Before he could utter a word, she had disappeared down the trap door, leaving him behind, wondering what had just happened.
Sighing, he got up and went downstairs as well. The night was getting too cold for his taste.
When he arrived at the room he shared with Igor, he was already there, warming himself up in front of the strange construction built in the room’s wall. Apparently, it was some sort of fireplace, and a good fire burned in it that night.
“I complained to Millicent I was cold and she asked one of the servants to light the fire for us,” Igor explained.
“Millicent?” the name startled Cuyler. Kaylein had used it when she had lied to him.
“Yes, she’s my soulmate,” Igor explained. “She works as a maid for one of Lord Arryn’s daughters.”
Relief flooded Cuyler. “She’s Kaylein’s maid,” he said.
“Yes, I believe that’s the name,” Igor confirmed.
“Kaylein is my soulmate,” he informed his friend, with a smile.
“Oh, that’s great. They will be able to be together when we finally take them home.”
"Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking of,” Cuyler nodded, "mentioned she has two sisters we haven't been able to see. Arryn has kept them out of our sight, but we should try and take a good look at them. They might be possible mates for two of the men."
“I don’t think Lord Arryn would be willing to hand three of his daughters to us.”
“The man hates his daughters for not being the sons he hoped for,” Cuyler grumbled. “It would be just fair to take them away from them.”
“Looking at it from that point of view, I guess you’re right,” Igor agreed. “I’ll have the unmated man wander around the castle to see if they can see them.”
“Yes, do that. I need to convince Arryn to accept my offer. Just don’t know how yet,” Cuyler said, walking to the small window and staring at the moon. “I would like to go back home as soon as possible.”
“Yes, I feel the same, especially now that I’ve found my soulmate,” Igor agreed.
“Have you talked about that with Millicent?” Cuyler asked, curious.
"No, I haven't. She has kept me at a distance, as if as didn't trust my intentions,” Igor explained. "She's always busy and never has time to talk to me."
“These people seem to exploit their servants,” Cuyler said, scowling.
“Yes, I’ve noticed that too. The good thing is that Millicent doesn’t have any family members. She won’t miss anyone when we go home.”
“That’s a good thing, indeed.” Cuyler nodded.
They chatted for a few more minutes before they went to sleep. The new day would bring new things and surely new decisions.
Kaylein wasn’t able to sleep. She spent the night tossing and turning in bed, remembering Sir Cuyler’s words and experiencing that same pain, over and over again. She couldn’t believe the idea of him having fallen in love with another woman was so painful.
She shouldn’t care, right? It wasn’t as if he meant anything for her. Or so she kept telling herself, trying to convince her silly heart of it.
When the sun finally showed in the sky, she got up, got dressed and left her room, determined to grab a horse from the stables and go for a ride. She surely needed the fresh air and the time alone.
But she didn’t go very far. She had just entered the woods when she spotted him walking towards her. She should have ignored him, but she simply couldn’t. Instead, she stopped her horse and waited for him to approach her, but the closer he got the more nervous her horse got.
"I'm afraid the animals sense the predator in me,” he explained, stopping at a safe distance. "Could I convince you to walk instead of ride?" he asked her with a wicked smile on his handsome face.
“Yes, it’s a good idea.” She slid out of the saddle and tied the horse to a tree, walking towards him. She had to have a masochist side she hadn't noticed before. Why the hell did she want to spend more time with a man that was already committed to another woman? And yet, she didn’t seem to be able to avoid him.
“Good morning, milady,” he greeted her when she finally reached him, stretching his hand towards her.
"Good morning, Sir Cuyler." She rested her hand on his, and he took it to his lips kissing its back, making her gasp.
She retrieved her hand and cleared her throat, trying her best to regain her self-control. “You’re up early,” he said, smiling, as they started walking.
"Yes… after all of yesterday's emotions, I had trouble sleeping,” she explained, taking a deep breath, loving the way the cool air of the morning rushed down to her lungs, making her feel so much better.
“Yes, I understand how you feel.” He nodded, watching her chest heave as she inhaled.
With the more time, he spent with her the more his passion for her grew, to the point he wasn't sure how long he would be able to hold it back.
He could sense she was very innocent regarding love and passion and the last thing he wanted was to scare her away, but his whole body begged for her.
“What about you?”
“I usually get up early,” he replied.
She was so distracted with his presence so close to her, she stumbled with a hidden root, and she almost fell to the ground, but he pulled her up before she hit the ground.
He pulled her up and didn’t allow her to leave his arms. He simply couldn’t. Instead, he leaned his head forward and brushed her full lips with his, once, twice, three times, until she parted her lips and welcomed his coarse tongue inside the warmness of her mouth.
Pulling her closer, he tightened his embrace and deepened the kiss, embedding it with all his passion, delving and marking as his every inch of her.
When he finally pulled back, they were both breathless, and there was a shine in her eyes he hadn't seen before. She was as aroused as he was.
Encouraged by it, he kissed her again, this time gently, before he started to scatter tiny kisses all over her face, loving the way she trembled in his arms and she moaned.
Kaylein couldn't believe this was actually happening, that he was kissing her this way. She had always tried to imagine her first kiss based on what she had heard of them and what she had read in some books she had found hidden in her father’s study, but nothing had prepared her for the fire blasting through her veins and the passion rushing through her whole body. She had never felt so much pleasure in her life.
She forgot all about the rest of the world. Right then, they were alone, and that was all that mattered.
He kept kissing her, combining sweet kisses with gentle nibbles all over her face, across to her ears and down her neck.
Eager for more, he guided her until he had her against the trunk of a tree, allowing his hands to run up her sides and reach her big, round breasts, cupping them over the fabric of her clothes.
It felt so good; he could feel his cock straining against his pants, craving more. But he knew this wasn't the moment or the place.
Reluctantly, he kissed her one last time, before he stepped away. “You’re the sweetest woman I’ve ever met,” he murmured against her lips.
“I’m sure you tell that to all of the women you meet.” She dismissed his words, still heaving and beautifully blushed.
He chuckled as he took her hand in his. "Let's go back to the castle before we're missed,” he suggested.
She nodded, and they walked back to where she had left her horse. Once there, she hopped up in the saddle, and with a naughty nod, she rode back to the castle, leaving him behind.
Even if they could, it wasn’t a good idea let people see them arriving together. She had been waiting for her father to remember the fact she was out in woods, in the middle of the night with a man, the night they had seen Lord Bryce’s army.
She guessed he had been too worried about more urgent matters to remember that, but she was sure that wouldn't last forever.
And it came sooner than she expected. She was sliding down from her horse when her father’s voice startled her.
“Kaylein, what are you doing here?” he snarled at her.
“I went for a ride, father,” she replied, in a calm tone.
“I thought I had ordered you and your sisters to remain in your rooms while we have guests,” he continued, approaching her with furious strides.
“I thought we weren’t allowed to go down for meals, not that we had to remained prisoners in our rooms, father,” she said, trying to keep her bad temper under control.
“Yes, you are to remain in your room. And that reminds me you still must explain what you were doing alone in the woods, in the middle of the night with Cuyler,” he snarled again.
"I wasn't with him. I was alone. I couldn't sleep so I went for a walk like I've done my whole life,” she explained, clenching her hands into fists trying to control herself. "I casually met him in the forest, and it was then when we spotted Lord Bryce's army,” she added.
He slapped her hard across her face, furious with her tone, making her stumble, but not fall. She had learned to take his blows standing and in silence. She wouldn’t give him the pleasure of seeing her cry, even when she knew her behavior only made him more furious with her.
“You have been nothing but trouble since the day you were born,” he ranted. “I should send you to a convent. The nuns would teach you how to behave.”
It wasn't the first time her father threatened her to send her to a convent and sometimes, like this one, she really feared he would do it. But she would rather run away from home and live on her own than allowing him to do that.
“If you say so, father,” she replied, in the same calmed tone.
“Get out of my sight and stay in your room. I’ll put a guard by your door to make sure you’ll follow my orders this time,” he shouted, sounding even more furious.
“Yes, Sir.” With a nod, she turned around and walked to the castle, going straight to her room.
As he said, the guard arrived right after her, and immediately took his position at her door. Millicent arrived soon after, carrying the ointment she always used when her father took his rage on her.
“How did you know?” she asked her maid, with a faint smile.
“I saw him. I was on my way to warn you he was in a bad mood but he got to you first,” the other girl said, with a sad tone.
"It's alright; he would have found me sooner or later," Kaylein said, taking a seat on the bed to allow her to put on the ointment on her swollen face.
“Did he threaten to send you to a convent again?” Millicent asked.
“Yes, doesn’t he always?” she sighed. “Sometimes I wished he would do it once and for all. That way I would have the perfect excuse to leave this place forever.”
“What would you do all alone out there? Women alone don’t end up well, milady and you should know that ” her maid warned her worried.
“I wouldn’t be a woman, my sweet Millicent. You know I’m able to disguise myself as a man and that I would be able to work as a man,” she said, sighing and getting up.
“That’s no life for you, milady,” the girl protested.
“Life in a convent isn’t a life for me, Millicent and we both know that,” she said, vehement.
“Yes, I know, milady.”
"Don't worry about me; I'll be alright."
The girl left the room, and Kaylein walked to the window, wishing she could be outside and hoping her father’s punishment wouldn’t last that long.
She wanted to see Cuyler one more time before he left.
She closed her eyes and allowed the memories of the sweet moments she had spent with him to run through her mind, relishing on them and praying she would have a few more to last her a lifetime. She was sure she would never feel that way with any other man.