Page 65 of A Knight for Gwenllian

By the time she was standing in the middle of the room in just her shift, Hugh’s eyelids had started to flutter. At last! She had started to wonder if she had added enough potion to the wine. But mercifully, it seemed as if the drink was finally taking effect. Then panic replaced relief. If he fell asleep there on the chair, all her efforts would have been in vain. It would be a lot more difficult to make him believe he had bedded her if he woke up in that chair in the morning. Of course, she knew firsthand that some lovers could be adventurous, but she didn’t think Hugh would be, and she wanted to give herself every chance of being believed.

Waking up in bed side by side would serve her purpose much better.

Hiding her desperation, Gwenllian stretched out seductively on the bed and beckoned to him.

“Why don’t you come here and remove my shift?”

The idea seemed to inflame him, and thankfully, he had enough strength left to stand up and join her on the bed.

He positioned himself over her then, and to her shock, he grabbed the front of her shift and tore it, exposing her breasts. Gwenllian barely repressed the urge to cover herself and kick him out of the bed.

“Very nice,” he said, the words slurred. The potion was taking effect, but not quickly enough. “Let me fill my mouth with these.”

“Stroke yourself first,” she purred, doing her best not to betray her mounting anguish. But she was running out of ideas to delay the inevitable. If Hugh didn’t collapse any time soon, she might find herself under him, with his mouth at her breast, and his shaft at her entrance. And she knew that, despite her resolve, she would fight him off. It would be a disaster. “I want to see how potent you are.”

“Watch me.”

He grabbed himself, gave a few strokes and frowned, as if surprised by his inability to use his hand as efficiently as usual. Not only that but his shaft had softened quite a bit, which he had clearly not been expecting.

Something like hurt pride flashed through his blurry eyes, and he renewed his clumsy efforts. Gwenllian waited, heart in her throat. At least for now, he was focused on himself, he even seemed to have forgotten about her in his bid to show his virility. After a while, he gave a groan of triumph, followed by a cry of surprise as he erupted in thick, white spurts—and then collapsed flat on his front.

Silence fell into the room.

Panting hard, Gwenllian stared at the man by her side, rendered senseless by the drink. She had made it. Even better, upon waking up, he would see the evidence that he had spilled his seed at least once during the night. Though she doubted that was what he usually did with his lovers, she would make sure to thank him for being considerate enough to protect her from unwanted consequences.

To complete the illusion, she covered him with the bedding and settled next to him, already knowing she wouldn’t be able to fall asleep that night.

Being naked next to his equally naked body was making her stomach roil, but there was no other choice. They had to wake up in bed together, like two lovers after a wild night of passion. She could not falter now that the difficult part had been accomplished and everything had gone the way she wanted.

Yes, everything had gone as planned except for one crucial detail. Alexander, not just Hugh’s squire, had seen her in bed with his brother.

Gwenllian stayed frozen, staring at the door through which he had just disappeared.

Awake now, Hugh gave a snort. “Well. That will have hurt.”

He was so pleased to have bested his brother that he didn’t even ask any questions about what had happened. Perhaps drinking so much that he didn’t recall his actions in the morning was a common occurrence for him and he did not question it. Or perhaps he cared more about having hurt Alexander than about his actual night with her.

Gwenllian, for her part, cared about only one thing. She had to leave this room to go to Alexander. He had to listen to her. He had to hear what had happened, or rather, not happened.

“Thank you, my lord. I think I will retire to my room now. ’Tis still early and I feel I haven’t had enough sleep.”

Hugh laughed. She had known he would take her words as a compliment. “Yes. Some men are more vigorous than others, as I’m sure you found out.”

“I certainly did,” she said, shrugging back into her dress. The shift was torn, so she didn’t even try to put it on. If she stayed another moment in this bed, in this room even, with this man, she would be sick.

For a moment, she feared that Hugh would stop her from going, but now that his goal had been accomplished—or so he thought—he seemed to have lost interest in her. He had closed his eyes, and she guessed he would be asleep in no time.

Gwenllian ran out of the door and flew down the stairs.

Chapter Twenty

Gwenllian found Alexander in the rose garden by the eastern tower, pacing back and forth like an animal in a cage.

Despite his obvious anguish, relief flooded through her, because she had feared he would have left immediately upon discovering her in bed with his brother. But he had not, which she forced herself to see as a sign that he would listen to her, understand what had really happened and why, and that all would be well.

As soon as their gazes met, however, she saw that it would not be as easy as that. The black in his eyes was nothing less than a pit of despair, and this time, there was fury lurking in there as well. She opened her mouth to speak, but at that exact moment, he made to walk past her and headed toward the stone archway that would lead him out of the enclosed garden and away from her.

Gwenllian acted before it was too late. She threw herself into the opening, blocking his exit, knowing that, however irate he was, Alexander would never push her out of the way.