Candace C. Bowen - A Knight Series 02 (14 page)

The sound of snores hit her the moment she placed her foot on the top step to descend. She found the two friends at a table reclined in their chairs with their heads thrown back. Relieved she would not have to submit to Albin after such a trying day, she added some wood to the hearth to chase the chill from the room. Bolting the door, she cast an affectionate glance back at her husband as she headed for her loft.

* * *

Albin’s head rolled, causing him to wake with a start. Disoriented, it took him a moment for his thoughts to catch up with him.

Nudging Talan with his foot to wake him, he took a long swallow of ale. “I need to talk.”

His eyes red, Talan blinked awake. “What could you possibly have to say at this ungodly hour?”

“There is more to the story than I initially told you.”

“Regarding Lecie?” Shifting into a sitting position, Talan poured himself a cup of ale from the earthenware pitcher on the table. “I am listening.”

Expelling a weary breath, Albin avoided Talan’s searching gaze. “Something happened between us when we came back to the inn.”

When Albin refused to elaborate, Talan spoke. “You mean something of an intimate nature?”

“Aye.”

Settling back in his chair, Talan closed his eyes. “I already gathered that by what was said at your wedding.”

“There’s more to it than what was said earlier.”

“How much more?” Talan straightened to give Albin his full attention.

“I am such a fool.” Albin shook his head in disgust. “I would not blame Lecie if she despised the very sight of me.”

“Albin, I realize I am not Fulke, yet I can help if you let me.”

“I had no idea she was a maiden.” Hating himself, Albin raised tormented eyes to Talan. “I was rough with her and when I realized it…” he could not go on.

“You left?”

“Worse,” Albin admitted. “I made her realize the wrong assumption I had been under for so long, about her relationship with Edric.”

Understanding dawned on Talan as he inhaled sharply. “What did she say?”

“What could she have said? She accused me of thinking lowly of her and ordered me from her sight.”

“And that is the extent of your intimate relations with her?”

“Aye.” Albin laughed harshly. “She is too innocent to realize there was no way she could be carrying my child when I all but coerced her into marrying me.”

“She had a choice.”

“Zounds,” Albin swore. “Is that the best you can do by way of advice? She had no choice and you know it.”

“Mayhap you are right.”

“Saints bones, I would get more sympathy out of Gervase and he has the emotional range of a twig.”

“If you would let me finish,” Talan responded unperturbed. “I was going to say that it is obvious Lecie has feelings for you. Once this slight misunderstanding is put behind you, I have no doubt you will find happiness as man and wife.”

“Well,” Albin grudgingly conceded. “That is at least something. You may not be such a bad confidant as all that, after all.”

Talan shoved his chair back to stand. “Find your wife, and show her naught but gentleness. From the sounds of it, she will be dreading your next intimate encounter.”

“I take back what I just said about you,” Albin grumbled.

“You shall come around again when you realize I am right.” Stretching, Talan raised a hand to his temple. “In the future remind me not to match you drink for drink. I forgot just how much ale you could hold.”

“You should have known that from experience.” Albin replied, glancing toward the steps. “She most likely has already sought her rest for the night.”

“There is only one way to find out.”

Pouring himself another cup of ale, Albin downed it.

“May your marriage be blessed, my friend.” Talan gripped Albin’s shoulder with a lopsided smile. “I am sure our liege and lady will want to properly celebrate the day.”

“No doubt,” Albin muttered. “I have no doubt they would look forward to entertaining themselves at my expense.”

“Aye,” Talan agreed, on his way through the tables. “Not to mention the rest of us.”

“Wonderful, I so shall look forward to it.”

“What are you griping about?” Talan called over his shoulder. “The way I see it, your fondest wish was granted by the Almighty this day.”

“There is that.” Albin allowed with a smile. “I shall see you in the morn.”

Talan was still chuckling as he ascended the steps.

Unable to delay any longer, Albin shoved his chair back to join his wife. Expecting Lecie to be in Edric’s chamber, he peered into the empty moonlit room with a frown. Believing it to hold too many painful memories, he made his way to the chamber he usually used. With a nervous smile, he lifted the latch to enter. He did not need the moonlight streaming in through the open shutters to tell him the room was empty.

He squinted to see the door at the end of the darkened passageway, half hidden behind a ladder leading to the loft. His mind still befuddled with the effects of the ale he had consumed, he half-believed Lecie did indeed despise him for all he had done to her.

Stomping down the hall, he was about to knock on the chamber door when he heard Lecie’s voice from above. “Please do not wake the children. They have had a trying day and need their rest.”

“Lecie?” Albin glanced around for her in the darkness. “Where are you, lass?”

“I am in the loft above you,” she called softly. “Give me a moment and I shall come down.”

Surprised by her amenable attitude, he spoke into the dark above his head, “Are you being pleasant with me?”

“Would you have me be unpleasant?” she whispered, carefully making her way down the ladder. “I will most gladly accommodate you.”

“You are a cheeky one,” Albin approved as his hands slid up the length of Lecie’s narrow waist to lend her assist. Distracted by the feel of her through the thin linen chemise, it took him a moment to break the sudden silence. “What were you doing up there?”

“I found you below well and sound asleep.” Lecie’s voice sounded breathless when she responded. “I did not think you would be in need of a bed this night.”

“Would you have preferred it that way?” Cursing himself for asking such a question, he held his breath waiting for her response.

“Is it customary in the village you are from for a wife to sleep apart from her husband?”

“No.” He found himself grinning in the dark. “It is not.”

“Then I suppose therein lies your answer.” She hesitated. “If you would permit, however, I would ask a favor of you this night.”

“Aye,” he agreed, his grin fading as fast as it had come. “After all I have put you through, you deserve a boon. What do you ask of me?”

“Would you mind sharing your old chamber until after I have the feather tick in the master chamber replaced?”

“The feather tick?” Confused, Albin’s mind struggled to wrap itself around the fact that after their first encounter, Lecie was still prepared to share his bed.

“I would feel better if it were…” she trailed off.

“By all means have it replaced. If you so wish it, I shall fetch a new one myself on the morrow.”

“I suppose you shall be doing many such things now that you are the innkeeper of The Wounded Stag.” Lecie’s voice broke as a soft sob escaped her.

“There, there, lass.” Albin gently gathered her into his arms to hold her close. Stroking the silken length of her hair, he held her until she gained control of her emotions.

“Please forgive me,” Lecie said brokenly after a few moments. “It is not as if it were a sudden passing. I should have accepted it sooner.”

“You have been brave for so long, my Lecie.” He cradled her against his chest and marveled at how right it felt to hold her. “I shall no longer allow you to bear your burdens alone.”

Albin took her hand to lead the way to his chamber. After striking a flint to light the candle, he opened the bed-curtains to pull the coverlet down. “I shall join you in a moment.”

Pulling off his boots, tunic and linen chainse, he debated whether he should keep his breeches on.

He gave up on that idea when he heard the sounds of his tempting wife slipping beneath the coverlet. Untying his breeches, he figured she would know if he became aroused in either case.

He felt Lecie tense as he slid into bed wearing only his braies. “Know that I shall never give you cause to fear me.” Easing her back against his chest, he kissed the top of her head. “It has been a long day. Rest well, wife.”

Lecie woke in the pre dawn hours with her upper body draped across Albin’s chest. Lightly reaching out a finger, she ran it the length of the close copped beard along his jaw. She briefly paused when he stirred only to resume when he settled back into a soft snoring.

Easing away from him, she boldly studied his wide chest furred with a sprinkling of raven hair. Boldly lifting the sheet, she studied his lean waist, manhood, and long muscular legs before sliding to his thick arms corded with muscle. She noted every scar on the parts of his body exposed to her and wondered in what battles they came to be there.

“If you keep looking at me like that, I shall not be responsible for what happens.”

Lecie’s eyes flared as she met Albin’s drowsy gaze. “Is it wrong for me to say I find you remarkably beautiful?”

“Beautiful?” Albin chuckled. “I must admit it shall be the first time I have been called such. As for it being wrong, since you are my wife, I should say not.”

“Would you prefer me to call you handsome?” Lecie’s golden eyes darkened as she focused on his parted lips.

“Look at me like that when you are saying it and you can call me anything you want.” His voice gravely from sleep, he reached out to cup her cheek. “I have yet to see a woman who could compare to you when it comes to beauty.”

“I have heard her ladyship Reina is beautiful,” Lecie replied without a trace of jealousy. “The rest of his lordship’s knights say it is so.”

“As do I,” Albin agreed. “Yet I stand by my statement.”

“That you find me beautiful?” Lecie voice was a breathless whisper.

“Beautiful and the most desirable woman I have ever beheld.” Rolling her gently beneath him, Albin captured her surprised exhale of breath.

Tingles raced up and down Lecie’s spine as Albin deepened the kiss. With a will of their own, her hands snaked around his back to draw him closer. 

Lifting his head, he stared into her passion-filled eyes as he lightly ran his fingertips along her face and down her neck. “Would you grant me a request?”

“Anything,” she breathed.

“I would have you consider this our first time together.”

He trailed his fingers along her arm, and she arched her back into his palm when his hand pushed the neckline of her chemise down to expose a full rosy tipped breast. “Then it shall be so.”

Thumbing the pert peak of her nipple, Albin elicited a soft moan from her as he slowly slid above her to settle between her legs.

Trailing kisses down her neck and throat, he replaced his thumb with his lips, drawing the taut nipple into his mouth.

Lecie slid her hands through Albin’s wavy silken strands to hold his head against her as she squirmed beneath him, seeking something more she could not name.

Her eyes flying open, she stiffened when his hand trailed along her waist to slide between their straining bodies.

Unable to ease her legs apart, he let out a small sound of protest as he returned to her lips.

“Trust me, lass.” Kissing her softly, he coaxed her into relaxing. “I shall never hurt you again.”

His words had the desired effect. Lecie relaxed beneath his experienced touch. Working his fingers against her moist heat, she shifted against him, never wanting him to stop.

“Albin,” she gasped. “That feels…wonderful.”

“Aye, lass. I know what you are wanting. This time I vow you shall have it and more.” Fumbling with the flowing chemise she wore, he glanced at her with half-slitted eyes. “How much do you value this piece of cloth?”

Lecie tried to wrap her befuddled senses around his question when Albin rent the chemise from hem to neckline. “Never mind, I shall buy you a score more of them.”

“Oh.” Albin smothered her soft exclamation beneath a searing kiss.

She found herself wrapping her legs around him as he positioned himself above her, only to grow still. His body trembled and the muscles in his neck were taut as he inhaled deep, even breaths.              

“Is something wrong, Albin?”

“No.” Kissing her lightly on the lips, he gazed into her eyes. “I just want everything to be perfect this time.” 

“Then kiss me.”

Capturing her lips, Albin deepened the kiss until they were both breathless. “I do not want to hurt you.”

Lecie reached up to trace a fingertip along his kiss-swollen lips. “Make me your wife, Albin.”

“You are that and more.” Albin smoothed the hair from her forehead to place a kiss upon it. “From this day on, you are my lady.”

Trusting him completely, Lecie moaned in pleasure when Albin shifted to slide his velvet shaft into her sheath. As she moaned in ecstasy, he once again struggled to remain unmoving. “Am I hurting you?”

Unable to speak with the intense pleasure coursing through her, she shook her head, gripping his hips to pull him tighter against her.

Slowly flexing his hips, he felt the friction of her tight sheath nearly drive him over the edge.

“Why was not it like this the first time?” Lecie breathed arching her back into his chest.

“It is always painful for the maiden the first time. Had I known that was what you were, things would have gone much differently.”

Albin’s actions of that night suddenly made sense to Lecie. “It is why you stopped so suddenly, is it not?”

“Uh, Lecie?” Albin slowly began to slide his shaft in and out of her silken sheath. “Would you like to have a conversa…?” He did not finish his sentence as Lecie pulled his face down for a kiss.

Opening up to him completely, she cupped his muscular buttocks as he cradled her face with his hands. Gazing into her eyes, he slowly drove into her over and again.

Close to something she could not name, Lecie lost herself in his gaze. On the edge of a precipice, her eyes flared in wonder as she cried out her release.

Albin moved against her until with a low rumble of pleasure, he joined her at the heights of ecstasy. Still joined, he rolled onto his side to stare at her as if seeing her for the first time.

Confused by his manner, Lecie reached up to smooth his furrowed brow. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, lass.” Albin drew her closer against his heaving chest. “It is only that I have never before known a woman such as you.”

“I do not understand what you mean.”

“Since you are a maiden, I half-expected you to be chaste of mind, and I am pleased to find that you boast more of a wanton streak.”

Taking offense, Lecie shot straight up in the bed. “I beg your pardon? Did you just call me wanton?”

“It was meant as a compliment.” Reaching for her, Albin frowned when she leapt from the bed. “Where are you going?”

“I am going somewhere that you are not.” Pulling the coverlet around her, Lecie paused on her way to the door. “And you owe me a new chemise.”

“Lecie,” he called after her. “You misunderstood.”  

Ignoring him, she cursed beneath her breath when the door closed on the trailing hem of the coverlet. Opening the door again to jerk it free, she cursed again when she heard him chuckle.

* * *

After taking a leisurely bath, Albin descended the steps whistling a merry tune. The chaos that met his eyes drew him up short to seek out some sight of Lecie. Unaccustomed to the tavern being closed, it seemed as if every villager now crowded the place.

Talan stood behind the bar passing out ales as fast as he could pour them. Betta, Harsent and Lecie kept a steady pace from the kitchen to the tables filling orders of what little victuals they had to offer. Even the children were involved in clearing and wiping down the tables.

Failing to catch Lecie’s eye, Albin strode outside with a determined step. His wife and family would not toil when he had it in his means to do something about it. Thanks in part to his frugal ways over the years, he had amassed a fair sum to spend his dotage in leisure. Add to that the considerable piece of land Fulke had gifted him with, and many would consider him a man of wealth.

Joseph was busy tending to the horses crowding the stables when Albin approached, so he retrieved his own horse. Riding towards the tower, he began to whistle the tune from the inn where he left off.

Securing the services of three itinerant men and their wives at the tower site to work at the inn, he returned late morning to find the crowd had not lessened.

He tossed his reins to Joseph as he dismounted. “Do your best to find a place for him, lad.”

Betta, the twins and Clayton were at the worktable cutting vegetables to add to the pot already set above the cook fire as he entered the kitchen.

“Good morning all,” he called cheerily. “Is Lecie in the common room?”

“Aye, she is.” Clayton looked up with a dimpled grin to respond first. “Only, I would be staying well clear of her if I were you, Sir Albin.”

“Oh?” Albin stepped closer to rumple Clayton’s hair. “And why would I do such a thing as that?”

“Lecie is none too pleased with you at the moment,” Betta interjected. “One would think she did not enjoy herself on her wedding night, if you catch my meaning.”

“What would give you the impression she is vexed with me?” His eyes moving over the children, he swiftly changed topics.

“She went looking for you to bring in a barrel of ale from the shed, only you were nowhere to be found,” Betta replied. “In all the years I have known her, it was a first to see her so displeased.”

Unperturbed, Albin snatched up a raw carrot to take a bite. “Where is my lovely bride now?”

“Gunilda finally showed up from who knows where to tend the chambers, so Lecie is assisting Sir Talan behind the bar. Until the pottage is ready, ale is all we have left to serve. Soon enough even that will be gone.”

“Have you no fear,” Albin said on his way out of the kitchen. “Come night, our lots shall be made easier.”

Pausing in the doorway to the overflowing common room, Albin took a moment to admire his wife. Her flowing tresses pulled back into a snood, the constant activity of serving patrons added a becoming flush to her fair features.

Laughing at something Talan said as he passed her a full cup, she served the ale and froze when she spotted him watching her.

She caught Talan’s attention to gesture to him as she planted her hands on her slender hips waiting for him to approach.

As Albin passed through the crowd, Talan leaned to whisper something, causing Lecie’s lip to quiver as she fought to keep a straight face.

A twinge of jealously caught him off guard as he noted how at ease they appeared to be with each other. “I see cookery is not the only thing you seem to be adept at, Talan.”

Talan’s smile faltered at Albin’s gruff tone. “Seeing as how the Innkeep departed without so much as a word early this morning, I had little choice in the matter.”

“Instead of being vexed with Sir Talan, you should be thanking him for seeing to your duties,” Lecie spoke up. “We would have lost much-needed revenue if not for his kind offer of assistance.”                

“And just where do you think I have been all day?” Albin bristled at the set down.

“I know not.” Lecie acknowledged a customer’s summons with a dip of her head. “You did not think it necessary to inform me.”

“I am unused to answering to a woman,” Albin responded in his defense.

“And here I believed myself more than just a
woman
to you,” Lecie huffed. “Obviously, I was mistaken.”

Albin exhaled heavily as she stormed off with a swish of skirts. “What just happened, Talan?”

“Take heart, my friend.” Clapping him on the shoulder, Talan slid a cup of ale in front of him. “Dealing with women does not come easily to every man.”

“Gervase and Guy never had this kind of trouble,” Albin grumbled. “I warrant even Osbert and Warin would do better than I these past few days.”

“I would wager on it,” Talan chuckled. “Where were you anyway?”

“I was at the tower on a mission to benefit my wife.” Albin watched Lecie as she purposely stayed at the far end of the bar. “I set about hiring a proper staff for the inn.”

“Well, why did not you tell Lecie that?” Talan refilled the cup Albin drained in a few long swallows. “I know she will be most pleased to hear such news.”

“So thought I until speaking to her,” Albin replied tearing his gaze away from Lecie.

“Albin, I do not boast of knowing a woman’s mind, yet even I would have led off with that bit of news.”

“Thanks for the belated tip,” Albin grumbled. “I warrant it will take the whole of my life to discover my wife’s mind.”

“Mayhap, you are right. Would you rather have her be an amiable mouse without an inner fire to keep things interesting?”

“I would not change a thing about her,” Albin admitted.

“Well there you have it.”  

Surveying the crowd, Albin changed the subject. “Has Hamon been about to stir trouble today?”

“No, and I do not expect him to.” Talan gestured to one of the tables with a tip of his chin. “Leofrick and Edmund have been here for some time.”