That brought several of Cree’s warriors running over to stand behind him.
Owen wisely released Wintra, and she walked around the dais to Torr.
“What goes on here?” Cree demanded his warriors parting to clear a path for him.
“A few loving words with my intended,” Owen said stepping around the dais.
Wintra spoke up before anyone else could. “You are not my intended. I have no intentions of marrying you. I do not love you. I have never loved you. You are a deceitful and horrible man. And if you ever threaten to do harm to those I love again, I will kill you myself.”
Cree turned a murderous glare on Owen.
Owen was quick to say, “Wintra, I would never harm anyone you love.”
“You are calling me a liar?” Wintra challenged.
“No, I think that this man,” —Owen pointed to Torr—“has manipulated you into believing things about me that are not true, and it has left you confused. I love you and when we wed I will do my best to make you happy.”
“You are a fool if you believe you will wed Wintra,” Torr said.
“This is no concern of yours and you have caused enough damage already. Stay out of it,” Owen hissed.
Cree took a quick step forward, causing Owen to take several hasty and clumsy steps back. It was clear that Cree frightened the man, and he should be frightened. Cree could be cruel in his punishments and oddly enough fair, since any punishment he decreed was well-deserving of the deed.
“My sister does not lie,” Cree said adamantly.
Wintra smiled. He believed her, but then they had struck a bargain when they were young and he had caught her in a lie. He had told her that they must promise to always be truthful with each other, for only then could they trust each other. So no matter what, they must never lie to each other. She had kept her word and never spoke another lie to him, and so had he.
“I am sure she doesn’t,” Owen assured him. “She is upset and under another’s influence. I understand and I can help free her. All you need to do is give her to me in marriage.”
“No!” Torr said with such command that all eyes turned to him.
Owen sent Torr a murderous glare while he asked Cree, “Will you please inform this cretin that this does not concern him?”
Cree turned to Torr, and they stared at each other for several moments. To Wintra, it appeared as if either permission was sought or an agreement met, and for some unknown reason their silent exchange sent a chill through her.
Cree looked at Owen. “It does concern him.”
“And why would that be?” Owen asked annoyed.
Torr turned to Owen. “Wintra is my wife.”
“How can that be?” Owen roared.
Yes, how can that be?
Wintra thought as she listened to Owen continue to claim that it was impossible and Torr as well as Cree assuring him that it wasn’t. She took a step back away from them, watching and listening as the scene unfolded as if she was stuck in a dream—no a nightmare—she could not wake from. Torr had known this all along and had never told her that he already was her husband.
“What do you mean the king decreed it?” Owen demanded. “Why would he do that? You are lying to me.”
“The why of it does not concern you,” Cree said in a warning tone. “It is done and cannot be undone.”
Her brother’s words resonated in her head.
Cannot be undone.
She was wed to Torr whether she wanted to be or not. She had no choice in the matter. He was her husband and would remain so.
She took a sharp step back as the three men continued to argue. Torr shot her a glance and it upset her even more that she had no idea what he was trying to relay to her. She had thought she knew this man, but did she? Was he an honorable man as he had claimed and as she had assumed after spending time with him? But if he was honorable wouldn’t he have told her the truth?
Her heart ached horribly. This man she trusted and loved—loved? Did he truly love her or had he made that claim knowing he had no choice? He was as stuck in this marriage as she was. So did he love her out of duty? Each thought made her heart ache more and more.
Owen continued to argue and press for proof of the King’s decree, and suddenly Wintra wanted to be anyplace but here. She wished she could suddenly vanish and be alone with her thoughts.
A hand sliding in to hers startled her, and she turned. A woman, taller than her by several inches stood beside her. She had plain, though lovely features and dark, straight red hair that hung past her shoulder.
She smiled at Wintra and gave a nod as if to follow her.
Wintra realized than that it was Dawn, and she immediately asked, “Are you feeling well?”
Dawn nodded and tugged her hand.
Wintra did not hesitate, she went along with Dawn. No one seemed to pay them mind since the argument had grown heated, and Cree’s warriors had maneuvered past them to surround him and Torr while several of Owen’s warriors hurried into the Great Hall to do the same for Owen.
Wintra was relieved that they left unnoticed, Torr most likely expecting her to stay put until he finished, and then offer her an explanation. Or would he? Would he and Cree expect her to simply accept what the King had decreed? She almost laughed aloud, for again she realized she had no choice. The decision had been made.
They reached the bottom of the keep steps and Dawn hurried her around the side of the keep to a cottage. A woman, stooped from age and with an abundance of wrinkles to prove it, stood in front of the cottage door.
“I had the feeling you needed me?” the old woman said to Dawn.
Dawn nodded and pointed to her lips, and then to Wintra.
She nodded to Dawn and turned to Wintra. “You must be Wintra, Cree’s sister. I’m called Old Mary and Dawn would like me to interpret as she speaks.”
Wintra nodded, still feeling as if she was dreaming, though now she did not feel so much in a nightmare.
They entered the cottage, a blast of warmth hitting them.
Dawn turned to Wintra and smiled, then patted her own chest before reaching out and patting Wintra’s.
“Dawn is very happy to meet you.” Old Mary continued interpreting as Dawn continued motioning. “She is happy to have you as a sister and is thrilled that you are here at last. Please sit while she makes a hot brew and she will talk with you.”
“Thank you for your kind welcome,” Wintra said. “My homecoming is not what I expected, but I am so pleased to meet you.”
Dawn smiled and motioned her to take a seat, and Wintra did.
Wintra watched Dawn bustle around the room as if it was familiar to her and perhaps the look on Wintra’s face betrayed her thoughts since Old Mary addressed her silent musing.
“Dawn lived here for a while. The sleeping quarters are beyond that curtain,” Old Mary said with a nod in that direction.
Dawn stopped, gestured, and Old Mary nodded. “She says that there are clothes in the chest at the foot of the bed, yours to use if you would like.”
“Thank you and thank you for bringing me here. It is a welcoming and comfortable cottage,” Wintra said, wishing she could reside here away from everyone. She was used to solitude, had learned a great deal about it while at the abbey, though it had been a forced lesson. She had even come to enjoy it at times. So it would be no hardship to have this lovely place all to herself.
“May I help with something?” Wintra offered. “After all you did faint and probably should be resting.”
“You fainted?” Old Mary said with a chuckle that surprised Wintra, though her next words explained her reaction. “How did the mighty Cree take it? Bet he was mad as hell that he couldn’t do anything about it. He probably threatened you to wake. And no doubt he would rain hell down on heaven itself if you hadn’t.” She chuckled again and looked to Wintra. “That brother of yours loves Dawn to death. And I do not know how he will ever survive her birthing his babe.”
Wintra stared wide-eyed at Dawn. “You carry my brother’s child?”
Dawn eyes widened with alarm and her hands started gesturing.
Old Mary reached out, laying her hands over Dawn’s. “Dawn is upset that you should find out this way, but it is my fault for not considering that you might not know yet.”
“No, it’s all right. It’s just—” she couldn’t seem to finish. It was as if the words stuck in her throat.
Dawn could see the hurt in Wintra’s eyes and her heart went out to her. She rested her hand over Wintra’s and with her other hand tapped her chest and pointed to her.
“Dawn’s urging you to tell her what is troubling you,” Old Mary said with empathy in her aged-eyes.
The constriction in her throat dissipated with the two women’s heartfelt compassion and she found herself eagerly sharing her concern. “I have a husband I did not know I had, and I now learn I am to be an aunt and strangers knew all this before I did.”
“What do you mean you have a husband you didn’t know you had?” Old Mary asked while Dawn patted her chest and shook her head.
Wintra looked from one to the other. “Neither one of you knew that I am Torr’s wife?”
They both shook their heads.
“No one has heard such news,” Old Mary assured her, “for if they did I would have known about it. Nothing gets passed me in this village.”
Dawn nodded, agreeing with the old woman.
“I heard them say that the King decreed it. What I do not understand is why the King would do such a thing. Is my brother beholding to him for something?
Dawn began gesturing and Old Mary interpreted. “Torr probably knows why and will explain it to you. He is a good man, not because he is my brother, but because he has proven himself to be. He will make a good husband.”
“Because he has to,” Wintra said sadly. She was not ready to share the fact that she had fallen in love with him or he with her. Or had he? No doubt she would continue to debate that question over and over since it continued to torment her. And hearing he was a good man and knowing it for herself only proved that he would do his duty and wed her whether he loved her or not.
The door burst open then, startling the women, and the whoosh of cold wind sent the fire’s flames dancing wildly. Cree ducked his head to enter, the width of his shoulders filling the doorway.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded and walked over to Dawn, his arm going gently around her waist and lifting her off the chair to rest against him. “You should be in our bedchamber resting.”
Wintra watched as Dawn’s hands spoke for her and was surprised when Cree answered her as if she had spoken aloud.
“I understand you wanted to meet my sister and that you feel you are fine, but you fainted—”
Dawn’s hand started moving again.
“Presently we are talking about you, not my sister and Torr. I will address that issue when I finish with you,” Cree said.
Wintra did not need anyone to interpret Dawn’s response, her gesture was obvious when she crossed her arms over her chest and folded her lips tightly in her mouth.
Cree planted his face in front of Dawn’s until their noses almost touched. “We are not finished until I say we are finished.”
Wintra shivered, recalling that tone of voice. When she was young, it was that tone that had warned her to push no further, obey him or else. She had never bothered or had the courage to find out what
else
meant. So she was surprised when Dawn dropped her arms and started gesturing, not showing a bit of fear for Cree’s tone.
“It is not your brother’s place to explain to Wintra; it is mine.”
Wintra turned to see Torr standing in front of the closed door. He seemed bigger, broader, taller to her, and his scar more dominate on his handsome face. Had she not bothered to truly see him? Was this man—her husband—standing only a few feet from her the man she had thought he was, or was he a stranger?
He took a cautious step toward her.
She slid off the chair and hurried around to the other side of the table.
He did not like that she was using the table as if it was a shield keeping him at bay. Nothing would stop him from reaching her, certainly not a puny table.
“I want my brother to explain,” Wintra insisted.
“No,” Torr commanded. “Everyone will take their leave now. It is time you and I talked.”
Old Mary hurriedly left the cottage as Cree turned to Torr and said. “I will talk with my sister.”
“Tomorrow,” Torr said with a warning glint in his eyes.
Cree looked ready to argue when Dawn took his hand and tugged at it.
“All of you go,” Wintra demanded, having had enough for one day. “I want to be alone.”
Cree slipped his arm around Dawn’s waist and led her to the door, though he stopped before opening it. “We will talk, Wintra, and that is not a request.” He opened the door and turned to Torr.
“I am not going anywhere,” Torr said.
“I do not want you here,” Wintra said with an angry snarl.
“It does not matter. I am staying.”
“I want to be alone.”
“I am staying,” he repeated adamantly.
“Cree,” she said looking to him for help.
Cree looked to Torr.
“I am her husband and you will leave us,” Torr said.
Cree scowled, not caring for what he must say. “He is right, Wintra. I no longer have say over you. You now belong to him.” He followed Dawn out the door, closing it behind him.
Wintra turned angry eyes on Torr. “I do not belong to you, and I want you to leave right now.”
“I am not leaving. I am staying right here with you.”
Wintra’s green eyes darkened and turned wide. “You do not mean to stay the night, do you?”
He smiled. “Tonight and all nights to come.”
Torr thought for a moment that Wintra would argue with him, but she did what he did not want her to do. She retreated into her thoughts. Her eyes suddenly lost their anger and her face softened, and he grew angry.
“You will find no answers or solutions in your thoughts. Talk with me,” he said, though it sounded more like a demand.
“What is there to say to you? You lied to me. How do I trust you?”
He not only heard the pain of her disappointment, but he saw it reflected in her eyes and it tore at his heart. “What would you have done if I had told you? You would have grown angry as you have just done, and then what? We would not have talked and gotten to know each other. I thought it best you got to know me, discover my nature, and see for yourself if you could care for me.”
He made sense, though at the moment she did not want him to. She was much too angry with him. Had he been angry when he had learned that she was his wife? The question hurriedly spilled from her lips. “How did you feel when you learned we were wed?”
It was a good question she asked and one he had not given much thought to. “I had no time to consider it. The message had arrived from the King shortly after your brother left the keep to find you.”
“My brother was coming for me?” she asked surprised, having thought differently.
“Cree had been furious when the news came of your abduction. Warriors were gathered immediately and Cree left with haste. I followed with the message. Cree and I were alone when he read the message. From the look on his face, I feared the news was not to his liking. He handed it to me and I read it, then I told him I would go find you. He agreed, though he truly had little choice, since I was your husband and the decision and responsibility mine.”
“When Cree became a warrior, he rarely lived by rules,” Wintra said, recalling the obvious change in her brother over the years when he had visited her in the abbey. “He could have commanded you otherwise.”
“And take a chance of causing a rift with his sister’s new husband? Besides, the King had already seen it done. He had had a proxy marriage performed so that his decree could not be challenged. Your brother also had his warriors and lands to consider, if he had not I imagine his decision would have been different.”
She leaned her hand on the back of the chair, her legs having grown much too tired. “What I do not understand is why the King would force a marriage between us?”
Torr could see that exhaustion was quickly taking hold of Wintra. “You are tired and need rest. These are questions better left for another day.”
“What I need are answers and I need them now.”
“When your brother said it was complicated, he spoke the truth. Leave it for another day when you are not so exhausted.”
As much as she hated to admit that he was right; he was. All she wanted to do was slip into bed and sleep—alone. Or did she? She had grown accustomed to having Torr wrapped around her. But now, with him being her husband, he could have his way with her, and the thought sparked her passion to life. How could she be angry at him and still desire him?
“You will be sleeping with me?” she asked.
Torr stood and walked toward her.
She watched him approach, not able to take her eyes off him. His gait was slow and confident, his shoulders broad, and he wore the slightest of smiles on his handsome face. And that was all she needed to see, her body reacted instantly to him, igniting the passion that had sparked in her and turning her legs from tired to weak.
He stopped in front of her and raised his hand to ever so lightly stroke her cheek, chin, and lips. “We are husband and wife and from this night on we share a bed—and so much more.”
She almost gasped from the exquisite pleasure his touch stirred in her.
Torr took her hand. “We are both exhausted and need sleep.” He moved his hand to her waist and led her to the curtain, pushing it aside so that she could enter.
It was a small, yet welcoming room. A fire glowed and its warmth filled the confined space. A chest sat at the end of a bed that would easily sleep two people. The bedding appeared freshly washed and Wintra wanted nothing more than to sink into it and let sleep claim her, so that she did not have to think another moment about this day, or all the days since she had left the abbey.
Torr stepped away from her and began to disrobe.
“What are you doing?” she asked anxiously and took a step away from him.
“Taking my clothes off.”
“Why?
“To go to bed,” he said while continuing to undress.
“You are going to sleep naked beside me?’
“I have done it before.”
“But it’s different now,” she insisted.
“Yes, it is. We are husband and wife and have the right to be naked in front of each other. Actually, we had that right when we first met. So your honor was never truly in any danger.”
Wintra was about to argue with him when she realized that one more garment and he would be stark naked. Her heart beat a bit faster, and she was about to turn her back on him when she found herself frozen in place.
She tried to keep her eyes from roaming, but it was difficult. He was a fine looking man from top to bottom, and that was where her eyes went from top to bottom and in between, lingering more on the in between. He was such a powerfully built man, his body so tempting that she shivered with the thought of making love with him.
He walked over to her and she took several steps back as he approached, but it did not matter.
His arm snaked out to catch her around the waist and draw her close. “Take your clothes off and come to bed.”
She could feel the heat of him through her garments, and it was intoxicating. She recalled how his hands had warmed her naked flesh when she had been so cold and how their bodies had snuggled so intimately to keep warm. He had grown hard then just as he did now. It was obvious he wanted her, and she could not deny that she wanted him.
Her head began to throb, and she turned her back to him, rubbing her temple. She could not think straight. Her mind was filled with jumbled thoughts and nothing made sense. She wanted something—anything to make sense.
She stiffened when his arm slipped around her waist and when he tried to ease her back against him, she held her ground. She was much too vulnerable at the moment, and she had already made decisions she had regretted. She would not do that again.
Torr was hard and aching to make love to his wife, to show her what he felt for her was real, not something forced on him out of duty. Now, however, was not the time—or was it?
“You need sleep,” he said, knowing endless thoughts were probably buzzing in her head and the only way she would get any relief was sleep or for him to make love to her.
Wintra did not argue with him. She slipped away from him, relieved that he let her go, and sat on the chest to remove her boots. She wanted desperately to strip herself bare and discard the patched wool dress beneath her shift. But when Torr had scurried her away, her clothes had been left behind.
Then she recalled what Dawn had told her about the clothes in the chest and hurried over to it, dropping to her knees to push at the lid.
Torr was quickly at her side. “What are you doing?”
She wished he would not stand so near to her, especially since he was naked and aroused. She kept her eyes averted, but it wasn’t easy since she was on her knees in front of the chest and he was standing at her side. His arousal was much too close to her face. If she turned, her lips would brush it, and she was surprised that the thought actually appealed rather than repulsed her. She would have never believed that she would find the thought inviting after the incident in the cottage with Owen. But then Torr was not Owen.
The thought jolted her for a moment. Torr was nothing like Owen, and she would do well to remember that.
“Dawn told me there were garments in this chest I could make use of. I hope to find a night dress.”
He pressed his hand on the lid. “Nothing stops us from sleeping naked together. And that is how we shall sleep tonight—naked together.”
The idea that she would feel uncomfortable undressing in front of him disturbed him. It meant that she did not trust him, and that he did not want, and so he would not give her the chance to do so. Not to mention that he ached to have her naked in his arms.
He turned away to add three more logs to the fire, not wanting to glare at her while she undressed. When he turned back around she was still standing as he had left her, fully clothed.
“I feel like a moth too close to a flame?” she said.
He loved that she spoke her mind, and he walked over to her. “You fear I will devour you?”
“Will you?” she asked in a nervous whisper.
He ran his thumb over her lips. “I am your husband.”
“You have rights.”
“And you have duties.”
“You wish me to do my duty tonight?”
This time he brushed his lips over hers. “Do you wish to do your duty tonight?”
She did not know what to think. Odd warmth had settled over her, and dampness settled between her legs and when he touched her she felt herself throb. She shook her head. “I am confused.”
He lowered his hand and splayed it at the apex of her legs, his middle finger resting over her sensitive nub. “Tell me, Princess, do you love me?
“I do,” she admitted without hesitation.
“And I love you, so why deny us?”
Her breath caught as his finger slowly began to tease her.
He rested his brow to hers. “The decision is an easy one. You want me and I want you. Therefore…” He stepped away from her, grabbed her tunic and yanked it over her head, and then he ripped the dress she had repaired down the middle and pulled it off her and tossed it into the hearth. The flames eagerly took hold and devoured it.
She was stunned by his actions and yet he had also excited her.
“You have a gorgeous body.”
She stared at him. Had she heard him right? He thought her body gorgeous?
Torr saw the surprise in her lovely green eyes and reached out to cup one breast. “You truly do, and I ache to touch you all the time.” His hand drifted down along her stomach, to slip into the triangular nest of blond curls. “Tell me you want me to touch you, Wintra.”
His intimate touches and suggestive words left her mindless. It was her body that was in now control.
“Tell me, Wintra, tell me you want me to touch you.”
A pleading yes rushed from her lips as she moved closer to him, wanting and needing him to do so much more.
His fingers found her precious nub and she jumped at the jolt of pleasure that shot through her. “You are mine, Princess, and always will be.”
She grabbed his muscled arms to keep herself from collapsing, her legs having turned limp.
He scooped her up and carried her to the bed and stretched out on his side next to her.
She pressed her hand to his lips as he lowered them to hers. “The nuns warned me that I was to submit to my husband. To lie there and let him have his way, but I feel the need—to touch you.”
“Touch wherever you like, kiss wherever you like, taste wherever you like,” he said, “for I plan to do the same to you.” His hands began to explore her then while his lips claimed a heart-stopping kiss that left her breathless.
Torr could not stop exploring every inch of her. Wherever his hand touched, his lips followed. She tasted as good as she felt and he could not get enough of her.
Wintra grabbed at his arms, the bolts of pleasure shooting through her making it difficult to do anything else but hold on to him. She gasped when he nibbled at her nipples and groaned when his tongue teased them unmercifully. She bucked when his head disappeared between her legs and moaned, thinking she would surely go mad from the endless pleasure he was bringing her. Her eyes drifted closed as she began to moan softly, and then it grew until she was calling out his name over and over.
His own need quickened when he looked at her in the throes of passion, his name echoing from her kissed-swollen lips. He slipped over her, settling between her legs, and he was glad when she opened her eyes. He wanted her to be focused on him as he entered her. He wanted to see her pleasure mount and share in it. He wanted her to remember this moment always, this moment they became one.
Her eyes turned wide when she felt him enter her and the deeper he went the deeper she wanted him to go. Until, she could stand it no more and arched her body, taking all of him deep inside her.
She let out a small cry and Torr immediately stopped moving.
He held himself over her, his taut muscles covered with a fine sheen of sweat. “I caused you pain?”
She shook her head and reached out, trying to pull him closer, though she could not budge him. “No. No.” She shook her head again. “I want you as deep inside me as you can go.”
He smiled and started a rhythm that Wintra found herself matching, and he went deeper and deeper, the temp growing stronger and stronger. She grasped at his arms and held on for dear life, for she thought she was about to burst.
And she did. The intense sensation hit her so hard the she cried out and Torr moved even harder inside and oh if it didn’t feel fantastic.
She launched her hips up pressing into him and squeezing tightly, greedy in devouring every last bit of her powerful climax. Then suddenly she felt Torr burst as she had done and she held onto him and they rode out the last ripples of pleasure together.
It took a few minutes before either of them could move or speak. Then he rolled off her and laid a moment on his back, calming his breathing before he turned on his side to look at her.
“That was so much more pleasurable than I had ever imagined it to be,” she said with a sigh.
He smiled. “I am glad I pleased you.”
“Did I please you?” she asked anxiously, turning on her side to face him.
“More than you will ever know.”
She was about to smile when a yawn slipped out.
“You are exhausted. You need to sleep.”
Wintra felt sleep creeping up over her, but she had to ask, “Why tonight? Why make love to me tonight?”