Page 30 of A Touch So Wicked

“I wouldn’t discount the lady’s intelligence. I don’t envy you, Damian. Take another woman to your bed, but as a favor to me, don’t set your sights on Maggie.”

Damian’s eyes widened. “So that’s how it is. Maggie, eh, well, you could do worse. She’s a comely lass. Is she interested?”

“Not in becoming my mistress,” Dickon lamented. “But she’ll come around.”

Damian chuckled. “Ever the optimist, eh Dickon? I wish you luck.” He glanced toward the kitchen and wondered what Elissa was up to, but forced himself to finish his meal. It was difficult to swallow when his thoughts were elsewhere and certain parts of his body were hard as stone.

He imagined Elissa in his bed, her naked body revealed to him beneath the luminescent glow of candlelight. He would be gentle but insistent, bringing her to climax despite her inexperience. After one night of bliss in her arms, Damian was convinced that his inexplicable lust for Elissa would trouble him no more.

Elissa cornered Nan in the kitchen. “I need your help,” she whispered.

Nan regarded Elissa through intelligent blue eyes. “So the Demon Knight has finally succumbed to his need for ye.”

Elissa went still. “You know?”

Nan chuckled. “Aye, I dinna know when, but I knew ’twas coming. ’Tis obvious Lord Damian wants ye in his bed.”

“’Tis not what I want, Nan.”

Nan’s gnarled fingers stroked Elissa’s cheek. “Ah, lass, are ye sure?”

“Of course I’m sure,” Elissa said indignantly. “Lord Damian merely wants me in his bed until his bride arrives. I willna be used like that. Why doesna he send me to the convent?”

“Ye know the answer to that. He canna trust ye to stay there and canna afford to let ye run to Tavis Gordon. Failure to comply with the king’s wishes could cost him Misterly.”

“What am I going to do, Nan?” Elissa wailed. “He expects me in his bed this very night. I fear if I donna comply, he’ll come and get me.”

“Do ye wish Lord Damian’s death?” Nan asked craftily. “Mayhap I can help ye achieve it. I could give ye a potion…”

Damian’s death? “Oh, nay, nay, I donna want his death on my soul! I…I couldna bear it.”

It was true. There was much she resented about Damian, but she didn’t wish him dead.

“There must be another way to stop him from…ravishing me.”

“I could give ye a sleeping potion to put in his wine. It willna kill him,” Nan added when Elissa started to protest, “merely put him to sleep.”

Elissa’s mind raced. “If he drinks enough wine, will he go to sleep before he…he can hurt me?”

Nan searched Elissa’s face. “If that’s what ye want, lass.”

“Of course it’s what I want. How soon can you have it ready?”

“Everything I need is in my chamber. Bring along a pitcher of the good French wine and I’ll doctor it for ye.”

Elissa went immediately to the larder and filled an ewer with the wine used only on special occasions. Then she joined Nan in her small chamber behind the kitchen. Elissa had been in Nan’s room before and knew what to expect. The air was fragrant with the odor of herbs. Bunches of them were suspended from the rafters to dry and others lay on a flat table, waiting to be crushed into various mixtures and potions.

Nan had learned her healing skills from her mother, who had been a highly respected herbalist. Some called Nan a white witch, but no one feared her, for her skills were used with good intention.

Elissa found Nan at her narrow worktable. “Here ye be, lass,” she said, holding up a vial of white powder. “Valerian. It makes one tranquil. Enough of it will induce deep sleep.”

“I hope you’re right,” Elissa said on a fervent sigh.

Nan poured a small amount into the pitcher and gently stirred it with a wooden spoon to mix the flavors. “This will take care of his lordship tonight, but what about tomorrow? Ye canna drug him every night. He wants ye, lass, and he’s not one to give up.”

“I’ll think of something,” Elissa said with false bravado. “Right now, I canna think beyond tonight.”

“Then go, lass. He grows impatient.”