Strangclyf Secret (33 page)

Displeased? God’s bones,
she was the world’s foremost mistress of understatement. And hadn’t
he already instructed her to look at him when they spoke? “You will
look at me when you speak to me.”

She raised timorous eyes
and her hands trembled. He could throttle her for acting like she
feared him. “Have I ever hurt you?”

Barwolf nodded and a light
pink hue spread over her cheeks.

Bernon rolled his eyes.
“Other than when we made love?”

She shook her
head.

“
Then you will cease being
afraid of me,” he ordered.

“
Aye, milord,” she muttered
and released a long harried sigh.

Hell, was she sulking?
“Tell me why you found it necessary to disobey me.”

“
I did not disobey you,”
she said, crinkling her nose and sounding genuinely
confused.

“
I specifically told you
not to work,” he gritted out. Why did she have to go and distract
him by scrunching her adorable nose?

“
You said I could restore
some of the things in the armory,” she replied in a harassed
tone.

“
That was before you were
wounded and I did not mean the damn walls!” Bernon roared then
clenched his jaw and wiped a hand over his face. Did she think to
spar words with him when she ought to see how angry he
was?

Barwolf glanced away and
nervously raked her dirty fingers through her curls. “Are you going
to send me away now?”

“
Hell, nay!” Bernon broke
off and took a deep breath then noticed her nervous gesture. “Where
did you come up with such a daft notion as that? And look at
me.”

“
You never spend any time
with me, and when you do come around, ‘tis to yell.” Tears pooled
until her eyes glistened in the torchlight. “Everything I do
displeases you, and you have not kissed me in two
weeks.”

Damnation, how was he
supposed to tell her his dour mood and yelling were due to sexual
frustration caused by not making love to her while she recovered?
He would sound like a depraved knave. Just thinking about her naked
in his arms sent blood rushing to his groin, and he groaned under
his breath. “We will talk about this later. Go bathe and change.
‘Tis almost time to gather in the hall for the evening
meal.”

Bernon knew he sounded
gruff and that she didn’t understand his irritability. But honest
to God, there was only so much temptation a man could take. Telling
her to bathe sent his mind racing back along the path to
frustration, so he turned and stalked out of the armory before she
could notice he was about to burst his braies.

God’s teeth, he wished she
wasn’t so delicate.

~ * ~

Barwolf watched him leave
and dashed at her tears as an angry fire sparked in her gut. What
about her disgusted him so much that he couldn’t spend five waking
moments in the same room with her? All she had to do was look at
him and he flared up.

Crossing her arms, she
glowered at the empty portal.
Zut!
She wanted kisses and hugs, and lovemaking too.
The only times he even touched her in the past week were to dump
her in bed, so she could be bored.

Could he possibly think
her injury still plagued her? She shook her head and scoffed at the
notion. Surely he knew her stitches were out and her shoulder
didn’t bother her. Well, mayhap it bothered her a mite, but not
enough for her to refuse an interlude in the bath with him. She
felt all flushed just thinking about his strong hands on her bare
flesh and his mouth on her.

And what about his duty?
He was supposed to make a baby inside her. How did he expect to
accomplish that if he never touched her? He treated her like a
nuisance child, and she was damned tired of it. “Well damn! Now he
has me cursing in English like a sinner.”

How could she entice him?
Kissing him worked before, but he wouldn’t let her close enough to
try that method. The queen didn’t have this problem. The king had
barely left her side since they arrived. Now there was a thought.
She could talk to the queen and get her advice about
enticing.

“
I will dress pretty too.”
Just this morning Cora’d finished a beautiful yellow kirtle with an
embroidered row of green bears walking around the hem. A
meadow-green chemise complimented the kirtle, showing through at
the hem and wrists. Why, that gown would look wonderful with the
Strangclyf emeralds. She gasped as excitement thrilled through her.
“Why did I not think of them before? The emeralds have worked for
centuries, and they will work for me too.”

Barwolf left the armory
with a resolute air and marched through the maze to the hidden
coffers. She glanced about the huge stores and decided she would
have to bring Bernon to the room on the morrow…if he gave her the
time of day for than a moment of yelling. Retrieving the ornate
olive-wood box that held her prize, she went to the bath and
scrubbed herself pink with her special lavender and rose soap. Then
she towel-dried her hair and raked her fingers through the golden
strands until her curls began to bounce. Wrapping a sheet around
herself, she grabbed her prize and headed up to the lord’s chamber,
where she donned the green chemise and yellow kirtle.

Her pulse raced as she
opened the small box and stared at the glittering gems nestled
inside. She had never worn jewels before and her breath hitched
with anticipation. The Strangclyf emeralds didn’t look like any of
the jewels she had seen on the other court ladies. They were old
and not at all fashionable. But she thought them wondrous and they
were part of her heritage.

Her brow furrowed with
worry. Would Bernon get angry because she didn’t ask his permission
to wear them? Or would she embarrass him if she wore the gems? They
were beautiful, weren’t they? Would the courtiers think because
they were old that meant they were cheap? Her grandfather had said
they were priceless and exquisite.

She compressed her lips.
They were an imperative if she wanted to have magic. “Hopefully no
one will laugh at me for wearing old baubles.”

The emeralds and gold
fanned out into a collar around her neck, covering the kirtle’s
high round neckline as she clasped the necklace in place. A gold
fighting bear adorned the centerpiece of the necklace. She
shivered, imagining a tingling charge passing from the inanimate
creature into the center of her chest. A gold-linked girdle
encrusted with emeralds wrapped around her waist twice and settled
low over her hips where an
agraffe
shaped like a fighting bear secured the belt. A
small gold tiara slipped through her curls and rested at her
hairline with one large emerald flashing out of her hair. Lifting
the last jewel from the box, she tried slipping the ring on all her
fingers and settled on wearing the stone on her left thumb. “I will
just have to keep my thumb bent all night. I’m not taking any
chances on the ancient promise not working.”

A knock sounded at the
door and she heard Geno’s muffled tones. “Little wolf, I came to
hurry you along. The king and queen are already down and your bear
is growling.”

“
I am coming.” Barwolf
stopped just inside the door. Was it possible for her heart to
pound all the air out of her chest? Oh Lord, she wasn’t ready for
this! She gripped her hands tightly and took a deep breath then
pressed her forehead against the door. “Geno, go back down without
me.”

“
Are you ill or do you have
a message for Bernon?”

“
I’m all
right. Tell my husband that I will join the festivities soon and
tonight I will at least
appear
worthy of him.”

“
Ah, then you have a
surprise for him?”

“
Aye,” she said and
frowned. Geno was a man, so mayhap he could help her.
“Geno?”

“
I am still
here.”

“
How does a woman entice a
man without kissing him?” she asked, glad Bernon’s best friend
could not see her burning cheeks.

“
I take it that your
shoulder is healed?”

“
My stitches have been out
for four days!” she complained while pounding a dainty fist against
the door.

Geno chuckled. “In your
case, little wolf, you just make sure your bear knows your shoulder
is well and his body will take care of the rest.”

Hearing his footsteps move
away, Barwolf drew in another deep breath and ran a shaky hand over
her kirtle. Hopefully she was right and she did appear worthy of
Bernon.

“
Well
zut,
I
am trying to stall myself and I cannot put this meeting off
forever.” Squaring her shoulders, she opened the door as a
determined zeal overrode her. “Get ready, Bernon. Tonight Venus is
working magic on you.”

~ * ~

Bernon paced to and fro by
the ale room screen, ignoring his guests. Where was she? Glancing
up, he saw Geno approaching him alone and his temper flared. “Where
in perdition is she?”

“
The little wolf says she
will be down shortly,” Geno replied, stopping beside him. ”I hope
your mood improves when she arrives with your surprise.”

Bernon grunted and
clenched his jaw. “My mood is fine and what surprise?”

Geno snorted and folded
his arms across his chest. “You have been biting heads off for the
last two weeks, and I do not know what the surprise is. She didn’t
tell me.”

“
I have not been biting off
heads and how long is shortly?” Bernon gritted out.

“
You have been mean as a
stallion who smells a mare in heat and cannot get to her, and she
did not say how long.” Geno curved his lips into a goading smile.
“She did ask me how to entice a man without kissing
him.”

“
She what?”

The hall grew silent at
Bernon’s bellow. He glanced around, surprised to discover the
attention wasn’t on him. Following the eyes of his guests, he saw
Barwolf standing in the archway of the lord’s tower arrayed in a
yellow kirtle and a king’s fortune in emeralds and gold. From her
expression, he decided the little imp must have seen his jaw go
slack, because her smile grew vibrant and her dimple
appeared.

“
Sancta
Anna!”
Geno exclaimed in an awed whisper.
“She looks like the brightest beam of sunshine on a summer
meadow.”

Barwolf took a few steps
into the hall and skidded to a halt with an expression of wide-eyed
horror. Then she spun around and dashed back into the
tower.

~ * ~

Bernon clenched his jaw,
shook his head, and went after her. Leave it to his wife to shock
the entire court then run away without a word. He really needed to
have a long talk with her about manners. He topped the stairs as
she came out of their chamber and closed the door. “Did you forget
something?”

She turned around in a
flash and her cheeks flamed. “My slippers. I did not realize I
wasn’t wearing them until I stepped on the rushes. I’m sorry I
blundered, Bernon.” She peeked up at him and her lower lip pushed
out into a succulent pout. “I wanted to look pretty for
you.”

Her response made his
heart swell. He favored her with a tender smile and caressed a
gentle finger along her lip. “You did not blunder and your
appearance is always enchanting—even when you have dirt on your
cheeks.”

She gasped and took a wary
step back. “You gave me a compliment and you are not yelling,” she
accused.

“
I am intrigued.” His smile
broadened and he took a step toward her.

“
Why?” she asked, looking
at him through guarded eyes as she backed into the chamber
door.

Bernon closed the distance
between them and dropped his tone to a husky whisper. “Why did you
ask Geno how to entice a man without kissing him?”

The flames in her cheeks
rushed over her face. Barwolf sucked in a deep breath and blurted
out, “My stitches have been out for four days.”

Bernon raised an arrogant
brow and stared at her. The little minx was actually wanting to
seduce him.

She scowled and put her
hands on her hips. “Why are you looking at me like that? Are you
too dense to figure out why I want to look pretty for you? ‘Tis
because I want—”

“
I hate to interrupt,
little wolf,” Geno called from the stairs, his enjoyment of the
situation twinkling in his merry blue eyes. “But you cannot show up
wearing a fortune in jewels and just walk away. The king wishes a
closer look.”

“
Come,
cheri,”
Bernon said in the same sexy timbre, holding out his hand. “I
will escort you back down.”

~ * ~

His tone sent a shiver
down her spine and she suddenly realized she had snapped at him.
‘Twas no way to get what she wanted from him. She meekly gave him
her hand, and he possessively wrapped her arm around
his.

He guided her back to the
hall and over to William and Matilda, who stood near the high
table. Barwolf pulled away from Bernon and sank into a graceful
curtsy, aware of a tingling fire sizzling through her arm where
Bernon had touched her.