A Knight of Passion

chapter Fourteen

Riana didn't miss the tightening of Sir Bryant’s mouth when the duchess instructed her to go directly to her chambers and prepare to leave. He clearly didn’t want her left to her own devices while he and the duchess sought an audience with the duke. He had good reason to worry.

She gave a nod of acquiescence to the duchess’ order that she be ready to leave within the hour. She would be ready to go, only not as expected. Her hand shook on the latch as she stepped into the hallway and clicked the door shut, leaving them to await the duke. Her knees weakened, the feel of Sir Bryant’s cock lodged inside her as her walls closed around him in pleasure so close to the surface that her sex still ached. She forced her legs into submission and hurried down the hall towards the stairs leading to the fourth floor and her sister’s chambers.

Sir Bryant's touch had been light, sweet, then demanding and passionate to the point that she had nearly gone out of her mind with need. A shiver snaked down her back. She had lost control even knowing the duchess was in the room…even knowing Sir Bryant was only using her. Riana turned a bend in the hallway and made a quick right turn up the third floor stairs. It wasn’t that she could perform while the duchess looked on that bothered her, but that she had enjoyed it for the second time.

Riana gave a mirthless laugh. The noble knight had married her because he believed she held secrets that could harm the duchess. But the question still remained—why marry her before finding out what she knew? Did he plan on using Siusan as the duchess had? At the third floor, Riana turned right again and started up the stairs. Determination churned her stomach. She tired of living in fear. One way or another, she was going to find a way to get Siusan out of Arundel before Sir Bryant and the duchess finished with the duke.

She stepped from the stairs into the hallway and slowed when she saw no guard outside Siusan’s door. Surely the duchess wouldn’t leave her unguarded? She inched open the door and stepped into the anteroom.

“Siusan?”

No answer.

Other than the tiny fire that burnt in the hearth, the room looked as if no one had been there. Riana crossed to the door leading to Siusan’s bedchamber and entered. This room, too, was empty and, aside from the goblet of ale on the small desk, looked unused. Where could Siusan be? Fear swept through her. Had the duke decided he’d waited long enough to have Siusan? Riana whirled. Something in the corner of her eye caught her attention and she started towards the bed. A man’s boot peeked from behind the thick leg of the bed. She took three more paces and stopped. One of the duke’s men lay unconscious on the carpet.

Riana dropped to her knees at his side and pressed two fingers to his neck. A strong pulse beat. He wasn’t dead, only rendered unconscious. Why? She rose and scanned the room. Nothing looked out of place. She hurried to Siusan’s armoire and yanked open the doors above the drawers. Siusan’s woollen dress and cloak were gone. By all that was holy, had Siusan left Arundel? Riana turned. Aside from the unconscious guard, there was no sign of a struggle or ransacking of the room. Had Glen escaped prison and returned? Even if some miracle had freed him, he couldn’t have entered Arundel undetected, and he wouldn’t take Siusan without telling her.

If the duke had come for Siusan, he wouldn’t have taken her clothes. In fact, he would probably have taken her virginity here in this bed. Riana shifted her attention back to the unconscious man. Only someone who wasn’t supposed to be here would leave him in this condition. A memory flashed through her mind of Sir Dunbar’s wink when he’d excused himself from the room earlier. “I have business to attend to.”

Riana drew a sharp breath. His business had been Siusan. Her mind reeled. Sir Bryant had f*cked her while in the presence of the duchess as a distraction—just as Riana had used him as a distraction. He was rescuing Siusan.

Not rescuing. Ensuring Riana’s cooperation. Siusan was Sir Bryant’s leverage, just as she’d been the duchess’ leverage. A dozen questions rushed to the surface, but the most important was, was being owned by Sir Bryant better than being owned by the duchess?

His ownership brought with it his touch. A flutter brushed the inside her stomach. Sir Bryant saw her as an opportunity to better his station in life. How could he elicit such emotion in her? Once she outlived her usefulness, he would lose interest. Her heart twisted at the thought of him abandoning her for another woman. Riana forced aside her riotous emotions. Being discarded by Sir Bryant was the lesser of two evils. He would not force her into the bed of other men, and more important, he would not take Siusan into his bed either.

* * * *

Relief and trepidation flooded Bryant when he took the final step down the stairs into the great hall and found Riana seated at the table, ready to go. He met her gaze and read in her eyes that she knew her sister was no longer at Arundel. He remained quiet and escorted her to the horses that stood ready and, surrounded by fifty of his men, they rode through the gates of Arundel. They would remain in sight of the guards on the battlements until they reached the trees.

Bryant kept their pace leisurely as he fell back from the lead to come up alongside Riana. “How did you know?”

Gaze straight ahead, she pulled her cloak more tightly about her. “I found the guard unconscious in Siusan’s bedchamber.”

Bryant wondered that Sir Dunbar hadn't killed the man, but his mentor was probably right in not giving the duke reason to accuse them of murder.

“Where is she?” Riana asked.

Her voice was cool, strong, but he didn’t miss the worry.

“They have a two hour head start. They will ride to Chilgoriam Castle.”

She snapped her head in his direction. “That is a day’s ride.”

Bryant nodded. “We cannot risk the duchess catching us before we reach the safety of the castle.”

“You play a dangerous game, knight.”

He laughed. “Aye, Lady. We are well matched.”

Surprise flickered in her eyes. “I will not give you any information until I am certain Siusan is safe.”

Her reply implied she knew something, but would she admit otherwise? Her reaction when they were with the duchess had told him she understood he meant to have her secrets. Had that knowledge given her time to form the reply she believed he wanted?

“We will both benefit, Riana.”

She remained silent, and he hesitated, wanting to speak of what had happened with the duchess. Did she now understand that the consummation had simply been the best ploy to keep the duchess distracted while Sir Dunbar whisked away her sister?

Would she loathe him if she knew how much he’d wanted her, despite the fact the duchess looked on? Even now he grew hard with the memory of how she had ground her mound against his mouth as he devoured her. The way her mouth had closed around his shaft while he sucked her sex had driven him mad. He wouldn’t have cared if the whole world watched while they tasted each other. He shifted in his saddle, his erection suddenly uncomfortable. He had f*cked her only an hour ago, yet he wanted her again.

Deep in the night, Bryant realised Riana had fallen asleep on her horse, and brought his mount up alongside hers. He grasped her waist and pulled her across his thighs. She cried out and fisted his gambeson.

“You are safe,” he whispered into her hair, and cursed his foolishness in not insisting she acquiesce when he’d suggested earlier that she ride with him.

She pushed at his chest in an obvious effort to straighten, but he pulled her trembling body closer.

“I can ride,” she said into his chest.

“Be still,” he growled.

She hesitated, then relaxed in his arms. “How much longer?”

“It is nearly dawn,” he replied. “Four, maybe five hours, yet.”

She snuggled closer and he pulled her cloak more tightly around her. After a moment’s silence, she said, “Mayhap the duchess has not given chase because she is sure my mother will bear a son. If she believes Fyvie Castle will remain hers, she may let us go.”

Bryant didn’t believe the duchess would take such a gamble, and was surprised Riana would be so naïve. But he only replied, “Perhaps,” and breathed deeply of her hair. A hint of vanilla still lingered. He could get lost in that smell. His cock pulsed. If she noticed his arousal—he laughed mentally. In a moment she would be unable to miss his desire. His shaft would be hard as a rock and screaming for attention.

A soft snort brought him up short and he realised Riana had fallen asleep again. Bryant released a slow breath. This would be the longest four hours of his life.