The Marriage Prize (27 page)

She set Chirk down and watched her scamper off, then

decided she'd better fol ow.

"Malo perro! Bad dog!" a female voice scolded, then

Rosamond saw a white bal of fur rush toward her through the

shadows.

"Oh, I didn't see you in your dark cloak," Rosamond said. "I too have brought my dog to the garden." She scooped up the

Maltese terrier and handed him to the young woman.

"Gracias, he is a bad dog running off like that. I find my new

country so cold, but he loves this place."

Rosamond knew that a few of the words the young woman

had spoken were Spanish, and she guessed her identity

immediately. "You are Princess Eleanora, Lord Edward's

bride! I am so honored to meet you. I am Rosamond de

Leyburn, newly wed to your husband's friend and steward."

151

Just then Chirk returned to her mistress and showed great

interest in the Maltese terrier.

"Oh, I am so happy you have a little dog, Rosamond. I do not

think the queen likes my Bebe. I hope Eduward likes dogs."

"He loves dogs! Your Highness, you are so cold, your teeth

are chattering. You need a warmer cloak of fur. Here, take

mine," she said, removing it and wrapping it about the

shivering girl.

"Oh, I cannot, Rosamond!"

"Of course you can. You can give it back to me another time,

when you get one of your own. Let's go back inside."

Lit torches il uminated the vaulted staircase, enabling the

young women to see each other. Rosamond was delighted to

find that the princess was beautiful. "You are stil shivering,"

she observed.

"From excitement because at last I have seen Eduward!"

Love and adoration shone from Eleanora's big brown eyes,

and suddenly Rosamond felt apprehension for her newfound

friend. She wanted to warn her to guard her heart so that she

would not risk being hurt, but she could not bring herself to

spoil Eleanora's happiness. "Good night, no doubt tomorrow

we shal meet formal y."

Back in her own apartments, Rosamond told Nan that she

would finish unpacking her own things and urged her to get

some rest. Strangely, she felt energized as she hung her lovely

garments in the dressing room wardrobe. She chose a white

silk night rail, and in one of her trunks she found a rose-

scented candle, and placed both beside the high bed. Then

she cal ed for water for her bath, and when the servants

brought it, she asked them to bring hot water for de Leyburn

when he retired for the night.

After her bath, she donned the white silk, covered it with a red

velvet bedgown, and feeling satisfied that the scene was wel

set, built up the fire. She had decided to take matters into her

own hands. It was time she became a woman, and Rosamond

intended to set the time and the place, rather than al ow her

husband to control everything. Her only sexual knowledge

came from de Leyburn, but she had learned her lessons wel .

He had seduced her by focusing his attention on her body and

her pleasure, so tonight she would reverse their roles and do

the same to him.

152

When de Leyburn arrived, Griffin accompanied him. "I wil

order your bath, my lord," he said, removing Sir Rodger's

hauberk.

Rosamond lit the rose-scented candle. "There is no need,

Griffin, I shal see to my husband's needs tonight. Bring our

food in about an hour." She gave the squire a conspiratorial

smile. She felt Rodger's speculative gaze upon her, knowing

the red velvet bedgown did wondrous things for her pale

golden hair, but before he could speak, the hot water for his

bath arrived. "You have trained the servants so wel , my lord."

They half fil ed the carved tub in the dressing room with

steaming water, and Rosamond thanked them profusely as

they left. Then she turned to her husband and said huskily,

"Won't you join me in the . . . undressing room?"

Bemused, he fol owed her, his curiosity and his desire piqued.

He sat on the edge of the tub and drew in his breath as she

came close and reached out to lift off the linen chainse he

wore beneath the chain mail hauberk. When her hands came

into contact with his bare flesh, his arousal began. When her

playful fingertips traced the dark hair covering his chest, his

arousal lengthened, then as she deliberately stroked her

palms over the slabs of muscle, his arousal thickened and

hardened.

Amazed, he watched her kneel before him to remove his

boots. When her head bent forward and her blond hair pooled

over his groin, brushing across the swol en bulge inside his

black chausses, he almost came out of his skin. He removed

his remaining clothing quickly and exhaled with relief, glad to

be free of the tight material. His pulse quickened as he

watched Rosamond remove her red velvet bedgown,

revealing the white silk night rail.

"It won't matter if I get this wet," she explained innocently.

Rodger stepped into the water, skeptical that Rosamond

actual y intended to bathe him, yet hope would not be denied.

His eyes never left her as he lowered himself to a sitting

position and his anticipation heightened as she knelt beside

him. She picked up a long, hard sponge and rol ed it between

her palms as she contemplated where to begin. He found her

gestures sexual y provocative, and when he suspected she

was wel aware of it, his mouth went dry.

"You are a very big man," she said, gazing down into the

water.

Rodger heard himself groan.

153

She soaped the sponge and, standing up, moved behind him,

where he could no longer see her, but he could certainly feel

her. She began to scrub his back with long, firm strokes,

swirling, circular strokes, and short, swift strokes that

scratched exactly where he itched. He closed his eyes and

gave himself up to the pleasure, feeling the tension in his

muscles loosen, while the sexual tension between his wife and

him coiled tighter. It was Paradise; it was purgatory!

Rosamond came back into his view and again knelt beside

the tub. She rinsed the sponge and al owed it to float, then she

withdrew her hands from the water and wiped their wetness

across the white silk. It immediately turned transparent,

revealing the contours of her lush breasts tipped with thrusting

pink nipples. Rodger caught his breath as she dipped her

hand in the water to retrieve the sponge and just accidental y

brushed the head of his phal us. He knew this was a game for

her and he a wil ing playmate.

As she scrubbed his shoulders and chest, she had to reach

across the wide expanse of his upper body, and in doing so

her golden hair touched, tickled, teased, and tormented him.

When her hands sought his armpits, it felt erotic, as if she

were touching him in a forbidden place. She rinsed him

thoroughly, then paused, holding the sponge in her hands

tentatively. The silence stretched between them as Rodger

wil ed her to proceed with washing the lower half of his body.

Rosamond licked her lips. "If there is anything you need,

Rodger, you must ask."

He comprehended immediately. It was to be a game of wil s, a

dangerous game, and one he relished, but he felt reluctant to

wash himself as he took the sponge from her and quickly

finished his own ablutions. But when he stepped from the tub,

she rejoined the game by taking up the towel and moving

close. At first she rubbed him briskly, as he would have done if

close. At first she rubbed him briskly, as he would have done if

he had been drying himself, but then her hands, covered by

the towel, began to linger in certain intimate places. When she

dried his back, her fingers deliberately dipped into the cleft

between his buttocks, eliciting a shudder he could not control.

Then she moved before him and al owed her glance to roam

over his glistening wet chest. She was tal enough that her

head reached to his shoulder, which positioned her perfectly

for what she did next. Before she touched him with the towel,

154

her tongue darted out to lick the droplets of water that

gathered and dripped from his nipples. He felt them harden

immediately and his cock rose up between their bodies as if it

too wanted to be licked. Molten fire ran through his veins as

she slid down on her knees before him, but once more he

experienced disappointment as al she did was dry his legs.

When he glanced down, he saw that her eyes were examining

the silvery scar that ran down his inner thigh. But she quickly

raised her eyes until her glance caressed his ful erection, then

she licked her lips. "If there is anything you need, Rod, you

must ask."

It was the first time she had cal ed him Rod, and it played

merry hel with his desire. More than anything in the world, he

wanted her to fel ate him, wanted to feel her beautiful lips kiss

the pulsing head of his shaft, wanted her to take him into the

hot, wet cave of her mouth, wanted to thrust until he spent, but

because of his pride, he found it impossible to ask.

Rosamond remained on her knees for a long, drawn-out

moment, then she stood up and, with a wicked laugh, hung the

towel on his up-thrust cock and walked sensual y toward their

bedchamber. She tossed her honey-gold hair over her

shoulder as she glanced back. "Come and warm yourself at

the fire so you can remain naked." Her words were those of a

practiced courtesan, and coming from a virgin, they had an

unbelievably erotic effect on him.

He tossed aside the towel and fol owed her, mesmerized by

the seductive spel she wove. She stood before the fire, the

outline of her body visible through the finespun material of her

night rail. His gaze licked over her like a candle flame, and the

scent of roses made his nostrils flare. With her back to the

fire, she began to draw up her night rail inch by inch, slowly

exposing her limbs. Rod loved the lines of her long legs, and

he wanted those legs encircling him, high about his back,

while he plunged between them. He strode toward her and

watched her raise her hand imperiously to stay him. "If there is

anything you need, Rod, you must ask."

"What about your needs, Rosamond? Don't you need

pleasuring?"

Her throaty laugh was accompanied by a toss of her glorious

hair. "I can pleasure myself, if that's al you have in mind.

Would you like to watch?" She inched up the white silk, then

deliberately threaded her fingers through the curls on her

mons.

155

155

It was too much for Rod. He swept her into his arms,

determined to master her with his kisses. Rosamond did not

remain passive; she returned kiss for kiss, touch for touch,

arousing them both beyond the point of return. Suddenly she

broke away and moved toward the bed. She ran up the

mounting-steps, drew off her silk night rail, then slid to her

knees. She dipped her fingertips into a goblet of wine beside

the bed and anointed her nipples with the blood-red liquid. In a

flash, he was after her, pul ing her roughly against him, so that

her breasts were crushed against his chest and his rock-hard

phal us scalded her soft bel y. His demanding mouth took

possession of hers, and their tongues began a mating duel of

hot, sliding friction that created a wild desire to touch and

taste each other everywhere.

Dark erotic sensations inflamed his passion until al he could

think of was the sound of her cries when he thrust inside her

and felt the hot, wet pul of her around his throbbing sex. He

took her down to the bed and rose above her. "Rosamond"

—he brushed the backs of his fingers across her cheek— "I'm

asking."

She gazed up into his green eyes. "Rod," she whispered,

touching his beautiful mouth with her fingertips, "I’m yielding."

He gathered al her golden softness in his powerful arms,

imprisoning her beneath the hard length of his body. Her

thighs parted, inviting his thick male shaft to seek succor

inside her. His hands slid down to cup her buttocks and he

rubbed her against his hardness. When he heard her moan

with need, he positioned the velvet tip against her cleft and,

with one driving thrust, penetrated her hymen.

Rosamond screamed. She knew there would be pain, but it

was sharp and short and was replaced almost instantly by a

sensation of ful ness that was almost too much to endure. A

frisson of fear spiraled inside her that perhaps worse was to

come. When Rod held stil so that she could get used to his

size, she became aware of his heartbeat deep inside her.

Whispered love words poured over her. "My beauty, my

golden treasure, wrap your legs around my back."

Rosamond resolutely pushed away her fear. She wanted his

strength and his power, and she believed this was her way to

get it. She slid her thighs around his hips and crossed her

ankles, imprisoning him tightly. "Plunder me," she invited

recklessly. Slowly at first, but very surely, unbe-