Vow of Seduction (22 page)

He led Kat away as more people hastened past them and headed for the bear pit, anxious not to miss the bloody sport. Among them a group of boys, young pages from the palace, darted past, whooping and hollering. One of them waved, a pleasant-faced boy with black hair.

“Good day, Lady Katherine, Sir Alex,” he cried out.

“’Tis young Matthew of Oxford,” Kat said, startled.

“Aye, so it is.” Alex led Kat off the straw-covered pathway and into the shade between a small patched tent and colorful stall. Once hidden in the shadows, he placed his hands on her waist in a loose embrace.

She looked up at him, her hands on his chest, eyes haunted. “’Tis shameful to treat animals so cruelly. We should do something for that poor creature.”

“I agree. Unfortunately, there is not much we can do. The bear is too dangerous to release, now that he has been indoctrinated by mistreatment and violence. The only other choice is to liberate him from his owner and keep him caged, though treated kindly. But even then another bear would just take its place because of the great demand for such sport.”

“Such brutal sports should be outlawed, then,” she said, incensed.

Tenderhearted was his warrior woman, the paradox an irresistible puzzle he wished to unravel.

Her almond-shaped eyes were large and wide. Alex stared into their quicksilver depths, drowning, unable to resist her pull. “Aye, but I am afraid that will never happen,” he said slowly. She must have read his desire, for she inhaled swiftly a heartbeat before he dipped his head.

He stroked his thumb over her lower lip, coaxing her lips apart, and then he closed his mouth over hers. She raked her fingers slowly up his chest and locked them behind his neck. Her tongue met his and he groaned, her fingers tangling in his hair, drawing him deeper into the kiss. She pressed her hips into him, and his erection, which had finally abated, surged up to prod her shadowed delta.

Jesu
, she knew how to drive him insane. He wanted to throw her down right here on the grass and drive inside her hot sheath. Or take her from behind standing up. He would not stop until he exploded, spilling his seed deep inside her fertile depths.

He wanted to make her mad with desire, too. Drive her to the brink over and over till she begged him for release. Bind her to him forever so she would never look to another to fulfill her needs. He alone would give her children, hearth, and board.

“Uhhrum.” Someone clearing his throat startled Alex.

Kat jerked away, her face turning pink. But Alex kept his arm around her waist.

Rand, who stood next to Rose, grinned at them from ear to ear while Rose’s wide-eyed blue gaze darted away in embarrassment.

“Cousin,” Rand said, nodding to Kat, his solemn tone at odds with his laughing hazel eyes.

“Don’t ‘Cousin’ me, you fool. Have you never seen a man kissing a woman before?” Kat flounced away from Alex and hooked her arm through Rose’s.

“Come, Rose. I saw a fortuneteller back by the baker’s stall and have a mind to see what my future holds.”

Arm and arm, they strode off.

“Kat, don’t get too far ahead,” Alex hollered. “I don’t want to lose you in this crowd.”

Kat waved nonchalantly and continued on.

Alex and Rand followed in the ladies’ wake. Casually glancing at the various stalls and fairegoers as though unconcerned, Alex kept his gaze on Kat up ahead.

Although there had been no trouble since the arrow attack, he was constantly on guard and would be until the villain was caught. Indeed, a part of him had been consciously alert to his surroundings all day, except during the passionate interlude with Kat under the tree. He groaned. And the kiss by the tents.

The woman was fast becoming a temptation he could not resist. But resist her he would. Until the traitor was apprehended, the need to be vigilant was imperative, or the consequences could be deadly.

For a moment Alex lost sight of Kat when several people crowded past him. Then her distinctive black-haired head bobbed into view. He breathed a sigh of relief and quickened his pace. But his relief was short-lived. Suddenly, when another pathway merged into his, a group of tri-color-dressed dancers burst onto the pathway. They weaved in and out among the spectators, urging them to participate. The young couple walking in front of Alex was swiftly pulled into the dance and spun around and around.

Meanwhile, Kat drew farther away. Alex panicked, sweat broke out on his forehead and he began to push his way through the revelers. Then some woman grabbed his hand and tugged him into the dance, down the wrong pathway.

Alex twisted his head around. When his gaze met Rand’s, Alex shouted, “Follow Kat. Don’t lose her!” Rand nodded and continued on.

Alex ripped free of the hold, but he had been dragged ten feet down the path and had to backtrack. At the intersection, he relaxed upon seeing Rose and Rand heading towards him. His gaze moved beyond them, seeking Kat, when Rose’s insistent voice drew his attention back to her.

“Alex. I’m sorry. I got separated from Kat in the crowd somehow. And she’s not at the fortuneteller’s tent.”

Alex grabbed her arm and shook her. “How could you lose her?”

Rose winced with pain. “Ouch! You’re hurting me, Alex.”

Rand immediately came to her defense and clamped his hand down on Alex’s arm. “Let go of her arm, Alex. This is not helping the situation.”

But Alex was not thinking very clearly and gripped her harder in his fear.

All of a sudden, a woman’s terrified scream rose above the noise of the crowd. It came from the direction of the bear pit; a chill premonition shimmied down his spine. He released his sister and took off running.

He ran faster than he had ever run in his life, terror clawing his stomach at what he would find when he reached the bear pit. His heart pumped wildly. He hollered for people to get out of his way, shoving them aside in his haste, knocking anyone over who did not move fast enough. When he reached the bear pit, he saw several others who had rushed to the clearing pointing with cries of shock and disbelief, their fear palpable.

Alex’s heart clawed up his throat, he could not breathe. An image, a vision, flashed in his head, of Kat lying in a pool of her own blood, her flesh gored by huge bloody claw marks. Nay, he refused to believe Kat was hurt, or dead; he would not let fear consume him. He charged into the growing crowd.

The huge lump in his throat suddenly dropped to his stomach. Kat was not hurt, but she had crawled out onto one of the pikes driven into the earth over the pit. The pikes were embedded every five feet, meeting in the center like slices of a pie, acting as a makeshift roof.

It was a courageous, though foolhardy, risk she took. For young Matthew had crawled out onto one of the spikes, and hanging by two hands into the pit, was dangerously within reach of the bear chained to the tall stake in the center. While the animal growled and pawed ineffectually at the young intruder, Kat hugged the spike and reached out to Matthew. She hollered for him to grab her hand, but the lad was too terrified to let go and reach out.

Kat was persistent, though, and inched farther out on the spike. Leaning over, her perch precarious, she stretched her hand out to the boy. The little fool, she was going to get herself and Matthew killed. Unwilling to startle Kat, Alex quietly stepped over the rope surrounding the pit and proceeded to crawl out onto the neighboring pike. Unlike Kat, he sat down on the rounded post, his hands balancing his weight in front of him as he scooted forward.

Alex watched Kat reach out again, farther this time, encouraging the frightened boy in a soothing, but confident tone. “Come, Matthew. Take my hand. You are very brave. I know you can do it. Just grab my hand and I will pull you up.”

Alex inhaled sharply. If either of them fell, they would surely be mauled to death. Frustration and fear gnawed at him. He could not just grab Kat and thrust her away from the danger as he wished. Nor command her to back away and let him rescue Matthew. He could only watch and plan as he came ever closer.

Just as Alex reached her, Matthew let go and reached out for her extended hand. Kat caught his wrist and held tight, but Matthew panicked and tugged hard on her arm. She teetered on the pike, her body slipping sideways away from Alex. Her face red and dripping with sweat, she struggled valiantly. Matthew cried out. Then Kat lost her perch and she and the boy plummeted into the dark pit.

Alex roared in agony and disbelief. Feral instinct surged up inside him and in one simultaneous motion he swung his leg over the pike, withdrew his sword and jumped down into the pit. He landed on his feet and fell to one knee, his sword hand stopping his fall. A huge furred claw swung out directly for his head. Alex lunged back and the bear’s curved claws passed his cheek, missing him by inches. So close a current of air swept his face and the putrid smell of the bear filled his nostrils.

His heart beat as though it would burst from his chest. Alex swung his sword at the bear, distracting the predator from the pair who had landed with a sickening thump nearby. Staying well out of the creature’s lethal range, Alex jabbed and slashed at the larger bear while moving around and away from Kat and Matthew huddled on the ground.

The gambit worked, for his blows annoyed the bear like a pesky bee. The animal followed Alex, roaring in frustration and batting at the sword with his paw. The bear’s chain clanked loudly, the rank smell of his hot breath too close for comfort.

Keeping his attention on the bear, Alex yelled, “Kat, are you hurt?”

He heard a groan and then her voice emerged as a croak. “Alex?”

“Aye, ’tis me. Are you all right? Are you able to move?”

“I believe so.”

“While I distract this brute, I need you and Matthew to move to the back of the pit out of the bear’s range.”

“Kat?” Alex called out when she did not respond.

“Matthew is unconscious. I’ll have to drag him.”

Alex listened as Kat grunted, dragging Matthew away.

“’Tis done. We are safe. The bear cannot reach us here.”

When Alex finally backed off, he heard another roar, but this time it was a roar of approval from the crowd. Alex thought cynically,
I wonder what my chances were with the odds makers.
Then he forgot everything and raced to Kat’s side.

She knelt beside Matthew, but when he approached, she jumped up and into his arms. Kat clung to him tightly, shaking. For his part, Alex squeezed her as though he would never let her go, their hearts pounding against one another as a single entity.

Reassured of her safety, he placed his palms on either side of her face and tipped her head back to look at her. “Praise God you are all right. For a moment I thought I’d lost you.”

He brushed her loose hair back, her relief shining in her face. “I too thought…” Kat gulped and then continued. “What are you doing here, Alex?
How
did you come to be here? I don’t understand.”

Now that the danger was over, Alex’s anger surged to the fore. He gripped her shoulders in a tight vise. “Aye, I know, you little fool! You would have been dead had I not come upon this travesty.”

Kat’s eyes blazed up at him, but he interrupted her before she opened her mouth. “Nay. We can discuss this later at a more opportune time.”

He knelt down beside Matthew and checked the boy’s limbs for broken bones. Kat knelt, too, and cradled Matthew’s head in her lap.

Her troubled eyes met Alex’s. “I feel a large bump on the back of his head.”

Alex nodded. “The blow to his head must have knocked him unconscious. I can find naught else wrong with him.” He tapped the boy’s face, trying to rouse him. “Matthew? Can you hear me? Wake up.”

The boy groaned, his eyelids flickering several times before he opened them. His pupils were unfocused. “My lord? What are you…? Where am I?”

“Do you not remember?”

Matthew closed his eyes, his brow puckered. “The dare. The boys dared me to climb out over the bear pit. But I fell. Lady Kat tried to—” His eyes flew open. “Lady Kat. Where is Lady Kat?” he cried out, trying to raise his head.

“Hush now. I am safe, Matthew,” Kat said, smoothing back the sweat-matted hair on his forehead. “We are all safe. You may thank Sir Alex for his brave rescue.” She looked up at Alex then, her smile brilliant.

Alex’s heart thumped, pride filling him at her praise. “Can you rise without assistance, Matthew? We’re still in the pit. I don’t know about you, but I have no wish to further my acquaintance with Sir Surly Bear.”

Matthew smiled. “Aye, my lord, I need no help.” Even so, Alex and Kat stood up and helped him rise. Though shaken, the boy was fine.

Alex looked around. The bear had quieted and settled down on his hindquarters against the pole. On the other side of the pit, the iron door remained locked. “Where is that blasted bear ward?”

“Aye, ’tis strange indeed,” Kat said, her expression perplexed.

“Well, I do not intend to wait for that fat idiot to let us out of here.” Alex stared at the stone wall before him, gauging its height. “The wall looks to be about twelve feet high. I can lift you both onto my shoulders so you can reach the top. Someone above can pull you out.”

“Alex, Kat, you both all right?”

Alex shaded his eyes and gazed up at the top of the pit. Rand peered down from the edge, Rose beside him, fear etching her face.

“Aye, Rand. We’re unharmed. But I need your help. I’m going to lift Kat and the boy onto my shoulders, and I want you to pull them up and out of the pit.”

“Of course. Whenever you’re ready.”

“Be careful, Alex,” Rose’s voice quavered.

Alex nodded and turned to Kat.

“You go first, then Matthew. I want him to see how easily ’tis done.”

“But what about you? How will you get out?” she asked, her expression unsure.

Alex withdrew his dagger, and using the pointed tip, gouged a hole in the mortar between two stones about waist high and another shoulder high. “I shall use this for a toehold and handhold. Then Rand can reach down and help me up.”

He hollered above and Rand stuck his head over the precipice, ready to assist them. Alex knelt down on one knee so Kat could use his other knee as a step. He assisted her onto his shoulders and stood up. “Are you ready?”

“Ready.” He held very still while she stood up straight above him. When she released his hands, he gripped her ankles. A few moments later her weight lifted from him, dirt and grass scrabbling down the wall as Rand pulled her out.

The bear had been silent and resting, but suddenly he became agitated, roaming the width of his chain back and forth, growling and tugging on it.

Alex looked at Matthew, who had remained very silent for some time now. “Are you ready, son?”

But the boy was staring at the disturbed bear. Alex grabbed his shoulders and turned Matthew so he faced him and not the animal. “The bear is chained and cannot harm us, so there is naught you need to fear.”

Matthew gulped, nodding.

“Do you trust me?”

The boy nodded more vigorously.

“Good. You have naught to worry about.”

The bear became more restless, the chain clanking with great force as he tugged and pawed violently at the iron ring attached to his hind leg.

“Alex?” Kat hollered down, her voice troubled.

“We’re ready,” he hollered back, his tone confident. Then he turned to Matthew and kneeling, he helped the boy climb onto his shoulders.

After he was lifted out, Kat poked her head over the edge of the pit. “Matthew is safe.” Her gaze strayed nervously to the bear. “Hurry, Alex. Get out of there.”

He looked over his shoulder. The bear’s agitation had not abated. Indeed, he seemed enraged now. Not twelve feet away, the bear tipped his head up and roared at him, tugging desperately on his chain. Alex felt like roaring back, but he had had enough of confined, dark spaces. Flipping the right side of his mantle over his back, he turned and put his foot in the makeshift foothold.

Kat, unnerved by the bear’s odd behavior, knelt on the ground, leaning over the dark precipice while she waited for Alex to climb up.

Beside her, Rand wrapped his arm around her and squeezed once, saying, “Don’t worry. He is going to be all right. This will be all over soon,” before he drew away.

When Alex lifted his foot and stepped up, for some reason Kat raised her head. She stared in stunned horror as the bear ripped free of his shackle and charged Alex.

She screamed. “Alex. Behind you.” The bear roared, drowning out her cry.

She watched as Alex jumped, tucked his body into a ball and rolled over several times on the ground, his sword clanking against the packed earth. Barely evading the bear’s charge, he sprang to his feet and withdrew his sword. Steel raised, he backed away, but the bear attacked swiftly. His huge paw swung out and Alex lunged to the right, slashing the bear’s chest as he did. Suddenly, Alex stumbled. Kat cried out as a collective gasp rose up behind her. Alex quickly recovered, putting the center pole between him and the bear to impede its attack. The crowd cheered.

The brown bear stood up on its hind legs and roared, using its height to intimidate his rival. Her heart pounding, Kat reached for her dagger, then cursed. For once she had not brought her dagger, just when she needed it most.

She reached for Rand’s sword, ordering, “Give me your sword. Alex needs my help.”