Chapter Four #2
Regine giggled. “That’s not the target, Richmond. It’s over there!” she pointed behind him, in the direction of the field.
He whirled around, still squinting. “Ah, yes. I see most clearly now. How clever of them to create moving targets. Much more satisfying to a man of my skills.”
Arissa joined Regine in her giggles. “Those are not moving targets, Richmond, they are men-at-arms bearing Lambourn tunics. Are your eyes really so bad?”
He slanted her a gaze, his eyes glimmering with mirth. “’Tis your own fault, really. You have blinded me with your radiant beauty.”
She lowered her lashes coyly, an utterly charming gesture. “In that case, I must take pity on you and allow you to champion me.”
Regine, tired of the games between Arissa and Richmond, bound off toward the activity on the field.
But Richmond barely noticed her departure for the look in Arissa’s eyes; suddenly, a great mailed glove came up to stroke her cheek tenderly.
The emotions, the warmth in his gaze, threatened to swallow her whole.
Her entire world at the moment revolved around Richmond and his feather-light touch.
“Well spoken, kitten,” he whispered. Then he sighed, his gaze raking over her. “I can scarcely believe you are eighteen years of age today. It simply does not seem possible.”
They were not words spoken from a reluctant father-figure. They were words spoken from the heart. Arissa knew that as doubtlessly as she knew of her love for him. Before she could stop herself, she pressed her face against his massive hand.
“I am a woman grown, my lord.”
He stared at her, the twinkle in his eyes fading.
The finger that caressed her cheek lingered on her chin, trailing down her neck.
He knew full well he should not be touching her in such a manner.
God’s Teeth, he knew better than anyone that he had no right at all to touch her.
He would have killed any man who had handled her in such a fashion, seemingly innocent though it might be. A gentle touch, a chivalrous gesture….
But it was not innocent at all. There was fire raging through his veins, encroaching onto Arissa’s tender flesh.
The more he stroked, the more she leaned against him as if her strength was failing.
He had been staring into her eyes not a moment before; suddenly, he was watching his badly misbehaving hand as it threatened her.
The pale green eyes suddenly closed and her head lolled back as if she had lost all control, revealing the most glorious neck he had ever had the fortune to gaze upon.
Richmond lost the struggle against his labored breathing; harsh gasps came to his dry lips and his gloved hand opened, closing upon her neck as an animal devours its prey.
He heard her gasp, a faint sound so erotic he nearly whimpered in response. His grip tightened.
Then she was moving toward him. His gloved hand appeared to have a mind of its own, pulling her against his hard chest. Richmond realized that he was about to permit a depraved madman to ravage Arissa, but he was powerless to prevent it.
The pale green eyes opened, focused on him, and he saw a faint curve appear on the luscious red lips.
A flicker of a smile. Dear God… she was encouraging him!
Her smile broadened. He couldn’t manage the gesture.
All of his attention, his energy, was focused on the woman before him as if she were all that existed in his tumultuous world.
His entire body was quivering like the string of a bow; taut, coiled, wracked with anticipation of what was about to occur. God’s teeth, what was he thinking?
“Do ye think to strangle her in front of witnesses, my lord?” Mossy was suddenly beside them, his aged eyes twinkling. “Do not tell me that she asked ye to champion her and ye took offense.”
His hand dropped like a stone. Well-defined finger marks lined Arissa’s white neck. He swallowed hard, his eyes boring into her wide green ones as an unmistakable flush mottled her cheeks.
“I…. I have already agreed to champion my lady as a gift for her birthday,” he managed to choke.
Mossy’s gaze moved between the two of them. Richmond maintained a steady gaze, but Arissa was staring at the ground. When she wandered away, wringing her hands and watching the grass beneath her slippered feet, Mossy cocked an eyebrow at Richmond.
“Then if ye are going to kiss her, my lord, do it in the trees where no one can see ye. ’Twere William to see ye, word might get back to her father.”
Richmond’s eyes suddenly blazed. Mossy’s gaze held even and he nodded faintly.
“Aye, I know who she is. I have always known,” he tapped his head in a thoughtful gesture.
“Ye forget, Richmond, that I delivered Maude’s dead child, the dead babe young Henry knew of.
And I was the one who took Arissa from ye when ye delivered her to Lambourn that snowy December night.
Although ye never made mention of her heritage, I was not so deaf that I did not hear the truth spoken between William and Maude on more than one occasion.
But the populace of Lambourn never knew the difference; ’twas easy to convince them that Arissa was the child Maude birthed, switching the babes as we did. ”
Richmond had always suspected Mossy had been privy to the most secretive of information, but the old man had never mentioned a word. In faith, he didn’t particularly care but he sought to make the situation clear.
“She doesn’t know.”
“Nay, she doesn’t,” Mossy agreed. “And she will never hear it from my lips. ’Tis none of my affair to involve myself in the matter.”
His rigid stance relaxed somewhat and his gaze returned to Arissa, standing patiently several feet away as she watched the activity on the field. He suddenly felt an ancient hand come to rest on his gauntlet.
“She does not want to join the cloister, ye know,” Mossy said quietly. “If ye were to convince her father…. he’d let ye have her, I suspect.”
Outwardly, Richmond’s only reaction was to return his gaze to the old man. But inwardly, he was wracked with the possibilities of the statement.
“Out of the question, Mossy. Arissa’s destiny is in the hands of God. Come the New Year, she will retire to Whitby and I shall return to London.”
“Never to see her again? Do ye know what that will do to her, man?”
His brow furrowed faintly. “She’s no choice in the matter. Her future was decided long ago.”
Mossy’s gaze rested on him a moment. “But that was before she loved you.” He turned and walked away.
Richmond’s mouth went dry. His facade was still straight and proud as he watched the aged crony hobble toward the keep, but his heart was being twisted and enlightened more violently than he ever thought possible.
“Richmond?”
He whirled toward Arissa, his control slipping at the sound of her angelic voice. His gaze came to rest on her beautiful face and she smiled timidly, gesturing in the direction of the keep.
“I am hungry. Do you think we could find something to eat before the competition begins?”
His mouth worked for a moment as if he were struggling to find the correct reply. Loudly, he cleared his throat, moving towards her purely out of habit. But as he drew closer, Mossy’s words slammed into him again with such force that he grunted.
But that was before she loved you.
He coughed politely, covering his blunder.
Yet the look in Arissa’s eyes when he offered her his arm suddenly took on new light in the face of the old man’s muttered statement.
The seductive smile she had displayed as he gripped her, the open encouragement in her gaze suddenly made sense until he was nearly wild with the overwhelming likelihood. Could it be….?
Richmond led her back to the keep in stunned silence, where Penelope, Emma and Daniel found them.
Daniel boasted of his winnings in the wrestling matches as Penelope and Emma surrounded Arissa, commencing the usual mindless chatter.
Arissa listened, but she did not comprehend their words. Her mind was else occupied.
She had no idea what to think. Confusion reigned supreme as she pretended to respond to the conversation going on about her.
Richmond, several paces ahead, was all but ignoring her as he and Daniel conversed.
Truthfully, her mind hadn’t been working correctly since the moment he had touched her cheek; it was as if the world had faded until all that mattered was his tender touch against her skin.
The sensation had been so overwhelming that she had completely given in to the heat flooding her limbs, causing her eyes to close and her knees to weaken.
She hadn’t even been aware of her lolling head until he had grabbed her by the neck. A powerful bolt of excitement had slammed into her body, a sob escaping her lips from the sheer force of the blow. Next she realized, he had pulled her against him.
And then her eyes had opened. His eyes, blazing hotter than the sun, had made her smile. Gazing into the blue flame, she knew. He wanted to kiss her as badly as she wanted him to.
Damn Mossy for interrupting them. Had they been allowed to progress, she might have been able to taste his lips as she had always wanted to.
But now, he was all but ignoring her and her heart was breaking.
Mayhap…. mayhap he had come to realize the foolishness of her brazen actions.
’Twas she who had melted against his innocent touch, and it was she who had unskillfully seduced him with her naive grin and eager manner.
She had all but thrown herself at the man.
Richmond procured the entire group a spit of roasting gamecocks.
Arissa accepted the food from him, picked at it, and tossed it to the ground.
Her stomach was churning with humiliation and she was no longer hungry.
She could feel Richmond watching her, a familiar heat she was well acquainted with, but she simply could not bring herself to look at him.