Defy Not the Heart (Shefford’s Knights #1)

Chapter Forty-one

R eina thought about it. She really did. And she came that close to defying Ranulf and doing as she thought best. But then she remembered how deadly serious had been his order not to interfere, and she decided it would behoove her to obey her husband in this instance. She had to begin trusting in his judgment at some time anyway, and now seemed a likely time to start. As it happened, she had reason to be thankful for that decision, for the matter resolved itself, and right quickly.

When Hugh could not catch up with Richard in time to speak with him, he determined to follow him to Warhurst, sending a message up to Ranulf that he would return later. ’Twas much later when he did. The hall was quiet, so he was taken straight up to the chamber prepared for him. Reina had food warming at the hearth, where a small fire had been laid to also heat water for a bath. The man was tired, but not only from fatigue. One look at him was enough for her to realize he had learned the truth about Richard for himself. The townspeople had, in fact, converged on him with their complaints, laments, and charges of tyranny as soon as he passed through the gates.

“This is Ella’s doing,” Hugh said after he had repeated some of the outlandish things he had been told. “She would not wed me, thank God, but she would not let me have the boy either. She wanted him raised at court, as she had been.”

Reina had intended to just sit by and listen, to let Ranulf and his father work this out between themselves, but when Ranulf made no comment to this, her curiosity could not stand it. “I thought you said Richard was raised by his mother’s family, my lord.”

“He was. Ah, I see your confusion. Did I neglect to mention Ella is a Plantagenet? From the wrong side of the blanket, of course.”

Reina’s mouth dropped open. Ranulf did not even blink. He obviously had known this from the time he first learned of his half brother.

“One of Henry’s?” she asked when she found her voice.

“Just so. And now you know why my father was so pleased by the association. But the uncle Richard mentioned is not his namesake. King Richard barely knows him. ’Twas Prince John who took an interest in the boy, more’s the pity. And you can see where that influence has led him.”

“But what if he speaks to John as he said?”

Hugh gave a derisive snort. “John is too busy with his machinations to wrest the crown from Richard. It has been his obsession since their father died. Think you be would really care about some harmless insult to a bastard sister? Nay, lady, my younger son likes to think he has influence at court, but in truth, he does not, nor does his mother any longer. The man she wed might once have held power, but he lost it when Richard Lion-Heart became king. What my son has, he has from me.”

“What will you—what can you do, then? Warhurst is his by your own generosity.”

“Nay, not quite. Unlike Farring Cross, which was given outright, Warhurst still belongs to Lyonsford, and will until my death. My mistake was in allocating control of it to Richard, with the hope that the responsibility would help develop a more honorable character, or at least some integrity. Instead he corrupts the steward I sent to guide him, and emulates his all-powerful relations to the worst extent.”

“But what of the castellan, Chaucer? We have dealt with him.”

Hugh shook his head. “Chaucer was my steward, Lady Reina. Richard was castellan.”

“Why, that liar!” Reina said indignantly. “He had everyone in the area believing him Lord of Warhurst.”

Ranulf chuckled at her rancor. “Come now, lady, you were befooled by an expert who learned from the best deceivers in the land. ’Tis no fault of your own that you could not see through his duplicity.”

“That is easy for you to say,” she retorted. “ You did not almost marry him!”

Ranulf grinned. “I should hope not.”

“At any rate,” Hugh was quick to intervene, “you will have no more trouble from my younger son, lady.” And then he could not help a grin of his own. “I cannot guarantee the same of this one, however. Richard is even now being escorted to a cousin of mine in Ireland who has no tolerance for dishonesty. A few years there should turn him about, or so I can only hope.”

“He actually agreed to go?”

“I did not ask,” Hugh replied baldly.

“Oh—well, that settles that, except for—”

“That settles everything. Reina,” Ranulf cut in sharply. “Get you to bed now. I will join you anon.”

Her lips tightened. She was ready for battle at being summarily dismissed. The man really must learn some manners. But suddenly she remembered what she had just barely escaped that morning and thought better of provoking him anymore today.

Still, she had had a tiny devil inside her the entire day, and ’twas that wicked creature that prompted her to retort as she crossed to the door: “You need not hurry on my account, my lord. I am like to be fast asleep.”

“Nay, you will not be, for we still have unfinished business, if you will recall.”

Her mouth opened, then abruptly shut. Nay, he could not mean that. Not that .

He did mean it. No sooner did he enter their bedchamber than Ranulf asked, “Have you dreaded this moment, lady? Nay, there is no need to answer. Your behavior this day speaks for itself. But you have concluded wrongly, for whatever reason.”

Reina sat on a stool by the hearth, where she had been combing her hair. Ranulf crossed to the bed and took up the exact same position on it he had assumed that morn. She could do no more than stare at him in total dismay.

“Come, Reina,” he said in the most casual tone. “This will not take long.”

Oh, just like that? The lout, the brute! How dared he be so calm about it?

“And if I refuse?”

“Then ’twill just take longer—much longer.”

He was not counting the time he would have to chase her about the room, she was sure. “If I had let you have your way this morn, you would not now be reconciled with your father,” she said bitterly. “Does that count for naught?”

“The means do not justify the end, Reina. You totally ignored my wishes and forced me to accept yours. What we do here is assure that never happens again.”

“What you do here is barbaric!”

“Did I fetch a whip, lady, that would be barbaric.”

He came to his feet as he said it, and Reina jumped to hers also. When he did not come after her, however, she realized he was still giving her a chance to make this easier on herself. Did she want a worse punishment just for the sake of a little, useless resistance?

Reina forced herself to close the distance, stopping before him with bowed head. Her stomach was queasy with dread, her heart pounding. It did not feel right, this weak submission, but what else could she do? A wife simply did not go against her husband, taunting him and provoking him until she had her way. And this husband was going to make sure she remembered that, rot his inflexible stubbornness.

“A wise decision,” he said as he sat down again and drew her onto his lap. “You may retain the robe you are wearing. ’Twill be a simple matter to lift it out of the way.”

She had the feeling he said that only to increase her distress and humiliation, and it worked. That he was not being rough with her, or sharp in his tone, only seemed to make it worse. His voice was husky, his hands gentle as he turned her over so that she rested across his thighs. Reina dropped her head down to hide her face, and placed one hand against the bed, the other on his left knee. Did she feel the need to push herself out of this horrible position, she would have the leverage. Or so she thought. His left hand, coming to rest in the center of her back with a subtle pressure, seemed to say otherwise.

Alarm bells of a different sort went off in her head when he began to raise her robe. He did it by setting his hand on the back of her calf and slowly gliding that hand up her leg, the robe perforce coming with it. ’Twas a caress, plain and simple, and it gave her the strangest sensations. Her body no longer knew what to anticipate, pain or pleasure. Her mind was reeling with the same confusion. Was this a punishment?

Soon the robe was gathered at her waist, his hand removed, and Reina braced herself, her eyes squeezed shut. Her face burned to have her bottom bared to him. Her heart was now racing. Only he did nothing immediately, and the suspense was terrible, the wait worse than aught that he could do by way of punishment.

When the smack finally came, ’twas almost anticlimactic. Almost, but not entirely. Hot and stinging, it brought a gasp from her that was only half surprise, and a tensing of her muscles to receive another. But there was no other, only his voice coming to her softly.

“In case you wondered, little Reina, that was the extent of the punishment I intended to give you when I brought you up here this morn.” Her reaction was immediate, every muscle relaxing in relief. “But while I had you in this convenient position, I meant to do this.” Her eyes flew open when she felt a kiss on the reddened imprint left by his hand. “And this.” Reina sucked in her breath as his fingers slid inside her body with no difficulty at all. This was what that other caress had prepared her for, and she had no resistance against the heat that flooded her. “Of course, I am forgetting that you warned me not to touch you afterward, something about not forgiving me.” He paused, his fingers tormenting her. “Is that right?”

Reina was throbbing, on fire, could barely speak. “Mayhap… I was a bit…hasty.”

“Or mayhap it no longer matters?” His fingers brought forth another gasp. “Does it?”

“Nay.”

“Red Alma was right again, it seems,” he said with a note of satisfaction. “Fear combined with the correct stimulation can increase a woman’s pleasure to the point that she will overlook whatever small punishment she receives.”

Reina tensed, but not enough to combat the haze of pleasure he had created with such unbelievable swiftness. “You went to her again?”

“Nay, ’twas a bit of information she volunteered in her gratitude for the large sum I gifted her with for her help. And she has been most helpful, has she not?” His fingers withdrew, thrust back, withdrew, bringing Reina to the very edge of ecstasy. “Shall we put it to the test?”

She thought he already had, but then she was not thinking clearly at the moment. “How?”

“What I mentioned was what I originally meant to do.” His change of tone gave her warning. “But since then you have earned at least another…”

“Ran—nulf!” Her voice rose before she got his name out, for she heard the crack of his hand ere she felt it, and the stinging pain was much worse than before. “What did I do?” she shrieked.

“You had at me again in this very chamber, lady. Rail at me in front of my father, will you?” Again his hand descended.

“Ranulf!”

“Call me a dog-hearted clodpate, will you?” Another wallop.

“Stop!” Her cry rose in volume. “Sweet Jesú , gag me. You said you would gag me!”

“There is no need,” he said brusquely. “I am finished.”

Reina was set on her feet, which were not at all steady. A glance at her husband showed how furious he had become, to which her bottom could well attest. His next words only confirmed it.

“Do not ever make me do that again, lady,” he growled low.

She shook her head, but she was not sure whether she was saying she would or would not. Not that it mattered just then. Her backside was on fire, but it blazed not half as much as that other fire he had created. Without another thought, Reina crawled back onto his lap.

“I am duly chastised, my lord. Now finish what else you started.”

He did not have to be asked twice.