De Wolfe Pack 05 - Walls of Babylon (9 page)

"That, Madam," he said slowly, "can be arranged if that is your wish."

Nicola would not admit that provoking him had probably not been the best decision. Submission was foreign to her nature, something her husband had tried to beat into her on many occasions. She was a fighter and always had been, which had cost her much when Gaylord turned his fists against her.

"You may as well do as you will," she could hardly breathe for as tightly as he was holding her. "From someone who would use my children against me, one more vulgar offense would not surprise me."

Kenton had only meant to scare her. But he should have suspected a woman like Nicola would not have been so easily frightened. Now, as he gazed down at her, he felt a bolt of fire race through him like nothing he had ever experienced and he knew, instantly, that his bold move had backlashed on him. All he could do was stare at her beautiful face, her pink lips, and imagine what it would be like to taste her.

When his mouth descended on hers, roughly, one of her hands wriggled loose and he felt the sharp sting of her slap against his cheek. He felt another slap, and still another, but it only caused him to hold her closer and kiss her harder. He never realized when she stopped fighting him and started to respond; all he knew was that she was sweeter than he could have possibly imagined.

Kenton didn't know how long he kissed her, his tongue invading her honeyed mouth and his lips devouring hers. But he had to taste the rest of her and his mouth moved over her chin, her cheeks, and her slender neck.

"You'll do as I say, you cheeky wench," he whispered hoarsely. "Or I swear you'll regret it. Do you understand?"

Nicola didn't understand anything at the moment. His kiss had terrified her at first, then it had warmed her from a spark of passion into a roaring blaze of lust. She had no idea she was capable of such emotions and she couldn't breathe, much less think straight. Was he asking her to make a decision?

"I... I...," she gasped.

"Tell me," he growled, his mouth against hers. "No more of your disobedience. Do as I say."

She could only whimper and he kissed her so hard that he drove his teeth into her lip, drawing blood. He tasted her blood and sucked on her lip, tasting more of it and loving it.

"Tell me."

He shook her slightly, his mouth still on her lips. Nicola nodded weakly, the only gesture she could manage.

"No more insolence?"

She shook her head.

"No more tantrums?"

She shook her head again and Kenton paused long enough to look at her flushed face before kissing her again. How it was possible to smile and kiss at the same time, he didn't know. But he knew he was doing it.

Kenton didn't know how he got away from her. He was walking across the inner bailey before he realized she was out of his arms. He remembered leaving her standing in that small chamber with a dazed look on her face, but not much more than that. With an approaching battle, he was fully aware of how muddled his mind was, distracted by thoughts he had forgotten were possible. It was essential that he come to his senses. He had to push thoughts of Lady Thorne from his mind.

It was easier said than done.

***

True to the word of the messenger, Edward's troops began arriving exactly three hours later. Babylon was ready. But rather than begin the siege immediately, they set up an encampment a quarter of a mile away and hunkered down for the approaching night.

Babylon was stuffed to the rafters with soldiers. For as big as the keep was, it was still close to bursting with all of the men that were now sheltered inside it. Nicola knew this because Janet and Liesl had been down in the small feasting hall that was part of the keep, trying to help the cook and several male servants feed the multitude of men. Most of the armies had brought their own provisions but some had not, especially those who had been traveling for weeks on end. The second cook of Babylon, a man who had been cooking at Babylon since the days of Gaylord’s father, had been forced to butcher a fat pig and, even now, the scent of cooking pork filled the air of the castle.

The aroma of roast pig wafted into the windows of their fourth floor prison, making the little boys very hungry. Janet and Liesl had brought the children bread and cheese and small apples, but they wanted the meat that they could smell cooking. As the servant women fed the boys with what they could bring from the kitchen, Nicola stood at one of the lancet windows that faced east to the gates of Babylon, oddly inactive with all of the things that needed to be attended to. When she should have been seeing to her duties as chatelaine, all she could seem to do was think on Kenton le Bec.

Distracting thoughts that had only grown worse over the progression of the day. This man who had so brutally confiscated her home, smashed her husband’s tomb, and thrown her in the vault was now occupying a good deal of her mental energy.

And then there was the kiss… she had finally determined that it was the kiss that had her so terribly distracted. A kiss such as she had never known in her life, one of passion and power and lust that made her heart race and her knees weak. There was something incredibly virile and masculine about Kenton le Bec and it wasn’t merely his size and strength. He had eyes the color of the deep blue ocean and there was something mysterious within those murky depths. It was both unnerving and intriguing.

I am a fool,
she thought to herself as she pondered le Bec and his heated kiss. The man terrified her, yet he also brought out curiosity and interest she didn’t know she had towards the opposite sex. Having been married to Gaylord since sixteen years of age, all she knew of men was the rough brutality of a husband who used his wife as an object of his lust.

Coupling with Gaylord had been something she dreaded, a daily occurrence because he felt it was his right to have relations with his wife wherever and whenever he pleased. There had been times he had cornered her in the kitchen, in their children’s chamber, or even in the hall. Humiliated, she’d been forced to allow him to do as he pleased. Tab had been conceived as he’d bent her over the butcher’s block in the kitchen right after they had been married and the twins had been conceived in a darkened corner of the hall as drunk soldiers had played gambling games nearby. It had been a humiliating, degrading experience for her more times than she could count. Therefore, le Bec’s kiss had her extraordinarily fearful. But it also had her intrigued.

He
had her intrigued.

Deeply confused, and deeply torn, Nicola remained lost to her thoughts as the world went on around her. As much as she had enjoyed Kenton’s kiss, and the truth was that she had, she refused to allow the man to turn her into his whore. Perhaps it was that thought that terrified her the most - submitting to yet another man even though she found this one very attractive. Still, there was something in her that refused to be toyed with. If she could not have the man’s respect, then he could not have her. At least, that was her stance in theory although practice would be somewhat different. Men ruled the world. Women were merely possessions.

She was Kenton’s possession.

Therefore, her only choice was to leave, to escape the situation. He had wanted to send her away once before but she had begged to stay, telling him that she had nowhere else to go. The truth was that she had a widowed aunt in Gloucester that she could go to. The woman was her father’s sister and, as of three years ago, Aunt Eve was still alive. Nicola had told le Bec she had nowhere to go mostly because Babylon was her home and it was Tab’s legacy. As of his father’s death, Tab had not only inherited the castle but also his father’s title, Baron Marsden. Nicola wasn’t entirely sure le Bec was aware of that and she certainly didn’t want to tell him. A very young baron with a great castle would make an excellent hostage. Therefore, more for Tab’s sake than for her own, she knew she had to leave.

Bearing that in mind, Nicola turned away from the lancet window. She had to find le Bec and ask permission to go to her aunt in Gloucester. She had to get out of Babylon, and quickly. As she made her way to the door, Teague tried to follow her, his hands full of little wooden soldiers, but she gently distracted the boy. When he was focused on an errant toy soldier that had fallen on the floor, she quickly fled the room.

Taking the narrow stairs down to the next floor, she was wary about Warwick in the master’s chamber but the door was shut and she quickly scurried past it. The great staircase was up ahead and she took it down to the hall level of Babylon where enemy soldiers and servants were about. Unfamiliar soldiers were crowded around the feasting table that usually held her family and it was not a happy sight for her to see Henry’s men touching things that belonged to her. Henry’s filth was infecting the hall.

In fact, it was not a happy sight to see how many men had arrived over the past day. It seemed like thousands. Now, they were truly overrun by Henry. She’d known it all along but seeing the reality of it, with hundreds of greedy soldiers all over her keep, hit her in the gut. It was sickening. With determination, she sought out le Bec.

She had every intention to go outside and send one of his soldiers running for him but as she passed by Gaylord’s solar, she caught a glimpse of men inside. Pausing by the door, she tried to remain out of sight whilst searching for le Bec but the angle of the open door made it impossible. As soon as she stepped towards the doorway, nearly everyone in the room saw her, including le Bec. He was standing by Gaylord’s big, heavy desk, looking at a map as the man she’d come to understand as Warwick pointed to something on the vellum. As soon as Kenton saw her, he moved away from the desk and stepped in her direction.

“Lady Thorne,” he said, his deep tone neutral. “Do you require something?”

Nicola stepped back, out of the doorway, as he approached. In fact, for every step he took towards her, she took two back. Kenton finally came to realize this and came to a halt just outside of the doorway as Nicola stood a few feet away, eyeing him warily.

“I… I have an urgent need to speak with you, my lord,” she said, addressing him formally. The gesture of respect, given their history, sounded odd coming from her lips. “I did not realize you were in conference.”

Kenton glanced over his shoulder into the solar where Warwick continued discussing the coming battle in tones he couldn’t quite hear. “It is of no consequence,” he said, returning his attention to her and trying not to look at her mouth, that sweet and luscious mouth he had kissed so eagerly. “What is your wish, Lady Thorne?”

Nicola glanced around nervously, as if she didn’t want anyone to hear what she had to say. Or perhaps she was nervous with all of the men sworn to Henry in her home. In any case, she seemed more nervous and unsure than Kenton had ever seen her.

“I have come to understand that Edward has brought an army to our door,” she finally said.

Kenton nodded. “He has.”

Nicola thought he seemed rather unconcerned with an army about to attack. “I could see them from my chamber.”

“Is that what you came to speak with me about?”

Nicola shook her head. “I came to ask for your permission to leave Babylon,” she said. “You ordered me to leave once before but when I told you we had nowhere to go, you permitted me to stay. I have reconsidered that offer and I would like to take my family and go.”

Kenton regarded her carefully. “Madam, we have an army outside of our gates,” he said, taking a few steps towards her to close the gap between them. “You are not going anywhere.”

She tried not to let his denial frighten her. “We will be no trouble,” she said. “I will take my servants with me, the female servants, and leave the rest. Mayhap we will need a small escort, only a couple of men, but with all of the men under your command, surely that will not be a hardship.”

He was close enough to reach out and grasp her elbow. It wasn’t a tight grasp, but the message was clear. “We will not discuss this now,” he said. “I have more important things on my mind and shuttling you through an enemy army is not one of them.”

Nicola didn’t like to be pushed around. Moreover, the last time he grabbed her, she’d let him do wicked things to her. She tried to pull away but make it seem as if she wasn’t. “But the enemy army you speak of is not an enemy to me,” she insisted. “They are loyal to Edward, as was my husband. Surely they will allow me to leave unmolested."

"Mayhap,” he said, “but I am not going to take that chance. Return to your chamber now. I will send for you if and when I need you.”

He still had his hand on her arm. Nicola, now flustered, indiscreetly pulled herself from his grip. "Will we be allowed to leave when this action is over, then?” she demanded. “Or do you intend to keep us permanently?”

His eyes were intense. "I have no time to argue this," he put his hand on her again and turned her back for the stairs. "Do as I ask. Return to your children until I send for you."

Nicola didn't like being manhandled and resisted him. "You will do me the courtesy of answering my question,” she said. “Do you intend to keep us permanently?”

He could see that she wasn’t going to leave without some kind of clarification. The woman was as stubborn as he’d ever seen but, still, he found the quality oddly admirable. It also made her rather attractive. He was coming to realize that he liked her when she was flustered or angry. That spark, that fire, inflamed him in a good way. He supposed that if he didn’t answer her question, they might be here all night, so he thought he’d better tell her something. Certainly not what he was thinking;
because I do not want you to go.
He would have to think of something.