Chapter 16 Lucas
Lucas
The things Benoit told me twisted my stomach and made me want to run. I fiddled with my leg fastenings the entire time he spoke, contemplating ripping them off and running to the ends of the earth to escape this madness.
To think that we camped with not one, but two killers on behalf of the emperor? That such dangerous men would sleep beside us, and presumably fight beside us? It scared me, more than I wanted to admit.
But Benoit had said we must be truthful with one another, and so I was. And he reassured me, clamping a big hand on my shoulder.
“We will look out for one another,” he whispered. “And we will especially look out for our Little Lord.”
I nodded. And when he told me of his plan to restore balance, I smiled.
As we had anticipated, Milord was listless the next day, unengaged.
Comrade, though we knew not how much he had overheard or known in the first place, seemed to anticipate that Milord would need rest and restoration, since he directed us to stop earlier than usual, at an inn that was more luxuriously appointed than the others.
Once this was made known to me, I raced ahead to order a bath for Milord. The mere act of running my legs had an exuberant effect on me as always, though it was usually chased by fear, fear that I would be found out as a coward and persecuted.
That fear was missing today.
I paused outside the inn, orders for rooms and baths delivered, and let the strong ribbon wrappings trail through my fingers. Unbound for this long, my legs itched to keep running.
Perhaps the lack of fear was due to feeling as if I had found a true brotherhood in Benoit and the others…
well, maybe not so much the others just yet, since I had yet to connect with Guillaume or Aubert.
Both men were attractive enough, though, that if Milord asked me to consort with them and with her, or to consort with them while she watched, I would say yes.
Since I did not wish to arouse suspicions of my faerie gift, I remained at the inn while the others made their way. I spoke with the staff and dropped hints of the lord’s generosity, and indeed, it won me a bath of my own before their arrival.
Which was exactly as I wished it.
When our entourage arrived, Milord riding and the rest on foot, I showed everyone to their rooms; oh yes, we men did not have to sleep in the stables this time. Granted, the four of us were to share a room while Milord had one of her own, but we did not mind in the least.
As Benoit carried his pack into the room, he clapped a large hand on my shoulder.
“After dinner,” he whispered, sending tremors through my body.
And indeed, after Milord had spent some time bathing, and the remaining men had taken turns in our room, we all went downstairs to the main room to sup.
The bath seemed to enliven Milord a bit, as she was able to engage with us in conversation while we all ate venison stew with brown bread.
When she retired, Benoit gave me the look that instructed me to follow her.
So follow Milord I did, at a distance, until I saw that she was ready to close her chamber door and retire for the evening. Then my speed aided me in placing a palm on the door before it was shut.
“Lucas?” she asked, tired surprise written on her features (nay, his features, those of a comely young man).
“Milord, I wish to speak with you. Privately.” Those were the words Benoit had suggested, and thus those were the words I chose.
She shrugged and released her grip on the door, allowing me to enter.
Where she sat, I knelt nearby.
“Milord, we have noticed your lethargy and dispassion today, Benoit and I. We wish to attend to you, to alleviate any of your discomfort or sadness…together.”
Her blond eyebrows raised. She paused, in the process of shrugging off an embroidered riding coat that had made her shoulders look wider. Now that she looked womanly again, I was taken with the petite beauty of her frame.
“I…” her voice caught in her throat. “I know little of being comforted by two men at once. I have only barely begun to explore being with one man at a time.”
I chuckled. And then she laughed, the first time I had seen her lips tilt up all day.
“I know, and I lack those experiences as well. But Benoit and I noticed that you have been in a lackluster mood today, and we wish to make ourselves available to you, in any way you so choose.”
I let my voice drop, in what I hoped was a seductive manner.
“And we know that Aubert has counseled you in herbs to prevent pregnancy.”
I leaned forward, licked my lips. As I did so, I saw her shiver, almost imperceptibly. She nodded.
“Milord, we are ready for you if you are ready for us.”
Her blue eyes blinked, then opened wide, taking in the implications of what I was saying.
She leaned forward, cupped my face in her hands. Her skin burned against mine, a fiery reminder of what I was missing. Our lips met, and I remained still while she placed slow kisses all around my face before merging our lips again, whole languid moments passing while I shuddered in bliss.
That was when Benoit knocked at the door.