The Falcon and the Flower Part 32

After the dance Falcon went with the other men to drag in the Yule log for luck. There was much good-hearted pus.h.i.+ng and shoving, and many of them were unsteady on their feet from what they had imbibed. Jasmine was flushed and happy. It was almost as if Falcon were courting her, and what woman could resist? What woman indeed? she asked herself as Morganna, in a low-cut, short leather tunic, fastened her eyes on Jasmine's diamonds and sneered, "I'm happy to see the two of you do something together, at least."

Jasmine refused to be baited. "Yes, I have discovered a pa.s.sion for dancing," she said lightly.

"Pa.s.sion?" Morganna scorned. "You don't even know the meaning of the word." She pul ed aside her tunic to reveal her breast with the F carved into it. "There's pa.s.sion! He puts his mark on everything he owns that real y matters to him."

Jasmine closed her eyes. The evening had been thoroughly spoiled for her. If Falcon real y cared anything at al for her, he would rid the castle of Morganna's hateful presence.

When he returned to Jasmine's side, he brought her a cup of hot, fragrant cider, but she set it aside. "What's wrong?" he asked, his brows drawing together in concern. The sparkle had gone out of her and she had withdrawn from him.

"Nothing," she said stiffly. "I'm suddenly very tired."

He searched her face, but she would not meet his eyes.

Final y he said, "I'm sorry, I should have realized. I'l carry you up to bed."

She recoiled. "No! Please stay or your men wil be disappointed."

Estel e came up and put her hand on de Burgh's arm. "I'l see to her," she said quietly. Inside Jasmine's tower room, Estel e warned her granddaughter, "I've never taken my eyes from her tonight because I know she is a danger to you."

"If he wants her he can have her," Jasmine cried angrily.

"He doesn't want her, that's why she's obsessed with him,"

said Estel e firmly.

"He's carved his initial on her breast!" cried Jasmine.

"What do you mean?" asked Estel e.

"She showed me a big F scratched across her breast!"

"She must have done it herself. She's capable of anything. I didn't tel you, but two days ago I know she came to your chamber to put rue in your wine to rid you of the child. I found the empty vial spil ed upon the floor. She wanted me to think she carried his child, but the only child real y is yours. Tonight I saw the raw hatred she bears you, darling. She'l try again tonight. I feel it. I know it."

Jasmine was stil for a moment as she absorbed the truth of Estel e's words. "I wil be ready for her. I wil put the fear of the Devil into her."

"I'l ready the candles, you put on your gossamer robe," urged Estel e. They prepared for the ritual and silently waited. The green candles had burned themselves in half before they heard a footfal on the stone steps.

In the dim tower staircase Morganna stretched a cord low across the top step and secured the ends by wedging them tightly into deep crevices in the stone wal s. She tested its tautness, smiled with satisfaction, and was about to step over the cord and descend when Estel e opened the chamber door and commanded, "Come . . . we've been expecting you."

There were times when it was quite impossible to disobey Estel e, and this was one of them. As if under a spel , Morganna entered the chamber. With fascinated horror she saw Jasmine in a nimbus of light inside a circle of green candles. Her nakedness glowed through a robe transparent as a spider's web and she held a chalice of some potion on high as she sang a mystic chant. An unusual smoky miasma was fil ing the room until the heavy, burning fragrance almost choked Morganna.

Jasmine drank from the chalice then caressed a crystal orb before her, which began to swirl inside like a whirlwind. "I, Jasmine de Burgh, cal upon the Powers of the Universe to curse Morganna of Wales. If you ever lift a hand against a child of mine, G.o.d wither it!" Jasmine raised a dagger and pointed it directly at Morganna.

With a strangled cry the girl fled the room. She forgot the cord across the stairs and went down headfirst with a scream of terror. Falcon's door flew open as he rushed out.

"They tried to murder me," she screamed. "They are witches!"

She pointed up the stairs and de Burgh stood horrified at the sight of Jasmine in her ritualistic robe. Falcon tried to help Morganna to her feet. Her face and arms were torn and bleeding from the rough stones. Her hand was frozen into a claw. "I cannot move my hand . . . they have crippled mel"

Big Meg had also heard the screams and came running. De Burgh spoke to her quickly. "Take the girl and tend her wounds." He took the stairs two at a time. Both women backed away from his terrible black anger.

"There wil be no more witch's rituals in my castle. This night puts an end to al your dabbling in black magic! Do you understand me?" he thundered, his eyes blazing with cold fury.

He turned on his heel as if he could no longer stand the sight of his wife.

Why did he have such an unreasoning att.i.tude toward the occult? Jasmine wondered angrily. Why did he take that s.l.u.t's part against her? She wanted to run to him with the tale of the Welsh girl's wickedness against her and their unborn child.

She wanted to show him the cord stretched across the steps, which could have kil ed her or at the very least made her miscarry, but her pride forbade her from defending herself.

She would not beg him,in fact she would not even speak to him from now on. She would total y ignore him as if he didn't exist.

Over the next couple of days it became apparent that Morganna was no longer at Mountain Ash, and no one seemed to know of her whereabouts. It was a.s.sumed that de Burgh knew, but that the subject was closed.

Jasmine succeeded in ignoring Falcon, but though she looked away from him when they occupied the same room or when they dined in the hal , it did not free her mind of his strong image. When he and his men went hunting she thought she would go mad with the quiet loneliness, but when they returned their uproar shook the rafters.

She found him time and time again watching her, his eyes shadowed and moody, and she knew with the age-old knowledge of Eve that his need grew stronger and her time grew shorter. She knew he was stalking her like his prey. She knew his control would snap and he would take her, but she did not know how or when.

Falcon de Burgh fought the gnawing need in his gut and the ache in his loins with an iron determination, yet her siren song cal ed to him day and night. The days were Hel when he could see her, hear her, smel her fragrance as she left a room, but the nights were worse. They were endless, lonely, sleepless endurance tests. When he drank himself to sleep his dreams were so erotic they shamed him. If she was in the same room he could not tear his eyes from her. She grew more beautiful each day. She was not quite so slim as she had been and yet he could probably stil span her waist with his hands. She was innocent and earthy at the same time, and her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were ripe and luscious.

A new year was dawning and he knew he would not, could not go on this way. If he did not take her he would go mad; if he did not have her he would die. He shook his head and laughed at himself. If he didn't have her he deserved to die!

He was a fool if he didn't turn their isolation to intimacy.

He stocked his chamber with plenty of food and wine and water, and stacked logs high against the hearth. He searched his mind for the things she would need and final y sent Big Meg up to Jasmine's chamber to fetch her hairbrushes, her diamonds, and the big oval mirror in its stand.

"Why does he want my diamonds and my mirror?" demanded Jasmine.

"i don't know my lady, I only know I'd better not return without them," Meg said.

"I'l see about this," Jasmine retorted, always ready to meet him more than halfway in a fight. She brushed aside Gervase and stepped into de Burgh's chamber. She swaggered over and planted herself squarely in front of him. She dug both fists into her glittering silver girdle and looked up. This battle she knew she was going to win.

He succeeded in looking very innocent.

"Why do you need my diamonds and my mirror?" she demanded.

"I don't need them, Jasmine. I just thought you might like to have them over the next three days."

"Three days?" she questioned, glancing about to see the room had been stocked with food and logs enough for three days. The hair on the nape of her neck bristled and she was suddenly aware that she was in danger. Big Meg carried in the mirror and handed the diamonds and hairbrushes to de Burgh. He set them on a nightstand beside the great bed.

"That wil be al , Meg," he dismissed. The servant cast a worried glance toward Jasmine and reluctantly went out.

De Burgh asked Gervase, "Do you have the key?"

Jasmine's eyes opened wide in disbelief. "You are going to imprison me!" she gasped.

"I am," he said smoothly.

She struggled to make sense of it. "At the end of three days you think I wil give in to your demands? You don't know me very wel , de Burgh!"

"You have nut vour finser on the trouble exactly.

cherie. I don't know you very wel ." He nodded to Gervase, whom she did not notice leave the chamber and quietly close the door.

"But al that is going to change, my love. At the end of three days we are going to be sharing a bed and we are going to be very, very intimate. At the end of three days I am going to know everything there is to know about you, and you wil come to know me in every sense of the word."

Suddenly his plan became crystal clear. "You are not locking me in alone . . . you are locking us in here together!"

He smiled at her outrage.

"You are ridiculous, sir, I'l not stay!" she cried, rus.h.i.+ng to the door. It would not open.

"It's too late, Jasmine, but it's not too late for us."

"Gervase!" she cal ed urgently.

"He has his orders not to unlock it until three days have pa.s.sed . . . and three nights," Falcon added huskily.

"You are mad," she accused, more than a little afraid now.

"I must have been mad to let you elude me for so long," he said softly. "At the end of three days I want to hear you say you love me."

"I'l not say it," she defied.

"You shal ," he said, "you shal ."

He closed the distance between them. She would have led, but he reached out a strong hand to imprison her wrist. With the other hand he undid the silver girdle and untied the silver ribbons at her breast. He stepped back to wait. Her hands flew to the untied ribbons. "If you fasten hem you shal regret it," he said quietly. "Undress. Take off everything." She knew he meant it. She knew if she begged and pleaded it would make no odds. She would lave to obey him. Slowly she took off her pink velvet tunic and embroidered underdress. She stood in her s.h.i.+ft with downcast eyes, overcome with shyness. His eyes devoured her, hungrily staring at her creamy shoulders and luscious b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

"I'l be cold," she said quietly.

"I'l warm you, Ja.s.sy," he promised thickly. Jasmine feared if she hesitated longer, his hands would tear her s.h.i.+ft from her.

She might as wel get it over, there was no way out. She took refuge in a deeply cus.h.i.+oned chair and sat to remove her shoes and peel off her stockings. Then keeping her eyes lowered she reluctantly removed her s.h.i.+ft. Stealing a quick glance at him, she saw that he was removing his own garments. Her lashes quickly swept to her cheeks again. She sat rigid with apprehension waiting for him to pounce. When he did not, she glanced up again. Naked, he walked about quickly, picking up their discarded clothing. Then to her utter disbelief she watched him bundle it together and shove it out of the tower window. She jumped up, forgetting her nudity for a moment. "I have no other clothes!" she cried.

"Exactly," he said, looking most pleased. He had at last succeeded in arousing her fiery temper.

"Do you expect me to spend three days with you, while we are both completely naked?" she shouted.

"I can't think of a better way for us to become intimately acquainted with each other, my love."

Her cheeks flamed with anger and embarra.s.sment. It was not easy at any time to stand her ground with her powerful husband, but when he towered before her displaying his ful naked strength she found it impossible. She covered her face with her hands and curled into the chair unable to stay her flow of tears.

Falcon's face softened. He would let her have her little cry; she would feel better for it. He made no move toward her. He had resolved that she would have to make the first move. He knew he couldn't expect anything overt, of course, but he would watch her closely for that first subtle sign that she might welcome his advances.

He walked over to the fire to poke it into a cozy blaze, then careful y banked it at the back with a fresh log. While he was crouched to tend the fire, she dashed the tears from her eyes and sprinted toward his wardrobe. She threw open the doors and was dismayed to find it empty. She could not even cover herself with an article of his, and worse, she realized, neither could he!

"De Burgh, whatever wil we do for three days?"

He poured them wine and approached her slowly. "We could talk to each other . . . listen to each other. No lies ... no witch's tricks. Here, have a little wine, it wil warm you, give you courage, stop you from taking yourself so seriously. And if I'm lucky it wil bring a bubble of laughter to your lips."

Her hand shook a little as she took it from him. My G.o.d, she could not even breathe when he was so close. "Please, your nearness disturbs me."

He laughed softly and stretched out p.r.o.ne on the wolf pelts before the fire. "You are so innocent. As I've warned you before, tel ing a man his nearness disturbs you is just the spur to make him come much closer."

Now that his manhood was covered she found it easier to look at him. He raised his head and smiled lazily at her. He began to make love to her with his eyes, lingering on every lovely secret part of her. She had never been more aware of her femininity in her life. Naked and total y vulnerable, with his eyes eating her, she felt new sensations she had never experienced. Her pulses raced and she could feel her heartbeats al fluttery as she contemplated the first hesitant step along the road to her awakening.

He loved the sense of spicy antic.i.p.ation as he felt excitement stir in him ... the tightening in his bal s and shaft, the heat stealing across his loins, and the exqui- sitely pleasurable sensation as his shaft fil ed. Magic danced in the air.

She stole a look at his wel -muscled back and the long shanks of his legs stretched to the fire. He was darkly attractive enough to make any woman fal in love with him. Jealousy flared up in her. She wondered if he had ever told another woman that he loved her. She doubted it, but perhaps that was just wishful thinking. Suddenly she wanted to be more beautiful to him than other woman had been.

With his intent gaze upon her it was as if he read her thoughts.

"You are so very beautiful," he told her huskily.

She shook her head, "Not anymore. I'm too fat. My baby has made me "

"Our baby, darling. You are more beautiful today than you've ever been before. Your body is luscious, perfect." His words wors.h.i.+pped her and she knew he meant every word he said.

Was it the wine that made her feel so bold? Suddenly she wanted to walk before him, to stretch and pose prettily and display herself.

Again, reading her thoughts, he said, "Wil you fetch us more wine?"

She stood up shyly, but as his eyes caressed every curve, her pride took over to straighten her back, thrust out her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and toss her hair about her shoulders. Almost there were two Jasmines. She watched herself in fascination to see what she would do next. She cast him smal , tempting glances from the corner of her eye and reached for his empty goblet. Then she glided away from him, prideful as a cat. She knew exactly what he would say as she felt his eyes on her back.

"Did I ever tel you that your little bottom is heart-shaped?"

Her mouth curved into a delicious smile and she giggled.

When she turned to face him, holding the two fil ed wine goblets, she saw that he had gotten up from the rug and was sitting in the big chair. She loved the feel of his eyes upon her as she walked a direct path to him. It was as if he had intoxicated her. She stopped just out of arm's reach to tease him, then lifted her wine and drained it. She licked her lips with the tip of her provocative, pink tongue. She bent toward him temptingly, and as she offered him his wine, her hand brushed his in an unmistakable caress.

"You touched me," he said, laughing triumphantly.

"Falcon!" she protested.

"Ah, it's Falcon now, not de Burgh," he teased. His laugh went right inside her and made itself at home. Gently, so he wouldn't scare her off, he reached out and pul ed her into his lap. The wine splashed over onto his hand and she bent to lick it off.

"You twist me round your little finger, I'm so easy for you to manage. I think it's your hair that makes al men weak."

She giggled, basking in the loveplay.

He set the wine aside and ran his hand up and down her leg.

His eyes were stained black with pa.s.sion. He dipped his head to taste her lips and she sighed deeply when he took his mouth away. "Did I ever tel you," he said, brus.h.i.+ng her lips, "that you have the prettiest slim legs?"

"This al happened before," she said breathlessly.

"In another life?" he teased unmerciful y.

"No, remember, when I wore the scarlet gown?"