Immortal Love (28 page)

“Of course. It’s good for me and the baby to
get some exercise.”

“Well don’t overdo it,” Eleanor warned.
“Where is your hat?”

“I left it inside. I hadn’t planned on
working out here today, but the weather was so beautiful I just
found myself on the ground pulling weeds.”

After an hour the three had restored the
garden to only vegetables and herbs, with a few marigolds to keep
the insects away. They had tea and then Eleanor insisted on
cleaning up the cottage while Ruth rested.

Later the three of them headed toward the
castle. Peals of laughter and squealing rang out as the three
children reunited. Each boy received a tight hug from their mother
that nearly turned them blue.

Dominick came in to the great hall holding a
piece of parchment. His expression was grim.

Worry settled on Eleanor’s heart. She stepped
forward. “What is it?”

He pulled her away from the others. “It’s
from our western neighboring village, Conwyn. Apparently they have
been raided by bandits.”

“McPhearson?”

“It doesn’t seem so. The priest who sent the
message said it is a band of thieves terrorizing villagers and
farmers.”

“What do you mean to do?”

“I’m leaving tomorrow with twenty of my
men.”

Eleanor’s heart sank. Since their marriage
they had never been apart. “How long do you think you will be
gone?”

He shrugged. “I’m not sure. I don’t know how
long it will take me to find the bandits’ lair.”

“What will you do when you find them?”

He gave her a look that said he knew what she
was thinking. “They will be dealt with.”

Eleanor sighed heavily. As lord of Godwin, it
was his duty to protect his people and the neighboring villages,
but she couldn’t bear the image of him in acts of violence. She
wanted to see him only as a landowner, not the warrior legends had
claimed him to be. And yet, it was the warrior that kept Godwin and
its villagers safe. She too felt safe because of Dominick.

“I will miss you terribly.”

He wrapped an arm around her. “I will miss
you too, my little dove, but there is nothing I can do.”

“I understand.” The uncertainty of how long
he would be gone weighed on her. If the thieves should be difficult
to locate, then his absence might be extensive. She’d never thought
of him leaving before.

She hugged him tightly once more, then took
his hand and led him back to the table. “We must spend the rest of
the day together to make up for time that will be lost.”

They had been together
for such a short time, due partly to her stubbornness. Now that
she’d let him into her heart, letting him go was a monumental task.
Their separation would be a real test of her strength.

D
ominick watched his
wife as they ate their noon meal. She picked at her stew and
nibbled on her bread. He could see the sadness lying underneath a
mask of joviality.

Ethan and Matthew spent the rest of the day
with their mother and sister. The great hall became heavy with the
silence. Eleanor looked to be near tears. His chest felt as though
it carried a large stone.

An idea occurred to him. Taking Eleanor’s
hand he led her out to the stables and saddled both horses. The two
of them rode to the beach, racing their horses in the surf, soaking
them with the salty spray.

Eleanor threw her head back and laughed with
joy. She resembled a woman who didn’t have a care in the world. He
wanted to remember her like this. He pushed the pain of their
separation aside. The day belonged to them.

Dismounting, he pulled Eleanor into his arms,
kissing her passionately. Mischievousness crossed his mind as he
picked her up, threatening to toss her in the water. She squealed
shouts and laughter, clinging tightly to his neck.

Lowering her down the length of his body, he
kissed her mouth hard, burning the memory of it in his mind.

Finally, the two broke free. He found a soft
place for them to sit and watch the white, foamy waves roll upon
the shore. Burying his hands in the sand, he felt the warmth cover
them like a soft blanket. He watched her delicate fingers sift
through the sand. Fine granules on the back of her hand sparkled
like tiny jewels in the sunlight.

Neither said a word, just basked in the
overwhelming beauty of it all. Something warm trickled down his
back. He looked over to see a mischievous smile on Eleanor’s
face.

“You little wench. I’ll teach you to pour
sand down my back.”

She bolted into action when he threatened to
do the same. He chased her down the beach. Playfully, Eleanor tried
warding him off by splashing water back at him. Her laughter
threatened to topple her over. Just inside the opening, Dominick
captured her in his arms. Dim light seeped through the vines of the
cavern.

Dominick kissed her briefly. “I have a
surprise for you.” He found the flint he had stored inside the
cave. Striking it, he lit a torch then used it to light the other
torches he had placed along the cave walls, sending the cavern into
warm light.

“Oh Dominick, this is beautiful. When did you
do all this?”

The limestone walls glistened in the torches’
glow. “Not too long ago. I wanted this to be a place of fond
memories again, to dull the sadness of the past.”

Her face beamed with delight. She walked into
his arms. “Dominick, I have never known anyone to be so
thoughtful.”

He gazed intently into hers. “You inspire
me.”

His heart hammered in his chest. He knew the
words without her having to speak them. The story of her love for
him was written in her eyes. It engulfed his soul and solidified.
With her in his arms he was whole.

“Do you know how beautiful you are in this
light?” he whispered.

She pulled away from him, looking down at her
gown wet from the knees down and covered in sand. Her hair had come
undone and was damp from the wild ride in the surf. “How can you
say that?”

“You are more beautiful than any woman I’ve
seen in a life time.” Her beauty went beyond the physical. She was
his salvation. Silently he ran the back of his hand across her
cheek then traced her jaw with the tip of his fingers. “There is
only beauty I see before me.”

Her arms came around his waist. “You’re the
one who’s beautiful, Dominick. You have a good heart and a strong
soul, and for this I’m grateful.”

He was amazed that she was grateful, when
she, in fact, she was the one who had saved his heart from the
purgatory of isolation.

He looked down into her jewel-green eyes.
They shined with passion. They drew him down to a kiss. A tender
kiss became fervent. Her tongue slipping into his mouth sent waves
of desire through his body. He snuggled her inside the circle of
his arms. Her body was warm, but it trembled. .

She pulled away. “Make love to me.”

Her words inflamed him. Passion fired in his
veins, making his hands shake as he unlaced her gown. Her hands
shook as well, unbuckling his girdle, letting his sword and sheath
fall to the sandy floor.

Trembling fingers ran up his rib cage inside
his tunic, and then pulled it over his head. Her hands looked small
across the broad expanse of his chest. Her fingers grazed his
nipples, sending shards of excitement through him.

He peeled the gown off her shoulders. Her
skin was bathed in golden light. He buried his head in the nap of
her neck and kissed her shoulder. “I love you,” he said as he
pressed her close to himself. He felt overwhelmed with passion
ignited with her newfound sexuality.

“I love you too, with all my heart,” she
said.

He broke from the bond only for a moment to
lay his tunic on the ground and place her on it. Standing beside
her he finished undressing, all the while admiring her fine form as
she lay across the dark fabric. She came to him freely and
lovingly. Knowing that she belonged to him was an aphrodisiac.

Sucking in his breath, he held on to his
control when she held out her arms to him. As he lay beside her he
watched the firelight flicker across her face. Her eyes were a
deeper shade of emerald and filled with passion so deep he could
drown in them.

Dominick wanted to honor this woman with his
body. Slowly he elevated her desire. Each stroke of his hand and
kiss on her skin sent him adrift on the waves of ecstasy. He drew
in deep breaths and blew gently on her nipples, tightening them
into small hard peaks.

He stroked her body. When he knew she was
close to her climax, he gently drew her in another direction. Soon
Eleanor’s breath became raspy and shallow. She moaned and pleaded
for him to complete his task, but he wouldn’t release her from his
delectable torment.

“Dominick, please,” she whispered. Her breath
hitched, but he continued to strum.”

“Hold on, my sweet, we’ll get there.”

Her head thrashed back and forth. Her back
arched, and she writhed with a need for fulfillment. Finally, he
let her cross the abyss, and in her moment of ecstasy, he entered
her with a hard thrust completing her climax with his own. They
were one.

As he drifted back to reality the cold
presence of Isolde swept over him.
Tell her the secret.

E
leanor floated
slowly down to earth like a leaf in a gentle wind. Dominick drove
her to near insanity with his lovemaking.

Looking up into his ebony eyes, she saw
hesitation. He was about to tell her something that she didn’t want
to hear. Her heart pulsed with dread.

She sat up. “What is it?”

“Eleanor, there is something I have to tell
you. It’s a message from your mother.”

Sensing the worst, she felt her blood turn
cold. He took a deep breath and plunged forward. “Your mother said
‘He is not your father.’”

“I don’t understand,” A distant voice in her
head told her she did.

“I think she is telling me that the man you
believed to be your father, is in fact not your father.”

It was like a blow to the chest. She could
barely breathe. Her lungs constricted in shock. Dominick tried to
put his arms around her, but she pushed them away for fear they
would suffocate her.

“Try to calm down.” He rubbed her back while
she took deep breaths.

She held on to the sound of his voice as it
pulled her out of the well of emotion she had plunged into. Sitting
still, she fought for calm. Her breathing became deeper.
He is
not my father.
More deception and more lies.

Anger launched her in to action. Quickly, she
dressed and drew her boots on. Dominick called out to her as she
ran out of the cave, but she couldn’t hear him over the pounding of
the waves. Running waist deep into the water, she let the waves
wash over her.

“Ahhhh!”

Her mind filled with blood-red rage. She
fought Dominick as he pulled her out of the water, feeling inept
when she couldn’t hold him back.

“Let me go!”

“Not until you stop.”

“I don’t want to stop. She struggled against
him. Don’t you see? My entire, miserable life has been built on
lies. All lies.” She dragged in another deep breath and started
shouting again, expelling her anger and disillusionment. “My mother
lied about my father, and my father lied about my mother’s death.”
Her arms flayed the air. “Now it all makes sense that he hated me.
I wasn’t his child.” Her legs gave out, and she crumpled to the
ground. “Did she tell you who my father was?”

He lowered his head, “No, she didn’t.”

“Then who am I, Dominick?” she sobbed into
her hands “Who am I?”

He pulled her hands away from her face.
“First and foremost you are my wife. Secondly you are the Lady of
Godwin who is loyal to her people without fault. And most of all
you are my heart that beats inside. It would be dead without
you.”

“I want that to be enough, but I’m not
certain it can be.”

He wrapped her in his arms. “Who you are to
me is everything.”

His sincerity touched
her. This strong giant, general to the King and ruthless warrior
had dedicated his life to her. But her life had been plagued with
uncertainty. Was happiness something she could trust?

E
leanor brooded while
Dominick was gone. Everywhere she looked there were signs of him.
Every corner she turned, she expected to see him, only at the last
minute realizing he wasn’t there.

She hadn’t expected their separation to be so
difficult. Hoping his trip would only take a few days, she kept
herself busy inside the castle or out in the gardens or helping
Ruth with her cottage and Abigail. But after the tenth day, she
lost hope that this was going to be a short separation. The bandits
must have been more clever than she thought.

Her mind filled with thoughts of her father,
or the man she thought to be her father. She interrogated Martha
and Zenon, but the woman had no idea what she was talking about,
and she couldn’t elaborate without explaining that Dominick could
communicate with the dead.

The fatigue added to her despair. It weighed
her down. The day prior she’d given in to an afternoon nap. That
morning when she broke her fast, the gruel Martha presented to her
turned her stomach and it threatened to lurch back up right there
in the great hall. She ran to the sanctuary of her gardens and
fresh air and within a few moments had recovered enough to continue
with her daily routine.

Ruth’s cottage became as familiar as her own
home. She no longer knocked on the door before entering. Stepping
into the cheery kitchen she was met with the wonderful smell of
bread baking. Her stomach rumbled loudly as Ruth placed the warm
bread and a bowl full of honey on the table.

“How are you feeling today?” Eleanor asked. A
question she’d asked every day she saw her.
S
he wanted to make sure that Ruth had everything she
needed for the upcoming birth.