Time Travel Romances Boxed Set (117 page)

And then, Niall was buried within her, dizzy
with sensation and oblivious to all else. There was only Viviane,
her sweetness, her silken thighs, her ardent kisses. The wet heat
of her seemed to draw him deeper and deeper, her grip upon him and
her beguiling tongue forcing all coherent thought from his
mind.

Niall was lost and did not want to be
found.

They moved together in that ageless dance,
temple to temple, whispering incoherently to each other and gasping
in turn. The heat was easily conjured between them once more, the
lady’s embers stoked to a flame. Niall moved his hips to caress the
lady, savoring her moans and fleeting smiles. Already he could read
her response, as though they had been together countless times,
already he could feel her proximity to release.

This time, they would share the
pleasure.

Niall slipped his hand between them, his
thumb landing upon Viviane with a persuasiveness that made her cry
out. She sat up and strained for the sky, a vision of silvered
femininity high above him, her knees digging into his waist as they
rocked together.

She suddenly threw her head back and moaned,
the secret heat of her clutched him with a surety that made Niall
bellow in turn. For one electric moment, their gazes held, the
world stopped and there was naught but the explosion of pleasure
between them.

Then Viviane collapsed atop him and Niall
caught her close, rolling against the tangled lines. Their bodies
were spent but he was loathe to release even a fraction of her
touch.

Even when he felt her drift into slumber
once more.

Niall leaned back and closed his eyes as he
nestled Viviane more tightly against his side. His thumb stroked
the softness of her shoulder, marveling at what they had shared, as
he drifted off to sleep.

*

Viviane awakened the next morning to find
sunlight slanted across the floor and birds chirping outside the
window. And everything was right with the world, because the heat
of her knight was right beside her.

She was tingling right to her toes and
lazily satisfied in a way she had never imagined possible. Her
mother had been right to insist that it was worth waiting for the
right man to savor the pleasures of love.

And now that she had found her knight,
Viviane was ready to savor some more.

Viviane propped herself up on one elbow to
survey Niall, delighted to find him not only awake but watching
her. She smiled at him and to her pleasure, a crooked smile eased
across his firm lips.

“
You should do that more
often,” she teased, unable to resist the temptation to trace the
curve with her fingertip. Niall captured her finger and kissed it,
his intent gaze holding hers as he slid his teeth across its
tip.

“
Do what?”

“
Smile. It makes you look
less forbidding.” Viviane wrinkled her nose. “As though you’re
actually happy about something.”

Niall chuckled and rolled her to her back,
meshing his fingers with hers and stretching her arms over her head
as he loomed over her. He braced his weight on his elbows, the move
bringing them breathtakingly breast to chest as he slowly smiled.
Viviane could feel his erection against her thigh and her heart
skipped a beat at the dark hue of Niall’s eyes.

She knew what he had in mind.

And she had no objections.

He bent and nibbled on her earlobe, his
breath making her shiver. “Aye? And what would I have to be happy
about this morn?” he teased, then flicked his tongue against her
earlobe.

She caught her breath, then rolled him to
his back, echoing his gesture and liking how his eyes twinkled. He
let her push him around and Viviane knew it, but still she was
enjoying herself.

“
I never knew lovemaking
was so marvelous,” she whispered, wrinkling her nose with delight.
“Or is it just that you are so skilled in the amorous arts?” She
bent and slid her tongue across Niall’s nipple, liking how he
shivered.

The man in question snorted amiably as he
freed his hands, his thumb moving to slide across the small of her
back. The lazy caress made Viviane feel warm and shivery at the
same time, the warm weight of his hand made her feel delightfully
feminine.

“
Not I,” he rumbled, then
smiled at her. His dark blond hair was tousled, his emerald eyes
gleamed with a sensuality that made her want to blush scarlet. He
reached up and pushed a hand through her hair, the warmth of his
hand cradling her cheek. He smiled up at her and rubbed his thumb
across her temple.

“
Beautiful,” he murmured,
his voice low with admiration, and Viviane felt
cherished.

She folded her hands atop his chest and
dropped her chin to rest upon them, hardly able to believe that her
knight truly had come. Even though he was right here beside her.
Niall stared back at her, the sight of his mingled appreciation and
awe making Viviane want to laugh aloud.

Oh, she had lucked out again.

She traced a pattern amidst the hair on his
chest with a playful fingertip. “You must have dozens of women
clamoring for your touch,” she teased, then sighed contentment.
“Hundreds of ladies intent on winning the favors of Sir Niall of
Malloy.”

Niall snorted again, the image of masculine
skepticism. “Hardly that.”

Viviane tilted her head to consider him.
“Why not? You certainly seem to have a talent for…”

“
I do not couple frequently
with women,” he interrupted sharply and looked away.

Oh, he was embarrassed! Viviane warmed to
this man who was so determined to not trumpet his desirability.

“
Well, I can’t imagine why
not. You certainly have a skill for it.” Viviane brushed a fleeting
kiss across his flesh. “Not that it’s a surprise or anything - I
knew the first moment we met that you would know how to thoroughly
please a woman. In fact -” she tapped a fingertip on his shoulder
“- I wondered even in that dungeon what it would be like to kiss
you.”

Niall’s gaze flicked to hers, then away. His
golden brows drew together and his lips tightened, his thumb
stopped its lazy caress.

Though he still lay beside her, it felt as
though he were a thousand miles away.

“
A knight in shining
armor,” she teased, but Niall’s frown deepened.

“
Viviane, I am not the man
you think me to be,” he said sternly and looked away.

“
No, you are much less dour
than you would have me believe,” she jested, kissing the tip of his
nose.

Niall’s gaze locked suddenly with hers, no
playfulness in his expression. “Nay, I am not the knight you
believe me to be. ’Tis time we had the truth between us.”

“
What do you mean? You’re a
knight. Anyone can see that.” Viviane snuggled closer. “And you’re
my knight, I can see that.”

Niall shook his head. “Nay, I am a knight in
name alone, but not in role.”

Viviane frowned. “I don’t understand.”

Niall sighed. “I am a knight in name alone,
for I have earned my spurs and none can take them from me.” His
lips thinned. “But I do not ride as a knight any longer. ’Tis not
mine to defend my patron or his holdings, ’tis not mine to quest
and conquer, ’tis not mine to ride to battle.”

There was a wistfulness in his tone that
made Viviane nestle closer. “Why not?”

He shrugged as though the tale didn’t matter
but Viviane knew better. “’Tis not a tale worth telling.”

Viviane reached out a fingertip to touch his
jaw, gently compelling him to look to her again. The shadows in his
eyes wrenched her heart. “Tell me,” she urged softly. “It’s a tale
I would like to hear.”

“
You would hear of my
failure?”

“
I would hear everything
about you.” As he watched, clearly incredulous, Viviane stretched
to kiss him. Far from a gentle reassurance, the kiss immediately
became incendiary, that heat rising quickly between them. Niall
opened his mouth to her and bracketed her waist with his hands. He
pulled her closer, then rolled atop her once more, his lips both
demanding and pleasing. His knee was between her thighs, their
limbs entangled, and their breathing ragged when he lifted his
head.

“
You are a marvel,” he
murmured, tracing the line of her jaw with one fingertip. His touch
made circles on her skin as he frowned in thought, then his gaze
flicked to hers. “Indeed, you make me recall those days before my
shame.”

Viviane looped her arms around his neck.
“What shame could you have?”

Niall grimaced and rolled to his back once
more. His tone was flat. “I was bested in a tournament before the
archbishop three years past. ’Twas my role to defend his cause, for
he had chosen me to carry his colors against the champion of his
neighbor and rival. All of Cantlecroft gathered for the match and
though ’twas in sport, there was an element of truth riding on the
outcome. ’Twas a telling responsibility and a trust I dared not
disappoint.”

Viviane had a good idea where this story was
going. “What happened?” she asked when Niall fell grimly
silent.

“
I rode out, ceremony and
fine trappings on every side. We met on a field chosen between the
two holdings, the perimeter tight with tents of nobles. Every
peasant within walking distance was there, every merchant walked
his eligible daughter through the throng. ’Twas a spectacle such as
few have the chance to witness - and my match with this champion
was the highlight of the fete.”

“’
Twas there I showed
myself no champion of repute.”

“
Of course you are!”
Viviane cried.

“
Nay, Viviane. I failed my
patron. I miscalculated the intent of my opponent on the seventh
course. He swerved his steed and collided with mine, unhorsing me,
wounding both beasts and crushing my knee.”

“
But you must have been
wearing armor!”

He flicked her a wry glance. “Do you know
the weight of a destrier? The beast was running at full gallop and
fully armed as well. He struck mine so hard that both beasts broke
a rib, and my knee had the misfortune to be trapped between.”

“
That’s
horrible!”

“
Aye, I was quickly
defeated after that and the archbishop was mightily
displeased.”

“
But your knee?”

“
Healed after a fashion,
thanks to the aid of a sympathetic physician. The steeds did not
fare so well - - and neither did my repute.” He stretched out his
leg and the joint creaked. “The rain worsens its complaints and it
does not suffer me to ride overmuch these days. Nay, Viviane, I am
a knight no longer.”

Viviane exhaled in sudden understanding.
“So, that was why you were a sentry in the archbishop’s
dungeons!”

“
Aye.”

She sat up, nodding her understanding. “I
just knew it couldn’t be an easy labor for you. You were intended
to ride on quests, to right wrongs and to save damsels in distress.
You’re not the kind of man to march people to their deaths and I
knew it, right from the moment we met…”

She leaned forward to give him a hearty
kiss, certain her endorsement would improve his spirits, but Niall
abruptly swung out of bed.

It must be that his injured knee needed a
stretch, Viviane concluded, for he limped as he crossed the room.
He shoved a hand through his hair with impatience and his
expression was forbidding when he turned.

Oh, horrible feelings had been dredged up by
that memory, Viviane could see. She was doubly honored that Niall
had shared it with her.

The books were right - communication between
them was key.

“
What did you think of
me
, there in the archbishop’s dungeons?” She smiled
brightly, hoping to lighten the tone of the conversation. “I have
to say that I didn’t spend a very comfortable night there and I
couldn’t have been looking my best…”

Niall looked up suddenly at that, his
expression agitated. “Viviane, ’tis time I confess to you…” he
began, his tone purposeful.

But then, his eyes abruptly widened and his
words halted. Niall stared at her, then at the floor as though
disbelieving what was before his own eyes. Viviane followed his
glance, catching her own breath at the telltale bright red
drop.

Oops.

She noted her own virginal blood smeared
across Niall’s flesh in the same moment that he discovered it. He
touched himself and inhaled sharply, then his eyes flashed.

Viviane blushed and dropped her gaze, her
rush of maidenly shyness a little late to be much help.

“
You are a virgin?” he
demanded.

Perhaps she had not done so badly with
lovemaking as she feared. Any pleasure Viviane might have felt at
the implied compliment, though, was quickly shattered by Niall’s
evident horror.

She shrugged self-consciously, pulling the
linens higher over herself as she tried to smile. “Well, not any
more.”

Her attempt at humor fell flat.

Niall flung out a hand as he took a step
closer. “How could you not have told me the truth?”

“
You didn’t stop to ask!”
Viviane pushed the weight of her hair back from her cheek and
lifted her chin proudly.

“
You should have told me!”
Niall thundered.

“
If it mattered that much,
you should have asked!”

Niall muttered something that Viviane was
quite glad she couldn’t quite overhear. “This changes all!” he
declared with evident frustration. “Zounds, but what is a man to
do?” He paced the room with new vigor, not looking nearly as
pleased as he had just a few minutes before.