Chapter Twenty

Rowenna’s body rocked against the cold stone with delicious violence. She wrapped her legs around Jasper’s waist, and they hung together by their mouths. His fingers dug into her bottom under her skirts, sending shoots of desire up into her belly, and Rowenna pulled him in, grasping him with her thighs. The pleasure grew too intense and she had to stifle her cries by biting his shoulder lest anyone hear them.

As a lover, Jasper was insatiable, and she wondered if all men were like that. Being an innocent to her marriage bed, she had nothing to compare him to. But Rowenna was sure of one thing. Her heart beat faster when Jasper walked into a room. Her cheeks heated at the memory of what his body did to hers. She craved his touch, his company, and she needed him, in and out of bed.

Ever since succumbing to his charms to save her brother, Rowenna discovered that Jasper Glendenning was changeable. His lovemaking could be leisurely, teasing her to the edge of passion and holding her there until she begged him to go on. He was gentle, tender and quiet, rousing her with the lightest of touches, taking his time to bring her to ecstasy. At those times, it was as if he could not bear to give voice to his need.

Lately, she was taken aback by Jasper’s virility in all its fury. Once she proved willing, he seemed to crave her endlessly. If he came upon her around Kransmuir, be it night or day, he would drag her into his bed or simply have her wherever he happened to find her. Sometimes, it was the cellars, hay loft, and even out in the woods up against a tree.

A look would come upon him as if a mask had dropped, and then he would unleash his need upon her. There would be no stopping him, not that she wanted him to stop, far from it. At those times, making love to Jasper was like being devoured by a hungry lion – ripping at her clothes, furious, unbridled, as if he would die to have her. And now was such a time. He had barely stopped to lock the door and pull down her bodice before having her up against the wall.

He stopped moving. ‘Are you close?’ he panted. His voice excited Rowenna - deep, smooth, and with darkness behind it.

‘Aye. Very. Why are you stopping?’

He gave her a wicked grin. ‘Just catching my breath,’ he said, and heaved her over to the bed, and threw himself down on top of her. What followed was a frantic coupling, fierce and pleasurable almost beyond bearing. By the time the sun began to lower, Rowenna’s face glowed from Jasper’s endless rough kisses, and she was a little sore from taking him inside her repeatedly.

She glanced at him, lying naked beside her, a sheen of their mutual sweat drying on his skin. A red mark had appeared where her teeth had sunk into his shoulder. Suddenly, she felt fortunate in her husband. She had begun to think of him like that now. Jasper was golden, muscular and wonderful to look at. He had a vigorous, hard body that crushed while it protected. Rowenna loved the heaviness of him, his power, his broad hands. She loved what his fingers and mouth could do to her, and she was in awe of his manhood to the point where she would wake him at night to have it deep inside her.

Sometimes, she would giggle to herself, scarcely believing that she had tamed such a fierce man. Happiness had crept slowly upon Rowenna, but a cloud remained in her blue sky. It was getting harder to find time to slip away to the dungeon and Bran. She had to find a way out of her predicament, and now was as good a time as any, though guilt made blood rush to her cheeks.

Jasper marvelled at Rowenna’s beauty. It seemed to swell beyond bearing just after they had coupled. Looking at her made his throat ache. He stroked her breast. Must he be forever touching her? Aye, for the witch had cast her spell all too well.

‘You are so soft, lass. Your skin is like silk,’ he said.

He had not bothered to get under the blankets, even though it was growing cold. His manhood lay soft against his belly, but it would stiffen soon, and it would serve her all night long.

‘Did I please you, Jasper?’ she said.

‘More than you could know,’ he said, kissing her forehead softly. ‘I am exhausted, but I cannot stop having you.’

‘I am sorry for the bite,’ she said, reaching over and kissing it.

‘Tis no matter. I quite enjoyed it. The pain spurred me on. Did you not notice?’

‘I did.’ She laughed. ‘If we carry on in this sinful way, there will be a bairn on the way.’

Jasper froze. ‘Is there?’

‘Not yet. But soon, I think.’

‘Aye, for I am tireless, am I not?’

‘You are.’

Rowenna straddled him and planted a soft kiss on his lips. Her long, gilded hair brushed his face, mirroring the feathery touch of her fingers as they found his manhood and raised it again. She was achingly lovely in the dusk’s soft light, and within moments, he was inside her, his pleasure building when she gasped at how deep he went.

Rowenna took a ragged breath. ‘Seeing as I am working so hard for your pleasure and your heir, may I ask something of you,’ she said, her words, nervous, tumbling out too fast.

Jasper knew what was coming, but a gut punch of anger and disappointment choked him. Rowenna had been clever enough to wait a while and get him firmly on the hook before she made her move. He prayed she would not say the words he dreaded, which would humble him before a woman again.

‘Anything for you, my love,’ he said, wariness tainting his words. ‘Is this why your lust for me was so unbridled today, because you wanted something from me, my love?’

She blushed prettily, eyelashes fluttering. Did she use that blush knowingly or was it just God-given?

‘This feud with my family, can you not set it aside for the sake of peace? Can you not forgive Bran for his transgressions? He is young and foolish. I am sure he never meant to wrong you. And he has yet to come home.’ Her wide eyes were dark pools of innocence as Jasper’s fingers found her hips and stroked. ‘Perhaps if you put the word out that he is forgiven, he would return.’

‘Perhaps he has crawled back home already. For all you know, he is as drunk as a lord at Fallstairs or on top of some whore, even as we speak.’

His harsh words raised a frown on Rowenna’s bonnie face, but she was not deterred.

‘Either way, if you make it known that you will not punish Bran, then we can be sure he will return. We could put all this vexation behind us.’

Her mouth took his again, slick, hot and exciting, beating back his good sense. Jasper had to admire her guile.

‘I suppose we could, for the sake of unity between our two houses,’ he said.

‘So you agree? Will you cancel all debts and threats against us, MacCreadies? And Bran will be free to make amends.’

‘That would make you happy, wouldn’t it?’ Jasper had to force the smile onto his face.

‘Aye. And I will make you happy in return,’ she said, sliding a hand up his chest and rocking her hips, grinding against his cock. It was the worst thing she could have done. The traitorous thing swelled in spite of the bitterness choking Jasper’s throat.

He sighed heavily. ‘So, we are here at last.’

‘Where?’ Rowenna’s smile was broad and utterly beguiling.

‘You took your time asking, not that I am complaining. It is very enjoyable having you. I admire your patience.’

‘I don’t take your meaning,’ she said. Her smile faded at the taint of anger in his voice.

‘You mount me and then ask for favours, like any common whore, all for the sake of a man who is not fit to lick my boots. How can you ask me this when I am still inside you?’

Rowenna took a sharp intake of breath at his cruelty. She stopped moving. ‘Am I not to ask for leniency for my family?’

He stroked his fingers down her body, sliding them over the soft little dip of her belly button. ‘Ah, but that is not what you are asking, is it?’

‘Jasper, I don’t take your meaning. I only ask that you spare your wrath where my brother is concerned.’

‘Aye, your brother, who is currently enjoying a stay in the bowels of Kransmuir.’ He looked her straight in the eye. ‘Don’t pretend that you did not know. That witch of a wet nurse has been telling you her tales, hasn’t she? You have known for weeks, and since then, you have set about seducing me to soften me up for when you made your move. How deliciously devious you are, Rowenna.’

She did not bother to deny it. She leapt off him, freeing his cock, and gathered the sheets about her, but Jasper dragged them away. Let her flesh be laid as bare as her sin.

Rowenna was cornered, so she went on the attack. ‘And what about your deceit? You threw Bran in your dungeon and said nothing. You let me…you made me care for you and….’

‘Enough with the lies. You care nought for me, and you never will. And I threw your worm of a brother into a dungeon because he was seen killing my cattle, allying himself with my enemies.’

‘If he was led astray by the Gunns, that is because he is a fool and…’

‘Twas not the Gunns. It was far worse. Bran is in league with the English, with the Warden of the Marches - the man intent on destroying us. I am married to a woman whose brother wishes me dead. How am I to trust in you now?’

‘Jasper, please.’

‘Jasper, please,’ he said. He could feel the sneer riding his face but was powerless to suppress it. ‘That is what you cry out when I am inside you, but it is just for show, isn’t it? You feign passion to get your own way. Ah, Rowenna, lying with you has been such sweet oblivion. It would have been sweeter had you been willing.’

‘No. You have it all wrong. I know how it must look, but I was not pretending. I swear.’

‘Save your lies, Rowenna. And know this. You did too good a job of tempting me. You excite me more than any woman I have ever known. And now I find you have a ruthlessness to match mine. So no matter what punishment I mete out to your brother, you will keep letting me into your bed and your lovely deceitful body whenever I want, with no complaint.’

‘Jasper, stop it, that is horrible. This is not you.’

‘Oh, aye, it is.’ He grabbed her wrist. The skin was so soft, delicate bones moving beneath his fingers as she tried to wriggle free. Was it beyond him to be gentle? Was he just a big lumbering brute hammering her sweetness every night?

‘You may as well know the real man you married, lass. I am the monster you always thought me.’

‘No. There is good in you. I know it. These last weeks, I have been with a kind, merciful man who makes me want him. Was that all a show on your part?’

‘No more a show than your pretend affection these last weeks.’

‘When did you know?’

‘A good while.’

‘So, were you making love to me or using me?’

‘I was waiting for the hammer to fall, my love, as it always does. A small part of me hoped you would not ask, that you truly wanted me, maybe even liked me a little. But you have disappointed me. It is the way with all women.’

Rowenna leapt out of bed and wriggled into her clothes. Jasper could not move. He just watched from the bed, wanting and hating her all at once.

‘I thought you wanted to stay abed, lass,’ he said, narrowing his eyes.

‘I have changed my mind.’

‘If I say I will free Bran, will you change it back again? I was never going to kill your brother, you know.’

Rowenna stood up to him, though her voice waivered, full of tears that threatened to fall. He almost loved her for going on the attack when she was cornered.

‘You will do as you like, Jasper,’ she spat.

‘Very well. I will free the worm. All your hard work has paid off. Well, bonnie, what is it to be?' he said, patting the bed. ‘Shall we seal the bargain?’

She glowered at him, fierce and beautiful in her anger. ‘Do what you will with my brother. He sealed his own fate long ago. But, Jasper, if you cannot believe that what we have shared these last weeks was real, then you are an ignorant man as well as a cruel one, and I’ll not have you again, ever.’

‘Much good that will do you, withholding your affection. Remember, you can only sell your innocence once.’

‘I never sold it. You took it.’

‘Rowenna, you are a lying bitch, and the worst of it is, just for a moment, I thought you might be something else.’

‘And I thought you might be a decent man, one I could care about. And I am not the liar here. You are. I am not ashamed of lying with you. I did it because I wanted you, because I…’

‘Because you what?’ Jasper hung on to her next words, pathetic and craven, like a cur showing its belly.

‘It does not matter now. You do not deserve my affection, Jasper, and you never have.’

‘And I feel the same about you, Rowenna.’

‘So, we are equals, at last.’

She rushed to the door but fumbled to unlock it.

‘Where are you going, bonnie?’

‘As far away from you as possible.’

Jasper leapt out of bed and took hold of her. In all her anger, eyes flashing, he longed to kiss her. Would it wash the bitterness out of his heart or melt the anger from her face? Could he kiss Rowenna until she felt for him what he had begun to feel for her?

Instead, he turned the key and opened the door wide. ‘Leave my sight. I cannot bear to look at you,’ he said.

***

Rowenna sought sanctuary in the nursery, only to find Osla cooing over her lad. He was slurping on her breast, and Caitrin was in her cot. Rowenna took hold of Jasper’s bairn.

‘Be careful. I just put her down for a sleep,’ whispered Osla.

‘Can I take her for a while and get some air?’

‘Aye, be good to have one off my hands, for I am worn out,’ said the woman. ‘Seems you are tired too. There’s dark circles under those bonnie eyes, and we all know who has put them there,’ she chuckled. ‘It is our lusty laird who can’t keep his hands off you. You will have a bairn of your own to cradle soon enough.’

‘Don’t be too sure,’ mumbled Rowenna, cradling the bairn against her neck and rushing out. It was unbearable. Even Osla thought her a whore.

Burning with shame, Rowenna made her way out onto the battlements. She had taken refuge up there many times when she felt it might be best just to throw herself off. But her life had become more bearable, and now she sought a spot that was out of the wind where the sun hit, and she stood against the stone as dusk cast its glow. The sun was gold like Jasper’s hair, the sky deep blue, like his eyes. But those eyes had been so cold when they looked upon her.

What was she to do? She was caught fast, not by Jasper’s power over her, but by her affection for him. There, she had acknowledged it. Even amid his cruelty and her anger, it was an inescapable fact. She held his precious daughter in her arms. She had begun to imagine a life with Jasper and children of her own - an escape from struggle and loneliness with the love of a good man. What folly to think she could be his helpmate, loyal companion and passionate lover. She could no more hold Jasper Glendenning than she could hold the wind.

A footstep made her turn in alarm.

‘What are you doing up here with my granddaughter? Give her to me at once.’

Joan Glendenning held out her arms, and the hateful Glenna stood beside her. Rowenna was so shocked to see them that she did as she was told and handed Caitrin over.

‘Did you wish her harm? Were you going to throw her over the edge?’ sneered Glenna.

‘Of course not. Why would I do that?’

‘You are a savage. That is why.’ Joan glowered. ‘Never come near her again, do you hear me?’

‘Jasper said I could spend time with her.’ Would he want her to now? Perhaps all that had changed. He had not told her that his mother and sisters were coming back to torment her. Was this a punishment? With Joan’s hostile stare and Glenna’s casual cruelty, it certainly felt like it.

‘She should not be alone with the little one,’ said Glenna.

‘Your brother allows me to tend the bairn,’ said Rowenna.

‘He has a wet nurse for that.’

‘Aye, but he encouraged me to do it, for the bairn needs a mother.’

‘I am mother enough,’ said Joan. ‘Caitrin does not need your influence, and you should be labouring to get your own child, not daydreaming your life away up here.’

‘I just saw Jasper ride away. He will have gone to debauch himself, no doubt,’ said Glenna with a smirk.

‘Why is he not in your bed, putting a bairn in your belly?’ said Joan.

An image of them making love sprang into Rowenna’s head – her spread out beneath Jasper as he growled her name into her hair and shuddered to a release. It had felt so perfect, and now it was sullied by his lies, by hers. Suddenly, Rowenna was exhausted with her life.

‘Well, lass, speak,’ demanded Joan.

‘Please, can you not just leave me in peace?’

‘Insolent lass. I will say my words, for I was banished from Kransmuir on your account, and so were my daughters.’ Joan came closer, her pinched face a study in cruelty. ‘But I am back now, and I would know. Are you with child?’

‘No.’

‘Then do your duty more diligently, for what use are you otherwise? Do not let my son go off whoring and wasting his seed on slatterns.’

The very thought of it made Rowenna want to pitch Joan Glendenning off the battlements. ‘If your son is partial to whores, then it is his choice and his sin, not mine,’ said Rowenna.

‘You must gain his interest. You are bonnie enough to tempt the most fastidious of men in a wild kind of way. Stop withholding your favours.’

Joan walked inside, leaving her to the mercy of Glenna, who sported a smug grin.

‘I hear from servants’ gossip that you have not been withholding anything.’

‘Oh, go away, Glenna, for you are tiresome.’

‘Jasper has done the deed, hasn’t he? I am sure of it, for there is a soiled look about you.’

Rowenna slapped her hard.

Glenna leapt back, clutching her cheek. ‘How dare you! I will tell my mother, and you will be whipped for this.’

‘I’ll not be here to suffer a whipping,’ cried Rowenna.

‘Good, for you were never going to survive here. A slattern like you is no match for his dead wife or that other one. He loved Brenna Curwen, and he will never love you. All you are is a vessel to bear his brats.’

‘If you want another slap, keep talking,’ said Rowenna, raising her arm.

Glenna beat a hasty retreat. Like all bullies, she backed down when challenged, yet her words had sliced deep. A horrible weakness overcame Rowenna, and she sank to her knees on the cold stone and sobbed. She had lain with Jasper so passionately. They had been as one body, one soul. He had opened her eyes to the delights of being with a man.

‘I cannot bear to look at you,’ he had said, with such coldness in his eyes. Had he only cared for her while she was his obedient little whore? Perhaps that was the kind of wife he wanted, not one with a mind of her own, not a woman who defied and lied to him. Not one who wanted to share and confide and stand by his side as an equal.

And he was a villain. Had he not also lied to her? Jasper had locked up her brother and lied so that he could get her into his bed. Aye, Jasper was as bad as her, worse in fact.

Rowenna hauled herself to her feet. This weakness would not do. She wiped her tears away as a plan formed in her mind, and anger swallowed her misery. She headed to the stables, determined to leave Jasper Glendenning, Kransmuir, and all its troubles behind.