Chapter 1 #2
“Any other news from town besides the great hog escape?” I asked as we followed Jazmina, her cloud-gray wimple flowing out behind her.
“Yes, there is something,” Will said, “but I shouldn’t say here…”
One look at his apprehensive face told me I wasn’t going to like it, but all I could do was squeeze his hand as we came into the Abbey’s cavernous entrance hall. While Jazmina went to unlock one of the small side doors, Will leaned in and kissed me on the cheek.
Before pulling away, he whispered, “See you upstairs?”
I gave a terse nod and stepped back, heart still thumping wildly. Will left through the front door, offering Jazmina a polite smile on his way out. The young Sister blushed a deep crimson.
“How ever did you get that lucky, May?” she sighed as she closed the door behind him.
“Will is so handsome and sweet. I don’t understand why you stay here when you could have him.
” I frowned and put an arm around her shoulders.
Jazmina was several years my junior, but had been sent to the Abbey by her impoverished family in order to spare her from a life in the brothels.
For my part, I had never taken vows to officially join the Holy Sisterhood.
I hadn’t seen the necessity in it, since my life was already dedicated to serving the people of Nottingham, and to the Holy Family.
Besides, I still occasionally entertained the idea of marriage and children, especially when I was with Will.
This made Jazmina and I kindred spirits, since she was also inclined to ignore the Abbey’s rules when it suited her.
“If I left, the garden would wither and you would all starve, Jaz. Besides, young men are always handsome and sweet when you only see them once a week. If you have to live with one, I’m sure they’re far less appealing.”
“You’re right,” Jazmina giggled. “My brothers were completely odious, but Will’s family is somewhat highborn, so…
maybe he wouldn’t be as bad. When you do get out, you must promise to come back and tell me if I’m right.
” She winked and headed back toward the kitchens, while I continued through the Abbey toward the dormitories.
I was waylaid, however, by a gaggle of schoolgirls in gray linen dresses and crisp, white aprons, who were poking their heads out of a classroom door.
“Miss May! Miss May!” they cried when they spotted me. “Come! Come here!”
I couldn’t help but obey with a smile. Sister Tatyana was instructing today and gently begged her students to retake their seats, which they did.
“We are having our final history lesson of the season today,” she informed me, “and they have been searching for a willing victim to hear their recitation. Would you humor them, May, before they drive me to tears?”
“I would be honored, of course.” I tried not to show how impatient I was to get upstairs while the girls all stood and folded their hands in front of them, then watched Sister Tatyana count down on her fingers from five. When she finished, they began to chant in unison:
A King and Queen, two sons once bore,
Brothers who would go to war.
Bound by blood, but not by heart,
Their battles tore the land apart.
King Henrik ordered, as he died,
His sons to govern side-by-side,
Until one fathered his own heir,
So, power split between the pair.
Johar, the younger, made a claim,
That one young daughter to his name,
Meant he should take his father’s throne,
And raised vast armies of his own.
The elder, Rykard, had no son,
Nor wife, nor daughter, even one.
Still, he would not cede the crown,
And war consumed both field and town.
At last, there came a final clash,
And Rykard’s forces took the lash.
Into the Arden, soldiers ran,
But fresh slaughter there began.
The Faerie Court, with vicious claws,
Snapped up men between their jaws,
Into their flesh, the creatures tore,
And Rykard’s army was no more.
The Prince escaped this deadly fate,
And now, in exile, plans and waits.
But the crown, no Prince can wear,
Without a line, without an heir.
I clapped enthusiastically as the girls all tittered and giggled, clearly pleased with themselves for having remembered the entire poem.
“You will all thank Miss May for her attention now!” Sister Tatyana reminded them.
“Thank you, Miss May, for helping us to learn and remain faithful!” the girls called out. I gave them a quick curtsey, then marched down the corridor double time, taking the stairs two at a time until I reached the third floor, where my room was situated.
Since I was not officially part of the Holy Order, I had been given quarters somewhat separate from the Sisters—a tiny room which I suspected had once been a storage closet.
It had one feature worth appreciating, however: a narrow window, outside of which grew a robust crop of creeping vines.
They were so deeply rooted in the red sandstone wall that even Will’s considerable body weight could not tear them away, and he was already pulling himself over the windowsill when I drew the lock behind me.
He let out a loud huff as he fell onto my neatly-made bed.
“Shhh! Someone will hear!” I chided as I removed my dirt-smudged apron. Will just rolled and sat on the edge of the mattress to catch his breath.
“I think I know the Sisters’ schedules well enough by now to know that none of them are in the dormitory this time of day.
” He stood and met me in the center of the room, pulling me against his chest. I melted into him, tangling my fingers through his hair and my lips into his.
Our moments alone together were so rare, and I was determined to savor every drop of him.
If I was late for evening prayers, I would accept the lecture and the risk to my soul as the price of feeling loved every few weeks.
“May,” he breathed as my hands slipped beneath his shirt. “I have to…tell you…”
“Is it so urgent it cannot wait?” I whispered against his neck. His soft moan was answer enough, and he quickly had the laces on my dress undone.
“I need to taste you,” he murmured as he tugged the dress over my head, leaving only a simple cotton shift beneath. “It’s been so long.”
“I know,” I gasped, then pushed gently on his chest, guiding him back until he fell onto the bed.
His hands slipped beneath the cool fabric of the shift and drifted up my thighs, caressing and squeezing as our lips met again.
With a quick tug, he had the shift pulled down off my shoulders, and his mouth moved from my neck to my breasts.
“My sweet, beautiful May,” he whispered, dragging his lips across my pebbled skin. Before I could form a reply, his fingers were inside me and I gasped his name, digging my fingernails into his upper arms.
“More, Will, please,” I groaned under my breath.
He pushed deeper, setting every nerve in my body aflame.
I yanked the shift over my head and draped it on the rail of my tarnished brass bed, then quickly helped Will pull his own shirt off.
His exposed body looked like it had been sculpted from river clay by someone who knew their craft, and worshipped the male form.
I let my hands roam over the smooth planes of his stomach and chest, then brush over the line of hair running down from his navel.
He grabbed my wrists before I could follow it further, and laid back on the bed.
Slowly, he guided my hands to the railing above my pillow, which I seized and held onto like a lifeline as he held my hips and guided me forward.
I settled my knees on either side of his head, relishing the tickle of breath against the sensitive heat of my core.
“Holy gods, I’ve missed this,” he murmured, his thumbs now tracing twin patterns over my inner thighs.
“Don’t you dare blaspheme—” I started, but he silenced me with his tongue.
The bedrail felt like the only thing keeping me from floating to the ceiling as he held me to his mouth and I bucked my hips, seeking more pressure.
When he slipped his fingers back inside me too, I pitched forward and bit down on my own shift to keep from crying out.
“Perhaps you need something to do with your mouth, so you don’t give us away,” Will murmured. The vibration of his voice nearly sent me spinning out of control, and I shoved my mass of hair aside so I could smirk down at him.
“You do occasionally have good ideas, don’t you?”
Carefully, I swung one leg back over his body and turned, yanking at the buttons on his trousers, then sliding them down so I could take him in my mouth.
This was as far as we ever went—hands and lips and tongues on each other.
The heated, forbidden silence of lovers forced to drown themselves in as much pleasure as they could before being pulled away again.
It was never enough, but it was all we’d ever had.
When Will finally brought me to the peak, my body went rigid, wave after wave overtaking me in quick succession and blurring my vision.
I couldn’t help the sound I made, but it was quickly muffled when Will’s hips jerked up, filling my mouth and throat so I could make no noise at all for a few moments.
Once I was sure we had both come down, I pulled away and wiped my mouth on the kerchief lying nearby.
“May,” he sighed, sitting up and wrapping me in his arms from behind. I held him at bay, trying to clean his mouth too before he buried his face between my shoulder and neck.
“You filthy creature,” I laughed. “I hope you plan to jump in a fountain on your way home.”
“Why on earth would I want to wash away the scent of your delicious—”
I pressed my fingers over his mouth before he could finish, but he grabbed them and ran his lips over each one in turn.
“I know something that tastes better,” I said, leaning down to pull the little drawstring bag from my apron pocket.
Out of habit, I also ran my thumb over the surface of the magyk coin.
Without even looking, I could recognize the contours of the Huntress moth on one side, and what felt like a fox or wolf on the other.
I gave a small sigh of relief, then stretched out beside Will on the bed and passed him the bag of almonds.
He took a few out and dropped them into my mouth, watching as my eyes rolled back.
I only got honeyed almonds a few times a year, and Will never failed to bring me a bag before the harvest festival.
I’d been looking forward to them for weeks.
“Why do I even bother with the fingers and tongue when I could just make you come this way?” he asked in a husky voice, brushing his lips along the outside of my ear.
“I would prefer you do both,” I told him with a little grin. He fed me another and we fell back into our sweet, sacred silence.