Chapter Thirty-Six #3
She came rapidly, in a blinding shudder of glory. He answered with a hoarse cry, whispering her name as his convulsions died a lingering, magnificent death. Still, he continued to kiss her, to be a part of her. Surely there was nothing sweeter on the earth.
“Damn,” he muttered, still suckling on her lower lip.
“What?” she still clung to him, still feeling his semi-arousal twitching within her body.
He shook his head, grinning. “Those damn pessaries are doing absolutely no good at all. I do not know why I bought the things.”
She laughed and he kissed her teeth because they were so beautiful. “I have probably conceived triplets this day, knowing how fruitful you and I seem to be together.”
“God, I hope not,” he mumbled. “I have enough trouble telling my daughters apart. Besides, I do not want any more children.”
She raised an eyebrow at him. “Want or not, we take what we are given. And considering we have made love the last few times without your pessaries, it may be possible that I have….”
“Enough,” he kissed her again, loudly, and withdrew himself. She moaned softly, her gaze hot on his semi-limp member as he moved for his breeches. She sat up as he dressed and managed to clutch her surcoat to her but not much more. She was fixed on his marvelous body as he moved in the light.
It was as if her entire abduction was a fleeting, unpleasant memory.
No longer did she feel the fear or the terror, only a distinct displeasure.
Her horror was vanished and she knew it was but for Gaston’s comfort and presence.
Only he had the power to make her feel safe, like nothing else in the world.
He slapped a latch on his chest plate where it met the back armor and glanced up at her, noticing she was still nude but for the surcoat held against her chest. And she was watching him with the most amazing eyes. He smiled. “What is it?”
She shook her head slowly, her eyes raking all over his form. “Nothing, my love. Nothing.”
He looked puzzled a brief moment as he finished with the rest of his armor. “Get dressed then. We have things to do.”
She obeyed and he helped her with the stays of the surcoat. When she was finished and her slippers were donned, Gaston held out his arm to escort her from the room. She grasped his elbow with a smile.
“I hope we were not too loud,” she glanced at the desk behind them and then gasped when she saw a small wet spot on the surface. Quickly, she wiped her hand across it until it disappeared and he laughed softly.
“You worry overly, Remi,” he said. “The stain would have dried.”
Her cheeks were flushed with embarrassment as he led her from the room, positive her host and his household had been witness to their joyous reunion.
Rather than ride in the dark back to Mt. Holyoak, Gaston graciously accepted Lord Ingilsby’s offer to stay at Ripley for the night. That evening they had a group of entertainers as the evening’s diversion and Lady Anne seemed to think a great deal of their skill.
Both Gaston and Remington were exceedingly tired but they remained in the grand dining hall after the meal had been cleared to enjoy the entertainment.
There were jugglers, acrobats that walked on their hands and feet bent over backward, and a woman with a duck that, she said, divined the future.
Remington watched it all with interest, completely enjoying the feel of Gaston’s hand on her knee as he conversed with Alex.
She was relaxed and happy for the first time in many a day and she enjoyed the lightness and worry-free state.
Considering their future together was still rather unclear, she was determined to enjoy the present.
As far as she knew, Gaston was still intent on sending her to London without him and her heart sank when she thought of being separated from him. Again. Would it never end?
The woman with the duck came to the head table and stopped directly in front of Remington.
“Tell yer future, milady?” she asked pleasantly.
Remington glanced at Gaston, who shrugged with a smile.
The woman with the duck bade Remington to extend her hand, which she did, and the duck nibbled on the soft flesh of her hand.
Remington giggled at the tickling until the woman commanded the duck to stop, and it did.
Rubbing her coarse hand over the nipped flesh a couple of times and mumbling some sort of prayer, she peered closely at the skin.
It took a moment for her to speak. “I see a great many things, milady. Ye have left children that are dear to ye, have ye not?” when Remington nodded, the woman dipped her head again.
“I see… girls. Beautiful girls that look like their father. And I see another son in the not-too-distant future.”
Remington glanced at Gaston, who did not look entirely amused by the prediction.
She grinned at him, anyway, as the woman continued.
“I see a great deal of happiness, but not after…” she rubbed at Remington’s hand again and again, as one would rub at fogged glass.
Remington watched the woman closely as her eyes widened and she dropped Remington’s hand to the table.
“That’s all, milady. I see naught else.”
She turned away rapidly and Remington was confused. “Wait.” she called after the woman. “Wait a moment.”
The woman did halt, but reluctantly. Slowly, she turned to face her again. “Milady?”
Remington could see something in the woman’s eyes, a flicker of fear. Deeply curious, she rose from her seat and extended her hand again. “You saw more. What did you see?”
“Nothing, milady,” the woman insisted, her eyes lowered to the duck.
“She asked you what else you saw,” Gaston’s voice was as low as thunder. “You will do her the courtesy of answering.”
The woman looked at Gaston as if God himself had just spoken to her. Hesitantly, she went back to the table but refused to meet Remington’s eyes. Again, she rubbed her skin and looked hard at the tiny red welts. Remington observed the woman intently as she struggled with her prediction.
“I see….a great deal of pain,” she whispered quickly. “I see a goodly amount of anguish. Possibly even death.”
Remington tried not to react to the prophecy but she couldn’t help herself from pressing. “For me? Or for my family?”
The woman nervously glanced at Gaston, whose expression was neutral. “Yer family, I suppose.”
Remington swallowed and took her hand away. After a moment, she forced herself to smile as she took her seat. “What would a prediction be without death and destruction? If you told me my life would be perfect, I’d think you to be a liar.”
The woman gazed back at her with uncertainly. With a quick curtsy, she fled the table. Gaston leaned close to Remington.
“Do not tell me you believe that blather,” he said softly.
She maintained her flippant attitude. “Of course not. But it is fun to hear. Especially when she tells me there is another son in my future.”
He snorted into his cup, refusing to respond. Her smile turned genuine at his reluctance and she leaned against his arm. “No son? Are you truly that dead-set against any more children?”
He eyed her. “We have been through this. I do not wish to discuss it now.”
She laughed softly and stroked his stubbled cheek as the minstrels began to play a lively tune. “You are a terrible coward, Gaston.”
“Why is that?” he drank from his chalice.
“You are afraid of your children,” she said simply.
“You have already told me that you are afraid you will not be able to handle Dane and Trenton when they grow older, and I know for a fact that Adeliza and Arica scare you to death because they’ll grow into young women with minds of their own, and they’ve already got you whipped into submission. ”
“Whipped into submission?” he looked at her. “I beg to differ, madam. I am their father, not their servant.”
Her eyes were smoky as she gazed back at his incredible face. “They could ask you for the world and you would not deny them, and that scares you. You are a weak-willed soul when it comes to your children because you love them so. Isn’t that right?”
He gazed back into her eyes, his limbs filled with the liquid warmth of his feelings for her. “Astute, my lady. As always.”
She kissed him gently, feeling the heat of the contact bolt through her body. “More children, Gaston, a whole castle-full. The Dark Duke must have a great legacy.”
He shook his head slowly; she was intent on disobeying his wishes in the matter. She started to laugh at him again when Hubert appeared on her other side.
“A dance, my lady?” he asked, entirely aware of Gaston’s intense gaze on him.
Remington did not even ask Gaston’s permission.
She was up and on the floor with Hubert, and he swung her into the downbeat of the tune with great flourish.
Gaston watched her, laughing and giddy, as the knight twirled her about the floor.
He could have easily been jealous, but he wasn’t thinking along those lines; he was simply thankful to see her enjoying herself.
This woman who cringed with terror the first time he tried to dance with her.
But the woman dancing before him was not the same woman. She was confident, delightfully charming and poised. And the fact that she was the most beautiful woman in the room had all eyes upon her. Gaston sat back in his chair, his face creased with satisfaction.
“I have known Remington since she was sixteen years old,” Alex said softly from his other side. “I can only remember seeing her this happy one time; right before she wed Guy. It was almost the last time I ever remember seeing her smile.”
Gaston watched Remington spin before him in Hubert’s arms, a great whoosh of scarlet. “After what’s happened, I thought it would take her a good deal of time to recover herself. I am glad to see I was wrong.”