alone,”

Marianne lifted a brow and completely forgot
about their positions.
William was a creature of habit; it was how
she managed to track him so easily since he rode the same route
every Sunday after church.
“Alone?”

He smirked and nodded, like a boy confessing
to a sin he did not particularly care about, his fingers still in
her bath water.
“Aye.
As odd as it would seem I went against my
normal routine to keep an eye on you.”

She glared and turned away, though the
gesture was half-hearted.
“I thought I felt someone’s eyes on my
back.
Olma had me nearly convinced I was going mad.”

His wet finger flitted over her raised nose.
“Always in the air.”

Marianne hurriedly lowered her nose,
mortified that she had been caught again.
This time she could not
stop herself from covering her breasts with her arms.
She was
shocked to find that her nipples had hardened themselves and a
spark of sizzling fire lit up under the skin when she touched
them.
She shifted her legs and noted that there was a spot that felt
swollen somehow, pulsing, in the place where they met in the middle
and inside.
How was he able to do this to her?

She was desperate to put her mind on other
things.
“I shall assume that next week you will not be following me
around then?”

He nodded and resumed swirling his fingers in
her water.
“Aye, next week I will train with him.”

“With him?
You mean to help him improve.”

William shook his head.
His face colored and
he forced himself to look her in the eyes.
“Nay, you misunderstand.
My skills are not what you imagined them to be.
I am sorry to tell
you that you entered into a marriage with a man with little skill
with a sword, or any blade, or any weapon.”

She blinked.
To be slightly clumsy with a
weapon was one thing, but to have very little skill was
another.

From the moment they met, while she had not
pictured him furiously wielding swords around, he held an air of
power over her, even when on his knees, that made his claim
difficult to swallow.
Not for the first time she wondered what it
had been that made him ignore his studies with a blade.

Just looking at him brought her back to her
former state in that church.
He held her, pressed her to him, and
she felt his strong arms and chest consuming her.
While he warned
her that his skills were lacking, she had no doubt that his
strength left naught to be desired.

Except now she truly desired him.
She had for
some time if she was to be honest with herself.

They were silent for so long that the sun
finished tucking itself away, and the only light and warmth in the
room came flickering and crackling from the fireplace.
Marianne’s
hot bath turned cool, and William was the one who broke their
spell.
“I realize I have not made good on my promise and would like
to rectify the situation.”

She cocked her head.
Surely he could not be
scheming to get her into his bed?
He said it himself that he wanted
to give her passion, would she not have to be wild with wanton
emotions for that to happen?

Granted, she did want to be in his bed, but
at the same time she did not.
She was going mad, because no other
woman in the land could be subject to such conflicting
thoughts.

She put her hands to her forehead to still
the spinning.
Stop it, stop it, stop it!

“Marianne?”

The water splashed as she lowered her arms,
catching his sleeves.
“Aye, I apologize my—William, I was lost in
thought.”

He gave the dripping material a glance before
turning his attention back to her.
She recognized the mischievous
grin right away.
“Your William?
I enjoy the sound of that.”

He caressed her jaw and she shivered.
That
feeling in her breasts and between her legs intensified, the
pulsing quickened and she could not calm her breathing.
She jerked
away from his touch to stop it.
But he continued to stare and the
pulsing did not vanish.