His hold on her eased and he let his breath out. Then he released her altogether. When he spoke, it was to Willa. "I am sorry. She tried to kill you. At the very least, I cannot allow her to continue to work here in the kitchens where she might poison us all. I shall have to replace her."
Willa nodded her head in resignation, knowing that he would not be dissuaded.
"I shall have to think on how else to punish her. I cannot allow her behavior to go by unpunished, Willa. You nearly died." He turned to Luvena's mother. "For now, you will stay away from the kitchens, and you are not to go above stairs. I want you nowhere near Willa or the food. But I want you to stay in the castle until I have decided what to do with you."
Alsneta nodded and removed her apron. Her movements were slow and weary. She seemed to have aged twenty years in fewer seconds. Willa felt pity stir in her. She watched sadly as the woman turned to walk back into the castle through the door by which they had exited. Then she paused and walked around the castle instead. Hugh had ordered her to stay out of the kitchens and she was taking him at his word.
Once Luvena's mother was out of sight, Willa glanced at her husband. She immediately wished she hadn't. He wasn't watching Alsneta, he was watching her, and his mouth was starting to turn down with displeasure again. Willa supposed he was recalling that she'd come below to the kitchens to confront Alsneta, when she'd said she was going to lie down.
Sighing, she awaited the lecture sure to come. She watched him opened his mouth, and tried to prepare herself, but whatever he'd intended to say died on his lips as the castle door swung open.
"Oh, good, you found her," Lucan said from the kitchen door.
"Aye." Hugh hesitated, then said, "I should like to speak to you and Lord Wynekyn. I shall be along shortly."
Lucan nodded. "We will wait for you at the high table."
Hugh waited for the door to close, then took Willa's arm and marched her between the herb and vegetable gardens to the apple trees behind them. Once he'd taken her deep enough into the trees that no one could possibly overhear or interrupt their conversation, he turned her to face him and promptly began to shake his finger before her nose.
"You have disobeyed me three times today."
"Nay. I have not, my lord," Willa interrupted before he could say more.
"Aye. You did. I told you to go to our room when we returned to the castle."
"And so I did," she quickly pointed out.
"Aye. But I also said you were not to leave that room until Baldulf arrived."
"I did not intend to," she said apologetically. "But I heard a sound and thought only to investigate. I - "
"Left the room. Without waiting for Baldulf."
"Well," she agreed reluctantly. "I suppose I did, but - "
"And then you did not go lie down after reading the letter from your uncle, but came below," he went on.
"You did not tell me to lie down," Willa protested indignantly. "I am the one who said I was going to lie down."
"Ah ha! Then you lied to me. That is even worse!"
Willa grimaced, then heaved a deep sigh and Hugh's eyes immediately dropped to her chest. She noted with interest that some of his anger seemed displaced by a different heat. Curious, she took another deep breath and heaved it out too. Hugh's eyes watched her chest rise and lower with distracted interest. Willa found herself beginning to grin.
"You have every right to be angry with me, my lord," she began appeasingly. "I behaved very badly. I - Oh!" She paused abruptly to slap at her leg.
"What is it?" Hugh asked with concern.
"Something bit me," she lied, bending and beginning to tug her skirt up.
"Where?" Hugh was immediately on his haunches at her side. He helped her to lift the long skirt.
"A little higher, husband," she murmured when he paused with the skirt pushed up to her knee.
Hugh dutifully lifted the skirt higher, squinting at her pale leg and running one hand over it. "Here?"
"A little higher." Willa bit her lip and felt her toes curl as his splayed hand slid further up her leg, pushing the material of her gown before it.
"I do not see anything." His voice had that husky tone that Willa was learning to love, and she felt herself quiver in anticipation.
"Are you sure? 'Twas a definite sting."
"I thought you said 'twas a bite." He glanced up, his eyes meeting hers. Something in her expression made him pause; then the small sparks in his eyes burst into flame and his hand began to move again. "Perhaps I should kiss it better."
"Aye. Please. Kiss me better," Willa whispered, her own voice husky now, too.
Still watching her, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to the skin of her outer leg, then his tongue slid out and tasted the pale flesh.
"Better?" he asked.
"Oh, aye. Much better," Willa breathed.
"Good." He straightened so abruptly, Willa found herself quickly stepping back to avoid being knocked over. Hugh grabbed her arm to steady her and grinned. It was a rather evil smile, in Willa's opinion. "Now. If you had gone to our room as you had said you were going to, we could have indulged in what I can see you wish. I went to the room to join you with the same thoughts in mind, but then I discovered you had lied to me and were not where you should have been."
Willa grimaced; her first attempt to seduce her husband had ended in failure. She almost gave up the attempt to distract him, then reminded herself she was not one to give up so easily, and smiled apologetically. "I apologize, my lord. However, before you lecture me as I deserve, might I ask a question?"
Hugh's eyes narrowed suspiciously, but he gave a slight nod of acquiescence and Willa smiled sweetly. "I merely wondered... That thing you do to me, can it be done to you? And if so, would you enjoy it?"
"That thing?" He appeared uncertain.
"Aye. When you..." She hesitated and blushed, then pressed on, "Could I kiss you here?" She reached down to press her hand against his hardness. It surged against his braies in reaction, almost seeming to try to jump through the cloth and into her hand. Willa waited expectantly, watching with interest as expression after expression flew across his face. When his face settled into stern lines and he cleared his throat - presumably to try to return to his original topic - she squeezed experimentally. Then she rubbed her hand over him, because it was something that felt good when he did it to her.
The sternness left his face as he groaned; Hugh grabbed for her, but she dropped out of reach, landing on her knees before him. He blinked down at her in bemusement. "What are you - " The question died an abrupt death as Willa quickly removed his belt, letting his sword drop to the ground with a clatter. She then began to untie the lacings of his braies. When his hand suddenly covered hers, she glanced up to see him peering wildly about.
"Someone might see," he hissed worriedly.
Willa brushed his hand away so that she could continue to undo his ties, and reassured him, "Nay. You chose a good spot, husband. We will not be seen."
Her words seemed to recall him to the reason he'd dragged her out there, and he drew himself up and gave her a steely look. "This is not going to work, wife. You - Damn," he groaned as she finished with his ties, and his braies slid down his legs, allowing his erection to pop out and wave gaily at Willa. She stared at it uncertainly for a moment, unsure what to do, then decided there was only one way to find out, and began to experiment. She started out by grabbing it in one hand. When Hugh gasped at that, sucking in great gulps of air, she decided it was a good start. She wrapped her other hand over the first so that she was holding him two fisted, with the tip sticking out. She promptly began to press kisses to that tip.
"Jesu!" Hugh exclaimed with a pained half-laugh. "Willa - "
"Tell me what to do," she said, pausing to look up at him with wide, pleading eyes.
Hugh met that gaze for a moment, then let his breath out in defeat. "Touch it, kiss it, lick it, fondle it, take it in your mouth and - "
"All at once?" Willa interrupted with dismay.
"Nay. Just - God's teeth!"
Willa had slid her hands along the shaft, rubbing them over the tip, but looked up now at his curse. She wasn't sure, but she thought he liked that. His expression was pained, but he'd grasped at two branches of the apple tree and was holding on as if caught in a stiff wind. Willa was emboldened to try some of his other instructions... which had been rather vague, in her opinion. It would have helped if he'd explained just how she was supposed to touch him, and whether there was an order she need be concerned about. Did she touch first, then kiss, then lick, or was there another order to this business? Since he hadn't bothered to be precise, she decided to just do as she pleased. Since she enjoyed it so much when he put his mouth on her, that was what she tried next. Willa took him into her mouth. After a brief hesitation, she began to slide her mouth down his shaft. A groan from above her head told her that this was satisfactory and she began to move her mouth with enthusiasm. Remembering that he'd mentioned licking, she began to lave him with her tongue as she slid her mouth back and forth. She was most pleased with the grunts, groans and "arghs" her husband was issuing.
Willa had only been doing this for a few moments when she became aware that Hugh was moving upward. Or his staff was, and it was forcing her to crane her head to keep him in her mouth. Glancing upward, she saw with some exasperation that he was practically climbing the tree. If she were not doing this right, all he need do was say so and give her further instruction. There was no need to try to climb away from her, she thought, disappointed that she might not be doing as well as she'd thought.
Removing her mouth, she glared up at him. "Husband, pray stop climbing the tree. I cannot - Oh! " She was taken by surprise when he let go of the tree, dropped back flat on his feet and grabbed at her arms to haul her upward. The next moment, Willa found her back against the tree and her husband against her front as his mouth devoured hers. She did not try to protest this end to her experiment. His hands and mouth were everywhere, moving with lightning speed and stirring up all sorts of sensations that quickly erased her exasperation.
Willa was more than ready when he began tugging her skirt up. She was panting heavily, and slightly stunned as she glanced down to see that her gown was unlaced and hanging off her shoulders, leaving her br**sts bare for his pleasure. She hadn't even been aware he'd done that, Willa thought a bit dazedly. Then she was distracted from this revelation by Hugh's hand grazing lightly up her inner thigh as he dragged her skirt above her waist. Anchoring her dress there with one hand, he dipped the other between her legs. She thought she heard him thank God when he found her wet and ready for him. Then he caught her behind the legs, pulled them up around his h*ps and slid into her. Willa cried out as he filled her. Hugh kissed her again as he withdrew, then drove himself into her again.
The tree was hard and ungiving at her back, but Willa hardly noticed; her body was filled to bursting with Hugh and the sensations he was causing in her. She could feel the tension building inside her. Her muscles were starting to clench and Willa knew she was about to find that blissful release she enjoyed so much. He thrust into her a third time, then suddenly stiffened and cried out.
Willa clutched at his shoulders, confusion reigning, as she felt him pour himself into her. It wasn't until he sagged against her, holding her up with his weight against the tree that she realized it was over. He'd finished and she... had not. Well that was bloody unfair, she decided. Just as Willa was trying to decide if she shouldn't punch him in the arm and demand that he fix this, Hugh released a contented sigh and eased her to ground. He then stepped back to peer at her.
"Did you - No, you didn't." He answered the question himself as he glimpsed her vexed expression. She brushed her skirt down, then tugged her top back into place, and he said, "I am sorry. You excited me so much, I - "
Willa did not stick around to listen. Sniffing her disgust, she started away, working on her lacings as she went.
"Willa! Wait I - Oomph!"
A glance over her shoulder showed him face down in the dirt, his braies tangled around his ankles. It served him right, she decided spitefully, then began to move more quickly as he started to struggle back to his feet. He would come after her, Willa knew, but she had no interest in talking to him. In fact, she had no interest in talking to anyone, she realized, as she neared the edge of the small grove of trees. She was suddenly in a foul mood. Her decision was made quickly. After a glance back to see that Hugh was busy trying to pull his braies back up, Willa ducked quickly to the right. She wove her way deeper into the trees in search of some much needed time alone. It had been an exhausting day. So much had happened.
"Willa?"
She glanced around at that call, and ducked behind a tree as she watched Hugh hurry toward the door into the kitchens. He was tying his braies as he went. She watched until he slipped inside, then began to wander through the trees again. She moved slowly back toward where they had been, thinking that the orchard would surely be the last place he would look for her.
Only a few minutes had passed when she heard the snap of a branch. The hair at the back of her neck prickling, Willa paused and turned in a slow circle, her gaze searching the trees. She didn't see anything, but suddenly felt uncomfortable. Deciding that perhaps she would return to the castle, after all, she started to turn in that direction, only to pause as she spied Hugh's sword lying on the ground ahead. It was in its sheath, attached to his belt, lying where she'd let it drop when she'd removed it earlier. He'd been in such a rush to chase after her, he'd apparently forgotten it. Tsking in exasperation, she moved quickly forward, intending to retrieve it for him.
Willa had almost reached the sword when the sound of another twig snapping underfoot reached her. It sounded closer, much closer. And this time she was afraid to look around. A shot of panic raced through her, and she ran the last few feet to the tree she and Hugh had used earlier. She glanced over her shoulder then, her panic turning cold in her belly as she spotted someone charging at her. Bending, she grabbed up Hugh's sword and started to turn to face her attacker, but the sword was much heavier than Willa had expected and lifting it as she turned put her off balance. She staggered against the tree, the sword half-raised as she found herself confronting Gawain.