Lord of the Blade (15 page)

“Don’t call me that.” She glared at him. “I
am Gilda now. I have been for the last eight and ten years,
brother. Do not make the mistake again

With that, she opened the door and pushed
Thorpe into the hallway, quickly closing the door behind him.

She walked over to the bedside table and
opened the drawer. The gazing crystal she’d stolen from Orrick’s
chamber lay inside. She held it up to her face, but only saw her
own reflection. Then the crystal clouded over and exploded in her
hand.

Chapter
11

Devon was in heaven. A soft, warm cloud
enveloped her body and she melded into her surroundings as if she
truly belonged. She rolled over, stretching her arms high above her
head. The warm sun hitting her face from the open window made her
feel like a queen. The last thing she remembered was curling up to
sleep near the fire on the floor. But this seemed too soft for a
floor. This felt like - his bed! She sat up abruptly and opened her
eyes to see it was true.

"Good morning, m'lady. I take it my bed is
to your liking?"

Corbett sat at the foot of the bed, void of
a tunic, lounging his back against one of the finely carved posts
as he stretched his legs towards her. His raven hopped around the
covers with something in its beak.

Devon couldn’t help herself from staring.
The bandage covered a good part of his shoulder but his naked chest
was quite visible and quite alluring as well. Naught like the
dirty, bloodied chest she’d tried not to look at last night. Dark
hair traveled down taut muscles. His chest and stomach were lean
and ribbed, and the hair came to a point, disappearing into the top
of his breeches. A satisfying treat for the eyes. She felt her
pulse quicken in the situation. Never had she been so close to a
half-naked man - and while in his bed!

"How did I get here?" she asked, looking to
the floor and then back to the bed.

Corbett didn't answer, but let his gaze fall
to her breasts. Looking down, she realized she had only her thin
chemise covering her body. Someone had removed her clothes! She
quickly picked up the covers to hide her chest.

"Where are my clothes? What did you do to
me, you wretched man?"

Corbett laughed heartily, only stifling it
when the laughter seemed to jolt his hurting shoulder.

"It seems to me, you should be thanking me
for bringing you from that drafty floor."

"Where are my clothes?" she repeated,
wondering if he had touched her intimately, or how she could have
slept through it if he had.

"Oh, do you mean those rags you use for
coverings? I sent them out with the laundress. Actually I told her
to burn them. Replacements have been requested."

"How dare you! There was nothing wrong with
my clothes."

"I would not have my personal servant
looking like a beggar."

"Personal servant?" Devon didn't know what
to say. These past few days had her head in a whirl. Just when she
was getting used to being servant to the baron, she was pulled away
and thrown into Corbett's care. She wasn't going to be anyone's
servant if she could help it. Certainly not his. "I am not your
personal servant, and never will be."

Her tone seemed to upset him greatly, and
Devon was sure no servant had ever talked to him in this
manner.

"You are now," he said. "Or at least until I
can decide what to do with you."

Corbett slipped off the bed, his hand going
to his hurt shoulder. "You slept so soundly, even Delwynn couldn't
believe you didn't awake when he stopped in this morning to tend to
my wound.”

"Delwynn, your squire was here?" She wanted
to slink under the covers and never return when she had found out
not only the laundress, but Delwynn as well, had seen her in
Corbett's bed. She wondered what Heartha's reaction would be when
the rumors found their way to the kitchen that she had slept with
Lord Corbett.

"How could you?" she steamed. "Not only did
you undress me and place me in your bed, but then decided to make a
spectacle of me by inviting in half the castle while I slept.
Mayhap you should just summon the trumpeters and have the herald
shout it from the battlements that I'm in your bed."

Corbett raised an eyebrow in thought. "Not a
bad idea." He made a move toward the door.

"You wouldn't!" she challenged, but didn't
believe for a moment he’d hesitate to do just that.”

His smile vanished from his face as he heard
her words. She saw the slight glint of rejection in his eye.

"Do you mean to tell me it would disturb you
rather than give you a swelling feeling of pride, if the rest of
the castle thought we had already coupled?"

Devon took a moment to answer, as the
thought of it suddenly seemed intriguing instead. Still, she would
never admit it. Not to him. He thought every girl should swoon at
his mere gaze and be ready and willing to warm his bed. He wasn't
unlike Malcomn in this respect.

"Do what you would,” she answered, trying to
sound as if she didn’t care. "You have already tarnished my image
and stripped me of not only my clothes, but also my pride. For all
I know, you have already coupled with me while I slept."

Corbett burst into laughter, holding his
side till he had to sit back down on the bed for the pain it caused
to his wound. His laughter only added to her fury.

"I have never had to take a woman by force,"
he said. "They have always come to me quite willingly. Besides," he
added, "no woman could sleep through such an experience with me.
Actually 'tis quite the opposite, as she'd instead wake the entire
castle with her screams of passion."

The thought lingered in her mind and she
wondered if what he boasted were true. He tempted her by his mere
presence, but she needed to remember her morals.

"And I thought Lord Malcomn was the pompous
one," she said with a slight raise of her chin.

Thank God he was clothed from the waist
down, for even though her words insisted she despised him, she felt
a fluttering in her chest that told her she could not continue this
game much longer. She was sad to admit to herself he'd mesmerized
her as he did to the rest of the female occupants. Her resolve was
weakening quickly.

Corbett reached over, and grabbed something
from the raven's beak as it fluttered its wings slightly, perched
on its master's leg. Flipping the retrieved object into the air
several times without even looking at it, he let a smile part his
lips.

"I’d be happy to let you find out for
yourself if my boast is true."

Devon recognized the object he played with
as her own amulet. How dare he even touch her prized possession
without asking. It was such a personal thing. She'd never let
anyone see it except Heartha. She felt so ravished. She may as well
be standing before him naked, as it was as private a piece to her
as was her own body.

"Give that to me!" She sprang from beneath
the covers and scurried towards him across the bed as she tried to
grab it out of his hand. She suddenly remembered she was covered
with only her chemise, and with one hand grabbed a fur coverlet and
held it up to hide her body.

Corbett chuckled. "This has been amusing my
raven all morning." He moved his hand just as hers reached out to
grab it, closing the amulet tightly in his fist. Using his free
hand to push hers away, he opened his palm to see the treasure. He
glanced at the dirty, worn surface quickly and closed his hand once
again.

"What is it anyway?" he asked curiously.
“And how does a servant come to possess something like this?"

Devon could see he wasn't going to give it
back until he was satisfied with her answer.

"'Tis my good luck charm," she answered
reluctantly. "Heartha got it from an old acquaintance and gave it
to me years ago. Now please give it back."

Apparently satisfied with her answer, he
held out his open palm for her to take it. But as she reached for
it, he closed his fingers around hers like a trap.

"Mayhap this good luck charm will also work
for me." His voice sultry and low, his eyes drew her in
seductively.

The raven squawked and flew through the open
window, quickly disappearing from sight. Corbett brought his face
closer to Devon's and she couldn't help but get lost in the
translucent blue pools of his eyes that seemed to look straight
into her very soul. They tugged at her heart, possessed her soul.
She couldn’t move away now if she tried.

"Did you take advantage of me last night?"
Her voice was no more than a whisper, but she found herself needing
to know.

"Did you want me to?" The huskiness lingered
in his tone and his eyes settled on her lips. His words echoed her
own inner desires. She found her mind muddled, realizing part of
her wanted to push him away and run from the room, yet another part
of her wanted to be pulled into his strong arms and experience the
softness of his lips like she had vividly remembered from the night
in the larder.

Corbett slowly released her, and caressed
her bare shoulder.

A spasm of pleasure caused her to jump
slightly and her back arched as he ran his fingers lightly down her
spine. Her defenses lowered. Her grip slackened on the covers as
desire filled her entire being. With a light caress to her chin, he
gently raised it, and brushed her lips with his thumb as he looked
deeply into her eyes. One more kiss like the other day and she
wasn’t sure she wouldn’t shatter in his arms.

"Nay, Devon," he whispered, "I would never
take advantage of a woman as she slept. Although I desired you, I
did not touch you in that way. I could not bear to see you lay like
a dog by the fire, so I brought you to my bed, but only to
sleep."

How tender were his words, so true his
intentions. He was as chivalrous as his warning words to his men on
the hunt. He hadn’t violated her, although she knew he easily could
have. Instead, he’d waited, and respected her as a woman. She
needed him now. She wanted to feel his body pressed against hers
and his lips trailing across her skin in a sensuous whisper. If
only for one day, or night, she needed to know how it felt to have
him.

The feel of his warm breath against her
moist lips only made her crave his mouth against hers. She wanted
to see him naked, drink in the glory of his perfect warrior body,
and know what every inch of him felt like against her own naked
skin. She slowly closed her eyes and found herself surrendering,
her lips parting like a bud opening for the sun, as he brought his
lips to hers and she melted in sweet surrender. Then like a bee to
a flower, his tongue dipped into her mouth, causing a wave of
excitement to rip through her.

His fingers drifted down her arm and settled
atop her thigh. She burned beneath her chemise. Her morals could
rot in hell, because today she would become a woman. She’d feel the
ecstasy and magic that happens when a man and woman couple. Never
again would she need to fantasize and dream of things that could
never be hers.

His other hand slipped inside her chemise,
and she marveled in the vibrancy of skin touching skin, the fire
growing below her waist. His experienced fingers teased her, and
before she knew what was happening, he was tasting her as well.

Corbett let out a small groan. She grabbed
his head and pulled him closer. And just when she thought she'd
explode from the existing pleasure he was bestowing upon her, his
hand slid down her waist to her thigh, and she felt herself
trembling from excitement at the mere thought that it could
possibly get any better.

His hand found its way under the hem of her
undergarment and he gently nudged her legs apart. She followed his
lead and let him explore. Her womanhood awakened, and she felt a
small contraction between her thighs. Her head thrown back, she
could only anticipate his manhood pressing against her maidenhood
and her own release. Her heart knocked so loudly inside her chest
she swore Corbett could hear it as well. But when he removed his
hand and the knocking became louder, she realized it wasn’t her
heart, but someone at the door.

"Damnation, not now!" Corbett pulled away,
breaking the mood.

Her eyes flew open at his abruptness and she
saw him already standing at the foot of the bed adjusting his
breeches. Her body still pulsed, her legs were still spread. Her
bare breast exposed, she felt like nothing more than a whore.

"Who is it?" he shouted, still staring at
her and making no motion to answer the door. She noticed the bulge
in his breeches. Horror engulfed her at what she’d almost done, and
she sat upright quickly, pulling her chemise back into place.

"'Tis Malcomn, my lord,” came the voice from
the other side of the door. “May I come in?"

“Nay,” she gasped, then lowered her voice to
a whisper. “Do not let him enter.”

"God's eyes, why now?" Corbett cursed under
his breath. "Just a minute," he replied and headed for the
door.

Horrified, Devon clutched her arms around
her. How could he do this to her? If Malcomn entered and saw her in
her undergarment, she would never be able to face either of the two
men again.

Corbett grabbed his long black robe from a
hook on the wall, and brought it to her. "Put this on," he ordered,
and mumbling another curse, headed toward the door.

Devon jumped out of bed and wrapped his
large robe around her. The sleeves fell way past her fingers as she
pulled the tie around her waist. The smell of male, bayberry and
wood drifted from his robe and engulfed her in his essence. It was
one she would never forget.

Feeling awkward being in such a position,
she walked over to face the fire instead of having to face Malcomn.
Over her shoulder she saw Corbett open the door slightly, talking
through the crack.

"What is it that is so important you must
disturb me before I am barely out of bed?"