To Love Again - Bertrice Small [187]
“She lies,” Nellwyn said as she and her mistress made their rounds to see that the fires were banked for the night, that the door was bolted, and everything else in the hall was secure. “She had no basket with her, my lady. How could she berry without a basket?”
“She could not,” Cailin answered. “More than likely she was out meeting a lover upon the hillside, the bold wench.”
“Albert and Bran-hard were looking something fierce at each other in the hall at supper, my lady,” Nellwyn reported.
“There is our answer,” Cailin said. “She is setting those two against one another again, but for what purpose I do not know.”
Cailin climbed to the solar where Aurora and Royse were already long asleep. Lifting the baby from his cradle, she fed the half-sleeping infant before finding her own rest. She could not imagine a better life than the one she had. Wulf. Their children. Cadda-wic. Sometimes she would glimpse the old marble floor of what had once been her childhood home, and the memories would flood her being. Lately when that happened, she found she was no longer sad. Most of her memories were good ones, and whatever happened, those memories could not be taken from her. She would always have them, and in having them, she would always have her family with her.
Cailin slept, not hearing the bolt to the hall door being drawn softly. The door opened, and then it closed as silently as Aelfa could make it. She stood outside the entry a long minute, listening to the sounds of the night, and then she ran on bare feet across the courtyard to the gatehouse. The waning moon silvered her naked form. She carried a small skin of wine in her hand. Gaining her destination, Aelfa quickly entered the small gatehouse, shutting the door quietly. A smile of derision crossed her face at the sight of the dozing man on the stool in the corner. What a weakling he was, and his sense of duty was certainly lacking.
Kneeling down next to him, Aelfa kissed Bran-hard’s mouth, startling the man awake. “Did you not want to see me?” she murmured seductively at him, and his eyes widened at her nudity. “I have brought you some fine wine from the lord’s own barrel. It will not ever be missed,” she reassured him, and handed him the full skin. “Have some.” She kissed him quickly a second time.
“Aelfa,” he said in a strangled voice. “You should not be here. Where is your clothing? What if someone should come?”
“Albert would not be so faint of heart,” Aelfa taunted him. “He met me on the hillside today and tried to have his way with me. I fought him off and refused him, for it is you, Bran-hard, that I really want. Let Albert have Nellwyn, who is so cow-eyed over him.” Her small hands reached down and fumbled beneath his tunic. “You are a real man! I know you are!” Then she kissed him hard. “Do you not want me, Bran-hard, my big, strong warrior?” Aelfa ran her tongue over her lips seductively.
Bran-hard found, to his surprise, that he was holding his breath. He let it out with a slow hiss as her hands found his manhood and began to play with it. She was skilled beyond any he had ever known. His eyes closed, and pure pleasure such as he had never experienced filled his being. Her little fingers stroked him slowly, lingeringly at first. Then pushing the covering from his battering ram, she worked him swiftly. He began to ache with his great need. “Aelfa,” he groaned hungrily, catching his hand in her hair and drawing her closer to him. “I want you, Aelfa!”
Giggling, she took his cloak and spread it upon the narrow floor of the tiny gatehouse. Laying down upon it, she opened her legs wide and said huskily, “Come, stuff me with that great pole of yours, Bran-hard! You want me every bit as much as I want you! No one will come and find us. All are abed, and we may take our pleasure. As much of it as we like!”
He could not have stopped himself if he had wanted to. She was beautiful, and she was hot for him. No man in his right mind would refuse Aelfa’s plea. With a low cry he fell upon her, pushing his engorged organ into her hot, wet sheath;