The commanders desire, p.27
The Commander's Desire, page 27
The Commander!
The hair had thrown her off. In shock, she scanned his face. Still the scar remained over his right eye. But his nose…his nose was straight, with a slight hook in the middle. She remembered it, bloody and broken when she had signed the treaty. The bandage had still covered it when he had escorted her to her palace. And now…
He was King?
Mouth agape, she stared into cold steel eyes. “But you look like…”
“My father.”
She had almost forgotten his deep rumble. It shivered along her nerve endings, as did his declaration.
Her husband, the King, the son of the enemy King, stood before her. At last, all of the pieces fell into place. The Prince treating him like an equal. The hints that they saw each other as brothers. Now she realized the Prince had shown her his father’s portrait in order to see if she recognized the resemblance between the Commander and the King. Yet another of the mind games he loved to play.
But as Elwytha’s gaze rested upon her husband’s face, all of these truths faded to nothingness as her heart wrenched yet again inside her. Pain erupted, like a scab ripping off a fresh wound. Misery flowed like blood from her heart. How she loved him! But clearly, he hated her still.
Elwytha searched for her well-rehearsed words. “Please come in,” she said quietly. “We have a feast prepared for you.”
She led the way into the palace, glad to turn away from the Commander’s…the King’s…cold gaze. She walked past the silent guards to the dining hall. With a hand, she indicated that he should sit at the head of the table, and his men beside him.
Elwytha wasn’t certain if he wished for her presence or not. But for the sake of the delicate transfer of power, she placed a tentative hand on the chair at his right hand, and looked at him questioningly. He nodded curtly, and she slid into her seat.
For a great feast, it was quiet. His soldiers jested a little with one another, but the Commander…King…sat silently, cutting his meat with swift slices of his sharp blade.
Elwytha felt it her duty to submit pleasantries. “The Prince? How is he?” she asked, chewing on a bit of bread. It tasted like ash in her mouth, and she put the hunk down, glad her nausea had at last abated. No need to tempt it, however.
He cast her an unfriendly glance. “The King sends his best wishes.”
Elwytha digested this. She could well imagine that comment delivered in a mocking tone from the Prince. And then the title caught her attention. “King? He would declare himself King now? After all these years as Prince… Why?”
He chewed meat, jaw movements harsh, as if he took no pleasure in what he ate. “The Prince always considered me to be the true King. Foolish of him.”
Because the Commander was the King’s bastard son, she realized. He had no true claim to the throne. However, he was clearly his son—his eldest son. The resemblance was uncanny. Only his bent nose, vicious scar, and shorn head had concealed his true identity before.
“When did you guess?” she asked.
“That the King was my sire?” His well cut mouth twisted down, and Elwytha remembered the feel of it, kissing her, loving her, and pain scorched her, so she barely heard his next words. “The Prince noticed our similarities first. I didn’t believe it. Then he tricked my mother into admitting it to us.”
Elwytha could well imagine that. The Prince, sporting with his tricks and games from an early age.
The Commander continued, cutting more meat. The blade flashed in abrupt, precise motions. “The Prince was glad to have a brother. He flaunted it to the King. It was why I was allowed to learn to read. And train with the best warriors. But the King refused to acknowledge me as his son. And I understood.”
Elwytha nodded, overcome with empathy for this man she loved; for all the pain he had suffered as a child…taunted, rejected, face broken, and then mutilated. But he had matured into a fine man. The best, most honorable man she had ever met. “The Prince…King…has been a true friend and brother to you all these years.”
His steely eyes impaled her. “I know no one with more loyalty.”
Quick tears flooded her eyes, and she looked down at her food to conceal them.
In silence, she finished a few more bites of her meal. After he’d finished, she said, “Do you wish a tour of the castle, or of the grounds?”
He looked at her, unsmiling. “I wish to see my chambers. And I wish you to take me there. Alone.”
Alarm sparked. She tried, but failed to read his expression. “Very well,” she agreed, and rose.
He spoke to one of the men at his side and then strode beside her up the stairs leading to the King’s chambers. She’d had them scrubbed and readied. Elwytha had never resided there, knowing she would never be queen.
She pushed open the door to the great chamber and allowed him to enter first. Sunshine spilled in on lavish rugs, tapestries, and the massive bed was covered in blue silk and soft pillows.
Elwytha laced her hands. “Does it please you?” She felt trepidation, being alone in his presence like this. It was the first time since that terrible night over three months ago.
By way of an answer, he closed the door. Now they were truly alone. Cut off from the world.
She stared up at him, at the face she loved—a little different now, but still the Commander. The harshness of his expression stabbed into her heart like daggers. “Can I do something else for you?” she whispered, and moved a step across the room. “Perhaps show you the other chambers…”
His large hand caught her wrist, stopping her, and she looked up at him, startled, and apprehensive.
He heaved a great breath and said harshly, “Yes. You can do one more thing for me.” She trembled at the burning smoke of his eyes. “You can please me, my wife, if you would lie with me.”
Elwytha stared at him in shock, her mouth open. “But you hate me. Why would you wish to…to touch me?”
“I can wish for nothing else,” he roared. His fist clenched. “At night I dream of you…during the day I want you. You are a fever in my blood I cannot purge.”
Passion. Need. But no words of love.
Elwytha’s heart beat very fast. She longed for him, too, but not like this. “Commander…King…Gile…”
“Commander,” he demanded roughly.
She took a breath. “You are my husband, and I will not deny you what you wish. But first, please, I would speak to you.”
“Words mean nothing between us,” he growled.
“I must speak. Pray, listen!” Her first spark of temper in months.
His eyes narrowed, and a little of the old Commander flashed through. “Speak,” he gritted.
Elwytha searched for the words that she’d practiced so oft. They failed her now. She blurted, “I was not going to betray you that night.”
He turned his head away, and a great scowl contorted his features.
“Listen, drat you,” Elwytha exclaimed. “You would listen to me. You told me over and over that you were innocent of my brother’s murder. You had no proof. But I believed you.”
“Because I spoke the truth,” he snarled back. “You spoke nothing but lies.”
“It’s true I came intending treachery,” she admitted, feeling shame, but she continued to meet his eyes. “Please forgive me for that. Verily, it sickened me from the first. I wanted vengeance for Thor’s death, true. But the lies and murder I’d agreed to commit haunted me more every day. That first time at the chapel, I realized plotting to kill you was wrong; I would be no better than Thor’s killer. So I decided to battle you face to face for Thor’s honor. The next time at the chapel I realized even that was wrong. I could not kill you.
“Richard wanted me to kill you before our wedding. He promised to come with his forces to rescue me. He didn’t come. And I had assembled no knives to kill you.
“By our wedding I believed your word. That you were innocent. I gladly married you…because I loved you.” Her voice broke. “And that night when Richard expected me to kill you, truly I had planned to trick him. I was going to tell him I’d killed you, and convince him to leave.…” her voice trailed off. “I had no true plan beyond that. But I did warn Mary to tell Henry to protect the Prince. I wanted only to protect you…and him.”
The Commander stared at her. “You expect me to believe you after all of your lies?”
“They ate at my soul,” she cried out. “Why do you think I cried at the chapel? I knew I was sinning before God, and I couldn’t stand myself anymore. Remember when you held me and kissed me?”
He gave a curt nod.
“That’s when I decided to abandon my brother’s treacherous plan. It was wrong and deceitful and I couldn’t bear it any longer. And I was falling in love with you, even though I didn’t realize it yet.”
Elwytha looked at him, awaiting a response. Anything.
For the first time, the hostility in his gaze wavered. “You didn’t love me.”
“I do love you!” Her voice shook. “With my whole heart.”
The Commander took a deep breath. He shook his head once, as if to clear it. “You love me? Verily?” The words scraped, low and rough.
“Yes.” Elwytha could no longer keep still about her surprise. She took his great hand and placed it on her abdomen. “And I carry your babe, Commander. I wish you to be his father…and my husband, forever.” She couldn’t stop her tears now. “I know you don’t love me, and you don’t trust me. I know I can never prove my innocence. I understand that, but I will accept whatever part of your life you’ll give me.” Tears ran down her cheeks.
A cautious wonder overtook his features. His large hand spread gently over her stomach. “My baby?” Awe sounded in his deep voice. “You carry my babe?”
“Yes.” Elwytha sniffed. “The midwife says I have just over five months until delivery. Already I feel little pops inside. Mayhap a strong warrior, beginning his first kicks.”
His fingers stroked her stomach, then slid around her waist. His other hand brushed the tears from her eyes.
Here was her husband again. The gentle man she loved.
“You love me?” he asked, searching deep into her eyes.
“Yes,” she whispered. “And I’ve missed you terribly. I’ve been so miserable without you.”
Both of his hands cupped her waist now, pulling her closer to him. “You believe I didn’t kill Thor?”
“I know you didn’t. I knew it in my heart all along, and then I found Richard’s diary. He ordered Thor’s murder. He wanted to gain the throne.” Pain again stabbed her, remembering the awful day she’d made that discovery.
The Commander nodded, his eyes locked on hers. “And I believe you now.”
Joy took wing in her heart. “You do?” She flung her arms around his neck and hugged him tight.
He said, low and rough in her ear, “I wanted you to love me. But I never thought it could happen for one such as me.”
“You mean an honorable man? A brave and gentle and kind man?” She looked up at him with a wobbly, teasing smile. “What woman in her right mind wouldn’t want you?”
“Ones who saw only my ugly scars and low birth. No woman has ever seen beyond those things.”
“Then their loss. And I’m glad,” Elwytha said fiercely. “I want you all to myself, forever.”
He smiled at last, and it was like sunshine lit his silver eyes. “I’ll confess the truth.”
“What?”
“I fell in love with you the first time I saw you. I wanted you for my own. And I was glad the Prince gave you to me.”
“Because he thought you were the true king, and deserved first choice?”
“Yes. And because he didn’t want to stop his philandering lifestyle.”
Elwytha giggled. “That sounds like him.”
The Commander smiled. “I pursued you from the first minute you promised yourself to me. I set about it as a battle plan, to break down every one of your walls.”
“To gentle me, like a horse,” she reminded him.
“It worked.”
She grinned, tightening her arms around his neck. “Are you sure I’m not the one who gentled you?”
“That you did.” At last, he kissed her and Elwytha melted into him, hungry for his touch, his kiss…for her husband.
He pressed more kisses onto her skin, raining them down her chin to her neck. She arched back, eager for his touch.
“Elwytha,” he growled against her throat.
“Hmm?” she sighed.
“I love you.”
She stilled, fingers in his black hair, and gazed into his eyes. She smiled so big she thought her heart would burst. “Verily, I love you, too, my bossy, battle plan minded husband.” Fear flared when a memory surfaced. “But promise me no more wars. I was scared to death you’d die when you left to conquer my land.”
He gave her a slow smile. “No more fighting. Except our wars of words. I enjoy those battles, for the prize is so great.”
Elwytha smiled and kissed him, with love giving him the prize he sought. More kisses sealed their peace covenant, and promised an eternity of loving each other.
The End
About the Author
Jennette Green has always had a passion for writing. She wrote her first story over thirty years ago, and her first romance novel, The Commander’s Desire, was published in 2008. This new, revised version, was published in 2010. This book has been given the accolades of “Top Pick” novel and “Reader’s Favorite Hero for 2009.” In addition, The Commander’s Desire will soon be translated into Thai and published in Thailand.
Her second romance novel, Her Reluctant Bodyguard, is also a reader favorite, and has received a number of top pick reviews.
Jennette loves to travel with her husband and children, and particularly likes long walks along the ocean, dreaming up new stories.
She loves to hear from her readers.
You can write to Jennette at jennette@jennettegreen.com
or visit her website at www.jennettegreen.com.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Jennette Green, The Commander's Desire
