Read Online Castle of Dreams by Flora Speer - Free Book Online Page B

way, only you would hear him.”
    “That was wise of you, Guy.” Isabel stared at
him, her deep blue eyes wide. “I think it would be a good idea for
you to sleep in the anteroom tonight. I’ll send the other servants
away, and then we can be absolutely certain no one else will hear
any raving he may do. You and I are trustworthy.”
    “I suppose you are right. I am free of my
duties to the king until morning.” Guy looked down at the inert
mass that was Lionel. “I wish he wouldn’t drink so much. Is there
anything else I can do for him?”
    “Yes, help me to take his clothes off.”
    “All of them?”
    “Every stitch. Then we’ll put him between the
covers. He’ll be more comfortable that way.”
    They got Lionel undressed and into the bed.
Agnes fussed around them, wringing her hands and getting in the
way.
    “Go down to the women’s quarters and stay
there, Isabel ordered. “I won’t need you until morning.”
    “But, my lady, I can’t leave you alone.”
    “I will be with my husband,” Isabel said.
“And Guy will be here to keep watch for us.”
    After Lionel was settled, Isabel brought Guy
a blanket and a pillow.
    “You should be comfortable here by the fire,”
she told him.
    “It will be strange, sleeping by myself. I’m
usually with all the other pages,” Guy said.
    “Good night. And thank you.” Isabel kissed
him lightly on the cheek and went into her bedroom.
    Guy stretched out before the fire. The embers
were glowing red, the only light in the room. He was glad to be
alone. He was much troubled of late, not only by his older
brother’s irrational behavior but by the strange dreams that
tormented him,
    For the first time in his life, Guy had
fallen madly into love, with Kate, one of the kitchen wenches, a
buxom, red-haired lass of eighteen. To make matters worse, he had
accidentally seen her in the bathhouse one day, catching a glimpse
of smooth, well-rounded white thighs and haunches and of a
tantalizing triangle of red hair, and he could not get: her out of
his mind. He knew it was sinful but he could not stop thinking of
her. Every night he dreamed of her, of her creamy flesh and that
alluring patch of hair. Guy had never had a woman, and sometimes he
doubted that he ever would. He had tried desperately to forget
Kate, knowing the attachment was unsuitable. Perhaps tonight, alone
in a strange place, with his brother and sister-in-law just a few
steps away, the spell would be broken and he at last would sleep
soundly and awaken refreshed and unashamed.
    His mind wandered as he stared at the dying
embers in the fireplace. His eyelids drooped, and he drifted into
deep, dreamless sleep.
    She came to him in the darkest part of the
night. The fire had gone out completely and he could see nothing,
but he knew it was Kate because her skin was as smooth and soft to
the touch as he had imagined it would be. He had been awakened by
someone pulling at his hose, unfastening them to lay his
masculinity bare, and when he put up protesting hands he felt
smooth female flesh. At the same moment a mouth had fastened itself
on his, stifling his astonished outcry. His youthful body responded
instantaneously, coming alive with a great, manly surge under her
searching fingers. He felt a hesitation, as though she was
surprised at what she had done to him.
    He wanted to show her he was not unskilled in
such matters, so he thrust his tongue into her mouth, a trick one
of his friends had told him about, and Kate’s reaction was all his
friend had promised it would be. She gasped aloud, then squirmed
closer to him, opening her own mouth wider and touching his tongue
with hers, while all the time her fingers were stroking his manhood
until he thought he would burst. He knew he could not wait. It must
be now, this very instant. He rolled over, taking her with him, and
her fingers guided him to the place where he wanted to go. Blinding
lights flashed before his eyes as the world exploded. He would have
cried out