Page 115 of Tempted
Tina opened her eyes and blinked. Someone was knocking on the chamber door. With her hand upon the latch, she asked, “Who is there?”
“‘Tis I, my dear, Lord Howard. We had no chance to speak privately with the eyes of the king and court upon us.”
Tina needed a favor from this man, and Providence had sent him. There was no way she was going to refuse him admittance because she was clad only in her shift. She wondered what hour it was and how long she had been asleep. She lifted the latch and looked about for a bedgown, but Ada must have retired without laying one out for her.
“Please excuse my state of undress, Lord Howard. I must beg a favor from you.”
He raised her hand to his lips in a gallant gesture. “My dear, I will do anything that is within my power. You know full well how fond I am of you.”
A small warning bell went off in Tina’s head, so she put distance between them before she asked her favor. “Fear for Lord Douglas brought me all the way from Scotland. I am sick with worry for him. Please write me a pass so that I may visit him in the tower. The king assured me you would help me, dearest Lord Howard.”
“It gives me the deepest pleasure to give you what you ask, Lady Valentina. In return, I know you will be more than generous with me.”
Tina caught her breath. Dear God, here was another expecting sexual favors! Was this always the currency between men and women? Howard closed the distance between them and pulled her into his arms. His mouth covered hers insistently, and he pressed her close so that she would know how hard her softly curved body made him.
Tina pulled her mouth from his. “My lord, the pass!” When he had written the paper she wanted, she planned to tell him her brother was asleep in the next room.
Keeping hold of her hand, he moved to the desk and picked up a quill. He smiled at her. “You are no longer the green little virgin I knew in Edinburgh.” He folded the paper and tucked it playfully between her breasts. “Come, give me all your sweetness now.” One arm went about her back, the other under her knees as he swept her up into his arms and carried her to the bed.
He was so much stronger than she, fear washed over her. She sobbed, “Lord Howard, how dare you force me against my will! My brother will kill you for this, sir!”
A panel of golden oak slid open to reveal the massive figure of Henry Tudor in an ermine bedrobe. Howard’s mouth fell open. He knew immediately he had made a stupid tactical blunder. Flaming Tina had been in a state of undress because she was expecting the king! She occupied these rooms beneath Henry’s only because there was a secret, inner staircase connecting the two apartments.
Henry’s mouth pursed tightly. “Is this the way you use a lady to whom I have promised aid and protection?” he thundered in outrage.
Tina was alarmed at the compromising situation in which she found herself. Henry Tudor was so unpredictable, he could order them both to the tower on a whim.
“I am shocked at your licentious behavior, Surrey. No gentleman of my court forces himself upon a lady. Can you not see the child is distraught?” he demanded. “I take great pains to set the moral tone of my court, and then something like this happens to destroy it!”
Tina could hardly believe her ears Henry Tudor was the biggest hypocrite she’d ever heard, yet he actually seemed to believe his own prim words at this moment “Leave us, and report to me in the morning. I begin to question my decision to put you in charge of the military.”
Surrey bowed stiffly. “I shall leave at once, Your Majesty. I assure you, my interest in Lady Kennedy is a fatherly one.”
By now Ada was awake and listening at the other door. She heard Lord Howard depart and knew Tina was now alone with the king. There was nothing she could do. It would be more than her life was worth to intervene between a king and his pleasure. Tina Kennedy was all woman. She would know how to handle Henry Tudor.
Valentina saw the king through a blur of tears. Her lips trembled uncontrollably and Henry sat down and gathered her into his lap. “There, there, sweeting—you are safe now,” he said, patting her in a bluff, paternal manner. He dandled her upon his great knee, as if she were a child who had fallen and skinned her elbow. “Come, poppet, dry your eyes.” He fumbled for a handkerchief, and at last produced it like a rabbit from a hat. “There!” He dabbed gently at her face.
“Orris root,” said Tina, blinking at him owlishly, between hiccups.
“That’s right, sweeting. What a clever girl you are. Mmm, you smell of freesia, a most delicate perfume.”
Tina was amazed. Apparently Henry was in a mood to play “daddy and little girl.” He gave her two quick buzzes on the lips. “There, my kisses have made it all better,” he said.
She was terrified for what might come next, so she looked at him with wide, innocent eyes. “Thank you, sire,” she whispered. “My brother is asleep in the next room. If he had awakened and found Lord Howard here when I was undressed, he would have run his sword through the man.”
The king put his finger to his lips, then to hers. “Hush, sweeting. We don’t want to awaken him. I’ll just tuck you safely into bed and warn you to keep your chamber door locked in future.”
He lifted her and carried her to the bed, but before he put her down upon it, he ran his hand across her breasts in a caress. He put his mouth upon hers and forced it open to admit his tongue. He whispered against her mouth, “Tomorrow evening you will sit with me while we enjoy the Gypsy entertainers. Then you will open your pretty thighs for me, while I give you a loving you will never forget.”
Henry enjoyed the anticipation almost as much as the act. The moment when a lady first saw his great size always delighted him, and even though a lady had had previous sexual encounters, it was like being deflowered a second time. He always managed to draw blood when he stretched a lady’s sheath with his great sword of state.
Chapter 34
When the king had gone, Tina turned her face into her pillow and cried herself to sleep. The strange nightmares began almost immediately. She stood in a tiny wisp of a shift trying to conceal her breasts with her flaming cloak of hair. Before her stretched an endless line of men. Her father passed her to Patrick Hamilton; he pushed her into James Stewart’s arms, who in turn passed her on to Angus. At the very end of the line, she saw Black Ram Douglas waiting for her.
The only way she could get to Ram was through the other men. Angus passed her to a dark Douglas servant; the servant handed her to the steward; the steward to the chamberlain; the chamberlain pushed her toward the chancellor. Now only two men stood between her and her goal —Lord Howard and Henry Tudor.
As she passed from the chancellor’s hands to Lord Howard, she glanced down the line to Hotspur Douglas, and suddenly she realized he was waiting to kill her. If she went to Douglas from the king’s arms, he would destroy her. She cried out in her sleep and opened her eyes, but she was still dreaming. Again there was a line of men. This time each held out a cup from which she must drink. She trusted none of them. With fear almost choking her, she drank from her brother David’s cup, then from Gavin and Cameron Douglas’s cups. Next came the cousins Ian, Drummond, and Jamie, followed by Colin who was even more grotesquely crippled than in real life. Then she knew she must drink from Mad Malcolm’s cup because it was the only way to reach Ram. Finally she reached her goal and lifted Ramsay’s cup to her lips. She drank it calmly, obediently, knowing he had given her poison. She drew her knees up to her belly in her sleep and cried out in agony. She opened her eyes, but she was still dreaming. Heath was there, but somehow he had red hair like her other brothers, and she began to laugh hysterically.
