Chapter 21

"I must get to Chertsey before it's too late!"

Brianna hurried to the stables and saddled Venus. She told no one where she was going, nor did she ask the queen for permission to leave. She had only one thought, one goal, and it blocked out everything else. I must get to Chertsey before it's too late.

Brianna rode the seven miles at full gallop. All manner of doubts assailed her. What if he hadn't gone to Chertsey? Or, if by some miracle he had, would he be long gone before she arrived? She tried to banish her doubts, for with each successive mile her need to see Wolf Mortimer grew stronger.

When she arrived at the castle, the hour was still early. She slid from the saddle and led her horse into the stables.

"Wolf!" She cried out his name, overjoyed to see him, praying that he was real and not an apparition. "You're here!"

"I was waiting for you…I hoped you'd come." His dark face, usually so fierce, broke into a grin.

The sight of him made her giddy. She deliberately slid her betrothal ring from her finger and slipped it into her saddlebag. "He did it! He escaped from the Tower!" She ran into his arms and he picked her up and swung her about. They were both laughing and so filled with joy they were euphoric. Suddenly the world seemed an enchanted place and Chertsey Castle the most glorious spot on earth because they were there together.

Shadow, who had been at Wolf's side when Brianna came into the stables, stretched her head back and let out a rejoicing howl. The elemental cry sent them off into another paroxysm of laughter and Brianna clung to Wolf so she wouldn't fall down.

Brianna sobered for a moment and wiped away tears of mirth. "Shadow is exultant that you are free, and so am I."

"Let's spend the day together. We can have a wild ride through the forest and let her hunt."

"Yes, just the three of us. There's nothing I would rather do, nowhere I would rather be than here with you."

"You haven't eaten."

"Not for days. Have you?"

He shook his head. "I was waiting for you." He took her hand. "Come on."

Suddenly, the thought of having breakfast together, sharing food, filled her with delight. "Have you met Mrs. Croft, the steward's wife?"

"I met them both around three this morning. I didn't have to waken them—apparently Shadow did that, padding about and howling like a lunatic. Her wild instincts told her I was coming."

Just as your wild instincts told you I was coming. "Didn't the castle guard stop you?"

He grinned down at her. "Eluding guards is my favorite game."

Her eyes sparkled with admiration. "The Mortimers do it so well."

"We do everything well," he assured her.

"Cocksure Welsh devil!"

"And then some." His gray eyes lit with amusement.

"It's good to see you laugh. You are usually so stark and fierce, you frighten me."

"Little liar." He drew her fingers to his lips. "You are afraid of neither man nor beast." He growled deep in his throat and pretended to bite her.

She laughed up at him, delighted that he could be playful.

When they entered the kitchen, Mrs. Croft beamed. "Lady Brianna, Shadow's master told me to expect you. Sit down and eat, everything's ready."

She served them oatmeal porridge with rich cream and golden syrup. She also set a platter of gammon ham, poached eggs, and lamb sweetbreads on the table, along with hot baked scones and freshly churned butter. Then she brought them a jug of ale and had the grace to disappear, so they could relish the food and savor each other's company in private.

Brianna poured cream on her oatmeal. "Shadow's master? Mrs. Croft hasn't the faintest notion who you are."

He dipped the spoon in the syrup and ladled it on her porridge. "She thinks we are lovers, and this a secret rendezvous."

Their gazes met. "Don't take that away," she said breathlessly. "I like to lick the spoon."

He held it to her lips and smiled into her eyes. "Lick away."

The very air was charged with anticipation. Her thoughts became sensual, her senses heightened. The sound of his deep, lyrical voice was like haunting music. The taste of the syrup was ambrosia on her tongue, and the smell of the hot baked scones aroused her hunger for food and for something more. She suddenly had a tactile urge to touch things and experience what they felt like. Her glance roamed over the dark shadow on Wolf's cheeks and she wanted to run her fingertips across the prickle of his jaw. Her gaze lowered to the open neck of his black shirt and her fingers itched to feel the rough linen and slide inside to stroke his darkly tanned skin.

Wolf had a healthy man's appetite and she enjoyed watching him eat. She was aware that he seldom took his eyes from her, and whenever she stopped eating, he fed her with his fingers. His offerings tasted so delicious, she licked her lips, then licked his fingers too. He poured ale into a goblet and they shared it like a loving cup. Brianna smiled a secret smile. She heard the echo of her mother's wise words and at last she was beginning to understand: The heart wants what it wants.

Finally, he pushed away from the table and held out his hand. "The day promises to be glorious. Are you ready to ride out?"

"It would be my great pleasure." She put her hand in his and they returned to the stables where Shadow awaited them. When he lifted her into the saddle, the feel of his powerful hands sent a frisson of longing through her body, making her shiver.

She watched him saddle a black horse and realized it was a Warwick animal from Flamstead. "His name is Drago—Celtic for dragon." A warm blush tinted her cheek as she remembered the dragon on his thigh.

He smiled, knowing exactly what had prompted the blush. "Drago is a superb horse. I will take good care of him and promise to return him someday."

"Keep him, if you think him worthy."

"You give with a generous heart."

She watched as he swung a long, powerful leg across the rump of the stallion and mounted with one lithe movement that kept his back ramrod straight and his head erect. His black hair fell to his shoulders and his face looked more regal than any king's. When he stood in the stirrups, she knew he was going to give her a run for her money.

The summer day was heavenly. The color of the grass and the trees was so brilliantly green it hurt the eyes. Shadow loped before them as they thundered across a meadow of deep clover, sending clouds of butterflies dancing on the breeze.

As they approached the forest, Wolf watched Brianna, and his heart lifted as she rode full out, never hesitating over imagined dangers that might lie ahead. He knew that was part of why he was irresistibly attracted to her. He had a deep love of wild creatures like hawks, and bobcats, and wolves because they could never be fully tamed. If you could earn their trust, it was a prize to cherish.

They rode from the trees into a forest clearing so fast they startled a roebuck with a full set of antlers. It poised majestically before leaping away. For the thrill of the chase they thundered after it, their hair streaming behind them like banners on the wind.

They lost the stag and, laughing, slowed their pace. Suddenly, the smile was wiped from Wolf's face. He vaulted from the saddle and snatched up an iron trap that had been set beneath a tree. He smashed it against the oak's trunk until it was completely destroyed.

His face and his demeanor turned so fierce, she was momentarily afraid. Then she realized he must hate them with a vengeance because both he and his father had been entrapped. His good humor returned when he caught a glimpse of Shadow streaking through the trees, intent on some quarry she had marked as hers.

He took hold of Venus's bridle and led the two horses toward a stream so they could drink. He held up his arms for Brianna and without hesitation she came down into them with an eagerness that made her wildly beautiful. He held her against his heart and brushed his lips across the fiery tendrils that curled at her temples. Then he set her feet to the ground and handclasped they walked along the stream to where it widened into a forest pool.

Wolf stretched himself in the long grass beside the water and pulled her down beside him. They lay prone, their bodies touching, and gazed down into the pool. They were mesmerized by their reflections and smiled into each other's eyes. They were so at one with nature, their spirits touched and merged.

Wolf rolled onto his back and pulled her over him in the dominant position. Her red-gold hair cascaded down onto his chest and he took off his shirt so he could feel it whispering against his skin. They needed no words to communicate. Both wanted to rid themselves of the impediment of their clothes and enjoy being nude together as nature had made them. Laughing, they stripped off their garments and when they were naked, they gazed at each other enraptured.

He worshipped her with his eyes, missing no finest detail of her vibrant beauty. Her disheveled red-gold hair cloaked her shoulders and wispy tendrils curled possessively about her lush, high-thrusting breasts.

Slowly, his gaze moved lower, over her delicate rib cage to her waist and her satin-smooth belly. His glance followed the curve of her hip to her long, slim legs and fine-boned ankles, then moved back up to her soft thighs and the fiery curls that sat atop her high mons.

Brianna gazed at his impossibly wide shoulders and the rippling muscles of his powerful chest. Inexorably, her eyes were drawn down across his flat belly to the dragon that adorned his thigh. As he flexed a muscle, it grew larger and flicked its fiery tongue. Her avid glance sought his manhood that thrust up proudly from its nest of black curls. Her natural curiosity tempted her to reach out and touch him and his cock bucked beneath her fingers. Her glance flew to his and she laughed into his fierce gray eyes.

"I once dreamed that I was Shadow and you were a black wolf who lured me from my den," she said.

"We ran together faster and faster, in a wild frenzy of joy, relishing our freedom, ecstatic that we had found each other."

"But it was my dream, not yours."

"It was our dream, Brianna…I sent it to you to gratify our secret desires. We came upon a clearing in the heart of the forest."

Brianna gazed about her in wonder. "This was the clearing." She felt the primal heat of arousal in her belly. "We mated here."

"We did. But that was only a wishful dream, Brianna. The reality is far more complicated." He knelt before her and pulled her down to face him. "At this moment, more than anything in the world, we want to make love to each other. I want you for a lifetime, but I cannot have you. I am a fugitive with not a stick or a stone to my name. I cannot offer you marriage. You are the daughter of an earl and I am nothing."

"To me, you are everything. My father is wealthy—he would give us a castle and land, but I know your towering pride and I'd not insult you by offering it. I don't care that you cannot give me marriage. I love you! We cannot control love. It controls us. The heart wants what it wants." Every female instinct told her that if she did not seize this moment, she would regret it for the rest of her life.

"This short time together is all we have. I'm willing to grab it if you are, Wolf, and consider myself the most fortunate female alive to be loved by you."

"Your love is precious to me."

"I give it with a generous heart."

He enfolded her in his arms and they lay back in the tall grass. His lips touched her face and began their slow seduction. He kissed her temple, and brushed his lips along her eyebrow. When she lowered her lashes, he very gently kissed her eyelid. His tongue traced along her cheekbone, and then finally his lips captured hers. He kissed her for an hour—gentle kisses, soft kisses, short quick kisses, and slow, lingering kisses that melted her very bones.

She became aware of the scent of the man who held her—leather, horse, male flesh. She felt his breath upon her skin and knew she wanted Wolf Mortimer more than anything she had ever wanted in her life. She opened her mouth to his seeking tongue and surrendered herself to her need for him.

He cupped her bare breast with the palm of his hand and stroked over her nipple with his rough thumb.

She gasped as a frisson of purest pleasure shot from her nipple, spiraling down through her belly to her woman's core. As Wolf's hand continued to fondle and caress her, the rippling sensations of desire increased. His hands stroked down her body and the fiery touch of his fingers on her naked flesh almost scalded her. She clung to him, loving the taste, the smell, and the feel of him as she pressed her soft curves against the hard length of his body. The crisp hair on his chest abraded the sensitive tips of her breasts, and she dug her nails into his shoulders, reeling from the delicious roughness.

Wolf moved over her, straddling her hips, and looked into her lovely, soft brown eyes. "My sweetheart, this will hurt."

"I know," she said breathlessly, "I welcome it."

He stroked his palm down across her belly and cupped her mons. He watched her eyes turn smoky with feral need as she arched her hot center into his hand. His fingers felt her wetness start and he knew he could wait no longer. He positioned the head of his phallus against her cleft, and with one powerful stroke, thrust through her hymen. Then he held absolutely still.

He watched her closely. If the pain became too much, he would withdraw. But to his amazement and delight, after her initial cry of pain she arched her body up to meet his, fiercely, sweetly, trusting him to bring her exquisite, heart-stopping pleasure. Clearly, Brianna loved his fullness inside her and yielded her body generously as he slowly slid in and out of her satin sheath.

They both moaned at the unbelievable pleasure they gave each other. She was tight and scalding hot and her passion matched his own. As he felt the brush of her thighs against his own, fire snaked through his loins. They moved in an undulating rhythm that made him think of hot, rippling silk.

Brianna experienced a budding, a blooming, as if some rare exotic flower inside her opened its petals wide to receive him. Unfurling, uncurling, she arched against him until suddenly the blossom deep inside exploded and splintered into a million fragments. She cried out his name. "Wolf! Wolf!"

He withdrew before he allowed himself to spend. Her fulfillment was reward enough for him. He would not take the chance of getting her with child. He enfolded her in his arms and held her against his heart. They lay entwined, their heartbeats thudding against each other, conjoined as if they were one being. "I love you, Brianna." Love was all he had to give and he prayed that love would be enough.

With his lips buried in the warm hollow of her throat, they drifted to the edge of sleep in a blissful cocoon where only they dwelled and the rest of the world didn't exist. After an hour, Wolf kissed her awake. Invigorated, and laughing like children, they slipped into the forest pool and swam together. Now the joyous experience of their lovemaking was added to the euphoria of the Mortimers' escape, and their spirits overflowed with happiness.

As the afternoon shadows grew long, they dressed, and Wolf whistled for Shadow. When she arrived, he mounted Drago and lifted Brianna before him. Venus followed willingly as they returned to the castle. None seeing the pair together could doubt that they were bound lovers, impatient for nightfall so they could claim each other again.

They dined together, but paid such scant attention to the food, they could not recall what they had eaten. The anticipation of sharing a bed and sleeping together for the first time blotted out all other thoughts.

Brianna chose the spacious master bedchamber where Guy de Beauchamp and Jory always slept. It was far more inviting for making love than her own small chamber.

"I was in such a fever to get here, I brought no clothes." She threw open her mother's wardrobe and found some of Jory's elegant gowns and pretty undergarments.

Wolf came up behind Brianna and slipped his arms around her. "Oh, bugger. Can we pretend you didn't find these things? I'd much prefer to keep you unclothed."

"I shall so pretend…at least for tonight, you Welsh devil."

He began undressing her immediately. When he had her down to her shift, he plucked it from her triumphantly and flung it across the room. Not to be outdone, Brianna unfastened his shirt and removed it, then playfully unsheathed the dagger he wore at his belt and pointed it at him. "Strip and show me the dragon, or I'll slit yer throat!"

"If ye ask me nicely, wench, I'll let ye ride the dragon."

"Oh, yes, please." She licked her lips in anticipation.

They caught a glimpse of themselves in the polished mirror, and the contrast between their bodies acted like an aphrodisiac. Their reflection showed them to be complete opposites. His hard, muscled body emphasized her soft femininity. His jet-black hair made her red-gold curls look like brilliant tongues of flame. Her smooth, creamy flesh played counterpoint to his swarthy skin that was tanned to a deep copper. Yet under the skin they were perfectly matched, not only sexually, but also temperamentally.

When Brianna saw the dragon on his thigh, she dropped to her knees and kissed it. Then she traced its outline with the tip of her tongue. Her feathered fingertip caresses and the effect of her sleek tongue sliding over the hidden, intimate parts of his body made him quiver with desire. "You enthrall me. I never believed anything could be as exciting as my visions of you, but I was wrong."

Wolf swept her up and carried her to the bed. He lifted one foot and kissed her instep, and then he proceeded to anoint every inch of her creamy flesh, worshipping her with his mouth. Tonight, he wanted more than her body, he wanted to enter her blood, her heart, and her soul. His love words were so intense they held her in thrall. His lovemaking was passionate and she knew she could never escape the power of this man. She did not want to escape it, now or ever.

He lay back and lifted her onto his body in the dominant position. "Ride me, ride the dragon, Brianna."

There was nothing passive about her tonight. She made love to Wolf with a wanton passion she did not know she possessed. She had a ravenous desire to make him groan with a hunger of his own and her lovemaking became splendidly uninhibited.

Though he usually had an iron control, at this moment it did him no good. He too began to move. She rode him faster and harder and he held her lush breasts cupped in his strong palms. Finally, she arched backward and released a cry of shattering bliss into the night.

He withdrew so he would not impregnate her and gathered her close against his heart. Later, they lay curled together in the big bed and talked. Neither wanted to waste the precious hours they had left in sleep.

"You looked afraid today, when I smashed the iron trap."

"The trap brought out a violence in you that you keep hidden."

"Shadow was only a few days old when I found her. She was huddled against her mother, who had lain in agony in a trap for at least three days. The hungry, suckling mother had been lured by the bait. She tried to eat off her leg to free herself. I arrived too late to save her. I had to put her out of her misery."

"Shadow's love is your reward."

"I have an affinity for wild creatures. That's why I cannot resist you," he teased.

"This has been the happiest day of my life," Brianna murmured. "Your father is undoubtedly safe in France by now."

"His work has only just begun. He will start gathering an army to invade England so he can rid her of a useless king. It may take years, but he can be relentlessly patient when necessary." He kissed her tenderly. "I have a massive job ahead of me. I have to secretly unite all the barons who are against Edward and Despencer. When my father comes, we must be ready."

"Wolf, I will wait for you, no matter how long—"

He silenced her by placing his fingers against her lips. "No undying vows, Brianna. I have taken enough from you. I have taken today and tonight—I must not take all your tomorrows."

They stole another day together. And as lovers always had done before them, they rode, walked, and swam, moving their bodies together in the same rhythm, imitating what they really wanted.

They went fishing, and laughed and splashed in the stream so much, it was a miracle they caught anything. Wolf cleaned the trout and then cooked them over a wood fire he built.

Shadow went hunting and brought Wolf back a token of her love in the form of a hare. Since it was already dead, he skinned it and cooked it over the fire.

That night, Wolf's lovemaking brought a lump to Brianna's throat. His kisses were so sweet, so gentle, and so breathtakingly tender that she felt cherished. His sole intent was on giving her pleasure. His caresses were unhurried, and his whispered words made her feel beautiful and deeply loved.

Later, as they lay entwined together, Brianna knew that he had changed her life forever. She felt completely safe and secure locked in his arms, warmed by his powerful body. The heavy, strong, sure beat of his heart lulled her to sleep.

When Brianna opened her eyes at the first flush of dawn, she felt the loss immediately. She sat up in a panic, knowing that he had already left her. On her pillow lay the wolf touchstone that she had given to him so impulsively on the day he had brought Shadow to her for safekeeping. As her fingers closed over it, her eyes flooded with tears. "God keep them both safe."