“You are so beautiful,” he murmured while he caressed her breasts. Each pass of his palm over the tips sent new spikes of delicious excitement down her core. “Bewitching.” He used his mouth again, while his hand raised the hem of her shift.
She thought he would mount her then. Instead he touched her softly, carefully, exploring her mound with his fingers. He created pleasures that crazed her until she lost hold of everything except him and the exquisite sensations. She barely swallowed cries that wanted to ring into the night. It grew more intense, more demanding, obliterating her senses to all else, until the most perfect pleasure cracked through her, bringing with it waves of astonishing, sweet release.
He took her then, while she floated in wonder. He kissed her crown as he entered, then lifted her leg over his hip so he could seat himself deeply. His thrusts made the pleasurable waves continue coursing through her. She clung to him, welcoming his hard need, reveling in the intimacy created by her love.
“Matilda is very pretty.” Elinor said it simply, while they lay on the rive bank’s grass under the stars. She had not dressed yet. Her head lay on his shoulder, and his hand rested on her breast.
“All young girls are pretty.”
Her head tilted and he knew she looked at him. “Will there be a betrothal at the great feast?”
It was ignoble to speak of it, here, now, after what he had just done and while embracing in such peace. And yet—
“I don’t know.”
“Has her father spoken to you?”
“He has made the first pass with his lance, but not yet unhorsed me.”
She laughed, then rose up on one arm and looked down. “Is the dowry handsome?”
“Extremely handsome. Only a fool would refuse it.” Not only land and silver now. The support of Lord Marcus and his friends in pursuing a title to which he had the thinnest claim. Yet it had happened before. It was not an empty offer.
“You have never been a fool. But the father is taking his time if there is no offer yet.”
“I didn’t say there was no offer yet. Just not that one yet.”
She drew back in surprise. “Who? Oh, I think I know. That widow? Lady Judith?”
He nodded. Also a handsome dowry, and no father to contend with. Nor was Lady Judith a girl with adoration in her eyes. She was a woman who knew the world. “I need a man with a strong sword arm and a strong back. I care not who you love. As long as you do not scorn my bed, I don’t care what other bed you lie in.”
She had as good as said she would not complain if he kept a leman in the castle.
He looked at Elinor. Would she accept such a life? It was the normal way such things were handled. The songs about love were not about husbands and wives.
“I do not know the lord to whom her husband owed fealty.”
“Does it matter so much?”
“I would not want to find myself bound by honor to a man I do not respect. I am finding that it matters a lot to me. Lord Yves, for example. He has also made an offer of sorts. He invited me to fight with his team in the melee tomorrow, and I agreed. He also offered me service, and his dowry, if we can call it that, is also very handsome.”
“No wonder you appeared to be brooding. You have a big decision to make, and each choice means a different home and a different lord, perhaps forever.” She leaned down and kissed his cheek. “You will know what to do, I am sure.”
“What would you do?”
She thought about that, gazing for a moment down to the river. “If I were you, I would make the choice of lord and service more important than the woman or the dowry. You do not want to find yourself at another Ayyadieh, I think.”
He pulled her back into his embrace. They lay together peacefully for a long while. Then she sat up and pulled her chemise onto her shoulders and draped the mantle over her body. “I must return, and you must sleep well before the melee.”
He would have stayed until daybreak, but she was right. They had to return to their tents. He stood and took her into his arms again. He lifted her chin with his fingertips, so her face was washed with moonlight. “This was not a small thing to me, Elinor. I don’t want you to think that—”
“That I was the woman who was available?” She smiled as she said it.
“Yes. If I had my way, I would—”
Her fingers went to his lips, silencing him. “Please do not say it, or my heart will break. We both know what you must do, Zander. You came here to make your fortune, and you have surpassed your best hopes. All that is left is for you to decide which fortune you will accept.”
They held hands while walking back. Neither of them rushed the pace but made the most of those final minutes. They talked about meaningless things and laughed about a few of them.
Finally, they approached Sir Hugo’s camp. He found himself gripping her hand tighter, and his jaw hardening.
She looked down at their hands, then up at him. “I must go now. You must go too.”
He released her hand. She rose on her toes and kissed him, then caressed his face. “May you have more good fortune in the melee, Zander.” She slipped away, around the tent.
He strode back to the castle. He felt like an idiot, because he could not help resenting all this good fortune he was having.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Here’s how I see it going,” Angus said while he prepared Zander for the melee. “Not much will happen until the lances and horses are done. Then
