Page 44 of To Love

“What business is that?” Corwin asked, likely having noticed his absence from the barracks these pasts nights.

He was becoming suspicious. As would the others, before long.

Alden had no other cover besides the truth, or an approximation of it. But while he might let Darien and Roland believe he and Elara were together, Alden could not do the same with any others.

“He is training for a secret mission, but do not bother to ask any more of him. If Alden will not tell me,” Darien said, “he will tell no others.”

Corwin and his friends looked to Alden for confirmation. He neither confirmed nor denied Darien’s story, though he silently thanked his friend for the cover.

As they left, two thoughts stayed with Alden.

The first was of Elara and what awaited between them this eve.

The second was that they needed to find the traitor, and quickly, before suspicion moved to him, and he and Elara risked being compromised.

Chapter

Eighteen

Elara had not needed anyone for a very long time.

She’d been born and bred for the role she played at Castle Blackwood. Having spent too many years wishing for a mother, wishing to be more like the other girls at court, wishing for things that could never be, she finally embraced what she was instead.

A woman who had been raised by an extraordinary man. One with enough skill, and humility, to survive more years at court than most. That man had taught her the only person who could be relied on and trusted was herself.

Yet as she sipped another goblet of wine, having drunk two in the hall already, Elara could not stop pacing her chamber. She wanted to speak with Alden. Wanted to collaborate with him.

But his touch? That, she did not want . . . she needed it. The difference was not lost on her, and Elara could not help but feel a measure of annoyance at herself for so quickly abandoning a lifetime of teaching about need versus want.

But since they’d been together, she craved his touch. Could not stop thinking of the way he looked at her. Dreaming of the way he’d made her body sing. Though Elara had not known any other man in that way, she felt certain it was his touch alone that could do such a thing.

At his knock, her pulse raced. Elara had planned this all day, but suddenly, was unsure if she could do it. Even less sure as she pulled the door open, Elara watched as Alden stepped inside.

But when he pulled her into his arms, all her doubts disappeared. In a short time, their lips knew each other. Their arms found comfort as their bodies melded into one. Kissing him had become, quite simply, Elara’s favorite activity.

Well, one of her new favorite activities . . .

Neither of them said a word.

Elara drummed up the confidence she needed to do something she’d never done before. Not unlike coming here and standing in front of a chamber full of the most skilled warriors in England, some who outranked her many times over, she pushed aside any doubts and thought instead of the reward.

Remembering the smile he’d given her after the fire, Elara knew well the reward would be his pleasure, and she wished for nothing more than to please him as he had done for her.

“Elara,” he said as she broke the kiss and lifted his linen shirt. Like every other eve, he’d come dressed casually, with no armor or surcoat, not even a sword. Peering into his eyes as she untied him, like she’d attempted to do when they had lain together in her bed, Elara realized the exact moment Alden understood her intentions.

“I am not here,” he said, his voice low and gruff, “for that.”

“Why then . . .” She finally had the ties free. Feeling emboldened by the look in his eyes, she pushed them, and his braies underneath, down. “ . . . are you here?”

“Elara,” he said again, his voice thick.

She lifted his linen shirt. He pulled it above his head and was suddenly, gloriously, bare.

Elara knelt before him.

“Tell me,” she said, wrapping her hands around him, feeling the silky smoothness of his tip and running her fingers down his length. “Show me.”

“I’m here,” he said, Alden’s tongue running along his upper lip as he groaned. “To see to your pleasure.”