Seduced Read online

  "Why do you groan, lovey? Did you cause yourself an injury when tending that devil dog?" Maud's hands stilled the brush crafted from oak and boar's bristles.

  "Nay. I do not believe so. 'Tis more from fighting that great horse."

  "Hm. I worried that the baron was wrong to suggest it. The Scot roared and cursed like one demented. I feared he would throw chairs about in his anger."

  "If anger has substance, I felt its fury when he watched from the window opening." She shuddered and rubbed her arms. "If he were below, he would have yanked me by my hair till I toppled from his horse."

  "Um. I do not doubt it."

  "The baron's reasoning was sound. My own mount would never have trotted calmly up to the beast. She would have wheeled and galloped back across the bridge."

  Letia picked up the wet cloth, wrung out the water and spread it across her closed eyes. The movement slipped her lower in the water, so she pushed with her heels to return her to the tub's edge.

  "Never could I have turned my mare so swiftly. And Storm lengthened into a gallop with little urging." Letia sighed. "I am thinking mayhap I should have Warin select a gelding for me."

  "A wise choice." Maud patted her head. "Slide down and wet this mass of hair so I may wash it. If we do not hurry, you will go dripping to..."

  Letia dunked her head back in the water and heard only garbled sounds. Water surged in the tub when she pushed back up.

  "Sorry. Did I wet you?" She glanced over her shoulder at Maud, who shook her head.

  They were finished with her bath all too soon for Letia. Her stomach twisted. She felt so odd about tonight.

  That part of her that throbbed was anxious to enter the darkened bedchamber.

  Her heart was shamed that she would feel so.

  Letia's footsteps lagged when she finally reached Raik's door. Leofwan stood guard there.

  o0o

  By the time Raik's evening meal arrived earlier, he was still tense with lingering anger. He didn't have much hunger.

  He carefully tasted and inspected the roasted capons. Finding nothing unusual, he picked them clean to their shiny bones. He eyed the carrots glazed with honey and cinnamon. It would be too easy to lace them with a drug to increase his desire. Surely, they had done so. Never had he had such need for any woman. Frowning, he ate the hot loaf of bread, the cheese and fruits.

  The guards hesitated, likely thinking it strange when he requested ale, but brought it. Raik would easily detect anything not brewed into it.

  Each night, the busty laundress had brought his evening meal. But Maud brought wine and cheese after dark. When she arrived, she set it on the table and poured wine into the goblet. He watched her every movement. She didna seem ill at ease. Was she so used to dosing a man that it was normal to her duties? She did seem to study him more this night than usual. Most likely to see if any anger lingered for the way she had spoken to him.

  He nodded his thanks, then picked up the goblet, put it to his lips until he felt the wine there and pretended to drink. "Um. Good. Thank you, Maud." He rubbed the lingering wine off with the back of his hand as she watched.

  Was that a slight nod of her head before she turned to leave? He thought so and grinned. After her footsteps faded, he poured the pitcher of wine into the white basin on the washstand and waited. Ah. There was something mixed in with the dregs that normally settled at the bottom of a pitcher of wine.

  Now, how to get rid of it in case someone should come to check how docile he was? He looked out the window opening. Nay, it would not do to toss it. It would leave telltale red stains splattered on the outer wall and below.

  He drew back and glanced at the bed. The piss pot beneath would do. He lifted the covers high to pull it out, then carefully emptied the basin into the pot and shoved it back. He poured a little water in the basin to rinse it then splashed his face with it. Good. He would smell of wine. He emptied the water out the window.

  He took his time checking the room, making sure nothing remained of the wine. He grinned and bent forward to pull off his tunic. Did they think if he didna have his clothes he wouldn't seek escape? He cared not who saw his arse. After all, more than one beauty had raved over its fine shape!

  He had forgotten. Last night, his lover had dug her nails into his flesh in her frenzy for release. He walked over to pick up the candle and twisted himself into knots trying to inspect his nether cheeks. Aha. Was that a mark? He felt over the area and noted it was slightly sore. Proof the woman was not his mind playing him false.

  He had to know who she was. Thinking about her heated his blood, though he had never seen her. When she stood, she was near up to his chin. Tall, then. Slender, for her body was firm. Her hair was full, long. Halfway down her back.

  Raik pinched out the candle and sprawled out on the bed. He threw the corner of the sheet over his groin. Folding his arms beneath his head, he stared at the blackness and recalled his fingers feeling over her face. She had a broad forehead. Her eyes were large with brows arched above them. The nose would be graceful, her cheeks with high cheekbones. Lips. Hmm, lips full and thinning at the edges that lifted slightly. How did one judge ears? He had cupped them in the palm of his hands when he held her head steady for his kisses.

  Her neck was long, that hollow at its base wide. He had kissed his way down that neck and over her breasts. Hades! His damned cock was eager. It near bounced as it grew and searched for that hot, tight home. He looked down at himself and saw the white sheet tented over his unruly member.

  He needed no love potions to harden on just thinking of the woman. He would trap her tonight and find out her identity.

  When he left Seton, the woman would be with him.

  Even if he had to abduct her.

  No son of his would be a bastard, having to fight the way he had all his life.

  His renewing anger near made him miss hearing someone entering the room. Instinct told him it was not his beauty. He tensed, listening to the footsteps. He recognized them.

  Maud. She stopped and stood still. Listening? To hear if he slept? He breathed heavy and even. She walked softly to the table. So. That was how the candle was gone each morn. He made a soft, snorting sound like an interrupted snore and shuffled his legs. She stood still. He counted to thirty before she picked up the candle and eased out of the room.

  CHAPTER 14

  "You are sure he sleeps soundly? He was in such anger over Storm. I fear the potion will not have the same result," Letia whispered to Maud.

  "I listened to his breathing, to his movements. He feels the effects of the poppy. His legs search around the bed no doubt looking for the woman in his dreams." Maud patted her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. "This should be the last time. Any more and he will become needful of the poppy. Too, the moon begins to grow."

  "Do not leave, Maud. You won't will you?"

  "Nay. I will stay outside the room." Maud opened the door for Letia to ease into Raik's bedchamber.

  Letia stood still for a breath. Listening. Assured by his even, deep breathing, she padded close. Sliding the ribbon free, her thumbs hooked under the velvet robe's soft collar to send it sliding down her body to the floor. The warm touch as it caressed her nipples, her flesh, heightened her senses. Between her legs, her sensitive flesh quivered with need, making the muscles in her thighs clench.

  Taking deep breaths, she stood beside the bed. Though he had not been within the woods for over a sennight, his body still smelled of pine and musk. Her skin prickled. It likely craved his touch. She bit her lips

  She grasped the sheet's edge and carefully sat on the bed then slid down on the sheets and lay still for a while. Listening. His heat crept between them to warm her side. With an agonized groan, she was unable to resist pressing her length against him.

  Such hard, firm flesh. Its heat and the feel of the hair on his leg all teased her skin. Sighing, she rolled to face him. She slid her arm over the soft hair of his hard, muscled chest and eased her head down on his shoulder
to breathe deep of his intoxicating scent.

  She bent her leg and rubbed it slowly up his thigh as she slid it over his body.

  Moist heat pooled even more at her center. Her breathing quickened, feeling his engorged shaft, hot and silky, rubbing and jerking against the top of her thigh. How could she be so ready to receive him into her body when he had done naught to tempt her?

  Surely, only a shameless woman would have such feelings for a man who looked on her with scorn…a man she feared more than Julian?

  Julian could cause her great physical pain.

  Raik could shred her soul.

  Noting a faint light in the room, she glanced toward the window opening. Clouds moved from the sliver of moon, letting just the slightest shaft of light through.

  Maud was right. This would be the last time she came to him. She squeezed her eyes tightly together, praying this terrible deception hadn't been for naught.

  Mumbling, Raik turned to her. His arms folded around her, gathering her close against his flesh. For a moment, enclosed in his arms pressed against his hard frame, she gloried in a feeling of safety.

  Suddenly, his arms became a prison. His muscles tightened like bands of steel.

  He was awake!

  He pulled her with him across the sheets to the edge of the bed. She fought, pushing her heels against the mattress trying to break away. As he stood, she gasped in panic.

  "Nay!"

  She reared back in his arms and shoved at his chest. Her feet beat against his shins. He did not slacken his hold. Waves of terror welled up from the pit of her body. She was near crazed. If he learned who she was, he'd throttle the life from her. She fought like a barn cat forced by hunting dogs into a corner where a wolf awaited, his teeth gnashing together in hungry anticipation.

  Her throat tightened as if Raik already had his fingers clasped there. Her nails raked at his face. He reared his head back.

  He carried her pressed against his chest, struggling and fighting, toward the shaft of light. The closer they came, the more frantically she struggled. A faint glow edged over her leg.

  Why did she not strike his healing wound? She could not bring herself to do such a cruel thing. She scratched and pounded everywhere she could, leaving that one area untouched.

  The soft glow from the moon crept up her hip, her side.

  She screamed. Fear added strength to her voice.

  She kicked out at the stone window ledge, forcing him back. Not for long. He jerked away then turned so her back was to the light. Did he plan to shove her through the opening? She renewed her struggles.

  Raik wrested her back into the faint moonlight. His big hand clamped around her jaw. His fingers dug into the soft skin of her cheeks, hurting her, as he relentlessly compelled her to face him. She struggled harder. Near broke away from him.

  "Ah, lady of the night. I would see who steals into my dreams and shares my bed unbidden!" His voice rasped with fury.

  No sooner had the last word left Raik's lips than Letia heard a dull thud. His arms convulsed, near crushing the breath from her lungs. His knees buckled and he started crumpling to the floor.

  As Raik slid down her body, she gripped her arms around his warm chest, attempting to hold his weight as he collapsed in a mass of muscle and bone at her feet. She folded with him, trying to cushion his head from the cold floor.

  At the last moments as his consciousness faded, his muscles bunched in his struggle to twist his body. If he had not, she would have landed beneath him.

  Trembling from head to toe, she gasped and looked up. She blinked rapidly to clear her eyes. Leofwan stood over them, his face grim, holding the pewter pitcher with a sizable dent in it.

  "Oh, Heavenly Father, Leofwan. You have not killed him, have you?"

  "Nay, Lady. His head is far too hard for pewter to crack. No doubt he will have a headache worse than any he has had before," he muttered.

  She shook her head, her hair flew wild and flowed over her head, her face. She lay sprawled atop Raik, her legs entangled in his. Faint moonlight lit his face. For half a breath, he stared straight at her, his eyes puzzled. His lids closed. With a sigh, his arms relaxed and fell away.

  "Hurry, lady, afore the guards come." Leofwan dropped the pitcher, extended his hand and kept his left eye looking upward as he helped her to rise.

  "Are ye hurt, love?" Maud whispered. Snatching the robe from the floor at the foot of the bed, she slung it around Letia's shoulders.

  "Nay. He tried to drag me to the window to find out who I was, that is all. He did not harm me." Letia's teeth chattered as she knelt on the floor, running her fingertips over the back of Raik's head.

  "Close the door afore anyone else enters," Leofwan called out.

  Letia heard the door shut and the latch falling then soft footsteps approached her. 'Twas the young laundress Goda.

  "Saints! Looks like his visit has come to an end, do ye not think?" Her voice was a harsh whisper.

  Maud wrapped her arm around Letia and helped her to walk. "Come, sit."

  The laundress scraped the chair along the floor, and Letia felt it at the back of her knees. She sank onto it and wrapped her arms around herself, trying to still the tremors that shook her from her head to her toes dancing up and down on the floor.

  She blinked, feeling a wave of sick dread. Had they damaged him? Would he be right in the head after such a blow? Bile surged to her throat. She swallowed. Rocked back and forth. She should have listened to her own fear and never have done such a lowly thing. She was not a common woman, a woman who could only lure a man who was out of his head with potions.

  Mayhap King Stephen would have controlled Julian without her having to sink so low with such a deceitful thing. She reached up to swipe tears from her cheeks. She stiffened her back. Stilled her trembling and pulled her robe tightly about her.

  Leofwan pulled a sheet off the bed and covered Raik's naked flesh. "I will bring the Baron. He will know what is best to do now." He turned and hastened from the room, pulling the door closed behind him.

  "Come, quickly," Maud urged. "You must be gone from this room."

  Letia clutched the robe around her and started for the door, Maud's arm around her waist. Goda raced ahead, urging her to a greater speed. No sooner did they enter her solar than warriors ran past, swords at the ready.

  Letia's heart pounded with fear. Maud whipped off Letia's robe and threw a heavy smock over her head. She settled it around her shoulders then ran her fingers through her hair, untangling and pushing it behind her shoulders.

  "Take a deep breath and calm yourself. Look merely interested in the events taking place, else someone might suspect."

  Letia nodded, took three slow breaths then stepped briskly outside the door.

  "What goes here, Piers?" Letia called to the red-haired slinger standing at Raik's door.

  Goda and Maud stood on either side of her.

  "The Scot tried to overpower his guard. Leofwan conked him on the head." Piers shook his head. "The fool should have known he had not his full strength. Why, Leofwan's arm is worth two of another man's."

  Warin peered from within Raik's room, his worried gaze scanned Letia from head to toe. Regret clouded his eyes.

  "Do you think he tired of being our guest?" Warin asked her with a smile. He turned to look at the men around him. "Do not let it be said we keep anyone past the time they feel comfortable." He glanced back at the women standing beside Letia. "Goda, bring his garments. Leofwan will see that the men dress him."

  Goda ran to the sewing room where she had stored Raik's clothing. Maud followed her.

  "My lady wife, return to our bed. It is far too early for you to awaken." He smiled at Letia and waited until she disappeared into the dark solar. She left the door open a crack so she could see and hear what all they did.

  Warin spoke to the guards gathered outside the bedchamber. "We will leave him in the forests between here and Hunter Castle. In a safe place, of course."

  Leofwan n
odded in agreement.

  Letia heard Goda and Maud talking as they hurried past. It seemed overlong before four men carrying Raik passed her door. They grunted at his weight and stopped when they reached the stairway. It was too winding and they would have to do as they had when they brought him there the sennight before.

  "Watch his head," Warin cautioned. "Lock your arms and make a seat."

  "Do not tug on his arm, fools, else you will ruin our lady's fine stitching," Maud scolded.

  Letia opened the door a bit wider and peered out. Guards clattered down the stairwell, followed by Goda and Warin. Two of Seton's biggest warriors had locked their hands and arms together, carrying Raik, his arms around their necks. His head bobbed down on his chest. Warin's commander over the warriors walked behind, supporting Raik's back, making sure he did not fall either backward or forward.

  The men grunted and stumbled, going slowly down the stairwell leading to the great hall below. Letia knew when they reached there, for Goda's voice carried up to her as she went ahead, clearing a wider path through the sleeping people on the floor.

  "Move!"

  "Owe! Why did ye kick me? 'Tis no way to ask yerself into a man's pallet."

  "Idiot! Do you not see your baron trying to make his way through your sleeping hides?"

  Their voices faded as they went out into the bailey. Letia ran over to peer out the front solar window. Torches flared on either side of the massive doorway. She watched as they carried Raik down the stone steps.

  Storm pawed and sidled, until the men carrying Raik neared. Seeing his master, the horse stamped all four feet firmly on the ground and stood patiently with its head outstretched to snuffle over Raik's slumped body. When a warrior mounted, the horse started to show his displeasure, until they hoisted Raik up to the man's waiting arms. Close behind them, Warin's squire, a quiver of arrows and his bow bouncing against his back, went up behind Piers.

  Men rushed to mount and form a line, then waited for the portcullis to finish rising and the drawbridge to thump into place. Soon enough, they were leaving. Soft calls from the guards atop the wall walks and the loud striking of horses' hooves on the cobblestones sounded ominous in the heavy darkness of the night.