The clash of metal against metal drew his gaze back to the battling couple. Hugh watched his wife attack Lucan. She was very aggressive in her assault and he found himself watching with fascination. Her arms strengthened daily, her body becoming more supple. He'd noticed newly developed muscles in bed as he'd smoothed the liniment into her nak*d flesh. His hands would move over the hard muscles, first making them relax, then causing them to tense for a different reason. Hugh would allow his fingers to brush the sides of her br**sts as he worked on her back, or glance against the core of her as he worked on her legs. Then he would turn her and allow his hands to close over and cup her br**sts, his -
"Enough!" he barked suddenly. " 'Tis time to stop."
Willa and Lucan turned to him with surprise, but it was Willa who spoke. " 'Tis not! 'Tis hours 'til supper."
"You are tired," Hugh said firmly. Moving forward, he removed her sword and handed it to Lucan.
"Nay. I am not tired," Willa denied as he took her arm to urge her toward the keep.
"Then I am," Hugh said.
"What is that to do with me?" Willa bounded up the steps to the keep at his side.
"A good wife helps her husband relax," Hugh announced arrogantly. Before she could protest further, he paused and scooped her into his arms. Then he pressed a kiss to her lips. It started out a firm "Be silent. I am the king of this castle" kiss, but ended an "I want you. I need you... now" kiss.
Willa's protests died as her passions stirred. One afternoon off wasn't so much, she decided as she began to kiss Hugh back.
She felt herself jostled as he began to move again, but caught his head in her hands and refused to let him break the kiss when he tried. When Willa finally did let him lift his head away, they were inside and halfway across the great hall. Now that he could actually see where he was going, her husband began to move quickly again. He took the steps to the second floor at a jog and was soon kicking the bedchamber door closed behind them.
Willa glanced around the room that used to be Lord Richard's. She still wasn't use to thinking of it as theirs. They had only moved into the room the week before. Thanks to Willa's preoccupation with training, and Eada and the others being busy making her new gowns, it had taken longer than expected to clear out Lord Richard's things and move theirs in. Her attention was recaptured by Hugh when he set her on the floor and began tugging impatiently at her gown.
Laughing, Willa batted at his hands. "Husband, you will rip my gown."
Hugh paused to smile at her. "A brilliant idea, wife." In the next moment, he'd grasped the neckline of her gown and ripped it open to the waist. Willa sucked in a breath, then gaped at him.
"Jollivet has had several new gowns made for you." He reached out to touch one soft breast. "This ugly old one shall not be missed."
His head followed his hand and he latched on to her nipple. Willa swallowed thickly. She felt sure she should reprimand him for ruining a perfectly good gown. But it was ugly, and he was doing such delightful things to her that she couldn't seem to muster the energy to berate him. Instead, she caught his head in her hands and drew his mouth up for a kiss. The moment he began to kiss her back, she let her hands drop to work on his clothes.
She attacked his belt first. The sword hanging from it made a loud clatter as it hit the floor. Willa then began tugging at his shirt, forcing him to break the kiss she'd initiated so that she could drag it over his head. She chuckled happily, and ran her hands over his chest. He had such a lovely, wide and strong chest. It was a pleasure to be free to touch it. Willa had learned a lot this last month, and not all of it had been on the practice field. She'd learned not to be shy of touching her husband and now knew various ways to pleasure him.
She let one hand slide down inside the front of his braies to clasp him and smiled when he groaned. Oh yes, a break was definitely a good idea, Willa thought, as he claimed her lips again. She slipped her hand back out and set to work on the ties of his braies, undoing them quickly and smiling her satisfaction against his mouth as the cloth dropped away.
Hugh growled deep in his throat as she returned to fondling him, then pushed the remains of her gown off her shoulders so that she was nak*d, as well. He started to urge her back toward the bed then, but paused and broke their kiss with a curse. Following his gaze down, Willa allowed a chuckle to slip from her lips. The braies had tangled round his legs, impeding forward movement.
Hugh raised one eyebrow at her amusement, then pushed her back onto the bed. Still chuckling, Willa watched him struggle to remove his boots and braies and opened her arms to him as he came down on top of her. Then they began to kiss in earnest. Willa scraped her nails over his back and buttocks, before finding his manhood. She clasped him as he kissed her neck and caressed her br**sts. Tension building within her, she caught her free hand in his hair and dragged his head up, demanding a kiss. Then she twisted suddenly, catching him by surprise and tumbling him onto his back. She immediately slithered atop him, straddled his thighs, then sat up to smile triumphantly.
Willa had just taken his hardness into her when a knock sounded at the door. Both of them froze briefly, then irritation flickered on Hugh's face and he snapped, "Go away."
"Er...'tis Lord Wynekyn," came the announcement through the door.
Hugh rolled his eyes, then gritted his teeth as Willa shifted, taking him deeper into her. His voice was harsh when he asked, "What is it? Can it not wait?"
"Nay, well... nay. A messenger from the king has arrived."
Hugh cursed. Willa felt like joining him, but merely slid off to sit on the bed.
"I shall be right down," Hugh called and sat up to kiss her. It was a quick, hard kiss; then he stood and began to dress.
Feeling chill without his heat to warm her, Willa slid under the furs and watched him don his braies and boots again. He then bent over the bed to give her another quick kiss and said, "Wait here. I shall be back directly. We can then continue this... discussion."
They shared a grin, and Hugh grabbed up his tunic. He donned it as he left the room.
Chapter Nineteen
Willa shifted on the furs and grimaced into the darkness of the tent. She had a terrible need to relieve herself... again. It was a frequent problem of late, though it had only become inconvenient since the beginning of this journey.
They were on their way to court. Willa had no idea what the king's messenger had said, but Hugh had returned to their room after meeting with him to announce that they were leaving for court the next day. He'd said they were going to pledge their fealty and resolve the matter of her father once and for all. Willa had felt a touch queasy ever since.
Her father. Lord Tristan D'Orland. The man who was trying to kill her. Or, at least, the man whose nephew was trying to kill her... presumably at his behest.
Her discomfort forced her back to the matter at hand and Willa scowled with displeasure. They'd had to stop often and repeatedly that day to allow her to tend to this very need. It was most annoying. It was also embarrassing, since everyone had to stop and wait on the path for Hugh to lead her off into the woods to find a handy bush. Of course, he would insist on accompanying her, which had only made the matter more embarrassing for Willa. She supposed it was odd after all the intimate things they had done, but she found it rather mortifying to relieve herself over a log while her husband stood guard inches away.
Willa rolled onto her side and peered at the dark shape of her husband. She wished she could hold it until morning. Unfortunately, her body wasn't cooperating.
Making a face, she considered slipping out on her own to tend the matter, but knew that would infuriate Hugh. Besides, the idea of creeping about alone in the dark woods was rather daunting. Then, too, even if she'd found the courage to do so, there was a guard sitting by the fire in the center of the camp. She wasn't likely to slip past him undetected.
"Husband?" She gave him a gentle shake. Hugh snuffled in his sleep and rolled away from her. Willa shook him more vigorously. "Husband?"
He muttered something in his sleep and shrugged her hand away.
Willa scowled. She really had to go. She punched his arm. "Husband!"
"What? What!" He sat upright at once, taking the furs with him. Willa slid off the camp bed she and Eada had made earlier and felt around for her gown.
"Willa?" He hissed. "What is happening?"
"I am getting dressed, I have to go..."
"Go?" She could hear the frown in his voice. "Go where?"
"I have to go... you know." She grimaced into the darkness as she found her gown and pulled it on, then added meaningfully, "Now."
"Again?" There was no mistaking the irritation in his voice. It sparked a responding irritation in Willa. It was not as if she wished to go. Nor was it her fault. She didn't know why she was so plagued by the need of late.
"You needn't exert yourself, husband. I can tend the matter on my own. I simply did not wish you to get upset with me for wandering off alone." Forsaking her shoes, she sailed out of the tent in a fine snit.
"Willa!" Much cursing and rustling sounded inside the tent and she could imagine him bumping blindly about in search of his clothes. Willa offered an embarrassed smile to the guard when he glanced curiously her way, then began to tap her foot as she waited outside the tent flap. Hugh charged out a moment later in only his braies, nearly knocking her to the ground in his rush. He sighed his relief as he steadied her.
"I thought you had left without me," he explained.
Nodding, Willa turned and led the way into the woods. She hadn't gone far when her annoyance petered out under nervousness... and that embarrassed her, too. She'd grown up in an isolated cottage in the midst of the woods. She should not be so tense and anxious now. But she was.
"What is it?" Hugh asked in hushed tones when she paused.
"I cannot see where I am going," Willa lied. It was dark, but it was also a clear night and the stars were shining brightly. Her eyes had adjusted quickly and though she was not able to see as well as she could during daylight, she could make out trees and logs and things in her path as darker shadows. She simply wanted him to lead the way. Which he did. Taking her hand, Hugh stepped around her and began to lead her deeper into the trees.
It wasn't long before he stopped. Apparently he'd found a place he felt was appropriate. Willa peered at the dark spot he gestured to and grimaced. She was suddenly beset with a vast list of concerns. Snakes, poison ivy, insects and night creatures were among them.
"Well?" Hugh prompted.
Willa pushed her concerns aside and moved to tend to the matter. It was no less embarrassing a chore in the dark than it had been in daylight and she decided that traveling - something she'd done rarely in the past - was perhaps not for her. First off, Hugh would not let her ride astride. He'd not even been willing to consider it. No wife of his was going to wear braies and ride astride. Even after a whole day riding sidesaddle, she still found the position uncomfortable. Willa wasn't one to think of herself as needing coddling, but this traveling business was a damned nuisance all the way around.
"Are you done?" Hugh whispered and Willa rolled her eyes at the question. Surely he could hear that she wasn't done? To her, it sounded as loud as a down-pour of rain in the silent night. It was on that thought that she suddenly realized how silent the forest was. The rustle of night creatures had died. The night was still. She knew this was a bad sign.
Finishing quickly, Willa straightened. She set her clothes back in order as she joined her husband. When she touched Hugh's arm, she found him hard with tension. He was almost humming with it. Willa let her gaze slide over the shadows surrounding them. None of them seemed out of place or alarming. There was a tree, another tree, another tree that moved. Willa's nails dug into Hugh's arm, but he'd apparently seen it as well, and was even then grabbing her arm and dragging her behind a tree. Willa listened to her thundering heart and watched the dark outline of her husband. She was trying to judge by his pose whether he thought they had been spotted.
After a few moments of tense silence, she moved her mouth to his ear and whispered, "The guard."
Calling out for the guard at camp to come aid them seemed a good idea to her, but Hugh shook his head. Willa settled in to wait, then nearly gasped aloud when Hugh's grip suddenly tightened on her arm and he drew her slowly backward through the trees. When he paused again after a few moments, she pressed her mouth to his ear again and asked, "Why do we not just call the guard?"
"Because 'twould pinpoint our position, and I left my sword behind in my rush to follow you," he hissed back. Then he added, "He is between us and camp. He may just be one of our men looking to relieve himself as well, but I cannot be sure, and without a sword I dare not - " His words died an abrupt death as something whistled past their heads. Then Hugh suddenly whirled her around and shouted. "Run!"
Willa broke into a sprint at once. Crashing blindly through the trees, she winced as branches slapped at her face and pulled at her hair. It was possible the guard at camp had heard Hugh's shout and might come to their aid, but it didn't seem prudent to wait for him with arrows flying past their heads - for that was what that whistle had been, an arrow sailing by. Whoever the shadow was, he obviously wasn't one of the men seeking to relieve himself.
Aware that Hugh was at her back, vulnerable to any future arrows the man might send their way, Willa ran as fast as her legs would carry her. She had no desire to lose Hugh now.
Her husband jerked on her arm, turning her to the right, and Willa continued in that direction without breaking stride. She managed to avoid colliding with a tree by doing a twisting turn that Lucan had shown her to avoid an oncoming blow from a sword. The action briefly broke Hugh's hold on her, but when it returned seconds later, she guessed that he'd avoided the tree as well.
After several moments, Hugh suddenly jerked her to the left, though not as sharply as the first turn. She again continued to run without faltering. Willa was sure that her training during the last month was the only reason she was able to run as far and fast as she did. She was just starting to tire when the trees suddenly fell away. That was enough to make her slow. Unprepared for this sudden action on her part, Hugh trod painfully on the back of her heel. Despite that, Willa was grateful for her caution when she realized the deeper darkness yawning ahead was the edge of a cliff. She stumbled to a halt at once, throwing her arms out to prevent Hugh from racing past her.