Seducing Anne (14 page)

Was she crying on his behalf? Her smile was radiant, and she gave him a look that resembled her face when she was worshiping God moments ago as she was undoubtedly supplicating her Lord and Savior to help her people reform and come to Him.

“Beautiful,” he whispered, and before he did something stupid like hug her or stroke her cheek, he limped away.

Oh, this was going well.

He’d just butchered what was supposed to be a show of solidarity and support for her and her faith.

Fuck! How did she derail him so easily?

* * *

The rest of that day, Guy had avoided her. He couldn’t bear to show his face around her or Henry.

Instead, he pulled out the Vulgate and studied this early version of the Bible the clergy used. He had attained a copy from Carew.

His Latin was good, so he was able to go through the passages without too much trouble.

He didn’t bother to eat or drink—too busy to stop for such trivial things. At the end of the day, he realized he’d been unwittingly fasting.

He was on his knees again, this time in his room, praying his heart out for her.

Please, Lord, I cannot take it. Either send me back now or tell me she will be mine. I have to possess her the way she does me. I’m going out of my mind for her.

He muttered his prayer in almost a chant, and instead of holding his hands together in a prayer pose, he was clutching at his chest.

His teeth ground together so loudly that it was all he could hear over his soft voice.

Until . . .

“Sir . . . ?” Her soft voice came from behind.

Something gentle stroked his shoulders and then a hand was in his hair, drifting and making his scalp tingle and then shoot chills down his back.

His hand shot up and gripped hers.

He turned his head, his eyes ablaze for her, and he lowered his voice. It came out sounding menacing when he said, “You are here to tempt me to madness?”

“No. I wanted to see if you wanted to attend Compline with me. You were so moved this morning I thought . . .” Her eyes twitched and were a sea of torment as well. “It was breathtaking, Guy—watching you transform into a servant of Christ before my very eyes. I have never witnessed something so miraculous as your stunning soul morphing into something that can fly.”

He swallowed down the tears threatening to burst out of him. “It is all for you, my lady. Surely, you must see that you are the one that inspires me to want to be a better man. I want to be your dearest friend, your confidant, your lover, the other half of your soul, like you are for me. How can I be all those things?”

“Through the blood of Christ.” She flexed her fingers.

He was still gripping her wrist.

“It’s not through
His
blood, but through
yours
.” His mind exploded and screamed at him to tell her what her fate was to be.

“I have no saving influence over your soul. That is your Savior who does that. He suffered so you would not have to. You only have to accept him fully. Let us go to confession tomorrow. We can study in the morning in the garden after we go to morning Mass.” She ducked her head and swallowed. “Before you say no to me—know this—I cannot take it if you reject me.”

“Anne?” His voice was a pleading whisper.

“I am enamored of you—I should not be, but I am. You fascinate me, and you control my thoughts daily. To what end, though? How can this be acceptable before God’s eyes? He does not want me to be an unfaithful whore. So, I prayed about it at the same time you were weeping at my side and pleading for God’s forgiveness.”

“How do you know what I prayed for?”

“Guy . . .” She gave him a reproachful look and pursed her lips, then grinned. “You feel it, too. I know you do. You say the most beautiful things to me, and then sound racked by it. Your soul is splitting at the seams as well as mine is. So, I propose we study, fast and pray together in the desire that God will reveal his will to us.” She smiled as tears streamed down her cheeks. “Please, Guy. I have to know . . .”

“Yes, little lavender, but you will have to teach me, rather than me taking the patriarchal role. I cannot advise you in spiritual matters. You are ahead of me in such ways.”

She gushed with tears and smiled so brilliantly it lit up his room and his heart. “Come with me now. Will you, sir?”

He loved the way she framed her request—like an order one moment, suggesting she really would break if he said no, but then leaving him the option to choose for himself as if she realized she was coming across bossy like Henry.

“My very own heart—I will go wherever you are, for that is the one thing God
does
reveal to me.” He placed her palm over his pounding heart. “This beats for you. It is yours. You own it.”

Her eyes flashed wide for a second with a look of panic, and then she took a slow, measured breath and blinked in the same fashion. Was she trying to absorb what he said?

“I am desperate to have any portion of you that you will allow, and if that is only to be in the Chapel Royal and through the Vulgate, then so be it, but I do ask one thing from you. Before we start our first study session, I ask that you make a list for me of what is acceptable to you. What I can and cannot do with you. I need to know what will bring you an inner peace. I do not wish to trample all over your spirit, great lady.” He finally stood up, though he was fine for the first time in his life being in this position, on his knees, before a woman he wished to have.

She clasped him into a hug and whispered a heartfelt, “Thank you, Guy. You are truly a beautiful soul!”

He stroked down her hair, pulled her in tighter and vowed he would never let go until she did first.

His body rocked hers and when she did not let go after a few minutes, he sat down on the bed and pulled her into his lap. “You are irresistible. How can I keep away and not want you for my own? Henry is a fool.”

“Douche,” she whispered and giggled with an unladylike snort at the end.

“Yes, he is most decidedly
that
.” He laughed.

She curled into his chest. “Why do I feel so safe with you?”

“Because I am here to protect you. It is my greatest driving force, besides wanting to make love to you and show you what a stirring creature you are. A sensual, passionate woman. You thrum through my blood like potent medicine.”

Once more, his head was roaring—telling him to spill and inform her of all that would transpire and befall her.

He shook it off by simply holding her and lavishing affection on her.

“How you ruin me by just breathing on me,” he said, his voice gruff.

“That is not something I can control.” She laughed into his chest. “I have to take in air.”

“And I have to take you in—shelter you.”

“Why? Am I so feeble I need protection?” Her right brow popped up.

“No.” He held her tighter. “But you are such a rare creature, that Henry desires to cage and persecute you. Did you see how unmoved he was at Mass this morning? He prayed—yes—but there was no bone-deep alteration in his character. Do you think he was praying for you, like I was? He maybe prayed for his land, for good health and prosperity, and most of all sons, but he did not think of you and what is best for you.” He took her left hand and entwined her fingers with his right, then placed it over her heart. “This is all I care about anymore.” He tapped his index finger through their hold over her heart. “I care that you flourish and are able to fly free. I do not cage you ever. For the moment you are behind bars, you lose your brilliancy. You have no idea what you are capable of.”

She breathed with a stuttering exhale. “How can you know what I might do?”

In a blinding flash, he recalled the pitiful recounting in books of what she inspired. There were probably thousands of countless unseen things she had done for the betterment of her kingdom. “You have many interests, do you not?”

She nodded her head and wore the most delicious, innocent expression.

“Then let us away to Mass, and afterward, when I break my fast, you tell me about the ideas and interests you have. I will listen and absorb it all.”

Her cheeks pulled up tight as she flashed him the most gorgeous smile ever. Those dark, luminous eyes were aglow and so soft and humble, he couldn’t help it.

He leaned forward and took her mouth with his.

She clutched onto his shirt with her right hand and squeezed his hand in her left. Her body moved toward his, accepting, pleading for more.

His body burst into flames as every nerve was centered around her.

In a blinding move, he had her on the bed, tucked under his body, and she was moaning, already writhing beneath him as he kissed her harder and pushed his tongue into her awaiting mouth. He kissed her until she got so loud, he worried he’d take her virginity before she was truly ready. With a groan, he released her lips.

“God, I cannot be without you—say you die without me, too,” he pleaded, his voice raspy and thick with emotion.

“The answer is here,” she answered, and her mouth lunged after his.
She
was kissing him.

In that moment, he was damned to hell. Or at least he’d be hunted by the agency and killed, because he no longer would allow her to be with Henry. He wanted her completely for his own. He’d do whatever he had to in order to keep her from that masked maniac.

She was his, and he would not give her up for anything.

His history could crash and burn. Fuck it all!

He wrapped his arms around her, peppered her neck with kisses and groaned at himself since he couldn’t seem to stop grinding his hard dick into her.

“What do you need, Anne?” He searched her eyes. “What do you need to be mine?”

“Your soul.” Her eyes were filled with hope.

“You have it, sweetheart. It’s yours. Take it with both hands and keep it.”

Chapter 7

Anne was so giddy she was barely able to keep from shaking head to toe.

“Darling, I slow you down,” Guy teased at her side.

Her heart squeezed hard at the endearment, not because she had not been called that before, but because of whose lips it passed from.

“It is no matter. Sometimes the journeys that take the longest are the most enjoyable.” She beamed at him for a moment, then remembered there were always eyes that could see that look she was giving Guy and tell Harry what they had seen.

She needed to be more vigilant and guard her feelings—keeping them off her countenance.

It was becoming increasingly more difficult to do just that.

“The Chapel Royal can be a little busy this time of morning,” she informed him.

“Do you not prefer to pray somewhere in solitude where you can feel the whisperings of God in your mind?”

She blinked and stopped walking. “Yes, I do. I usually pray in my holyday closet. Harry has one as well.”

“I do not wish to talk of him. You tell me what you pray for when you are on your knees at your most vulnerable,” he said, studying her reaction.

She clasped her hands and set them on her lower belly. “I pray for many things, and most of them are for the good of the people around me. When I am done praying for those I know, then I pray for those I do not.”

“I see . . .” He offered her his arm, and she resumed walking with him.

What did his statement mean? What did he see in what she had said? Was there something amiss?

The rest of their stroll through the corridors was silent. She wanted to lean her head on his shoulder but refrained.

Right before they were to enter the chapel, he turned to her. “I would prefer to have the peace of your closet. Might we pray and worship there?”

Her mouth parted, and she wanted to give some reason why that was unwise, but no words came. All she did was nod like a simpleton.

Besides, Harry might be in the chapel. And what would she say when he asked her later why she was with Moore yet again?

How many excuses could she conjure up?

It was obvious they were both enraptured with each other.

Well, it was Harry’s fault. He was the one with wandering eyes lately—exactly why she asked Guy for help.

They turned around and headed back toward her chambers.

“What is circulating in that mind of yours? I can see you making yourself sick with worry,” he said, gripping her hand that was digging into his arm above the elbow.

“I was contemplating how I keep having occasion to be with you, sir, but really, there is no plausible excuse.” She relaxed her grip on him but still held tight. “How can I keep telling Harry there is a good reason for me to be at your side? He is no dolt. It is apparent we are not friends, that we are also not lovers—so what does that make us?”

“Ah, that is easy, madam.” He smirked and stared down at her, his dark blue eyes similar to hers in their intensity. They were full of mischief and intelligence, too. “We are each other’s saving grace. I am it for you, and you are the same for me. It does not matter how much a king storms around in a tirade—you belong to me in your heart. I can see it in your eyes—you feel the truth of my words.”