with Gilbert, who still had Lyons army, keep him away for long? If she could
just have the child before Fulkhurst even knew of it, she was sure she could
convince John Giffard to find a home for it.
Rowena was not certain when the child became her first concern. It might have
been conceived for the wrong purpose, might have lost its usefulness, but she
considered none of that. It was hers. It did not even matter that its father was
an overlarge lout who had hated her every touch. Its father? h .
She had too much time to think in that dungeon, and too often her memories dwelt
on Lyons substitute. She did not like that, but she seemed to have no control of
it. If she closed her eyes, she could still see him stretched out before her,
his body had been so memorable. She could still recall what it had made her feel
like, the heady power in being able to control that body no matter how much he
fought against it.
She had not lied when she had told him she was glad it was him. She had not
enjoyed taking him, but after the original pain, it had not been unpleasant to
touch him, or to taste him. He did not repulse her, did not make her gag with
his clean smell. And he was very appealing to the eyeexcept for those silver
eyes of his that hated her with such passion. But before she had first spoken to
him, those eyes had been lovely, had made him very handsome despite the gag that
had distorted his mouth.
She had not heard John approach until the door opened with its usual creak to
draw her from her pensiveness. He was not wearing his usual pleasant smile and
seemed disturbed about something. And then?
?Are you breeding, Lady Rowena??
She stared at him in amazement. She had not been sick of a morn, as some women
suffered, nor had her breasts enlarged the tiniest bit yet.
?How did you know??
?Then you are??
?Aye, but how?
?I had not thought of it this soon, but my lord asked if you had had yourahwoman?s
time yet, and I realized you had not asked me for extraahcloths. Why did you not
tell me??
?I only just realized it myself. But what do you mean, your lord asked? When??
?Just now.?
Rowena lost what color she had maintained in that sunless room.
?He has returned??
?Aye, and I am to bring you to him now.?
Chapter 15
Rowena did not beg John not to take her to his lord. There would be no point to
it. If he did not take her, someone else would come and get her. But she wanted
to plead. All she could remember of Fulkhurst was his bigness and that slash of
cruelty that was his mouthand that icy coldness in his voice when he had sent
her to his dungeon.
She barely noticed the Great Hall as she was led through it. ?Twas only the
middle of the afternoon, so there were not so many people about, mainly servants
busy at some task, a few soldiers, a few knights of no great stature.
It was to the lord?s solar that she was taken, a large room beyond the hall. It
was bright with sunlight streaming in through two deep set window alcoves, one
on each side of the hooded fireplace. The large bed was four posted and finely
curtained. It was set against the stone wall that divided the hall, so in winter
it would have the added warmth of the great hearth in the hall heating the
stones behind it.
There were other things to note, but Rowena was so arrested by the sight of what
looked like a pile of chains in the center of the bed, she did not notice the
man standing on the other side of the bed, not until he came around it.
His very height proclaimed him, if his fine black tunic and chausses did notand
his mouth, aye, that thin, cruelly shaped slash. It took her a moment more to
see the dark blond hair, not quite brown with its golden sheen, and then the
eyes, silver and blazing with emotion.
Her own eyes grew enormous, the single word ?You? formed on her lips without
sound, and then merciful blackness rose up to engulf her.
?Here now,? John grunted as he caught her just before she hit the floor.
Warrick leaped forward to almost yank her out of the older man?s arms. He
carried her to the bed and laid her out on it. One of her small hands came to
rest on the chain beside her. She would feel it when she awoke. He smiled.
?I cannot imagine what caused that, my lord,? John said anxiously at his back.
?She has been eating good.?
Warrick did not take his eyes off the flaxenhaired wench.
?So you did pamper her? She has no rat bites to scar that smooth skin??
John?s answer was a loud snort. Warrick knew his man. John was well known for
his soft heart and gentleness with all creatures.
Warrick had been furious with himself after he had sent the order that John
Giffard alone was to guard her. But he did not send another man to rescind it.
He did not want her to suffer until he was there to make her suffer. And he did
not want her small, delicate body shrunken with deprivation, not for what he
planned. But mostly, he wanted no other man to touch her, at least not until he
knew if she had been successful in her thievery. According to John, she had been.
?She is such a sweet, gentle lady, my lord. What did she do to warrant the
dungeon??
?Her crime was against me personally, so great I cannot speak of it.?
?Surely not!?
?You have let that pretty face fool you, John. She is naught but a greedy wench
who wouldst do aught, no matter how atrocious, to see her ends met. She
possesses a stubborn core of determination worthy of a man. She? He stopped,
realizing he was saying more than was necessary. He did not need to explain his
motives to any man.
?I have stripped her 6f the title she gained in wedding Godwine Lyons, so call
her lady no more. And you need not concern yourself with her further. She will
not return to the dungeonfor now.?
Warrick felt John?s need to argue, though he did not look back at him to see it.
The man would be wise not to overstep his bounds this once, and John must have
sensed that, for he quietly left the solar without saying anything more. Warrick
continued to stare at his prisoner, not even minding that her faint was denying
him his revenge. He could be patient now that the time was finally at hand,
though he had not been patient until now. Yet he had stayed away apurpose,
knowing full well that he could not be here without beginning the revenge he had
decided on. Only that would not suit. He had to know first if the wench had been
successful in her greedy scheme.
Now he knew, and that doubled her crime against him. If he had thought to spare
her even a little, which he had not, her breeding settled the matter, and
brought his fury back with a vengeance. She carried his child. She had no right
to it?t He had known the very moment she recognized him, had seen the fear that
had caused her to faint. He had gloried in that fear. He had not been sure if
she had recognized him in Robert?s borrowed armor in the bailey at Kirkburough.
Now he knew she had not. But she did now. And mayhap by now she had learned what
manner of man he was, had heard of his reputation for exacting utter destruct
ion
on anyone so unwise as to encroach on what was his. That he had never sought
revenge on a woman before mattered not. He had only needed to decide what would
be an appropriate retaliation for one of her sex, and he had had ample time to
do that while he had searched for Isabella.
That had been a fruitless endeavor. When one of his messengers had returned to
tell him that his future bride had not arrived at Fulkhurst, he had been
thankful for a reason to delay his own arrival there. But searching for her had
been an effort in frustration. There were simply too many different routes she
could have taken along the way to Fulkhurst. Finally, he had left the matter of
finding her to her father, who was certainly more upset by her disappearance
than he was himself. And that had annoyed him, too, that it was more thoughts of
this wench here that had plagued him the whole while, when he should have been
concerned only with his missing bride.
She sighed, and Warrick?s breath held, waiting, willing her to open those large
sapphire eyes. Her lips were parted. He remembered the lushness of them,
remembered the hot feel of them against his skin whenever she had had to work
harder at coaxing his body?s response. Her flaxen tresses were in two thick
braids, one beneath her, the other curled across her breasts. He remembered
those breasts, full and tempting, but never his to touch or taste, revealed to
him only to inflame his senses, to aid in his defeat. He had them to touch now,
and it was all he could do not to rip her gown open. But not yet. Not yet. She
had to be fully aware of everything he did to her, just as he had been
agonizingly aware of everything she had done to him.
She stretched, making a soft sound in her throat, then stilled, except for her
hand. He watched the fingers of the hand that rested on the chains feel the cold
iron links, watched the frown that creased her brow as she wondered what it was.
?A souvenir/? he explained.
?From Kirkburough.?
Her eyes flew open, enormous eyes dominating her small oval face. She made
another sound, as if she were strangling. Her fear was palpable, but it was too
much, more like utter terror. He would be furious if she fainted again.
Rowena wished she could. God?s mercy, no wonder she had spent these weeks in a
dungeon. It had naught to do with her properties. She was going to die, but not
by mere deprivation as she had thought. She remembered this man?s hatred and
knew he would probably torture her to death. She knew now why he had fought so
violently against her rape of him. He was no villein to be in awe of her, but a
powerful warlord, a man no one would dare treat as they had done. And Gilbert,
that utter, utter fool, had not even known he had captured his worst enemy. Like
as not Fulkhurst did not know who she was, either, or that it was his own worst
enemy who had captured him.
A laugh bubbled up in her throat. She could not stop it. If she had not already
lost her mind, she soon would. And he just stood there beside the bed, frowning
down at her. Had she thought him handsome? A delusion. That mouth, those
chilling eyeshe was a living nightmare, her nightmare, a man who defined cruelty
with every line of his face.
She began to shake in reaction. He swore foully and brought his hand to her
throat with firm pressure. Her eyes flared even wider.
?Do you faint again, I will beat you he growled.
Was that supposed to reassure her? But he released her and moved away from the
bed. In self preservation she watched him, but he only went to the cold hearth
and stood there staring down at it.
From behind, he was not a monster, just a man. His dark gold hair was not really
curly, yet it curled at his neck. It looked soft, though she had never dared to
bring her hand that close to his face to touch it. His body was still appealing
to the eye. She had known he would be tall, just not this tall. And he held
himself so taut with emotion now, the tunic pulled tight across his broad back
and shoulders.
Minutes passed, then more minutes, and he did not turn to look her way. Rowena
stopped shaking and took several deep breaths. Her torture would not begin yet,
not here in his solar. He had brought her here likely only to frighten herand to
gloat. The captive was now the captor.
?Have you calmed yourself, wench??
Calm? Would she ever know that state again? But she nodded, then realized he
could not see it, for he had not looked at her to speak.
?Aye.?
?Though ?tis my right to do so, I do not mean to kill you.?
Rowena had not realized she had held herself as stiffly as he until she sagged
into the mattress with her relief. Under the circumstances, she would never have
believed she could be so fortunate, nor would she have thought him to be
merciful enough to tell her. He could have left her with her terror. He could
have? but he was not finished.
?You will be punished. Doubt it not. But my retaliation will be in kindlike for
like.?
He turned then to see her reaction, but he saw only incomprehension, so he
explained.
?As you and your brother intended to take my life if I had not escaped, yours
now belongs to me, and I find it of little value. As I was treated, so will you
be. You have had a reprieve only because I wanted to know first how great was
your guilt, if you had succeeded in your theft. We both know that you have. So
as you took the child from my flesh, so will it be taken from you when it is
born.?
?No!?? he exploded incredulously.
?Possession is nine tenths?
?We do not speak of properties! Tis flesh of my flesh you stole!?
God?s mercy, how had she dared defy him and tempt him to this level of rage? He
was livid with it, a mere inch from coming after her and breaking her in two.
But she could not let him include the child in his vengeance.
She continued softly, praying he would see reason.
?I hold it, I will bear it, and I want it for itself, for no other reason than
it will be mine.?
?Never will that child be yours. You will be no more than a vessel to succor it
till it is born.?
He did not shout that, nay, he said it too coldly.
?Why do you want it?? she cried.
?It will be no more than a bastard to you. Have you not enough of those to
satisfy you??
?What is mine is minejust as you are now mine to do with as I will. Argue with
me no more, wench, or you will immediately regret it.?
That was a promise she could not ignore. She had pushed him too far, had dared
much more than was wise at this point. She might know the man intimately, yet
she knew him not at all. But time would tell, and she had time now. He had
allowed her that, allowed her her life. The issue would definitely be raised
again, however, for ?twas too important to her to let it be. But she could wait
until she had more hope of winning. She left his bed to stand beside it. She was
surprised that she had even been put on it, as despised as she was. And he had
every right to despise her. She wished she could not see his
side of it, but she
did. She wished he could see her side of it, but he would not. Twould not matter
to him that she was sorry for what she had done, that she had not wanted to do
it. She had still done it. Verily, she deserved whatever retribution he demanded.
And to be fair, she did not deserve the child either, not if he considered it
stolen from him, as he had said, onlyshe could not be fair where the child was
concerned. She was becoming tense again under his chilling regard, but finally
he said with sneering contempt ?It should not surprise me that you lack
intelligence, considering the plan you devised to keep Kirkbur?
? Twas Gilbert?s plan, not mine. He wanted it, not me.?
?You still display naught but stupidity. Never interrupt me again, wench. And
never mention to me again an excuse for what you did. Your Gilbert was not the
one who came to me and forced me?
He was too angry to finish. Rowena became alarmed once more as his skin darkened
in hue.
?I am sorry!? she blurted out, knowing it was inadequate, yet knowing not what
else to say.
?Sorry? You will be much sorrier, I promise you. But you may begin appeasing my
outrage now. I hardly recognize you in clothes, wench. Remove them.?
Chapter 16
Rowena?s breath had stopped completely. Her eyes closed in dread. Fulkhurst had
said like for like. She had known that meant he would force her as she had
forced him. And ?twould be no more pleasant for her than it had been then, which
was no more than it should be. But why would he choose this way to punish her
when he hated her so, could not really want to touch her? But of course, the
revenge was more important to him. Already she understood that about his nature.
But to have to remove her clothes for him?
?If I must assist you??
Another threat of she knew not what, but she did know she did not want to find
out.
?Nay, I will do it,? she said in an abject whis per She turned around to untie
her embroidered girdle, but in a few steps he was behind her, his hand gripping
her shoulder painfully as he swung her back around. Whatever she had done wrong,
his anger was high again. But he did not make her wonder why.
?You know I need the sight of you disrobing to wet my appetite. Tis why you