Honor Reclaimed (All About Honor) (19 page)

The bathing did lower his
temperature for a few minutes, but within the hour it had spiked again.
 
Once again she bathed him this time
being more careful not expose too much of him.
 
She repeated the process many times over the next few
days.
 
Finally, his temperature
became stable.
 
As his temperature
began to stabilize he began to thrash around and mumble things.
 
She could not quite understand what he
was trying to say, but he was beginning to come around.

 
“Andrew
are
you awake now?
 
You have been so sick.
 
I was really scared.
 
Thank God your fever is finally down
and you are doing better.”
 
She
bent over the bed to check his forehead again for fever.

“Eirian darling, I love you so
much.
 
Please come to me.”
 
He reached out and pulled her across
him and into bed next to him.
 
“I’ve wanted you for so long, come to me darling.”
 
With this he began kissing her.

“Drew, quit playing around.
 
This is not funny.”
 
Eirian was struggling trying to turn
her face away from his kisses.
 
Andrew placed his hands on either side of face and kissed her deeply
forcing his tongue into her mouth.
 
As hard as she tried, she could not suppress her reaction to the
kiss.
 
She felt a fire starting in
the pit of her stomach and continued to grow as his tongue continued to fence
with hers.

His finger began to work her nipples
through her nightgown, playing with them until they were standing erect and
hard against the fabric.
 
His hand
found the tie at the neck of her gown and pulled it loose allowing him to lower
to neck of her gown exposing her breast.
 
He lowered his head to her breast and began to suck the engorged nipple
into his mouth stroking it with his tongue.

Eirian began to squirm under Drew
mouth, “Oh my God.
 
Oh my God.
 
Drew you have to stop. Please
stop.
 
Ohhh
God,” Eirian was trying to push Andrew away even though her body was betraying
her the entire time.
 
“Dear God in
heaven, you have to stop,” she moaned in a deep and sensual voice.

Her pleas feel on deaf ears.
 
Andrew slowly ripped her gown down the
front, inch by inch, as his lips worked their way down as if worshiping her
body.
 
He stopped to kiss her
stomach and run his tongue around her navel, then in one quick fluid motion he
ripped it the rest of the way leaving her completely exposed to his advances.

He lowered his mouth to her mound,
his tongue searching for the small bud, which housed the bundle of nerves that
sent fire through her body.
 
She
was seriously straining to resist him, closing her legs as tightly as she
possibly could manage.
 
Drew
grabbed her thighs and forced them apart, working his face into the center of
her being.
 
His tongue went wild
working on her clitoris rubbing, sucking and nibbling until she could no long
resist and climaxed with an earth shattering orgasm.
 
Before he pulled away from her, he found the tender tissue
at the top inner portion of her thigh and branded it, albeit temporarily, with
a deep bruising kiss leaving a blue and red circled area.

As she was returning to reality, he
slid up her body and positioned himself between her legs.
 
She came slamming back to earth as she
felt the head of his penis as it brushed the lips guarding the entry to her
body.
 
She resumed trying to push
him off of her, clawing him with her nails as she frantically tired to push
away from him.

He grabbed her tightly around the
waist and pinned her down as he slammed his erection deep inside of her.
 
He was so big, filling her so tight
that she again exploded in an orgasm despite her best efforts to resist his
attack.
 
In less time than he would
have preferred he erupted inside of her leaving her feeling soiled and dirty.
 
She was incredibly ashamed of
herself.
 
She loved her husband she
had just betrayed him with his best friend.

Finally, he lay back on his pillow
and was again fitfully unconscious.
 
Eirian lay next to him with tears rolling down her cheeks.
 
Not only had they betrayed John, but
her body had betrayed her and both had been beyond her control.

She slipped quietly out of Drew’s
bed and returned to her chambers closing and locking the door between, albeit
too late.

The next morning she dressed and put
on a brave face before unlocking the door and reentering the other
chamber.
 
She was somewhat relieved
to see him awake and alert sitting propped against his pillows, bare-chested
with the sheet across his lap.
 
She
noticed the claw marks on his shoulder where she had attempted unsuccessfully
to fight him off last night.

“Are you feeling better?” she asked
in a strained voice.
 
Reaching out
to check his forehead for fever she could not bring herself to make eye
contact.

Drew reached out and took her hand
in his.
 
Turning it over, he gently
placed a kiss on her palm.
 
“Thank
you so much for taking care of me while I was sick.
 
I do not know what I would have done without you.”

He was surprised to see a tear spill
gently out of the corner of her eye and run down her cheek.
 
He reached out and brushed it away with
his thumb.
 
He brought the salty
drop to his own lips.
 
It was then
he noticed that the sheets across his lap had taken a life of its own.
 
He quickly placed a pillow across his
lap, but not before Eirian noticed his erection.

She turned on her heels and left
without uttering a sound.
 
Andrew
was embarrassed that she had seen him that way.
 
He thought he had left those awkward moments behind him in
adolescence.
 
Even so, he was
perplexed.
 
He knew she was
probably embarrassed as well, but she was a married woman, she knew how a man’s
body worked and that he did not always have control over its functions.
 
No, she had been subdued and withdrawn
prior to that.
 
Last night… it had
been another of those dreams had it not?

At noon Eirian brought him a tray with
a thin broth and a slice of bread.
 
When he saw her enter the room he pulled the pillow back over his lap
just in case.
 
She placed the tray
on the pillow and turned to leave only to feel his hand reach out and grasp her
arm.
 
She gave a little cry and tried
to pull away.

“Eirian, what is it.
 
Why are you afraid of me suddenly?
 
Did I do something inappropriate while
I was sick, something that I need to apologize for,” he asked?

Oh God, he doesn’t even remember
what he did, she thought.
 
“No, of
course not.
 
Why do you ask?” She
tried to cover her shock.
 
If he
did not remember then maybe she could pretend it never happened and it would
not have to affect her relationship with John.
 
Oh John, how could I have allowed this to happen?
 
I love only you.
 
I want only you.
 
Forgive me, please, she silently
prayed.

Eirian busied herself straightening
the room; she wrung out the washcloth she had used to sponge him into the basin
and then threw the water in the basin out the window.
 
She gathered his shaving paraphernalia and a small looking
glass placing them on the small table next to the bed so that he might shave
him self.
 
“If you need anything
else I will be next door.”
 
She
excused herself and retired to her room.
 
She had to fight the urge to once again lock the connecting door.

Drew positioned the mirror to lather
his face when he noticed the angry red marks on his chest and shoulder.
 
Once again he had the feeling that
something had happened that he should remember, yet Eirian had denied it.
 
Maybe she had to restrain him when he
was delirious.
 
He could not
believe how weak just shaving his face made him feel.
 
He had broken out in a full sweat just from the effort it
took.
 
When he finished he placed
the razor back on the table, but was irritated when it slid off the corner and
fell to the floor on the far side of the bed.
 
He started just to leave it lying there, but eventually
reached over the side of the bed to retrieve it.
 
As he reached down for the razor he was surprised to feel a
large piece of cloth on the floor next to it.
 
He pulled both back into the bed with him.
 
After placing the razor back on the
table, he held up the gown to inspect it.
 
He was disheartened to find the tear from the neckline entirely down the
front of the obviously feminine gown.
 
There was very little doubt left in his mind that something had occurred
here last night.
 
Obviously, Eirian
did not want to admit it so he would not push her, but he hoped that he had not
betrayed John.
 
Surely, judging by
the claw marks, she had resisted him.
 
Probably nothing they would regret had occurred… he hoped.
 
Why had she denied that anything had
happened he wondered?
 
She probably
wanted to put the whole incident behind her.
 
If she chose to ignore that it happened, he would as
well.
 
He owed her that at least.

He would have liked to
have kept
the gown as a very personal souvenir, but he knew
at some point she would think to retrieve it so he replaced it and would act as
though he did not know it was there.
 
He would leave her that much dignity.

Eirian returned to put away his
shaving items.
 
“Do you have a
sleeping shirt I can find for you?” she asked.

“No, I sleep as I am.
 
If you would be more comfortable you
can hand me one of my shirts and I will wear it in your presence.”
 
He offered.

“Thank you.
 
I think it would be more appropriate
under the circumstances.
 
I cannot
imagine what John would think of me being alone with a naked man, especially
over the course of several nights.”
 
Once again she looked close to tears.
 
“I am sorry I ever asked you to accompany me.
 
It was not proper since you are not in
actuality a relative.
 
It has
always felt as if you are, but in truth you are not.
 
I failed to use good judgment.
 
Drew, I would like to resume our trip as soon as possible we
have already wasted several days when Aislinn needs me.”
 
Eirian looked as if she might break
down at any moment.

“It is alright my love, just give me
a day or two to get my strength back and we will resume the trip.”
 
Why had he called her his love?
 
It just rolled off the tip of his
tongue as naturally as if he had a right to call her that.

Eirian chose to ignore that
endearment as well.
 
She folded the
blanket at the end of his bed as she nonchalantly looked around for her
gown.
 
She spied it lying on the
floor beside the bed and bending over in the pretense of straightening the
blanket she swept it up tucking it under her gown where she held it through the
fabric of her gown.

She quickly excused herself and
returned to her room to hide the evidence.
 
She avoided being alone with Andrew as much as possible
returning to his room only longs enough to accomplish the necessary tasks.
 
Whenever she was in his room she could
feel his eyes on her following her around the room questioning and wondering at
the sudden distance she had placed between them.
 
She hoped he would never remember what had occurred in this
room.
 
She only hoped that someday
she could forget.

The next morning Drew was up
early.
 
He was feeling restored and
knowing Eirian was anxious to be on the road to Severn Manor, he bathed and
dressed preparing himself to resume their journey.
 
He waited until nine of the clock hoping to hear her
stirring in the next room.
 
He was
sure that she was tired and he was assuming that she just slept in late.
 
When she had not made an appearance by
ten of the clock he knew he had to check on her.