Chapter 5
Chapter Five
“Colin, harder, you wimp! Is that all you can do? Plus fort!”
Alexander sat bold upright in bed. Dear fucking Christ. He had been woken up by the sound of his brother and his mistress rutting in the room next door. But why was he even surprised? Hadn’t he suspected that was all the two of them did together?
He rushed down the stairs to the main hall, desperate to escape the awful noise, furious at the interrupted sleep.
This stay promised to be even more taxing than Colin’s usual visits.
The only thing that had made last night bearable had been Gwenllian’s presence.
How she had put his insufferable brother in his place, not just once but twice!
He would cherish that memory for a long time.
The fire in the hearth in front of him had been reduced to embers that glowed like rubies lit from the inside.
Alexander’s eyes started to flutter shut as he watched the light dim.
How would Gwenllian look adorned with rubies?
Her skin was so pale and creamy, they seemed the best gem to complement her.
Or perhaps emeralds would be better? Though, trying to find stones that could rival the green in her eyes would be a pointless exercise.
Better to stick with rubies; the contrast between the fiery stones and her flawless skin would be most fetching.
More than fetching. His cock stirred when he imagined the blood-red stones cascading down her chest, between her breasts.
Having her in bed wearing nothing but a decadent necklace was the most arousing thing he could imagine.
Damn and blast, would he have to stroke himself again tonight, here in the main hall? No. He would simply have to come back to his senses.
The door creaked open behind him. Alexander tensed.
Who was coming down here at this hour? Please, let it not be Gwenllian.
He didn’t want her to have been awoken by the sound of his brother and his blasted French mistress fucking.
Besides which, he didn’t want her to enter the room while he was hard.
Not that she would know it was due to imagining her in bed wearing nothing but a ruby necklace, of course, but still.
It was bad enough that he had stroked himself the last night because he’d imagined licking her after her bath.
He turned around. Behind him was none other than Colin, looking rather red-faced and out of breath. Alexander did not say a word, while his brother collapsed into the chair opposite him.
“Bloody hell.” With that curse, he helped himself to the ale. As there was no cup for him to use, he drank straight from the jug.
Alexander clenched his jaw. Dear God, but the man had the manners of a boar. How could he be related to him? Nothing had changed in the last few years, it seemed. Hugh was still an arrogant, scheming bastard, Roger a pathetic, aggressive drunkard and Colin an entitled, spoilt pup.
He gave an inward snort. He liked to think of himself as efficient and honorable, but perhaps his brothers would see him as sanctimonious, lacking in ambition and even dull. There was no knowing. Not that he cared anyway.
“Jesus, Isabeau almost killed me in there,” Colin sighed.
“So I heard,” Alexander said dryly.
Far from being shamefaced, his brother stared straight at him. “She is rather demanding, and at times I can hardly satisfy her. You know, men’s limitations, and all that?”
Alexander toyed with the idea of telling him that he had no idea what he was talking about, that he could go on for hours and pretend he often took two women to his bed, just to annoy him, but instead he asked, “Am I supposed to feel sorry for you?”
“No.” Another sigh. “You’re supposed to help me.”
“Help you? How?”
“She’s sent me to…erm, get you.”
Alexander stilled. Had he heard that right?
“Lady Isabeau, your mistress, wants me to go fuck her?” He could not believe what he was saying. “While you watch?”
“While I take part, actually. She’s insatiable, I told you. Tonight, two men will barely be enough, and she took a liking to you.”
No word could have described the confusion whirring in Alexander’s mind—or the revulsion roiling in his guts. For the first time in his life, he was truly speechless.
Silence stretched in the room, thick with tension. After another swig of ale, Colin asked, “Well?”
“Well, nothing. Even if she appealed to me, which she doesn’t, far from it, I would not do it. You and I are brothers,” Alexander said slowly. “How do you imagine I would ever want to rut with you in the same room watching me, or even worse, in the same bed, touching me?”
Colin made a grimace. Clearly, he hadn’t thought of that aspect, and the idea of touching him didn’t appeal to him either.
“I know, but I need to see to her needs. I don’t want her to leave me because she’s unsatisfied. She does these things with her mouth that have me—”
“Christ, what is wrong with you?” Alexander exploded. “I don’t want to hear what you two do in bed. If she is that desperate for a man, go find a groom in the stables or my squire, or both. I’m sure they will oblige you, and her. Go! Just leave me alone.”
Colin stormed out of the hall, eyes dark with fury.
Alexander allowed himself to relax in his chair. Dear God, he’d thought after all these years that nothing would surprise or appall him coming from his brothers. It seemed he had been wrong and they had barely scratched the surface.
It was not long before the door opened again. He shot to his feet and rounded on his brother. “I told you to go to hell and—”
He stopped mid-sentence, for it wasn’t Colin standing in front of him this time but Gwenllian.
“Forgive me. I didn’t realize you would be here as well,” she said as she made to retreat. “I will not disturb your peace.”
He stopped her with a raised hand. “No, it is I who should ask for your forgiveness. I didn’t mean to be so rude. I thought you were my brother.” She nodded, as if she agreed that fact was enough to justify his rudeness. “Why are you here?”
Despite the darkness, it seemed to Alexander that her cheeks had flushed red at the question. “I… You’re not going to believe me, but I was awoken by Lady Isabeau.”
Unfortunately, he could all too well believe it. It was what he had feared. He groaned and ran a hand over his face. “You heard, then.”
“I felt, rather.”
Felt? What was she saying?
“I was lying in bed when I felt someone run a hand over my body. The French words in my ear soon told me it was Isabeau, come to find your brother.”
No, not Colin, who had already been in bed with her.
She would have thought to find him, Alexander, the man she had taken “a liking to.” Having heard that his room was further along the gallery, she had tried her luck.
And, had he stayed in bed instead of fleeing to the main hall, she would have found what she was looking for. It had been a close call.
But perhaps it would have been better if she had found him rather than Gwenllian, who had not asked to be part of this mess.
“I’m so sorry,” he sighed.
“Don’t be. If you must know, I rather enjoyed sending her away in Welsh, pretending I was too sleepy to think straight. I might even have slapped her in my confusion.”
She had slapped the French woman? This, he would have liked to see. Considering that she was amused rather than shocked by the incident, he couldn’t help a jest. “You mean you weren’t tempted? You said you were looking for an adventure. Doesn’t that qualify?”
A tinkling laugh was his reward. “Perhaps, but I’m not ready to go that far. Besides, even if I had been tempted, I doubt she would have agreed. She was clearly looking for a body part I do not possess.”
Despite the awful situation, Alexander couldn’t help a grin at her mischievousness.
Then he ran a hand over his face. It had been a lucky escape.
But what would happen tomorrow night? And the night after that?
Colin had hinted they would stay for a few days, time to give the accursed woman the rest she deserved.
Would he spend his time being chased? He needed to escape while they were there.
“When are you going to Scotland?” he asked Gwenllian, gesturing that she should sit in the chair opposite him.
“I don’t know exactly.” She appeared surprised by the question, but she did sit down. “In the next few days?”
“You’re going to need an escort,” he said, almost to himself. “I’ll come with you, if I may.”
She stilled and looked at him dubiously.
But he had not missed the spark of interest lighting in her eyes.
She was tempted to accept the offer, she just didn’t feel she could put him out thus.
But she wasn’t. He was offering. And, in truth, the idea of traveling with her for days on end did not displease him.
“We barely know one another,” she started.
“I know, but I thought the fact that I have known Christopher all my life would reassure you as to my—”
“No, I’m not worried about that. I trust you.” Thank God. “I mean, why would you want to accompany me?”
He could have lied, told her he had business in Scotland, or that he had family there he wanted to renew acquaintance with. Instead, he told her the truth.
“To put it bluntly, so that I don’t find myself tied to the bed and forced to service my brother’s mistress before they go.”
Alexander cursed himself when Gwenllian’s beautiful eyes rounded. Why had he been so honest? Damnation, he knew he should have lied.
“That could happen?” she asked on a breath.
“All too easily. You should know, as she was in your bed only a moment ago, in search of a man. And she has asked Colin to—”
“No, I mean… Can a woman be serviced by a man against his will?”
It was his turn to stare in amazement. “Are you telling me you are considering—”
“No! Of course not, I would not have anyone endure something they don’t want to. Only, I cannot help but wonder… I mean, it is not hard to imagine how a woman can be forced, but a man…”
“Yes. I know what you mean.” Now that she was asking, he was curious as well.
“Well, I have no idea, having mercifully never found myself in that situation. And I hope I’m never in a position to find out.
Which is why I would be grateful if you let me go with you to your friend.
It wouldn’t look as if I were fleeing, merely doing something we had agreed on before my brother arrived. ”
Gwenllian hesitated, then a slow smile bloomed on her lips.
“Very well. We can go to Sheridan Manor in the morning and be on our way the following day, if it suits you.”
“Perfect.”
They looked at each other in the silence of the hall.
When the scrutiny became too intense, Alexander decided to stir the fire back to life, adding two sizeable logs to the hearth.
Then he watched the flames dance on Gwenllian’s alabaster skin.
Dear God, but she was beautiful—and staying here with her alone was becoming dangerous.
Just as he was wondering whether he should suggest she go back to bed, a piercing cry sliced through the darkness.
Lady Isabeau was satisfied at last.