Bride of the Tower (12 page)

J
ulianna stood by the stand of candles Rachel had placed by the window and gaped at her face in the polished steel mirror the other woman held.

Rachel had brought about a miraculous transformation. Julianna stared at her reflection, scarcely able to believe that she was that elegant creature. Rachel’s gentle touch had eased Julianna’s headache while taming her unruly curls into a coil of neatly twined braids woven with gold ribbons. A sheer veil framed Julianna’s face and lent her an air of elegance.

As for the gown…tears welled in Julianna’s eyes when she considered how well the green and gold became her. The silk hugged her body, the sensuous slide of the fabric over her skin making her feel every bit a woman. The pearls stitched
around the neck of the gown lent a luminous glow to her face.

The flush of pink tinting her cheeks, however, she attributed to her pleasure at her own appearance. “Thank you for the gift,
Maman
,” she whispered as she smoothed her hand over the silk once again. How her mother had discerned what would become her, Julianna didn’t know, but she was very glad she’d given in to Rachel’s suggestion.

She was only sorry she’d waited so long to wear the clothes.

“Ready to bait the hook, Lady Julianna?” Rachel asked with a mischievous look.

“I am indeed.” Julianna returned her smile and swept past Rachel to the door. “Would you please have someone tell Sir William that I await him in the garden?” She tugged the door open. “They’ll need to show him where I’ll be.”

Feeling as well-equipped for combat—or something like it, she thought with a grin—as if she were armed with her sword and dagger, Julianna set out for the battlefield she’d chosen.

Victory would be hers.

She’d make certain of it.

Will trod the winding path through the herb garden with impatient steps. A servant had led him to the narrow entrance, told him to follow the walk, and left him to find his way through the dimly lit foliage.

He brushed up against bushes and leaves, releasing a myriad of scents. The fragrance lingered on the night air and heightened his senses—as if they needed any further stimulation.

The mere thought of Julianna awaiting him was enough to send his wits reeling. He couldn’t erase the image of her sprawled on her bed, her glorious body barely concealed by a sheet and her hair spread about her like a silken cloak. Like a fool, he’d thought of little else since he’d left her chamber; the memory had roused his body and clouded his mind. His injuries were nigh forgotten as his rebellious passion clamored for Julianna.

He knew they’d much to discuss; secrets to be revealed, thoughts to be shared…plans to be made, if he had his way.

Though not necessarily in that order, he thought with a quiet laugh.

Will rounded a corner past a tall plant and found Julianna seated on a bench. She rose as he
approached, moving more fully into the glow of a torch.

She stole his breath. The feminine garb she wore shimmered in the flickering light, making her appear a mystical creature made up of moon-beams and dreams. Her gown hugged curves his hands recognized but his eyes had not seen. The neat coils of dark hair beneath her veil made his fingers ache to touch, to unwind the complicated plaits and bury his hands in Julianna’s soft curls.

She moved, but the image remained unbroken.

Not an illusion, but a woman.

His woman.

Julianna.

“Sir Will, I’m pleased you could join me.” Her voice held an unfamiliar note—low, husky and seductive. She sat on the bench again, sliding over to make room for him beside her.

Feeling as though he’d stepped into a dream, Will accepted her unspoken invitation and sat down. The bench was just wide enough for them both, placing them thigh to thigh, shoulder to shoulder. Her warmth seeped into him through the thin fabric of her clothing, heating his blood and honing his senses to a higher pitch.

The fragrance he thought of as Julianna’s came
to him even over the perfume of the garden, its sweetness a perfect accompaniment to the heady night scent surrounding them. He took her hand and brought it to his lips. “My lady,” he whispered, his gaze meeting hers and holding it captive. “Tell me what you want of me.”

For a moment Julianna hesitated, unsure whether her disordered wits were capable of anything more than to demand he kiss her, that they surrender to the seduction of the night and let it take them where it would. She slipped her fingers free of his hold, but that liberty did little to diminish the spell holding them captive.

She shook her head and rose, stepping away from him and nearly falling backward into a bed of lavender. “I cannot think with you so near,” she protested. “Damnation, that wasn’t what I meant to say!”

Will stood and moved toward her in one smooth motion, trapping her. “Then say nothing,” he murmured.

“Stop.” She held up her hand, whether to halt his words or to keep him at bay, she had no notion. “Will, we cannot remain here. ’Tis too—”

“—too tempting? Seductive?” He reached up and tugged her veil away from her face, slowly
winding the gauzy fabric around his fingers as it slipped off her hair. “Not conducive to reasonable thought?” He leaned close and lightly touched the corner of her mouth with his tongue.

She thought her knees might give way if he didn’t cease his torment.

“Julianna, love, you made me feel that way in the storeroom you put me in, with me wearing a blanket and you in men’s garb.” He pressed a kiss to her cheek, then nuzzled her ear. He’d shaved; the brush of his smooth chin over her skin, and the scent of soap rising from him, made her heart race. “As beautiful as you are, and this place is, it makes little difference. You befuddle my mind and my senses.”

She
could barely draw a breath.

“We could go up on the wall,” she told him, her voice faint. “The wind will clear our minds, and the guards will assure we behave ourselves.”

Perhaps—though at the moment, she had her doubts
anything
could keep her passion in check.

Will leaned against her, pressed his cheek to hers and sighed. “As you wish, milady.” Before she could respond, he caught her about the waist and swung her around to face the path. “Come along, Julianna,” he urged as he pulled her back
through the garden. “I promise I’ll behave,” he said, laughing. “As long as you do.”

Catching his enthusiasm, her heart light, she let him tug her along in his wake.

I’ll not promise anything
, she vowed silently,
for I don’t intend to miss a moment of what we might share
.

The wind gusted through the narrow crenels atop the wall, pressing Julianna’s gown against her body and tugging her hair loose from the neat braids and coils Rachel had fashioned earlier. ’Twas exhilarating to stand there with Will, high above the world.

She faced out, away from the bailey and the keep, the reminders of her responsibilities. Looking out over the moonswept trees where Sherwood drew close to the curtain wall, Julianna could almost imagine no one else existed except her and Will.

He stood pressed close behind her, his arms round her just tight enough to hold her to him. Her hair whipped about him every so often, drawing a laugh from him that made her think he was enjoying this blustery night as much as she. His voice and laughter vibrated from him to her where
his chest pressed against her back; the intimacy of that subtle touch sent a corresponding quiver of longing through her.

They’d done most of their talking now. Will’s explanation of the task for his overlord had eased away her last remnants of concern about him. She understood that Will must leave and complete his charge, and believed him when he told her he would return to Tuck’s Tower as soon as he could.

Though she’d ranted at him a bit over the documents he’d discovered under the hearth, she did understand why he’d been searching her chamber. In his situation, she’d likely have done the same.

As it was, she’d barely held on to her own scruples long enough to restrain herself from unsealing the missives Will had brought with him. They’d tempted her, ’twas true; now that she knew who they were intended for, she was doubly glad she hadn’t broken the messages open and read them.

He was fortunate, indeed, not to have lost them when he was wandering through Sherwood, or when he’d been set upon.

’Twas fortunate she’d come along when she had, she thought, suppressing a shudder of reaction,
for she doubted his attackers would have let him live.

Julianna said a silent prayer of thanks to the Virgin, both for sparing Will’s life, and for bringing him into her life.

Will pushed aside her hair and brushed his lips over the side of her neck. “I saw the documents myself, but tell me, love—is it really true that the Lady Marian was the same Maid Marian of legend? And was Robin truly your father?”

A shiver of reaction spread heat through her body. Will chuckled, and repeated the caress.

She turned in his arms, just enough to see his face. “Do you really expect an answer from me—any kind at all—when you do that? Though I shouldn’t tell you so, you make it nigh impossible to think.”

“Good! Why should you be able to, when I cannot?” He slid his hands around her waist and drew her closer. “My poor feeble brain surrenders to other parts—” he pressed against her, making it clear what parts he meant “—and I become a mindless mass of—”

Julianna heard the distinctive twang of a bow just before an arrow whizzed toward them. “Will!” She ducked behind the wall and threw
herself to the side, lunging and trying to catch hold of Will to pull him down onto the wall walk with her.

At the same instant Will moved in the opposite direction.

The hem of his tunic slipped through her hand; she kept moving. Arms flailing, she sought in vain for anything to seize hold of.

“Julianna!” Will cried as he rolled halfway off the walk and grabbed for her.

Suddenly she felt nothing but air beneath her.

“No!” Her breath caught in her throat, Julianna closed her eyes and prayed.

W
ill caught the back of Julianna’s gown with one hand, bringing her fall to an abrupt halt. He slumped down onto the rough stone walkway, all his energies focused on hauling her up and over the edge before her gown could tear and send her plummeting toward the ground yet again.

He heard people running toward them, but he dared not look away from her. “Don’t move, love,” he said, somehow infusing his voice with calm. “I’ve got you, and I won’t let you fall.”

Someone grabbed his legs and held them still. “Here, milord, we’ve got you, and someone’ll down below will catch milady should she fall. Let me help ye.”

Will grunted his thanks and, grasping for Julianna’s arm with his other hand, he slowly pulled
her level with the walkway. She scrambled up and sprawled beside him, her breathing harsh, her eyes squeezed shut.

He moved to lie beside her and began to check her over for injuries.

“I’m fine!” she snarled. “Leave me alone.”

Ignoring her command, he continued his inspection until he’d assured himself she’d sustained no obvious injury. “You’ll likely be sore on the morrow, but it appears the arrow missed you.”

Julianna sat up and cuffed him on the leg. “What did I do?”

“I thought the arrow would hit
you
, that you were going to tumble over the edge.” Tears glittered in her eyes, but she didn’t let them fall.

“That’s a reason to hit me?” he asked, glancing at her warily. If she wanted to use him to vent her fear, he’d let her—as long as she didn’t hit him in any of the places he noticed were beginning to hurt, now that his own fear for her had begun to ebb.

“Aye,” she said, winding up to clout him again.

“No, you don’t, love.” Ignoring the audience gathering nearby, Will pulled himself to his feet,
bent and hauled Julianna over his shoulder, and headed back to the keep through the path that suddenly opened for him along the walkway.

Somehow Julianna held her temper until Will carried her through the great hall, up the stairs and into her own chamber. If not for the fact that she worried she’d do him further harm—or that he might drop her—she’d have shrieked out all her fears at once.

Of course, she’d rather not do so with the audience that had followed them from the wall walk into the keep in spite of the ominous glares she sent their way.

If she heard one more person mutter about the Bride of the Tower, she’d scream!

As soon as Will closed the door and set her on her feet, however, she felt free to say whatever she wanted.

She noted that Will had moved away from her and taken a seat on the stool near the hearth—an act that infuriated her more.

“Are you afraid of me?” she demanded, knowing she sounded a shrew. However, at the moment she didn’t care; she was through being the calm and reasonable Lady Julianna.

Will turned the stool and faced her directly. “Nay. Do you fear me?” he asked in a reasonable tone.

“Of course not!”

“Good.” He turned his attention to kindling a fire in the hearth, ignoring the fact that she needed his attention.

She knew she was acting like a spoiled child, but that knowledge didn’t calm her unreasonable temper in the slightest. “How dare you toss me over your shoulder like some barbarian knight making off with a trophy, and haul me through my own courtyard?”

Will straightened at her tartly spoken words and stared at her, his eyes narrowed. “The only place I’m likely to haul you is over my knee,” he said darkly, coming to his feet and stalking across the room toward her.

Julianna backed up, but soon found herself against the wall. “What are you talking about?” He certainly had come back to life quickly. Too quickly. She’d wanted a reaction, but she hadn’t expected this.

She’d meant what she’d said before, though; he didn’t frighten her. She stood her ground when he placed his hands on the wall on either side of her
head, trapping her in place. His eyes held her captive, dark blue and filled with some emotion she didn’t recognize. There was something exciting, compelling, about his ardor. Her heart picked up its pace as she waited to see where this would lead them.

“Do you have any idea how I felt when I heard the arrow, when I saw you tumble off the wall?” he asked, his voice low.

Will’s intensity made the fear she’d felt at the time return full force. She couldn’t force a single word through the sudden thickness blocking her throat, so she shook her head.

“With my bare hands I could have killed the bastard who shot at you. ’Twas a miracle you weren’t harmed.” Closing his eyes, Will leaned forward until his face rested against hers. “By the Virgin, Julianna—my duty to Lord Rannulf, the messages for the king’s men—none of it mattered. All I could see was your face. For a moment I feared I couldn’t save you.” Groaning, he wrapped her in his arms.

Will held her as though she were as delicate as glass, the fine tremor of his body an indication of his feelings. Her heart full, Julianna closed her
arms around him, at first to give him comfort, and then because she couldn’t bear to let him go.

This was what she’d needed, what she’d craved, since the moment he’d told her he would be leaving Tuck’s Tower. The security of Will’s embrace, the solid feel of his strong, lean body pressed against her.

Nothing and no one could harm her when he held her in his arms.

The tension in Will’s body changed, became more powerful, more sensual. Julianna drew away from him, far enough to look into his eyes. They held a dark passion she didn’t quite understand.

But far from fearing it, Julianna rejoiced in it, for she could not mistake his intent. His aim no longer to give comfort, now he embraced her as a lover, the weight of him along her body a caress.

“Julianna, I need you,” he whispered, his lips brushing her ear as his hands slipped urgently along her ribs. A shiver ran down her spine, the sensation deepening when his hands stopped just below her breasts.

His palms spread their heat along her flesh, making her yearn for his hands to slide a little higher to soothe the ache they’d started. Meeting
his gaze again, she put her hands over his and boldly guided them to rest where she ached most.

Will dragged his mouth over her neck, again and again, as his fingers curled about her softness.

Julianna was glad to be leaning against the wall, for her legs could scarcely hold her. Heat radiated from Will’s hands, burning through her to settle and build deep within her body. She clung to him, all her senses focused where they touched, on what they were doing. If a herd of cattle had run through her chamber at that moment, she’d not have noticed.

Or cared.

When he finally kissed her, she couldn’t help but moan her pleasure. Will’s lips curled into a smile against her mouth. “Ah, love—tell me—” he said, continuing to tempt, to tease her by drawing his tongue along her lips, then dueling with hers in a thrust and parry echoed by their bodies “—
please
tell me you want me as much as I want you.”

She dragged her mouth from his, the drugging warmth of his kisses sapping her will to resist, while also imbuing her with the power to meet Will’s desire with equal intensity.

He reached down and swept her into his arms, carrying her to her bed with surprising ease.

“Put me down,” Julianna whispered against his neck. “I cannot believe you’re ‘hauling me about’ again. Do you want me to have to sew you up a second time?”

“Now
that
would be an unusual method of heating my blood.” He chuckled. “From some mysterious country in the East, mayhap? We’ll pass on that practice, don’t you agree?” He shifted her so that she rode higher in his arms and could help hold herself up.

“Aye—I found nothing enticing about it at the time, I’m afraid, save for the fact that I got to stare at your naked chest,” she added with a grin.

The saltiness of his skin distracted her; she dragged her tongue along the strong cords of his neck and up to his now-smooth chin, giggling when he growled low in his throat and dipped his arms as if he meant to drop her. “Don’t you dare!” she shrieked. She clutched his shoulders and clung to him.

His lips never left hers until he laid her on the mattress and followed her down onto the bed, both of them gasping, breathless with the force of their desire.

He tugged the bed curtains wide, until the tall candle beside the bed bathed them in its soft glow. The light brought out the fire in his blue eyes, heating her blood and sharpening her senses. “I want to see you,” he whispered in her ear. “I want you to see me.”

Oh, how she wanted that as well!

Patience
, she told herself. Soon he’d be hers; he’d teach her what she’d yearned to know from the moment she’d met him.

All she’d wanted since the first time they’d kissed.

Will slipped her gown and undertunic from her, following the fabric with his hands.

The smooth fabric of her silk chemise brushed against her sensitized flesh, magnifying every movement of Will’s fingers along the length of her body. Her golden medallion rested in the valley between her breasts, absorbing the heat from her flesh and making her more aware of her femininity.

Will sat back on his heels beside her and raised the hem of her chemise, up her past her knees to her thighs, bending to drag his mouth over her skin as he uncovered it, inch by tortuous inch.

He paused with the fabric pooled at the top of
her thighs. “Your legs are so lovely, so strong,” he whispered, glancing up and meeting her eyes as he swept both hands beneath the cool silk, teasing her as his fingers moved ever closer to the curls covering the heart of her desire.

Julianna reached for him, wanting to draw him close enough so she could touch him as well, but he caught her hand in his. “Will—”

“Nay, love. If you touch me now, I’ll be done so fast I’ll embarrass myself.” He leaned over her and captured both her hands in his, threading his fingers with hers so they were palm to palm. “Let me pleasure you,” he murmured. “You’ll have your chance at me soon enough, I promise you.”

“Not soon enough for me,” she protested before thought and words fled in the wake of Will’s touch.

He brought her right hand to his lips, nibbling at her fingertips and drawing his tongue over the sensitive skin of her wrist. Traveling up her arm, when he reached her shoulder he switched his attention to her other hand and repeated the caress.

Each scrape of teeth and tongue thrummed within her, heating her body, making her ache for his touch in other places. By the time he reached
her left shoulder, she could swear she’d melted into the sheets.

The urge to touch
him
had grown until ’twas only the fact that he still held her hands that kept her from pulling him down to her. “Is it my turn now?” she asked, her voice little more than a purr. “I need to touch you, so much.”

He drew her hands up over her head and slowly released them. “Keep them there,” he told her. When she would have reached for him, he shook his head and moved her hands back, closing them about the silken bed curtains. “’Twill be better if you leave them there, Julianna.” He nuzzled aside her hair, the brush of his own tousled locks along her neck a tantalizing sensation. “Trust me, love. I’ll make you fly.”