Tyballis managed her first muffled objection. ‘I wasn’t flaunting.’
‘You were most certainly flaunting,’ said Andrew. ‘Quite delectably, in fact. And young Geoffrey was on the point of fighting me for you.’
‘But he didn’t. And saying I’m beautiful is just silly.’
‘Stand still and lift your left leg,’ he ordered her. ‘Indeed, after the fool decided not to fight me for you, he became far more dangerous. He then wished to fight me purely from anger and hurt pride. Had he decided to do so, I would have been considerably disadvantaged.’
He dried the length of her left leg, took her left foot and rubbed between her toes. He then demanded she raise the other. She obeyed with a sniff. ‘Don’t you … I mean, does he fight so much better than you?’
Andrew paused momentarily in his work, smiled and bent to her right thigh. ‘Do you suppose,’ he murmured, ‘that my killing the Marquess of Dorset’s best friend, even in self-defence, would endear me to the king and his council? Especially within the confines of the palace itself! Even those who hate Marrott, and there are many, could not openly back me. I would also be at risk of personal detection, since I have no right at court, and my title is entirely false. I believe Gloucester would speak for me, but it would put him in a damned awkward position. No – I should have been obliged to let the fool wound me, and then extricate myself from any further damage if possible. Even on the point of death, I would have been obliged to defend myself with considerable care. And Marrott is no mean swordsman.’
He lifted and towelled her feet as she hopped one-legged, holding on to his shoulder to balance herself. His silvery velvet was still damp against her skin. She said softly, ‘I’m sorry. I never meant it that way. I thought you were a long way away.’
‘I don’t need your apologies, child.’ He put her foot back to the ground and brought her tightly to him again. ‘My difficulties are of my own making. I work under a false name and a fraudulent title. This would mean certain arrest if I were discovered, since I am simply Andrew Cobham and no lord.’ He looked at her suddenly and grinned. ‘In truth, my name’s not even Cobham.’
She realised he had dropped the towel. It was not soft linen that dried her now, but his bare hands, not so smooth and not so soft, but his palms stroked gently and his fingers entwined in the curls at her groin. She leaned against him, her hands, still shy, on his shoulders. Yet his breath was so hot in her face she felt scorched. ‘Not?’ she whispered. ‘I mean – I wouldn’t –’
‘I was, I’m afraid, simply jealous.’ His fingers explored, finding a slow and sensuous path between her legs. ‘Seeing you like that, when I was already fractious and exhausted, angered me. At first I meant to leave you there. I believed you’d chosen ambition and opportunity, that you intended making better use of your charms and Marrott’s position. It was when I saw you struggle that I thought differently. By then it was almost too late. Geoffrey is not known for his humility or his patience.’
Tyballis clung to his neck as his hands wandered, and his voice, quiet and slow, tickled her ear. She half-grunted, ‘Are you?’
Andrew grinned. ‘No.’ He hoisted her against him, then lifted her quickly backwards onto the bed. She lay uncovered, but curled immediately, wrapping her arms around herself. He shook his head, came to sit next to her on the mattress, and took her hands in his, again uncovering her. ‘Don’t hide, my love. Don’t deny me. Let me look at you. It is the greatest pleasure I can imagine after a trying day.’ His smile as he bent over her now shone deep in his eyes. He added softly, ‘I intend making love to you. If you don’t want me, then you’ll have to fight me off, my dear.’
‘That’s not – chivalrous.’ But she did not move.
‘Not at all,’ he said, and began to undress.
He had unlaced his doublet and shrugged it off, when she murmured, ‘You’re not angry with me anymore?’
‘I never was.’ He unhooked the fastening on his shirt cuffs, and loosened the neck. As he pulled the shirt off over his head, he said, ‘I was angry with myself. For caring. For being jealous. For terrifying you on the river trip. For misjudging you. Finally for wanting you, while believing I must not take you.’
Tyballis whispered, ‘Why – must not?’
Andrew had kicked off his boots and now stood only in fine knitted hose, the laces hanging in short loops around his waist, the grey silk clinging tightly to the long muscled curves of his legs. He watched her intently as he began to remove his hose, the stiffened codpiece, and the braies beneath. Now she also watched him. She said, ‘I’m not a frightened virgin. And I’m not scared of hellfire. You don’t even go to church so you can’t be either. I already offered – and I said – twice over.’
He stood before her as naked as she was. ‘You offered from duty, gratitude, and guilt. Not how I wanted you, little one.’ Then he lay beside her, taking her swiftly into his arms. ‘Now if it’s still any of those things, I don’t care. I want you too much to remember my manners.’
‘It isn’t those things. It’s – wanting, too.’
His hands roamed, discovering her breasts again, kissing and exploring. Then he paused. ‘I don’t actually need fighting off, you know. A word would suffice.’ She gazed back at him in silence. Finally he smiled. ‘You may be no virgin, my sweet, but you’ve hinted at your wretched husband’s rough ineptitude. If you’ve learned to dislike a man’s touch, then I’ve a lot of teaching to do.’ She bit her lip and blushed. So, his hands wandered once more, and now when he spoke, it was little more than a whisper. ‘This,’ he murmured, ‘is the place of learning. Breathe deep. Now tighten. Squeeze against me. Now relax. Like this I explore you, which delights me, and my hands become your teacher. Now, through my fingers, explore yourself.’
‘But I don’t know –’ she stammered. ‘I’m not – Elizabeth.’
He paused, as if surprised. Then he said, ‘Every woman is different, my love. And you are the one I want.’ He held her suddenly so tightly that she gasped, her breath crushed. Unperturbed, he kissed her again. ‘Listen, my sweet,’ he whispered, loosening his grasp. ‘There’s lovemaking for relief and release, and there’s lovemaking for the sheer fun of it. Then there’s lovemaking for love. Every time is different, and every woman is different, whether you’ve known her before, can’t remember her name or can’t even see her in the dark. But whoever she is, half of the pleasure is her pleasure, whether the need is casual, or intense. Must I talk of Elizabeth? It’s you I want to please.’
The broken shutters had not been set and the window remained uncovered. As the night’s storm clouds continued to diminish and the steady beat of the rain on the glass stilled to a hesitant patter, the full silver of the moon lanced through. Tyballis, staring up at Andrew, saw his body glossed and the black silky hair across his chest pearlised by light. She whispered, ‘I don’t think I understand. But it sounded wonderful.’
He chuckled, his mouth tucked into the curve of her neck. ‘Now, slowly,’ he said, ‘and if I hurt you, tell me. But I shan’t. I want the feel of you and the shape of you fixed in my mind when I wake, and the warmth of you all through my dreams. This may not be the first time for you, my love, but for me, in a way, it is.’
His hair was damp between her fingers. ‘Don’t be silly,’ she murmured. ‘How can it be?’
‘The first time it really matters,’ he said very softly as he moved deeper in, and thought she had not heard him.