Hellion (38 page)

“Come now, it is time to get out,” he told her, helping her from the water. He dried her quickly and efficiently, and then brought her back to the high marble bench. “I want you to lie upon it, facedown,” he said, helping her up. Then he began to knead her flesh with the same oil that he had swirled into the bathwater.

It felt marvelous. Belle almost swooned with pleasure, but the pleasure was not a sexual one. She hadn’t allowed herself to acknowledge how sore her muscles were until this very moment, but now his supple fingers soothed away all the aches, and she almost purred. If it was magic, then certainly it
was very good magic, she decided. She had never felt more relaxed in her entire life. He rolled her over and continued his massage, and there was no lewdness in it.

Finally, when he was finished, he helped her up and brought her through a different door into another room, which she immediately recognized as a bedchamber. He had remained fully dressed the entire time he was bathing her, and standing next to him now, she felt more than just naked. She suddenly felt very vulnerable. Sensing her sudden change in mood, he poured a pale green liquid into a small, narrow silver goblet. “Drink this,” he said, and she took it, but again was hesitant about drinking it.

“May I have my clothes back now, my lord?” she asked him.

“You would put those filthy rags on that magnificent, clean body?” he demanded.

“You could have my clean clothes sent up from the barn,” she suggested.

“You will not wear boy’s clothes again, Belle,” he said. “Such a thing is a sacrilege against nature and the mother who created you.”

“What shall I wear, then, my lord?” Belle inquired.

“I have not decided yet,” he told her frankly. “Until I do, you will remain as naked as the day you were born. You have a beautiful body, you know. Though you be a big girl, you are delicately made. Now drink your drink. If you do, I shall fetch a silver mirror so you may see your lovely hair returned to its natural state.”

“What is in it?” Belle demanded suspiciously, sniffing the goblet.

“It is a blend of wine and herbs I have formulated. It will not hurt you, you silly creature. I did not bathe you so tenderly to murder you,” he said with a laugh.

Isabelle brought the goblet to her lips and began to drink, looking at him over the silver rim of the cup. He was surely the most handsome man she had ever seen in her entire life. He had to be the most handsome man in all the world. His fair skin
seemed even more so in contrast to his jet-black hair and violet eyes. His features were absolutely perfect and symmetrical: oval eyes beneath thick black brows; a high forehead, and higher cheekbones; a long, perfect nose; narrow, perfectly shaped lips; a square chin with a deep cleft in it. And he was certainly taller than anyone she had ever known.

The last of the strangely spicy liquid slid down her throat. He took the goblet from her and led her by the hand into an alcove of the bedchamber that she had not previously noticed. Within was a strange device, padded in a black leather; one end shaped like an X, the other end like a cross. Before Isabelle could ask, Guy d’ Bretagne lifted her up and laid her upon the device, quickly snapping manacles of gold lined in lamb’s wool over first her wrists, which were bound to the cross, and then her ankles, which were spread wide by the X. Her torso lay on the comfortable bench.

“What are you doing?” she asked him. Her head was spinning just slightly, but for some reason she wasn’t afraid.

“I must join my sister and her lover, Hugh, in the Great Hall for the evening meal. When I return, Belle, I will want to satisfy a different sort of appetite. As I sit with Vivienne eating venison from the deer she killed this day; eating the ducks your birds brought down; drinking my sister’s excellent wine; I shall think of you here, clean and fragrant; your beautiful, fair body spread wide, eagerly awaiting me.”

“I shall await you, my lord, for I can see I have no other choice,” Belle told him with a small attempt at humor, which he greatly appreciated, “but I shall not be eager.”

“But you will, Belle,” he said softly. “I shall see to it that you are.” He moved to a small table nearby, and lifting the lid on a long, carved box, drew forth an object such as she had never seen. Holding it up, he asked her, “Do you know what this is, Belle? Nay, of course you do not.” He caressed it. “Look closely, and tell me what it resembles, my beautiful wench.” He held it before her.

She looked upon it, her eyes widening. The object was made
of a soft, yet supple cream-colored leather. It was long and slender. Its shape was that of a manhood. “What is it?” she whispered, a tiny curl of fear knotting her belly.

At first he did not answer her. Instead he dipped his fingers into a vial of oily liquid. Then he tenderly spread the substance over her mont, spreading her netherlips wide to thoroughly massage it in. Belle, however, could not take her eyes from the thing he held in his other hand. The object was attached to an oval-shaped gold ring through which he now laced his fingers. “It is called a phallus,” he said, noting her gaze. He dipped the phallus into the same liquid. Setting the vial down, he stood over Belle. Then, to her immense shock and surprise, he inserted the phallus smoothly within her, turning it just slightly once or twice, smiling at her gasp. “Now,” he said softly to her, “when I return from the Great Hall, Belle, you will indeed be eager for me. The phallus with its special oils will act to prime your passion. You may cry out if you wish. This entire tower is inhabited by me alone. No one will hear you, but just imagining you here thusly, my own passion will burn brightly. We will give each other great pleasure this night, Belle. You are now securely within my power,” he purred to her, and bending down, he kissed her mouth softly. Then he turned, leaving the chamber, and she was alone.

At first Isabelle lay stunned with shock by what had just happened. Oh God, she thought, her heart pounding. I am ensorcelled even as my poor Hugh, else I should never be brought to this condition. She was very aware of the phallus within her. It felt enormous, and it seemed to be throbbing.
That could not be!
It was nothing more than an inanimate object. She had never imagined being violated by such a thing. No woman could imagine it. She shifted her body just slightly, and gasped, for the merest movement was torture. The walls of her sheath seemed to cling to the phallus despite her desperate attempts to have as little contact with it as possible. She was beginning to tingle with her arousal. It was agony, and yet it was not.

*    *    *

Guy d’ Bretagne entered the Great Hall of La Citadelle to find Vivienne and Hugh already at table.

“You are quite late,” his sister said. Her beautiful mouth was greasy with the duck she was eagerly consuming.

“I have made a rather interesting discovery,” Guy told them. “The young falconer, Lang, is in reality a girl! What think you of that?”

“
A girl
?” Vivienne was intrigued. Then she laughed. “I could trust you, dearest brother, to discover such a thing. You have a sharp eye for a pretty wench, but I did not notice anything odd about the young falconer Lang. How did you see it?”

He laughed. “It is difficult to explain,
chérie
. Just an instinct, I suppose. Then today when you killed the deer, Vivi, the young falconer turned away. No boy, not even a kindhearted one, would have done such a thing. A gentle boy would have watched lest he be mocked by his peers.” Guy then went on to explain his visit to the hay barn where the three falconers slept; and what followed.

“Can you be certain that the other falconers did not lie?” Vivienne asked. “Is this some ploy to breach the defenses of our castle?”

She is beginning to grow jealous, Guy thought, amused. Vivi always grew jealous when he showed any interest in a female, although she did not expect him to be jealous of her lover. “The falconers told the truth,” he said calmly. “The girl is obviously wellborn, for although she is a big girl, her bones are finely made. She is well-spoken from having been raised in her father’s house. No, this is no ploy, just the desperate effort of a poor freedman to protect his sister. Now, however, I shall protect her.”

“And will you share her?” Hugh Fauconier looked with hard eyes upon Guy d’ Bretagne. “We’ve shared wenches before, my brother.”

“No, I shall not share her with you yet, Hugh. As you have Vivi to yourself, I want this girl for myself for the present. I
haven’t even begun to explore her depths, and until I do, and tire of her, I will not share her with anyone, even you, brother.”

“Where is she?” Hugh asked him. “Why did you not bring her to table, Guy?”

Guy d’ Bretagne speared a piece of venison with his knife and took a bite. He chewed it vigorously, swallowed it down, and then took a healthy swig of wine from his goblet. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he replied, “I have not brought her into the hall for several reasons. Since I have seen the condition of her boy’s garments, I have ordered them burned. They were, I expect, vermin-ridden. I would not bring her into the hall naked, although that is the condition in which I intend to keep her in my chambers. For the time being I will keep her from everyone, even my servants. She will become dependent upon me for everything, even her food, which she will take from my fingers when it pleases me to feed her. I will become the whole reason for her existence, and her survival.”

“Ohhh, brother,” Vivienne said softly, “how deliciously diabolical! Do you think she is strong enough for such treatment?”

He nodded. “I will not break her spirit, Vivi, for that is not the purpose of the game.”

Vivienne d’ Bretagne was an extraordinarily beautiful woman. The violet-colored, almond-shaped eyes, set in her heart-shaped face with its little pointed chin, were avid with excitement. “Guy, do you think she is the one we have been awaiting?”

“I believe so,
petite soeur
. She is physically strong, and she has intellect. Her breeding is good, and this is better than spiriting off some swooning noblewoman whose family would be certain to come after her.”

“Let us do it now!” Vivienne d’ Bretagne said eagerly.

“No,” he told her. “You have been enjoying your lover all these many months, Vivi. Now give me until next summer to enjoy mine. Besides, she must be willing to do my bidding no
matter what it is I ask of her. I want no rape here. Do you understand me?”

She pouted at him, but Guy laughed.

“You know that my magic is stronger than yours, Vivi. Such a thing may not have been so in past generations of our family, but it is now, and you are well aware of it. I yield to you from custom only, but if you try my patience, I have the means to punish you.” He patted her little hand with his long, delicate fingers. “Be a good girl, now, Vivi. If you promise me that you will trust my judgment in this matter, I will show you and Hugh my new toy.”

“When?” Vivienne demanded.

“When you have finished your meal,” he promised, a smile lighting his features at her enthusiasm.

Before the food was cleared away, Guy took a small silver plate and placed upon it some venison, a slice of bread, which he buttered, a pear, and a small bunch of grapes. He then sat back and listened while the castle minstrel sang a charming ancient lay about their ancestress, Vivienne, the wife of the great Merlin.

Finally, when the hall was almost emptied, Lind and Alain, the two falconers, begged leave to approach the high board.

“You may speak,” their mistress told them.

“We merely wish to inquire,” Alain began, his eyes on Guy, “about little Belle, my lord.” Lind was silent.

“She is clean, and safe in my apartments,” Guy assured him. He gestured toward the plate of food. “I am just about to bring her a small meal. You need not fear for Belle. She pleases me.”

“Will she not be returning to her duties, my lord?” Alain said.

“Belle has been given other duties here in the castle, Master Falconer,” Guy replied. “You will see her again eventually, but not for the time being. She will be too caught up in those new duties to spend any time in the falcon mews. See to her bird, will you? I know she puts great value upon the pretty creature.”

“My lords, my lady.” The two falconers bowed and
departed the hall. There was nothing more that they could do for now to help their lady, but they knew she was a resourceful woman. They would be waiting when she needed them, as would the Langston men as well.

Guy watched them go, a look of amusement upon his handsome face. “Are they not charming?” he said to his companions. “The concern was etched all over their faces. Now are you convinced, sister? It is no plot against us. Just the poor, doing the best that they can.”

Vivienne jumped up. “Let us go and see your wench, brother!” she said excitedly.

“You may not come into the bedchamber,” he told her. “I will take you and Hugh to the peephole so you may view her in all her glory.”

“You have her on the black bench? All this time?” Vivienne was astounded. “Did she scream when you set her there?”

“No, she did not. She was surprised, I have not a doubt, but she made no cry of alarm,” he told them.

The trio hurried to Guy’s tower, entered his apartments, and continued to an interior hallway lit by torches. When Guy had unlatched several peepholes, he ushered the others forward to look.

“Ohhh, Guy, you are most wicked,” Vivienne exclaimed. “You left her with the phallus to entertain her. Is it the one with the little pearl studs?” She did not fear being overheard, for the stone wall blocked the sound of her voice.

“Nay,” he said. “She is not ready for such refinements yet.”

“She is lovely. When her hair grows, it will be magnificent. What think you of her, Hugh?” his mistress asked.

“She’s pretty enough, Vivi,” he told her, “but no woman could hold a candle to you. Guy, go in to her, and rotate the phallus so we may see her pleasure peak.” The naked girl in his view was exciting, and he wanted to rid himself of Guy so he might amuse himself with Vivienne. She would like that.

“Ohh, yes, brother!” Vivienne said excitedly. “Do it!”