Chapter Eight #3
It was more food than Alessandria had ever seen in one sitting, decadence on a grand scale.
Lady du Bexley was wealthy and not afraid to show it.
The servants were dishing out the sweets to the diners and Chad made sure to get his trencher in there so they could serve him up some treats as well.
When he drew his trencher back and set it between him and Alessandria, they both inspected the marzipan and the fried dough balls and the pudding.
Chad cut the sweets into pieces so Alessandria could eat them more easily and she ended up gorging herself on nearly everything that was there.
In truth, Chad was deriving a good deal of pleasure simply watching her eat, even if she was eating some of the things meant for him.
He really didn’t care. It was clear that she was very hungry so he let her eat whatever she wished.
He was happy to take her leavings. In fact, the more he sat with her and watched her, tossing around light conversation, the more enchanted he was becoming with her.
She was sweet and beautiful and he liked to watch her laugh – she had a silly little giggle.
She ate, they both drank, and the evening passed pleasantly and quickly.
In fact, Chad had no idea how late it was by the time Lady du Bexley’s guests began to excuse themselves.
All he knew was that he had enjoyed one of the more pleasurable evenings of his life, made far more pleasurable after the hell of the past several weeks.
He and his army had been deployed a very long time before Evesham, and then after that horrific event, the days following had been full of trying to grasp the political situation in the wake of Simon’s death.
It had all been so complex and unpleasant.
But sitting here with Alessandria, in this warm and fragrant hall as the wine flowed freely, he felt truly at peace for the first time in months.
More guests left the table but Chad remained, still drinking wine and sitting beside Alessandria, who was so full of sweets and food that she could barely move.
But the wine was delicious and warming, and soon enough they were having their own giggling conversation over how Stefan and Perrin would react to Eloise du Bexley showing up at Canterbury Castle.
Mostly, it was Chad making faces when he imagined what his brothers would do to him and Alessandria was laughing uncontrollably.
He must have been quite entertaining because Lady du Bexley soon realized that her new friends were having a marvelous time and she sought to capture Chad’s attention.
“What are you and your wife laughing about?” she demanded to know. “You must tell the rest of us so that we may laugh with you!”
Chad’s eyes widened. He had been making great sport of Lady du Bexley’s daughter and knew he couldn’t tell his hostess that, so quickly, he scrambled for an excuse.
“I…I was singing a song, my lady,” he lied. “It is a very humorous song.”
“Then you must tell us!”
Chad shook his head. “Nay, my lady,” he said, trying not to sound as if he were lying. “It… well, it is not meant for ladies’ ears.”
Lady du Bexley was incensed. “But you told your wife!”
Chad looked at Alessandria, who was silently laughing at the fact that he’d wedged himself into a corner. She’d had far too much to drink and soon couldn’t hold back her laughter at all.
“Tell her,” she said impishly. “Oh, do tell her what we have been laughing at.”
His eyes narrowed at her threateningly, although it was in jest. “Cheeky wench,” he muttered. “You shall not have the last laugh.”
“Is that so?”
“It is!”
Taking a deep breath, Chad stood up and set his wine cup down, which was empty. It had been his fifth or sixth cup; he wasn’t entirely sure, but he did know that he was quite drunk. He was up to having some fun, now with too much alcohol flowing through his veins.
“Very well, Lady du Bexley,” he said with some exaggeration. “If you wish to hear my song, here it is.”
With that, he climbed right up onto the cluttered table, much to the delight of the diners, and began belting out the first naughty song that came to mind.
“A young man came to Tilly Nodden,
His heart so full and pure.
Upon the step of Tilly Nodden,
His wants would find no cure.”
Chad had a remarkable baritone singing voice, quite lovely, and the women at the table sighed with delight while the men, who recognized the song, cheered for the bawdy tune.
Encouraged, Chad began to dance across the table, kicking dishes out of the way and listening to everyone laugh at him.
He was being quite dramatic and entertaining as he continued.
“Aye! Tilly, Tilly, my goddess near,
Can ye spare me a glance from those eyes?
My Tilly, sweet Tilly, be my lover so dear,
I’m a-wantin’ a slap of those thighs!
Then our young man, his life less grand,
Since the day he met our Tilly.
His love for her nearly drove him daft,
When he discovered not a puss, but a shaft!”
With that, he untied his breeches and exposed his bare buttocks to the diners as they screamed in laughter.
Lady du Bexley nearly fainted because she was laughing so hard and as everyone else screamed and cheered, Alessandria sat there with her eyes wide at the sight of Chad’s white, naked arse.
The man was stripping down before her very eyes and her mouth popped open in shock when she heard Lady du Bexley beside her.
“Now we see what you see in your young man, my dear,” she laughed. “His buttocks are as plump and perfect as two unbaked loaves of bread. Your husband has a bread-dough arse and I want to sink my teeth into it!”
The few people that heard her comment roared with laughter as Chad pulled up his pants, tied them off, and then took a tremendous bow for the room. Every movement had flourish. Even the minstrels in the corner, who had been playing quite beautifully all evening, cheered and clapped for him.
Quite pleased with his drunken display, Chad leapt off the table and staggered his way over to Alessandria, who was sitting there with her mouth still hanging open. Reaching down, he pulled her to her feet and dragged her over towards the musicians.
“Play!” he commanded the quartet. “Play something that my lady and I can dance to!”
Before Alessandria could utter a word of protest, Chad pulled her into his arms, her body pressed against his, and the music began to play. His mouth was on her temple as he spoke, their bodies indecently close.
“I want to feel you against me,” he murmured. “I have been struggling for the better part of the day with thoughts of you and I cannot deny them any longer. Let me feel your breasts against my body, even though the damnable clothing stands between us.”
Chills raced up Alessandria’s spine as his heated voice filled her brain. The music was playing but they weren’t really dancing; they were simply standing there as Chad held her close, running his hands up and down her back, up into her hair, cupping her head as his lips nibbled on her forehead.
Alessandria was so startled and consumed by his actions that her knees were growing weak. Her breath began to come in pants, her body rubbing against his in a manner that was both terribly inappropriate and overwhelmingly alluring.
“Chad…,” she whispered, trying to pull away. “What… what are you doing?”
“What I have wanted to do from nearly the beginning of our association.”
She gasped as a roaming hand found her buttocks, caressing them lewdly through the traveling dress. “Please… there are people watching….”
Chad had her pulled so tightly against him that she was bent backwards as he held her.
“Let them watch,” he said, nuzzling her.
“We are married, are we not? I can do whatever I wish. I am your husband, Aless. God help me, I wish I really was. I would take you upstairs and ravage you until you could no longer walk.”
They were shocking, bold words that he spoke, words that should have sent Alessandria cowering.
She should have run from him at the very least. But no amount of righteousness could force her to pull away from him now.
God help me, I wish we were really married.
Was it possible he really said that? Did he really speak of the hope that was in her heart?
Clearly, he was drunk – there was no denying that.
And if she was to be truthful, she was drunk as well.
It was the drink that was preventing her from running away.
It was the drink that was begging her to give in to the sins of the flesh, to know the touch of a man.
It was as wicked as it could possibly be, but Alessandria didn’t care.
She was deeply enamored with Chad; nay, it was more than that.
Was it possible to love someone after only knowing them for no more than a day?
Alessandria couldn’t imagine that what she was feeling for Chad wasn’t love and she couldn’t imagine that she would ever feel any other way about him.
He said that he wished they could be married. She wished the same thing, as well.
Surely, that mean the man loved her.
Chad was still nuzzling her face, simply standing there as the music played around them.
Alessandria could feel his seeking lips moving across her cheek and she turned her head so that his path would bring him to her mouth.
When he claimed her lips with his own, it was as if everything else in the world suddenly faded away and it was only the two of them, becoming acquainted on a level that was beyond Alessandria’s comprehension.