Chapter Nine #2
Tate nodded, looking a few feet away to where they were reconstructing the stairs. “It should be an hour or so and we’ll have access to do that. In the meanwhile.…”
He suddenly began looking around as if hunting for something.
Toby didn’t know how he did it, but as she watched, he collected two pieces of a broken ladder, somehow put them together, and climbed his way up the side of the keep to the open door.
Before she realized it, he was standing in front of her.
All Toby could do was stare at him, a smile on her lips and her hands trembling with the thrill of seeing him in the flesh before her.
She was so very glad to see that he was unharmed; more than that, he looked positively healthy.
Other than the fact he was covered in dirt and sweat, he looked wonderful.
She didn’t even see any wounds on him; not a nick.
She hadn’t realized that she was backing away from him as he moved closer. As she bumped against a wall, she found herself riveted to his storm cloud eyes, seeing emotions reflected in the dark depths that were puzzling and new. Her heart was beating so fast that it ached.
“I… I am glad to see that you are unharmed,” she managed to stammer.
He continued walking towards her until he was up against her body; Toby could feel his cold armor on her flesh, his face looming inches above her own.
“You said that,” he growled gently.
“It… ’tis true.”
The smile playing on his lips broadened. Toby’s limbs went weak with a painful sort of tingle; she wanted to throw her arms around him but dare not make a move. She had no right to touch the man. The self-restraint was agonizing as her palms began to sweat.
“Elizabetha?” he asked softly.
Toby could hardly speak for the excitement bolting through her body. “Aye?”
“I must do something now but I want assurance that you will not be offended.”
“Offended by what?”
“I do not want my eyes gouged out.”
“I… I will not gouge your eyes out, I promise. But what are you going to do?”
His response was to cup her face between his enormous palms, his dark eyes boring into her as if to drill holes through to the other side.
Toby gazed up into his handsome face, unable to think or breathe, as his lips very gently came down on hers.
It was soft and warm and wonderful. Her eyes closed of their own accord, her focus on his tender lips as they suckled her gently.
Having never been kissed by a man before, she had no idea what to expect.
All she knew was this was more, and better, than she could have ever dreamed.
Her self-restraint vanished and she threw her arms around his neck about the time he wrapped her up in his enormous arms. Together, they enveloped each other in a tight embrace.
Tate suckled her top lip, her lower lip, his tongue finally licking at her mouth, silently pleading to be admitted inside.
Toby opened her mouth slightly and he invaded, gorging himself on her sweetness.
He suckled her tongue, a delectable little morsel, kissing her more fiercely with each passing moment.
His arms were wrapped tightly around her slender body, his hands clutching at her.
Toby responded to him as if she had been doing it all her life, so familiar with the desires of a man she had never even touched.
She sensed his passion, matching her own, understanding in that brief contact just how powerful it was.
The spark that had been kindled with the first tender kiss was exploding into a raging fire.
They lost all concept of time, fueled by the eruption of their first taste of one another. Tate ended up bumping Toby’s head against the wall during his tender offensive, hearing the soft thud and immediately apologised. But Toby just rubbed the back of her head and laughed.
“No harm done,” she murmured, her lips swollen and red from his furious kisses. The hazel eyes focused on him, drinking in his glorious face. “I… I must confess, I have never… that is, I never expected to….”
He smiled, kissing her again just because he could. She was delicious to kiss. “I know,” he murmured against her mouth. “I never expected to, either. But I am glad that I did.”
She looked at him with amused curiosity. “Did what?”
He kissed her again, very tenderly. “That,” he breathed. “May I have your permission to do it again sometime? Perhaps many sometimes?”
Toby was breathless. “I… I am not sure.”
He looked surprised and disappointed. “Why not?”
“Because… well, it simply isn’t proper. We should not have… that is to say, we are not betrothed or married and actions such as this are only appropriate between.…”
He shushed her. “Do you think I would have kissed you like this if I did not have something more in mind? Really, Elizabetha; for an intelligent woman, you are rather dense.”
The almond-shaped eyes widened. “W-what?”
He kissed her again and let her go. “Think about it,” he said, turning for the great hall. “I would check on my men now.”
“Wait,” she found her voice, grabbing him by the wrist. “You will be plain, Sir Tate. What do you mean?”
He took her chin between his thumb and forefinger, turned her head slightly, and kissed her on a dirty cheek. “Must I really explain this to you?” he whispered in her ear.
Toby was left breathless again by his kiss. “You must. I insist.”
He grinned; she could feel his teeth against her cheek. “Where do you want to go first? Paris or Rome?”
“You are going to escort me to those places?”
“As your husband, it would be my pleasure.”
Toby thought she might faint. In fact, she had to swallow very hard and take a very deep breath. “Good Lord,” she breathed. “Do you mean to say that you plan to…?”
“I have for quite some time.”
“But…!” There were tears in her eyes. “But… what about everything you said about my horrid manners? You told me it was an appalling trait. Moreover, you are above my station. You are… my God, you are…you cannot marry me.”
He was laughing; she could feel it as he continued to nuzzle her cheek and ear. “I can marry whomever I wish,” he murmured. “I think we are a good match, you and I. Do you disagree?”
She closed her eyes at the realization of it and tears coursed down her cheeks. He felt the moisture and looked at her, concerned.
“What is the matter, sweetheart?” he asked gently.
She was trying not to weep from sheer joy. “What about my terrible disposition?”
His soft laughter returned. “Forgive me; I spoke before coming to know you. I know now that you are simply a woman who speaks her mind and I respect that.”
“Are you sure?”
“Sure enough that I am delighted with the prospect of spending the rest of my life with you.”
The most amazing expression filled her face as the tears began to magically vanish. “I simply cannot believe it. I would never dare to hope.”
He was smiling sweetly at her. A big hand brushed hair from her face as he studied her very closely. “And I would never dare to hope to find a woman like you. You are a remarkable lady, Mistress Elizabetha. I think that I shall enjoy this marriage very much. At least, I hope so.”
She returned his smile, timidly. “I do not know what to say to all of this.”
“It is simple. Say that you will marry me.”
Her smile faded as her eyes grew intense. “If you want me, then I most certainly will.”
His hand tightened on her face and he brought her to his lips for another gentle kiss.
Toby was breathing unsteadily as he moved from her mouth to her nose to her forehead.
It was the sweetest gesture she had ever experienced and a magic moment in the making.
After several long seconds of touching, of tasting, Tate finally let go of her face and gently took her hand.
“Come along now,” he said. “I have wounded men that I would like to see.”
Toby followed him into the hall and made his rounds with him, but her focus wasn’t on the injured men. It was on a mountain of a man named Tate de Lara she suddenly found herself betrothed to.
*
Tate had tried to make Toby go to bed as midnight approached, but she repeatedly refused his requests to the point of walking the other way when he would look at her.
There were double the wounded in the hall now that the injured in the bailey had been brought in and, consequently, double the work.
Toby would not shirk her duties and worked deep into the night with Stephen, Wallace and Althel to ease the men’s suffering.
Eventually, Tate gave up trying to force her to rest and went about his duties with Kenneth.
But it didn’t stop him from keeping an eye on Toby, making sure he knew where she was every second.
Now, things were different and he felt very possessive and very protective of her. Already, she very much belonged to him.
Just after midnight, Tate and Kenneth huddled in the solar to make plans for morning repairs.
Toby was in the great hall tending to a very young man who had a sucking chest wound.
He was, in truth, no more than sixteen years of age and her heart hurt for him as he struggled to be brave against the pain.
While the other wounded seemed to be in various stages of sleep, the young man was wide awake because of his difficulty in breathing.
Stephen had already used a great deal of skill to stitch up the initial wound but the lad didn’t seem to be much better.