Chapter 6

We rode out to the village the following morning. Rolph wanted to take a look at his newly acquired land, and I wanted to see how my people had fared after the siege.

Bailliot had hundreds of villagers who lived outside the perimeter of its walls. Those men and women had been the first to deal with the onslaught of the Norman invasion. Most of them had scattered to the woods when they’d heard the sounds of impending war. Now that the ordeal was over, they were trickling back to their homes. 

That’s why I was here, riding alongside Rolph. He wanted to show Bailliot’s people that all was well by parading me around the village grounds. If that’s what it took to bring normalcy back to their already hard existence, I was willing to swallow my pride and do it.

Rolph cantered his black destrier, every inch as imposing as the man who rode it, to the edge of the village. “There is minimal damage done to the northern half, but the southern side was left untouched.”

I wondered if those whose homes had burned to the ground would consider the damage “minimal”. “I see,” I responded icily, my snow-white mare trotting nervously beside his great, dark mount. “And how many of my people were killed?”

“As few as possible,” Ralph answered back with the practicality of a seasoned warrior. “After all, I knew they would be my people in less than a fortnight. I had no wish to do more damage than I had to.”

“I see,” I repeated, even more curtly than before.

Rolph drew up his reins and came to an abrupt stop. “Do you have something you’d like to say, Bet?”

Like my mare with his stallion, I grew nervous and began to tread more delicately then. “No, milord.”

Nodding, he kissed the sides of his heels against his mount. The beast shot forward and I followed in his wake. 

When we got to the village square, I saw that many of my people were assembled there. A knot began to form in the pit of my stomach. Something was wrong. What was going on here?

“Rolph?” I questioned, searching his face for unspoken answers. The taint of smoke and ash still lingered heavily in the air, burning my nostrils.

Ignoring me, the Norman lithely leapt from his mount. He tied the animal off to a singed post and walked over to where Uber and Efron were speaking with a group of his soldiers.

Wearily, I slid from the back of my mare onto the ground. Tying her beside Rolph’s stallion, I stood awkwardly awaiting instruction. Something was going on here. I could feel it. 

“Bring them out,” Efron shouted. 

I watched with bated breath as a group of ten beaten and broken men were marched into the courtyard.

My feet carried me to Rolph’s side. “Milord,” I began, wetting my lips which had suddenly gone dry, “what is going on here? Who are those men and why are they trussed up?” 

Turning to me, Rolph smiled. But it lacked the warmth and humor that he usually exhibited. It was, I realized, the expression the man reserved for his enemies. 

“These men rebelled against my army, Bet. For their treacherous deeds, they’re to be hung from the neck until dead. I’ve staged makeshift gallows over there in yonder barn.” Rolph pointed to a free-standing structure that had been nearly gutted by fire. The frame of the building, including the beams, still remained. 

I was confused. “But we agreed that if I opened the gates of Bailliot to you, Rolph, no one inside her walls would be harmed.”

“We did,” he concurred. “And we also agreed that all men that were on the premises would become my prisoners. Didn’t we, Bet?” Rolph’s penetrating blue gaze bore into mine with an unspoken accusation. “And what I do with my prisoners is my business.”

“I don’t understand. Why would you do this? These are your people now.” What could he possibly stand to gain from this act?

It dawned on me then. Rolph had warned me that he didn’t like to be double-crossed. And, though not that exactly, I had tricked him. I’d agreed to turn over Bailliot’s men to him. Then, I’d let many of those soldiers flee before he’d entered her gates. I’d thought I’d been so clever. Now I see I was not. Rolph was paying me back for my deception. And ten innocent men would pay the ultimate price for my mistake today.

My throat constricted. Looking up at him, I spoke softly, “I’m sorry, milord.”

Rolph took a step closer, his immense size dwarfing my smaller frame. “Sorry for what, Bet?” He asked, needing to hear me confess my sins aloud. 

I swallowed, fighting back tears of defeat. “Sorry for not being transparent about how many men were in the keep when we negotiated our terms.”

Rolph moved even closer, the tip of his Goliath-sized boots abutting my David-sized slippers. “How sorry are you?” His eyes were burning coals of blue fire.

I didn’t know how to answer that. “Please don’t make them pay for my mistake,” I replied instead.

“Then who should pay, if not these men?” Rolph challenged.

He was corralling me toward something, though I didn’t yet know what. “I should pay,” I quietly volunteered.

Taking me by the hand, Rolph led me into the privacy of the burned-out barn. Once inside, I could see lengths of rope dangling from the rafters. When had he planned this? Last night? During dinner when he’d been so kind to me? Afterward? Before? 

It didn’t matter. I’d been such a fool. This man had only shown me the face he’d wished me to see. A fact that embarrassed and shamed me all at once. Why had I ever thought I could outwit him? I was a novice and no match for his years of experience. 

Disgusted by all that was happening, I tried to turn away from the rope. Rolph grabbed me by the shoulders and forced me to take in the macabre scene. “Looking away won’t make it go away.”

My chest began to heave as I struggled to pull in great gulps of air. “I’m so sorry, Rolph. I promise I won’t ever mislead you again.”

Rolph spun me about and tugged me against his chest. “No, you won’t,” he agreed darkly. 

Attempting to win back some control, I placed my hands on his arms. “I’m begging you, milord. Please don’t hurt those men for my mistake.”

Wrapping his hands around my waist, Rolph ground his erection against my belly. “I like it when you beg, Bet. But I want more than begging from you.”

I blinked, shocked by his words. “I said I was sorry, Rolph. I can’t undo what was done in the past.”

“Do not confuse me with your father, my little innocent. Fluttering your lashes prettily and apologizing sweetly won’t earn you my forgiveness.” 

A red creep of guilt must have stained my face then because he laughed. 

“You’re so beautiful,” Rolph praised, his fingers running up my ribcage, along the swell of my breasts and cradling my face. “I’m sure your father was not but a plaything in your hands.”

He was right. My father could never stay mad at me for long. I’d say I was sorry, sit on his lap, kiss his cheek, and all would be forgiven. This man wouldn’t be so easy to coerce. Sure, he’d want me to do all of those things, but they wouldn’t end with a kiss on the cheek.

Pressing me backward until I hit the charred wall of the barn, Rolph growled, “I want more. Offer me more.”

“What will make this right between us?” I rasped, as he cornered me in the depths of one of the empty horse stalls.

“I wish to re-negotiate our deal.” He reinforced his words by nudging his hard cock against my mound. 

A familiar wetness instantly dampened my thighs. I barely recognized my voice when I asked, “Terms?”

“All remains the same, but I let these men live if you swear to submit yourself to me. Do whatever I say, when I say it. Your complete and utter submission.”

My mind was clouded with thoughts of him finishing what we’d started in the woods. Mentally shaking myself from the depths of that memory, I replied, “And you will let them all live? Go free?”

“Yes.” Rolph continued to slide the rod in his chausses against the slippery pearl between my folds. The friction was enough to make me nearly explode.

“I need some time to consider this,” I rasped, my hands not so much pushing him away, as they were binding him to me. My fingers had fistfuls of his tunic gripped tightly in my palm, using it as means to keep me standing upright.

“You have the next minute to decide.” Licking the column of my neck, Rolph nipped the sensitive skin of my earlobe. My hips involuntarily bucked against his.

I wanted to fight him, but I couldn’t. He stood between me and the safety of my people. My body was wound so tightly that I thought I’d perish if I didn’t let him take me over the edge. 

“Times up,” Rolph exclaimed, stilling and looking me hard in the eye.

I knew that I was giving up my last bit of leverage, but I couldn’t seem to care with so much on the line. “I agree.”

Threading his fingers through my hair, Rolph crushed his mouth against mine. He continued his assault on my center, and I began to moan as I climbed closer to my climax.

His skilled tongue slipped in and out of my mouth. Rolph groaned as I spread my legs for him, letting him step more fully between them. It didn’t take long to stimulate me past the point of no return. The smell of him. His very nearness. The pressure of his manhood. His utter confidence. It was all my undoing. I came so hard my vision faded to pops of color behind my eyes and my juices ran down my quivering thighs. 

Rolph caught my cry of ecstasy in his mouth as I came. Somewhere in the back of my head, I knew the men outside could hear it, despite being muffled by his lips. That would bother me later. But right now, I couldn’t think of anything other than the haze of bliss sweeping from the top of my head to the tips of my toes.

Panting, I sagged against my Norman conqueror, completely spent. Like I weighed nothing, Rolph held me upright as the pulsing between my legs finally subsided. 

He drew my hand down to the enormous bulge in his breeches. Squeezing my fingers, I felt his flesh jump in my palm.

“Because it’s your first time, I’m not going to take you in the barn like an animal,” he breathed into my ear, jerking his great shaft through the curve of my hand once more. “I want you naked before me, spread out like a feast.” Nipping the lobe of my ear, he added, “We finish this in my chamber tonight.”