HealingPassion (8 page)

The tumblers ran to a corner of the room where they
exchanged their multi-colored finery for another set. They brought back with
them balls of various sizes and colors, sets of staves, stuffed cloth bags, and
extra shoes and hats. Their juggling was a wonder to behold. Every one of them
could sustain three balls in the air at once. They did it in harmony, with all
of them tossing balls at exactly the same time and speed.

Then some of them changed the balls for long, round staves.
They juggled those with even more aplomb, catching them and flipping them up
end over end. Other jugglers added another ball or even two to the mix. A pair
of them began tossing balls and staves back and forth while juggling. Shoes
somehow became mixed in, with a juggler sometimes managing to pull one off his
own foot and adding it into the batch without ever dropping anything. Then
their hats also became part of the round robin juggling, flying back and forth.

By the end of the performance, the jugglers stood in a
circle in the center of the hall, juggling from one to the next, passing each
item around in a circle. Each performer took the item, juggled it a few times
with the things he already had, then tossed an item onto the next one in the
circle. Balls went around this way, but so did the staves, shoes, hats,
drinking cups they’d borrowed from nearby tables, and even a couple of leftover
bread trenchers. They kept it going for an amazingly long time before they all,
at some unseen signal, tossed the items they had straight up in the air and
caught each one.

Amidst laughter and applause, the performers bowed to the
room, and then bowed to each other, over and over. It drew even more laughter
from the crowd. Finally the one who appeared to be the leader of the group went
down the line, turning each person to face the table where Juliana sat.

They bowed in unison.

“My lord and lady, ‘tis a pleasure to perform before your
household this night,” the leader said. “I thank you for the gracious
hospitality given and trust that we’ve provided some measure of amusement and
entertainment for you this evening.”

Juliana glanced toward Thomas. The amusement lit his face to
a fine glow, making him even more stunningly handsome. He nodded to her and she
stood, facing the group.

“Gentlemen, we are indeed highly entertained by your
performance. I do believe, in fact, you’ve brought more joy and laughter to
this hall than has been heard here in far too long. Avail yourselves of our
hospitality for the night, and in the morning, I’ll have for you a payment
worthy of your performance.”

The jugglers broke out in applause this time and they each
did a handspring or cartwheel in reaction.

“Many thanks, indeed, my lady,” the leader said. “And
blessings be on this household.”

Juliana bowed as well and then turned to leave the room. She
heard Sir Thomas rise behind her. Others got up and began to clear off the
tables, take them apart, and slide them aside to make room for those who would
sleep in the hall.

She looked back to see if his men accompanied Sir Thomas.
They didn’t, and the grin he gave her made clear he would hold her to her word
for the evening. Her stomach fluttered with a mix of excitement and doubt. She
changed quickly into a fresh shift and a satin overrobe, taking off her cap and
letting her hair hang loose. As she drew her comb through it to smooth it out,
she realized how freeing her hair seemed to free her soul or spirit from the
constraints of the day’s duties.

Sir Thomas’ door stood partly open, waiting for her. She
pushed it closed behind her and dropped the bar into place.

He sat on the side of the bed. He’d already removed his
tunic and boots and loosed the laces on his shirt.

“No bath tonight, I fear, my lord. I did not want to deny
anyone the entertainment after dinner. There has been too little laughter
within these walls.”

“Of course. I would not have denied them either. Come here,
Juliana.”

She hesitated a moment, then walked toward him.

“I will deny you nothing, either,” he said. “What would you
have of me, my lady?”

She sucked in a sharp breath. There were many things she
should demand of him. Go away. Leave us in peace. Stop searching for answers.
Give me back my heart. Instead, she said, “Teach me how to please you, Sir Thomas.”

He drew her toward him until she stood between his splayed
legs. “You please me just by being who you are,” he answered.

“When you know me better, you may not think so. But that was
not what I intended.”

“I know. Yet ‘tis true, nonetheless.” He pulled her into his
arms, pushed the robe off, lifted the shift over her head, sat her on one of
his muscular thighs, and kissed her until her head felt light and the heat ran
up and down her body in a bubbly wave. She leaned into his chest, moaning with
pleasure as he nibbled her lip and then stroked with his tongue.

“This pleases me a great deal.” He shifted and the hard
shaft of his cock rubbed against the side of her leg.

It pleased her as well. And when he put his big hands over
her breasts and began stroking them, it pleased her even more. She sighed as
the tingles spread from her breast, and gasped when he squeezed the tips just
hard enough to make them burn.

His hand slid down from her breast over her belly toward the
cleft between her legs. At the juncture, he paused and veered to the side,
stroking along the top of her thigh. He rubbed down one and up the other,
circling around again and again, moving a little more inward each time. His
fingers left trails of tingling, sparking flesh as they passed.

A need to be closer to him, to touch him in the same way he
touched her, rushed through her. Responding to it, Juliana reached under his
shirt to put her hands on his chest. Warmth seeped into her palms where they
rested on the strong muscles. She rubbed gently and felt a quiver ripple
through him. What a wonder it was to realize she had that much power over this
strong, powerful man. A need to cling to him, to hold him and not let him go,
surged through her and squeezed her heart.

Then he nudged her thighs apart, his hand slipped into her
cleft, and she stopped thinking for some time. She felt. Incredible surges of
pleasure drove through her as he brushed along her quim. A moan flowed from her
as his fingers invaded, separated, explored, stroked the sensitive, delicate
petals of flesh. He found an even more lusciously sensitive spot, and the jolt
made her body stiffen.

“What…What are you doing to me?”

“Showing you how a lady feels pleasure.”

“I…I think I mentioned before you do well in training
people.”

“Ah, but I’ve just begun with you, Juliana. There is much
more to learn.”

He shifted and moved her onto the bed, laying her along it.
He stroked over her breasts and belly again, making her sigh with wonder and
joy. Need roused and settled, heavy and pulsing, low in her belly, squeezing
her womb.

When he leaned over and pressed his lips against a nipple,
tonguing it gently, she squealed with delight. Ribbons of pleasure threaded
through her veins.

“Thomas,” she said on a sigh. “How many more delights can
you wring forth from my body? I never knew.”

He released her nipple long enough to say, “Your husband was
exceedingly remiss in his duties, then. ‘Tis a husband’s right and privilege to
teach his wife such pleasures.”

“But you are not—”

He stopped the words with a kiss. “Nay, I am not. With God’s
grace, though, I will be so.”

“Thomas, you—!” Again he didn’t let her finish. After
thoroughly exploring her mouth, he kissed down along her throat and chest.

She plunged her fingers into his hair when he took her
nipple into his mouth again. He circled and flicked at it with his tongue,
nipped gently, then rubbed to soothe the small burn. Fire ignited deep inside
her, making her squirm and arch, straining toward him, desperate for some
answer to the building need. She knew not what the answer might be, only that
he would have it.

A hand moved down over her belly and nudged her legs apart
again. He stroked her quim with gentle fingers, finding the sensitive, secret
places that made her jump and squeal when touched. Each breast got its share of
his attention as well while he explored her cleft. One finger worked its way
into the opening of her womb. Another searched and rubbed until he found the
bud that formed the center of her pleasure.

Juliana sobbed and moaned as he worked on it, rubbing faster
and harder, bringing her to a tension that made every muscle in her body hard.
The incredible pleasure built until she didn’t see how her body could contain
it. A knot tangling inside her grew tighter and harder. It had to burst. Yet still
the need grew greater and greater as he worked her, sucking at her nipple and
fingering her quim.

Finally, when she was sure she’d die if something didn’t
happen, the knot unraveled in a giant explosion that drew a shrill scream from
her. Shudders ripped through her that jolted from head to foot. Pleasure beyond
anything she’d ever guessed possible filled her.

Sir Thomas held her while the spasms continued. They
gradually calmed to occasional jolts of smaller release, leaving her feeling as
though she floated on a cloud, somewhere closer to heaven than she could
imagine being. Yet for all that, it felt incomplete. She needed him closer,
inside her. It couldn’t be, though, and she appreciated his restraint.

He seemed content just to hold her as the jerking eased and
her breathing returned to its normal rhythm. As marvelous as the pleasure had
been, an even more profound contentment spread over her as she lay in Thomas’
arms, with him stroking her hair. Nothing would ever feel better than this.

The serpent of guilt soon intruded into the Eden of her
pleasure, however. She had no future with him. She was deceiving him, and
whatever kindness he might now feel toward her would soon turn to anger and
scorn. It took every bit of will she had to keep the tears from falling. Her
mouth might have shaken a little, too, but he could surely take it for the
aftermath of passion.

She sighed deeply. “Thomas, you are indeed a master
instructor. No one has ever taught me anything of such moment as that.”

He brushed her hair back and kissed her. “I’ve never had so
apt a pupil.” The stars lit in his eyes when he laughed. “In truth, I’ve had
very little practice, so I suppose I’m fortunate to have a pupil of such talent
as to disguise my shortcomings.”

“There are none to disguise. You have played my body as
though it were a harp and you a master harpist.”

“‘Twas indeed an interesting and delightful tune I wrung
from you.”

Juliana rolled over to face him. “Can you sing such a song
yourself?”

“Merely caterwaul.”

“May I, then, attempt to draw those unmelodious squeals from
yourself?” She pushed at his shirt, driving it up his chest.

“I never
squeal
, my lady.”

“Sigh or moan or groan or pant or sing as you will, my
lord.” Another tug on the fabric and the shirt slipped over his head. Juliana
sighed in admiration of his chest, with its strong muscle, smooth skin, and
light coating of pale hair. She ran her hand over it and watched the pleasure
brighten his face.

His nipples peeked out from amidst the forest of hair,
beckoning her to explore and play with them. Her fingers kneaded a soft groan
from him.

“Sweet music from you, my lord,” she said, leaning over to
kiss him. He stared up at her with sparkles glowing in his bright, blue eyes.
Love and yearning filled her heart past her ability to contain it, and tears
threatened again. To keep him from seeing it, she moved to kiss down his throat
to his chest, much as he had done to her. He jerked and gasped when she touched
his nipple with her tongue.

It felt so wonderful to give him pleasure, as good as it had
felt to have it done to her. No doubt it would be better yet could they be
joined as one in it, but that right they did not have as yet. Perhaps never
would. Once he learned what she had done, he would not want to see her or talk
to her again. Juliana desperately wished she could put the past and future out
of her mind. Only that moment existed, and in that moment, she could bring him
joy.

She ran a hand over his stomach and down his legs, but his
leggings impeded her investigation. It took several tries to get them peeled
down. Her eyes must have widened. She couldn’t help but stare at him.

He noticed and laughed at her expression. “My lady, you’ve
been married, so you’ve surely seen a man’s cock before.”

She had to touch it, run her fingers down it to assure
herself it was real. He smothered a groan when she did so. “None so big as
this, Sir Thomas. Groswick was not… His cock did not rise and grow as yours
has… ‘Tis not this size always, is it? ‘Twould be uncomfortable.”

“Nay, it does not remain always this large. Your presence
inspires it to grow and stand to your service.”

The tears sprung out before she had a chance to control
them. Before he could see, she turned her attention back to his cock. At least
her voice remained reasonably steady when she said, “‘Tis a goodly length to
stand to attention.”

He jerked and groaned when she cupped her hand around it at
the root and ran her fingers up it to the tip, marveling at the satiny smooth
skin there. A bead of moisture stood at the end. She touched it and spread it
over the hard shaft.

Below his cock, the hairy balls invited her to cup them in
her hand and squeeze gently. It drew an even louder groan from him.

“This pleases you?” she asked.

“It does.” The words sounded stretched with the effort it
took to get them out.

“Tell me what else to do to please you.”

“You’re doing quite well now.”

“Oh.” She stroked up and down his muscular thighs, noting
the contrasts between the hair-roughened flesh there and that over his balls
and cock.