The Velvet Promise Read online

  “Are you saying soft words to me in hopes that I won’t be cold in bed?” she asked suspiciously.

  “I say soft words because I feel them. I don’t wish them thrown back at me.”

  “I…apologize. It was unkind of me.”

  He kissed her again. “I will think of some way for you to apologize for your hasty temper.”

  Judith giggled and he smiled warmly at her, his hand caressing her temple. “Come with me—or I’ll take you in the king’s garden.”

  She looked about the dark place, as if considering.

  “No,” he laughed. “Don’t tempt me.” He took her hand and led her up the stairs to the top floor of the manor house. The enormous room had been divided into small bedrooms for the night by folding oak screens.

  “My lady,” Joan said sleepily when she heard them approach.

  “You won’t be needed tonight,” Gavin said in dismissal.

  Joan rolled her eyes and slipped away through the maze of screens.

  “She has her eye on your brother,” Judith said.

  Gavin raised one eyebrow. “Why should you care what Stephen does with his nights?”

  Judith smiled up at him. “You waste ours in needless talk. I’ll need help with these buttons.”

  Gavin was becoming quite efficient at undressing his wife. When he started to fling his own clothes away, Judith whispered, “Let me. I will be your squire tonight.” She unbuckled the belt that held the doublet over his hard, flat stomach and slipped it over his head. The long-sleeved tunic came next, baring his chest and the upper part of his thighs between the hose and the brief undergarments.

  A fat candle burned by the bed and she pushed Gavin toward it, looking at his body with interest. Judith had explored him with her hands but never so thoroughly with her eyes. Her fingertips ran over the muscles of his arm, and his rippling stomach.

  “Do I please you?” he asked, his eyes dark.

  She smiled at him. At times he could be a little boy, worried whether he pleased her or not. She didn’t answer but moved down on the bed and untied the hose, pulling them away from his heavily muscled legs. He lay very still, as if afraid to break the spell. She ran her hands from his feet to the sides of his hips, and deftly untied the linen braies. Her hands roamed over his body.

  “You please me,” she said as she kissed him. “Do I please you?”

  He couldn’t answer but pushed her to the bed and moved on top of her. His passion was such that he could not wait for her long, but Judith also needed him as fiercely as he needed her.

  Later, Gavin held her closely in his arms as he heard her quiet, even breathing of sleep. When had he fallen in love with her? he wondered. Perhaps he was in love with her when he’d first taken her home and left her on the doorstep. He smiled in memory of how angry he’d been because she’d dared defy him. He kissed her sleeping forehead. Judith would defy him when she was ninety, he thought, looking forward to the idea.

  And what of Alice? When had he ceased to love her? Had he ever loved her? Or had it been a young man’s passion for a beautiful woman? She was beautiful, it was true, and tonight he’d been startled when he saw her again, somewhat overwhelmed by her radiance. Alice was a kind and gentle woman, as sweet as Judith was acid, but in the last few months he’d grown to love a bit of vinegar with his food.

  Judith moved in his arms and he pulled her closer. He accused her of dishonesty but he didn’t really believe his own words. If she carried another man’s child, then she had conceived it while trying to protect her husband. Misguided, surely, but her heart was always good. She would give up her own life to save her mother, and even a husband who abused her.

  He held her so tightly that she woke, fighting for breath.

  “You are strangling me!” she gasped.

  He kissed her nose. “Have I ever told you that I like vinegar?”

  She gave him a blank look.

  “What sort of wife are you?” Gavin demanded. “Don’t you know how to help a husband sleep?” He rubbed his hips against hers and her eyes widened. “To sleep so would cause me much pain. You wouldn’t want that, would you?”

  “No,” she whispered, her eyes half-closed. “You shouldn’t have to bear such pain.”

  Gavin was the one who was aroused and Judith lay still in a coma of red and silver light as he ran his hands over her body. It was as if he’d never touched her before, and her body was completely new to her. After his hands became familiar with her soft, smooth skin, he started exploring again with his eyes.

  Judith cried out in desperate longing for him, but he only laughed at her and pushed her hands away from his shoulders. When she was trembling with desire, he entered her and they came together almost instantly. They fell asleep, joined, Gavin still on top of her.

  When Judith woke the next morning, Gavin was gone and the bed felt cold and empty. Joan helped her dress in a gown of maroon velvet, the neckline square and cut very low. Her sleeves were lined with fox. Across her breast and around her waist were gold cords, fastened at the shoulder with a diamond brooch. At supper there’d been talk of a day’s hawking, and she wished to join the hunt.

  Gavin met her at the foot of the stairs, his eyes dancing in delight. “You’re a sleepy one. I’d hoped to find you still in bed, and perhaps join you there.”

  She smiled teasingly. “Shall I return?”

  “No, not now. I have some news for you. I have spoken to the king, and he agrees to allow John Bassett to marry your mother.” King Henry was a Welshman, a descendant of commoners.

  She stared at him.

  “Doesn’t that please you?”

  “Oh, Gavin!” she said and launched herself from the steps into his arms. Her arms were so tight about his neck, that he nearly choked. “Thank you. Many thousands of times, thank you.”

  He laughed and hugged her closer to him. “If I’d thought your reaction would have been like this, I would have talked to the king last night.”

  “You couldn’t have handled more last night,” Judith said flatly.

  He laughed and squeezed her until she cried for release, her ribs nearly breaking. “You don’t think so?” Gavin challenged. “Goad me some more and I’ll take you upstairs and keep you there until you are too sore to walk.”

  “Gavin!” she gasped, her face red. She looked around to see if anyone was listening.

  He chuckled and kissed her lightly.

  “My mother knows of her marriage?”

  “No, I thought maybe you’d like to tell her.”

  “I’m ashamed to say I don’t even know where she is.”

  “I sent John to look after the lodging of my men. I would imagine your mother to be somewhere near him.”

  “True, she doesn’t often leave his side. Gavin, thank you. It was very kind of you to grant me this favor.”

  “I wish I could grant you everything that you wanted,” he said softly.

  She looked at him in wonder.

  “Go then,” he smiled. “Tell your mother, then join me in the courtyard for the hunt.” He set her down, then gazed at her with concern. “You are well enough to ride?”

  It was the first time that he had mentioned the child in any way but anger. “Yes,” she smiled. “I’m quite well. Queen Elizabeth says the exercise will do me good.”

  “Just be sure you don’t overdo,” Gavin cautioned.

  She smiled and turned away, her mind warm from his concern. She felt light with happiness.

  Judith walked down the stairs and out of the great hall. The enormous castleyard that stood inside the guarded walls was filled with people. The noise was nearly deafening as men and women shouted to servants and servants yelled at each other. Everything seemed so disorganized that Judith wondered how anything got done. A long building stood at the end of the courtyard. Horses pranced about outside, held by their grooms. It was obviously the stables.

  “Ah, if it isn’t little Miss Red-Hair,” came a purring voice that halted Judith instantly. “Ar