Hope, Rod mused, very conscious of her breasts and hips against the side of his body. Hope to be tumbled, and thrown away…
He shuddered; and the girl raised her head, concerned. "Art chilled, milord?"
He turned to her and smiled, a sudden wave of gratitude and tenderness surging up to clog his throat.
He clasped her tight against him, closing his eyes to better savor the touch of her body against his own. An aroma filled his head, not rose-oil or lilac, but simply the salt-sweet scent of a woman.
A pain was ebbing away inside him, he realized, faintly surprised, a pain that he had not known was there till it began to leave him.
She clung to him, fists clenched in the cloth of his doublet, face pressed into the angle of his neck and shoulder.
Then, gradually, he began to relax again, his embrace loosening. He lay very still, letting the focus of his mind widen, open him again to the world around him; faint in the distance he heard birdsong, and the gossip of the wind through the hedges and trees. Somewhere near his head, a cricket chirped in the hay.
Her embrace had loosened with his; her arms and head lay leaden on him now.
He kept his eyes closed, the sun beating down on the lids; he lay in crimson light, "seeing" the world with his ears.
There was a rustle, and her body rose away from his; she had sat up now. She would be looking down at him, hurt aching in her eyes, lower lip trembling, a tear on her cheek.
Pity welled up in him, pity for her and, close behind it, anger at himself; it wasn't her fault that all he wanted just now was peace, not romance.
He opened his eyes, rolling onto his side and frowning up at her.
But there was no hurt in her eyes—only a grave, deep acceptance, and concern.
She raised her fingertips to his cheek, shyly, not quite touching the skin. He caught it, nestling the palm against the line of his jaw, and was amazed at how small her hand was in his own.
He closed his eyes, pressing her hand tighter.
A cow lowed far away; the wind chuckled in the grain.
Her voice was low, and very gentle. "Milord, use me as you will. I ask no more."
I ask no more… . Love, she must have love, if only for a minute, even if desertion came hard on its heels; even if looking back, she must know that it was lust, and not love. Even if it brought only sorrow and pain, she must have love.
He looked into her eyes; they held tears.
He closed his eyes again, and Catharine's face was before him, andTuan's face next to hers. A part of him stood back, aloof, and contemplated the faces; it remarked on how well they looked together, the beautiful princess and the gallant young knight.
Then his own face came up next to Tuan's, and, compare, the aloof part of him murmured, compare.
Rod's hands tightened, and he heard the peasant girl give a little cry of startled pain.
He let go his grip, and looked up at her; and Catharine's face swam next to hers.
He looked on the two of them, the one bent on using him, the other bent on being used by him, and anger suddenly burned in a band across his chest, anger at Catharine for her self-righteousness and determination to bend her world to her will; and at the peasant girl for her mute acceptance and deep resignation, for the depth of her warmth and her gentleness. The band of anger across his chest tightened and tightened, anger at himself for the animal in him, as his fingers bit into her shoulders, and he drew her down in the hay. She gasped with the pain, crying out softly till his lips struck hers, crushing and biting and bruising, his fingers clamped on the points of her jaw, forcing her mouth open and his tongue stabbed hard under hers. His hand groped over her body, fingers jabbing deep into the flesh, lower and lower, gnawing and mauling.
Then her nails dug into his back as her whole body knotted in one spasm of pain. Then she went loose, and her chest heaved under him in one great sob.
Half his anger sublimed into nothingness; the other half turned about and lanced into him, piercing something within him that loosed a tide of remorse.
He rolled to the side, taking his weight off her. His lips were suddenly gentle, warm and pleading; his hands were gentle, caressing slowly, soothingly.
She drew in breath, her body tensing again. Fool, the detached voice within him sneered, Fool! You only hurt her the more!
Ready to turn away from her in shame, he looked up into her eyes… and saw the longing burning naked there, craving and demanding, pulling him down into the maelstrom within her. Her lips parted, moist and full and warm, tugging and yielding, pulling him down and down, into blind, light-flooded depths where there was no sight nor hearing, but only touch upon touch.
Rod levered himself up on one elbow and looked down at the girl, lying naked beside him with only his cloak for a rather inadequate coverlet. It clung to her contours, and Rod let his eyes wander over them, drinking in the sight of her, fixing every feature of her body in his mind. It was a picture he did not want to lose.
He caressed her, gently, very tenderly. She smiled, murmured, closing her eyes and letting her head roll to the side.
Then her eyes opened again; she looked at him sidelong, her lips heavy and languid.
"You have emerald eyes," Rod whispered.
She stretched luxuriously, her smile a little smug, wrapped her arms around his neck, and hauled him down to her, her kisses slow, almost drowsy, and lasting.
Rod looked into her eyes, feeling enormously contented and very much at peace with the world. Hell, the world could go hang!
He raised himself up again, his eyes upon her; then, slowly, he looked away and about them, and the blue of the sky arching overhead… and a mound of clothing to each side.
He looked down again; there was nothing in his world now except her, and he found, vaguely surprised , that he rather liked it that way. The peace within him was vast; he felt completely filled, completely satisfied with the world, with life, at one with them and with God—and with her most of all.
He let his hand linger over the cloaked curve of her breast. She closed her eyes, murmuring; then, as his hand stilled, she looked up at him again. Her smile faded to a ghost; concern stole into her eyes.
She started to say something, stopped, and said instead, almost warily, "Are you well, lord?"
He smiled, his eyes very sober; then he closed them and nodded, slowly.
"Yes. I am very well."
He bent to kiss her again—slowly, almost carefully—then lifted away. "Yes, I am well, most strangely well, more than I have ever been."
The smile lit her face again, briefly; then she turned her eyes away, looking down at her body, then up at him again, her eyes touched with fear.
He clasped her in his arms and rolled onto his back. Her body stiffened a moment, then relaxed; she gave a little cry, half sob and half sigh, and burrowed her head into the hollow of his shoulder and was still.
He looked down at the glory of her hair spread out over his chest. He smiled lazily and let his eyes drift shut.
"Rod." Fess's voice whispered behind his ear, and the world came flooding in again.
Rod tensed, and clicked his teeth once in acknowledgment.
"Big Tom is dressed again, and coming toward your haystack."
Rod sat bolt upright, squinted up at the sun; it was almost to the meridian. Time and distance nagged him again.
"Well, back to the world of the living," he growled, and reached out for his clothes.
"Milord?"
She was smiling regretfully, but her eyes were tight with hurt—a hurt which faded into the deep acceptance and resignation even as he watched.
"The memory of this time will be dear to me, lord," she whispered, clasping the cloak to her breast, her eyes widening.
It was a forlorn plea for reassurance, a reassurance he could not honestly give, for he would never see her again.