Read Seduced Online

Authors: Sophia Johnson

Tags: #romance, #paranormal, #sexy, #historical, #sensual, #intense, #scottish, #medieval, #warrior women, #alpha heroes, #love through the ages, #strongwilled

Seduced (7 page)

BOOK: Seduced
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Sybilla called softly from the other side of
the door then stepped into the room carrying a tray laden with hot
food. The aroma of just-baked bread drifted to Letia, making her
mouth water.

"The women of the keep are fearful this
morn," her sister said as she sat the tray on the table alongside
the outer wall.

"Ha. I would say as many men as women are
afeared. Never have I heard an animal such as the one outside our
gates." Maud shook her head then came over to put a wrap around
Letia's shoulders. "Come, Lovey. Sybilla has brought you porridge
with berries, eggs and scones. Even butter and honey. All the
things ye like best."

"She has brought enough food for the three of
us." Letia settled in the heavy wooden chair, grateful she had made
such a comfortable, padded tapestry to sit on.

"'Twas my plan," Sybilla said and grinned.
She sat and tucked her legs up under her, then reached up to pull
the veil from around her head and neck. She lightly rubbed the
scars there as if the cloth irritated her skin.

"Sybilla, love, you do not need to cover
yourself here at Seton." Letia reached across and caressed her
sister's cheek. "None of us are perfect. We all bear scars of one
type or another."

"Aye. But no one else bears them in
shame."

"Shame? You have naught to feel shameful
about. Your scars are a badge of honor. Warin told me Leofwan felt
much the same when he was first injured. He begged Warin to leave
him to die on the battlefield."

"Aye, but he gained his scars in honorable
combat."

Before Letia could protest further, the
sounds of a great commotion in the front bailey brought them all to
their feet. As they stared out the window opening, people pointed
toward the drawbridge. Her eyes traveled there. Seeing nothing of
import, her gaze followed the same line out into the cleared field
and beyond.

She caught her breath. At the very edge of
the forest was the biggest black beast she had ever seen. It stood
motionless and stared across the field toward the castle. Finally,
its head drooped. It took one halting step toward the
drawbridge.

A great creaking and clanking began. They
were raising the drawbridge!

The creature stopped, thrust back his head
and howled.

The sound was so mournful it tore at Letia's
heart.

She gasped. "Hurry, Maud, help me dress. That
poor creature suffers!"

Maud threw Letia's smock, then her kirtle
over her head while Sybille helped her pull on her stockings and
lace her shoes. All three were up and running out of the room
before the last creak of the drawbridges rising.

Letia near flew down the stairwell, grabbing
the rope supports alongside every now and then to keep from taking
flight into the air. She raced through the great room and out the
huge, open doorway of the keep.

"Maud, have cook bring me the biggest bone
from the soup pot," she called out.

Maud skidded to a halt, veered off and ran
toward the Cook House.

Letia barreled out into the bailey,
breathless. She did not stop running until she reached the
gatehouse.

"Lower the bridge! Did you not see the
creature is hurt?" Her voice rang with her anger.

"But, mistress, he were howlin' and looked
right ready to tear someone apart," the gatehouse keeper called
down.

"Lower the bridge and do as your mistress
requests," Warin's calm voice called. He came up behind Letia and
patted her shoulder. "It will be done, beloved. They are but
fearful of legends."

She turned to look up into his beautiful,
blue eyes. He cloaked the sadness she first saw there and replaced
it with interest.

"How do you think to lure him in?"

"Maud will bring me a tempting bone. The poor
creature looks to be starving." She touched Warin's chest, patting
it for comfort. "Did you see his limp?"

"Aye. Do not try to touch him, beloved. Once
his belly is satisfied and he learns we mean him no harm, mayhap
then we can see how to mend the beast."

By the time the drawbridge thudded to the
ground, Maud arrived. Wrapped in a loose cloth was the biggest bone
Letia had seen in months.

"Stay away from the drawbridge," Letia warned
everyone gathered there. "Go about your business so the poor beast
will not be threatened by you." She took the bone from Maud.

Under Warin's eagle eye, everyone moved back
out of the way. He walked behind Letia as she slowly strolled
through the long tunnel of the barbican and came out on the
drawbridge. She crossed it until it met land on the other side of
the moat.

Letia studied the field over to the woods
beyond. She did not see the beast.

Poor, frightened soul. She would leave the
offering just five steps from the end. Mayhap he would trust enough
to fetch it.

There at the distance she selected, she
rolled the bone out of the cloth midway between the two sides of
the bridge, then slowly backed away until she was within the walls
of the barbican.

The black beast slowly padded from the woods.
He took several halting limps then stopped.

She backed up another four steps. He advanced
the same.

Satisfied that he would come for the food,
she continued backward, relying on Warin's hands to guide her.

The big beast, wary with every step, half
dragged himself to the bone. His left hind leg trailed behind him.
He carefully eased down on the bridge, his nose on the meaty treat.
Keeping an eye on Letia and Warin, he started to gnaw on it.

"Let the beast eat in peace," Warin called
out. "'Tis time for us to go about our own work."

Once everyone moved back from the gatehouse
entranceway, the animal's shoulders relaxed.

Letia's did not, though. Eyes bored between
her shoulder blades. She knew from whence the discomfort came. One
quick glance to a window above showed a man standing there.

Raik.

Naked, except for white bandages on his
shoulder.

Those piercing, blue eyes below scowling
brows unsettled her. Did they condemn, as they were wont to do?

Aye. Those full, sensual lips that had kissed
her with such passion in the dark of night now became a hard, thin
line.

He radiated disgust. His unyielding jaw and
stiff stance said as much.

Her stomach churned and bubbled like boiling
porridge.

CHAPTER 9

Raik's head ached even more when he saw who
had caused the clamor below. A woman started for the drawbridge the
minute it thudded to the ground. De Burgh walked behind her, his
sword drawn. 'Twas the Lady Letia. Acting like a man. Again! Her
husband filled in for a squire and protected her back. He
snorted.

A woman shouldna be confronting a beast of
that size. Or any size, for that matter. Especially an animal
injured and ready to tear the throat out of any fool. Given its
size, most likely its sire was a wolf.

He held his breath when she walked so slowly
she seemed to float across the boards of the drawbridge. He pressed
his lips even tighter seeing she held such a succulent bone. Why,
he could see meat still clung to it!

His eyes fastened on the beast as it crept
out of the forest. Though he dragged one leg, he could still run
faster on three than she or her foolish husband could on two!

Eejits! He turned and took long strides to
the door of the chamber to yank at the latch. It wouldna budge. He
banged his fists.

"Open, ye gowks," he bellowed. No answer
came.

He banged again. The motion ripped pain
through his shoulder.

"Do ye wish yer foolish mistress dragged into
the woods?" he bellowed.

"Quiet yourself, my lord. You will do
yourself an injury."

Raik couldna believe anyone dared talk to him
in that chastising tone. A young man's voice. 'Twas obvious the
whelp did not know who he addressed. Huh! At Raptor, men didna dare
hesitate to do his bidding.

"I order ye to open and bring me my sword,"
he shouted in his meanest voice.

"Heh! Order away, my lord, as much as you
like. I obey none else but my lady Letia and the baron."

"What is your name!"

"I am called Giles. And to save you further
questions, I am squire to Lady Letia. The baron himself ordered me
to be loyal only to her. You should save your breath, for I do what
she requests. For now, that is to stand guard over your door."

Raik's jaw dropped open. The woman had her
own personal
squire
? Humph! Did she also wear chain mail,
a helmet and gauntlets?

He snorted with disgust and stormed back to
watch, his hands tightly fisted. Lady Letia was near the middle of
the bridge. The baron was at her heels. She would take a step. The
black beast did the same. By the time she stooped and placed her
offering on the wooden planks and started backing away, the beast
had but a few paces to go afore its paws touched the
drawbridge.

He banged his fists on the sides of his
thighs. Were he down there, she would be standing with the women,
her husband beside her. He didna fault them for wanting to help the
beast. He would do the same. But he wouldna have allowed the lady
to step one foot toward it! Impatient, his fingers flexed. He
itched to grab her shoulders and thrust her behind him.

He wanted to swallow, but his mouth was dry.
He wanted to shake her 'till her brains rattled against her
skull.

Why did it upset him?

Because she acted so foolishly!

That's why. No other reason.

Oh, how his head ached. Bellowing at Giles
had not helped. The lady was at last back through the gatehouse.
Safe. His breath came out in a whoosh. His shoulders relaxed. He
had not realized he had been so disquieted until his body lost its
tension. He scraped his left hand through his hair; his fingers
shoved it behind his neck.

Now, who was the fool? Memories of the past
night flooded back into his mind, making his heart pound. Was it a
wonderfully sensual dream? Or had it been real? Never had he felt
such a powerful need to possess a woman so completely. Someone had
to have been here! Frowning, he searched the room. He looked for
even one thing that could prove he was not crazy.

During their lovemaking, the pillows and
sheets had become so tangled he had wrenched them to the floor.
Hadn't he? When the sun came up and he had reached to pull the
woman back into his arms, his hands met thin air. He'd opened his
eyes to find a bed with hardly a wrinkle in the sheets. The second
pillow beside his head was as plump and unused as... Strange. He
remembered propping it under his shoulder when first he had settled
for the night.

On awakening, he had felt reluctant to turn
his face from his own pillow. Why? He frowned and reached for it.
Holding it to his nose, he sniffed. And sniffed again. No washing
or drying in the sun could account for its scent. 'Twas of flowers.
Hm. Yes.

Lilies. He recognized it. At Kelso Abbey when
he had arrived to guard Ranald from his father, Lilies had adorned
the chapel. Where he had stood, the scent had floated to him,
reminding him of gentleness. He had waited there all night, keeping
to the shadows as he watched over Ranald, outstretched on the cold
stones. Praying. Naked as the day he was born.

He closed his eyes and took another deep
breath, then sat on the bed. The second pillow still bore that
freshly washed scent as if it someone had just replaced it. He
frowned at it. Gathering an armful of the sheets, he sniffed, then
burrowed his face in the cool linens and sniffed again. Nothing.
After wadding the blanket, he held it to his face, sniffing.

None of it. Not one other thing smelled the
same as his pillow.

Lady Letia dressed his wound each day. Until
now, he had remained silent, answering only questions she asked
about how he was healing. Today, he would do the questioning and
learn of the flowers growing in her gardens. He knew she had
aplenty, for Ranald's wife had brought back cuttings from various
plants when last she had visited here.

o0o

Letia's feet grew heavier the closer she came
to Raik's door. Would she give herself away by trembling hands or
shamed looks? Not until Maud nudged her did she know she had
stopped. Maud's raised brows begged an answer.

"Do you not think it best that I no longer
tend his wounds?"

"Lovey, if you do not, don't you think Sir
Raik will notice? Or that Warin will worry all the more?"

"There is that." Letia chewed on her bottom
lip and tried to gather her courage.

"He has watched you all morn, trying to judge
if he has bid ye beyond yer strength. If ye stumble in this, he
will make an end to it."

"Would that be bad?"

"Aye. Think on it. What if ye are not yet
breeding? If ye stop now, maybe last night was wasted?" Maud sighed
out a long, worried huff of air. "Sometimes it takes more than a
night, ye know."

"For truth?" The idea surprised Letia.
"Catalin lay but once with Ranald and she bred."

"Aye. But she was in love when she coupled
with him." Maud scrunched up her lips, thinking. "Mayhap that
caused her to be so fruitful."

"Oh." Letia's shoulders slumped. How very
silly of her. She near let her feelings get in the way of safety
for all of Seton. She should be shamed even to think of quitting.
Too many depended on her to protect them after Warin... Please God,
do not take Warin!

She had no more time to think, for Giles was
already opening the door. His lips just stopped moving. Had he
spoken?

"I am sorry? What did you say?"

"Lady, he tried to leave the room earlier. He
seemed most upset that I would not fetch his sword." Giles grinned
at her. "I ken he feared the beast would drag ye into the
woods."

"Humpf. I had my knife strapped to my leg and
Warin protected me with his sword. I would not have welcomed his
scaring the poor beast back to the forest to starve."

BOOK: Seduced
13.71Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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