The Conquest Read online

  “We will say we are out for a ride.”

  “At this time of morning? He will never believe it.”

  “I do not care, Elspeth. I want to do this. If ye do not want to go with me, then I understand.”

  Elspeth glanced past Rhiannon’s shoulder to the road ahead, before meeting her gaze once more. “I shall go.”

  Rhiannon hugged her. “Thank ye.”

  They crossed the bridge out of the castle, and could see him at a distance, riding at a slow gait.

  They mounted the horse, a task that took longer than it should have. Elspeth was as unskilled with horses as Rhiannon, but somehow they managed. Her father always insisted a lady ride sidesaddle, and that was exactly why she rode astride now. At least in this position she had balance and felt more in control.

  They rode for miles, and Rhiannon began to get anxious when Adelstan cut off toward the path that led to a pond surrounded by trees.

  Tethering his horse, he walked to the pond’s bank, then reached behind his head and lifted his tunic off.

  “Oh, my goodness, he’s lovely. Just lovely,” Elspeth whispered, an appreciative smile spreading over her face.

  Rhiannon held her breath as Adelstan placed the tunic over a tree branch. She wondered if he took such care because of the extensive, delicate embroidery at the neck and sleeves. Someone had taken great pains to sew the design. She ignored the stab of jealousy at the thought of who that woman might be.

  “Oh my,” Elspeth breathed with a wicked grin. “What a lovely body.”

  Indeed, Adelstan’s chest was wide and pleasing to the eye. His stomach toned, the definition of his abdominal muscles bunching with the slightest movement.

  Her own abdomen tightened, along with her nipples.

  Removing his boots, he then tugged at the cord of his braies, pushing them down past his lean hips, before stepping out of them. Just like with his tunic, he placed the braies over the tree branch.

  Rhiannon held her breath for a moment.

  He was turned so she could not see his cock, but she could see the high, firm globes of his buttocks.

  “Will ye look at that arse,” Elspeth said absently, biting her lower lip. “I swear the man is without a single flaw.”

  Rhiannon could only nod in agreement, her throat too tight to speak. Now this was what a man should be. Broad shouldered, a narrow waist, long, strong legs.

  Then he turned and both Rhiannon and Elspeth released a breath.

  “God’s breath, the man is truly blessed,” Elspeth said, adding a moan for good measure, her hand moving to her heart. “Bloody hell, he is as thick as my wrist.”

  Rhiannon did not have to ask what her maid meant by such a statement. In fact, the fingers of her right hand encircled her left wrist. “Aye,” she agreed, not daring to blink as a burning need filled her.

  Adelstan’s cock was not just thick but long, and it made her feel all fluttery inside, especially between her legs, as she continued to stare at his impressive appendage.

  “He is more man than most women could handle,” Elspeth murmured, and to Rhiannon’s horror, Adelstan turned and looked in their direction, his green eyes narrowing as he scanned the brush.

  Elspeth’s fingers wrapped around Rhiannon’s upper arm and they both froze. She would die from humiliation if he discovered them.

  Thankfully a flock of geese flew overhead.

  Watching their flight, Adelstan walked into the water and then disappeared beneath the surface.

  “We must go before he sees us,” Rhiannon said, her eyes glued to the water, her legs made of stone. She couldn’t leave if she wanted to. They had come too far to flee so soon. Plus, what would it hurt to watch just a little while longer?

  “Soon,” Elspeth replied, barely blinking, her full attention on the pond.

  “What if we are caught?”

  “No one will come, and we are well hidden.”

  Adelstan broke the surface and swam the length of the pond, his strong, muscular arms stroking the water with practiced precision.

  Elspeth glanced up and Rhiannon followed her gaze. The skies were dark, and in some places pitch black. And they were a good distance from the castle.

  To make matters worse, lightning flashed just as Adelstan broke the surface. He glanced up at the sky while treading water, looking not at all concerned.

  The rain started slow but with each minute the drops grew larger, and pounded down on the once still pond. Even Adelstan noticed it would not let up, for he started swimming back toward the shore.

  Elspeth shifted a little. “It’s raining so hard. I wonder how long it will last.”

  “I think we should go.”

  She nodded.

  With a lingering look at the pond, Rhiannon followed Elspeth out from their hiding place and toward the area where they had left their horse tethered.

  But Nessa was no longer there.

  “Where the hell did she go?” Elspeth asked, looking wildly about. “This is exactly where we left her, I’m sure of it.”

  “Sh,” Rhiannon said, lifting a finger to her lips. “Aye, this is the right place. She must be around here somewhere.”

  God’s breath, this could not be happening!

  Chances were good Adelstan would be out of the pond by now and soon would be dressed. Any minute now he could come upon them and realize what they were doing there.

  “Ye must not have tethered her tight enough.”

  “But I did!” Elspeth exclaimed, clamping her hand over her mouth.

  Rhiannon’s breath caught in her throat. Hopefully with the rain falling and the distance between them, Adelstan would not have heard Elspeth’s raised voice. Taking her by the hand, she rushed away from the pond, hoping to catch the horse.

  When they had run a short distance, Rhiannon dropped her hand.

  “Do ye know how long it will take us to walk back to the castle in this rain?” Elspeth said, clearly agitated. “Your father will be furious with both of us, but most likely he’ll have my head.”

  “I’m sorry, Elspeth. This is all my fault. I could not help myself.”

  The maid nodded in understanding. “Do not worry, lass. Nessa cannot be very far, and we’ll be back at the castle before anyone realizes we are gone.”

  Lightning flashed in the sky and thunder roared. Elspeth shrieked yet again.

  “Elspeth,” Rhiannon whispered under her breath.

  Elspeth winced. “Sorry.”

  Frustrated with herself more than Elspeth, who had come only out of duty to her, Rhiannon picked up her pace, damning the horse that had abandoned them. Given her luck, she would be struck by lightning.

  Mayhap that would not be so horrible, after all. At least then she would not have to marry an old Norman knight, and spend her days pining away for a man who could never be hers.

  “Perhaps Nessa will return to the castle, and Antony will come searching for us,” Elspeth said, hope in her voice as she caught up to Rhiannon.

  “Perhaps,” Rhiannon replied, hugging herself. “We should not have come.”

  Elspeth did not say anything, though Rhiannon knew she most certainly would agree. Now if Rhiannon could only forget what she had seen at the pond. Adelstan’s amazing body and his impressive cock.

  Though she shivered, her insides burned with an inner fire that no amount of rain could cool. In fact, now that she had seen all of him, she wanted him even more desperately.

  Worse still, she realized she would not rest until she knew Adelstan Cawdor intimately. Aye, never had she desired another as much as she desired the English knight. “I cannot believe we did this,” she said more to herself than to Elspeth.

  “I can,” Elspeth said with a saucy smile. “The man is sinfully beautiful.”

  Rhiannon glanced over at her friend. “Aye, he is, isn’t he?”

  “Aye, in fact, I think he is the most handsome man I have ever seen. No wonder all the women in the hall watched him last night. Had I been there, I probably would
have, too. His body is as beautiful as his face, and he is large where it counts most.” Elspeth sighed. “Nothing like a nice big cock to make a woman sigh with pleasure. Of course, being that big, it would be hard to take it fully.”

  “Scandalous woman,” Rhiannon breathed, ignoring the throbbing of her sex at the maid’s description of Adelstan’s manhood.

  Elspeth laughed coyly. “What I could do to that man.”

  “Stop it,” Rhiannon said, pushing away from Elspeth, who frowned at her.

  “Ye truly fancy him, don’t ye?”

  “I do not,” Rhiannon said, a touch too quickly.

  “Rhiannon, ye would not have followed him all this way had ye not liked him just a little.”

  “I should be struck by lightning.”

  Elspeth frowned. “Why, because ye desire a man? That is pure nonsense.”

  “He is not my intended, though.”

  Elspeth shrugged. “It does no harm to look.”

  “Aye, but looking only makes me want him more.”

  “Ye are not married yet.”

  “So that makes it right?”

  “It does not make it wrong. We cannot help who we are attracted to, just as we cannot help who we are not attracted to. I cannot imagine the thoughts going through your head, my dear. To learn your betrothed is older than your father has to be disconcerting.”

  “Aye, it is.”

  They walked in silence and the rain let up a little, but not for long. More black, angry clouds rolled in overhead.

  The quiet gave Rhiannon time to think of her future and her actions. Her father would be more than furious to hear she had been spying on Adelstan.

  True, Adelstan was handsome—to be sure—but what did she really know of the man? He could be mean and cruel for all she knew.

  Plus, she was to marry another man, and her future set in stone. Once she married, she could never have sex with another.

  Ever.

  Before her death, her mother had cupped Rhiannon’s face and said with a soft, sad smile, “Rhiannon, I hope one day ye shall know true love.”

  Back then she could not guess at her mother’s sorrow. How horrible to love a man who did not love you in return, and watch as he fell in love with someone else. How helpless she must have felt.

  Did her mother ever have a secret longing for another man? she wondered.

  “Lady Rhiannon, is that you?”

  “Bloody hell,” Elspeth muttered under her breath.

  Rhiannon turned slowly to find Adelstan sitting astride his horse, holding Nessa’s reins in one hand.

  “Adelstan, what on earth are ye doing here?” she asked, hoping she at least sounded surprised.

  She glanced at Elspeth, who stared at Adelstan with mouth open. Apparently she could expect little help from her dumbstruck friend.

  Adelstan’s surprised expression gave way to a smile that made her heart skip a beat.

  “Look, Elspeth, I believe Adelstan has found our wayward horse,” Rhiannon managed to say, now thankful for the cool rain that splattered against her suddenly heated cheeks. “We were out for a ride, and the horse it, um, leapt up—”

  Elspeth’s fingers bit into Rhiannon’s upper arm.

  Dear lord, she was blathering like an idiot.

  “She was probably frightened by the thunder,” he said, dismounting.

  Rhiannon shifted on her feet, hoping Elspeth would speak up and say something.

  Anything.

  Elspeth blinked a few times, an odd smile frozen on her lips.

  Adelstan’s hair was soaked from the recent swim and the rain that continued to fall. The blond locks stuck to the side of his neck, droplets disappearing into the vee of his tunic, where the slightest bit of olive skin showed.

  Aye, she remembered every inch of that lovely flesh. Her nipples extended against the kirtle and she guessed he noticed them by the direction of his gaze.

  “I had gone for a swim, and when I returned to my horse, I found another grazing beside him.” His gaze shifted over her once more, stopping for a moment at her waist, and lower still. Indeed, he could probably make out even more of her person through the soaked garment of her light-colored kirtle.

  His gaze slowly wandered to Elspeth, before returning to her. “So you said you were thrown from the horse?”

  “No,” she blurted at the exact same time Elspeth said, “Yes.”

  Please God, strike me dead.

  Rhiannon could feel her cheeks grow hotter by the second, especially when Adelstan’s brows knitted in confusion.

  “Not thrown as much as fell,” Rhiannon said, hoping he accepted her explanation. Her knees were a bit dirty from where she’d been kneeling in the brush spying on him, so the lie didn’t seem altogether impossible.

  Elspeth nodded. “Aye, that’s exactly the way it happened. Just what she said. It is fortunate ye came along, or we would be in a bad way, to be sure. Aye, we would be in a—”

  “He understands,” Rhiannon said, a tight smile on her lips.

  Adelstan turned his attention to Elspeth. “I do not believe we met last night. I am Adelstan of Braemere.”

  “I am Lady Rhiannon’s nur—”

  “Maid,” Rhiannon interjected, the sound of nurse seeming far too young.

  “I am Elspeth. A pleasure it is to meet ye, Adelstan of Braemere.”

  “It is nice to meet you as well, Elspeth.” Adelstan brushed a hand through his wet hair. “I had forgotten how fast the weather can change in Scotland. I am surprised the two of you journeyed so far from the castle.” He looked up at the angry sky. “Your father must be worried sick.”

  “Well, he doesn’t exactly know we left.”

  Adelstan’s lips curved in a smile that had her heart skipping a beat. “He said you were stubborn and strongwilled, and I have to say he might be right.”

  “Did he?” Rhiannon asked, not at all surprised her father would say such a thing to a virtual stranger.

  While he looked elsewhere, Elspeth stared boldly, her gaze sliding down his body slowly and stopping at, of all places, the large bulge between his thighs.

  Rhiannon coughed, and Elspeth’s gaze ripped back to his face.

  Adelstan looked at her with concern. “See, you have probably caught cold already. We had best return to the castle. Would one of you ladies like to ride with me?”

  Chapter 5

  Would she like to ride with him?

  Excitement rushed through Rhiannon and she nearly tripped over herself to say yes when Elspeth started walking straight toward Adelstan’s horse.

  Disappointment ate at Rhiannon’s insides as she followed behind, forlorn that she was stuck riding Nessa. That is, until Elspeth sidestepped Adelstan and tried with little success to mount Deirdre’s miserable excuse for a horse.

  God bless her! Adelstan walked over to Elspeth and told her to put a hand on his shoulder. He helped her mount before returning to assist Rhiannon, and settling behind her.

  Rhiannon yearned to lean back against him, to feel the hard expanse of his powerful chest and rock-hard stomach pressed against her back. Instead she held her back rigid, but was fully aware of the heat coming from him.

  “It is a long way to the castle. You may as well rest against me,” he said, his breath warm against her neck. And he smelled lovely, a fresh scent mingled with his own original essence. A scent she would never forget.

  “I do not wish for ye to be uncomfortable.” How breathy her voice sounded!

  “I am not uncomfortable, Rhiannon.”

  Rhiannon. Not Lady Rhiannon, just Rhiannon. She smiled despite her effort not to.

  Slowly she leaned against him, and had to swallow a sigh. His body felt wonderful, so warm and strong. They fit perfectly together, as though they were made for each other. Savoring his heat, she nuzzled closer.

  To her shock, she felt something suspicious against her bottom and lower back.

  “You must be freezing,” he said, his arms resting lightly against her thi
ghs.

  “Aye, a little,” she said, her teeth chattering.

  “I think more than a little,” he said, humor in his voice; his large hands on either side of her upper arms. The next second he was moving them up and down her arms in an effort to warm her. Goose bumps rose on her flesh, and not from cold, but rather from excitement. She closed her eyes, well aware Elspeth could be watching the exchange. She just hoped Adelstan did not feel the sudden acceleration of her heart.

  “Does that help?”

  “Aye,” she said, her voice low and husky.

  “Tell me the truth. Where were you headed when you were thrown from the horse?”

  Her heart leapt. Had he seen the two of them spying on him? “Out for a ride.”

  “On a day such as this?” He sounded surprised.

  “We live in the Highlands, Adelstan. It is unusual if it does not rain,” Elspeth said with a wink that made Adelstan laugh, and Rhiannon grinned, pleased with the maid’s quick thinking. “We are accustomed to such weather. Plus, we do not like sitting indoors and sewing all day. We are of tough Scottish stock, after all.”

  “I’ve no doubt of that, Elspeth, but even tough Scottish women should know better than to leave the castle and not bring a cloak with them.”

  “But ye didn’t either, Adelstan.”

  “Aye, but I am used to the cold.”

  Rhiannon heard the humor in his voice and smiled.

  She glanced back at him, her heart hammering in her breast. How handsome he was with his hair wet, and slicked back from his beautiful face. “When we left the castle, it was not raining.”

  “Nor did we plan to journey so far,” Elspeth added, which was the truth.

  “I am surprised your father allows you such freedom given the fact these are times of war.”

  “My father has little say in what I do.” She tried to keep the edge from her voice but failed.

  He stared at her, his gaze slipping to her lips. Her stomach tightened. Was that desire she saw in those light green depths, or was she seeing only what she wanted to see?

  He licked his bottom lip and Rhiannon did the same. “Do ye have any other siblings, aside from your brother?”

  “Bac is my half brother, born to Deirdre while my mother was still alive. She made no effort to hide the pregnancy, and when he was born, my father jumped at the chance to call him his legal heir.”