Chapter Sixteen #4
Her hair was hanging in her face. She even had a piece of it in her mouth, which he pulled out. When he pushed her hair away from her face, he could see that her eyes were still closed. He started to laugh.
“Cissy?” he said. “Say something.”
She grinned, peeping her eyes open. “I said that all is well,” she said. “And I think I love you.”
Her arms tightened and she kissed him again, deeply, and he responded instantly. It was a kiss of desire, of emotion, and most of all, of joy.
Of two people who had finally found one another.
“Am I truly so fortunate, sweetheart?” he breathed against her mouth. “Do you truly?”
She pulled her lips away long enough to look him in the eye.
“I think I have loved you since before I met you,” she said softly.
“My father and uncle would speak so highly of Alexander de Sherrington and when we met, I knew I already loved you. I admired you so much that the admiration became something else once we came to know each other. I cannot explain it better than that. I have been yours since the beginning, Sherry, only you did not know it.”
He grinned, holding her head between his two enormous hands. “I know it now.”
“You do.”
He kissed her again, gently this time. “Now,” he said. “It is time for you to pack a satchel and prepare to depart. I will return for you once I’ve finished preparing the horses.”
“Shall I meet you below, in the farm fields?”
“Nay.”
She looked at him, surprised. “Why not?”
“Because there are enough men around now that we can lose ourselves leaving through the main gate,” he said.
“I am confident that there is so much activity, and everyone is focused on the evening’s feast, that we will be able to slip by unnoticed.
Also, I do not want you out of my sight, so you will remain here until I return for you.
I do not want you wandering alone with all of the soldiers around and with the king’s men lurking.
Therefore, pack your bag and I will return for you shortly. ”
He seemed determined. Christin simply nodded, trusting him and his plans.
He kissed her once more, twice more, before moving to help her pull the top of her dress up.
Realizing their time alone was ended, she made an unhappy face and begrudgingly climbed off him, refitting her dress, which was bunched up around her waist. The bodice went back up and the skirts went back down, and she looked at her coverlet to see the evidence of their activities.
Alexander was on his feet, tying off his breeches, as she went to the bed and noted a wet, slightly pink stain on it.
He turned to see what had her attention and, noticing the evidence of their activities, reached down and flipped the coverlet over without a word.
Now, the stain was on the underside with the clean coverlet above.
When she looked at him, rather embarrassed, he smiled as he bent over and kissed her forehead.
“It is not that I am ashamed of what we did,” he said quietly. “But I do not want others to know of it, for obvious reasons. What we shared, Cissy… that is for us alone and no one else.”
She nodded. “Agreed.”
He put a big hand on her face, cupping her cheek and forcing her to look at him. “Are you sure you’re well?”
“I am fine.”
“No discomfort or regrets?”
She shook her head, throwing her arms around his neck and squeezing him tightly. “Never,” she murmured. “But already, I miss you. Please hurry back to me, Sherry. Every day of this separation will be torture.”
He enveloped her in his enormous arms, memorizing the feel of her against him to recall on the days to come.
He honestly didn’t know what the future would bring them, or how long they would truly be separated, but he didn’t want to frighten her with his speculation.
He wanted this moment to be as warm and without angst as it could possibly be.
“It will be torture, indeed,” he said after a moment. “But I carry your love and that will give me the strength of the archangels for what is to come.”
Kissing her on the side of the head, he let her go, heading for the door. He was about to lift the latch when a word from her stopped him.
“Will I carry your love, also?” she asked quietly.
He paused, turning to her. The twinkle in his dark eyes told her everything even before he spoke. “You do,” he murmured. “It does not seem possible that I am capable of saying this so soon, but it is what I feel. My love was only meant for you.”
With that, he slipped from the door, out into the dark landing beyond. Christin went to the door, hearing his boot falls as he descended the stairs and headed out into the day beyond.
With a smile playing on her lips, she closed her door and bolted it.
She simply stood there for a moment, reliving the past several minutes, feeling as if her heart had wings.
She never knew that she could be so completely and utterly happy, as if she were walking on clouds. It didn’t seem possible.
But possible, it was.
He loved her.
Pushing her silly daydreams aside, she went on the hunt for her satchel.