Page 97 of Bold Angel
With a last thorough kiss, Richard carried her to the bed and began to strip off her clothes. Fresh tears stung her eyes, but they were not tears of sorrow.Already she was happy and the night had only begun. With God’s will, it would be so for the rest of their lives.
***
Caryn tossed and turned, caught up in a hazy dream. Ral was lying beside a stately dark woman—Eliana, she saw. He was naked and covered in sweat. They had just made love yet Ral’s hand moved over her breast, caressing a nipple, urging her to once more respond.
Willing the image away, Caryn’s eyes snapped open. She battled her way to wakefulness with the first dim rays of the sun. Ral lay close beside her, his massive frame enfolding her spoon-fashion, his fingers cupping a breast. He was teasing her nipple, stirring warm languid sensations. His touch had spawned the dream, she realized, feeling his hardness against her bottom. It felt thick and heavy and she knew the pleasure it would bring.
Still, the dark images lingered, vying with the heightened tempo of her heart.
’Tis only a dream and a dream does not matter,she told herself firmly. She was the one Ral wanted, not the beautiful Eliana. She was the one who would take him inside her, the one who would ease his passions, and yet…
His lips brushed the nape of her neck. Pushing her heavy mane of hair out of his way, he gently nipped her skin then laved it with his tongue.
“Part your legs,cherie,”he whispered, the husky note in his voice sending a shiver of heat through her body. She did as he instructed, the dream faded now, replaced by the flames sweeping hotly through her body. His fingers touched her lightly, probing, teasing, sparking fires, making her achy and damp. She gave herself over to the passions he stirred, the feel of his lips against her throat, the play of muscle as his massive chest rubbed against her back.
When he had readied her enough, he sank himself inside her, huge and hard, and Caryn arched her hips toaccept him. He felt rigid and pulsing, hot and thick and demanding. He pulled himself out and sank in again, and fire careened through her body. Caryn moaned at the heat roaring through her, at the overwhelming sensations of sweetness.
He held her hips with his hands, thrusting deeper, harder, touching the far walls of her womb. Each stroke lifted her higher, spiraled her upward, and forced her nearer the edge. Out and then in, out and then in, the steady rhythm hypnotic, the feel of his rock hard flesh against her slick damp skin making white-hot shivers run through her veins.
In minutes she had reached her peak, shattering into fragments of pleasure, then floating, floating, drifting down into a warm, honeyed sea. She felt Ral tense as he reached his own release, then began to drift back down. They lay quiet for a time, arms and legs intertwined, Ral as sated and relaxed as she.
She felt a masculine finger tracing patterns on her shoulder. His softly spoken words moved tendrils of hair beside her cheek. “I wonder was Richard’s night half as pleasant as mine.”
“I hope they are happy.” Caryn settled herself beside him, trying hard not to think of the dream or her uncertain future. For a while those worries had left her. Now they were wont to return. “I would not like to think our interference brought them grief.”
“I believe the marriage was Richard’s true wish,” Ral said. “’Twas only that by the time he had realized what he wanted, it would have been too late.”
Caryn smiled softly, enjoying the feel of having him so near no matter the consequence she might one day face. “I am always amazed at your wisdom, my lord.”
Ral scoffed at that. “We will see how wise a decision it was when Beltar arrives.”
Lifting her head from a muscular arm, she sat up andturned to face him. “How shall we proceed, Ral? What do you think is the wisest course?”
Ral sat up, too, pushing heavy black hair from his forehead. “I have thought long on this. I have decided we will welcome the man as a guest. We will prepare a feast, though ’twill have to be a small one, then should things go smoothly, we will make plans for a hunt. ’Tis said the man has a liking for boar. Mayhap the bloody taking of a beast will sooth the loss of his little virgin’s blood.”
“I hope you are right,” Caryn said.
Ral nodded. “My scouts will arrive well before Beltar. We will know how many men we must fight, should mywisdomprove wrong.”
Chapter Nineteen
As Ral had predicted, word of Beltar the Fierce arrived within the next three hours. A fair-sized army of knights and men-at-arms traveled the road toward Braxston Keep. Ral sent a messenger to welcome them and advise Beltar of the feast they planned in his honor.
Meanwhile Ral continued to lay his plans. With the bulk of Beltar’s forces remaining outside the walls, Ral and his knights could defend the keep. Unfortunately, should a siege begin, they would desperately need more men.
With that possibility in mind, Ral sent messengers to lords he could count on for support, and knights who owed him service, asking them to stand at the ready. Still, he remained uneasy.
Beltar arrived just before dusk, a stout, thick-limbed, beetle-browed man with greasy black hair and several days’ growth of beard. Behind him, an entourage of advisors, knights, and men-at-arms stirred up dust on the road then came to a halt in the field across from the drawbridge.
With his own knights armed and ready, Ral invited Beltar and his closest advisors inside the wall surrounding the keep, then greeted him out in the bailey. Within the tower itself, archers stood at the long narrowwindows and ringed the topmost parapet, ready to rain down arrows from above.
“Greetings, Lord Beltar,” Ral called out to him, forcing himself to smile even as he braced his feet apart in a wary stance. “Welcome to Braxston Keep.”
“I am surprised to be so well received.” Beltar made no move to dismount. He rode a huge blood bay destrier, its nostrils flaring as it tested the wind. “You know why I have come?”
“We received your message. ’Tis clear there has been some mistake.”
“How so?” Beltar asked. “The girl is not here?”
