Dream of Me/Believe in Me

tantalizing aroma of fresh baked bread. It drew them to the tray left in Krysta's room, no doubt by her thoughtful maid. With childlike glee, they carried the repast back to bed and fed each other choice morsels until such intimacy had its inevitable result. They finally slept deeply and without dreams, not stirring again until the full light of dawn flowed through the high windows and over their entwined forms.
    “I must see the king,” Hawk murmured, scarcely awake as he kissed the sweet curve of Krysta's breast. He moved his hand over her belly and between her thighs, stroking her, and was rewarded by a soft whimper of pleasure. His lean cheeks roughened by a night's growth of whiskers teased her skin primed to exquisite sensitivity. She arched against him, tangling her fingers in his hair, and traced the hard curve of his mouth with the tip of her tongue. “Later.” Whatever reply he might have made was lost in the quicksilver flare of his own response. The king would have to wait.
    As he did until well into midmorning when Hawk finally slipped from the bed. He stood beside it, gazing down at the woman turned on her side facing him, her hands tucked under her chin and an expression of utter innocence upon her lovely face. A deep, contented sigh escaped him. The world felt completely right and Hawk himself so utterly at peace that if he ran into Udell right then, he decided he would kill him quickly instead of drawing it out as he had thought to do when learning that the Mercian traitor had dared to put his hands on Krysta. Moved to mercy in his present mood, he would be content merely to lop off his head. Such was the astounding effect of a good woman, he mused, as he looked around for whatever it was he had thought to find.
    Clothes, that was it, and some water to wash with. He could shave later. Alfred had seen him in far scruffier conditionwhen they sloughed through days and weeks of chasing the Danes from battlefield to battlefield. He was buckling on his sword as he left the chamber, spied a serving girl, and learned the king's whereabouts. Alfred was in the stables visiting with a colt born just that morning to his favorite mare. The king looked up as Hawk entered, assayed his disheveled condition, and shook his head ruefully.
    “A restless night, Lord of Essex?”
    Hawk grinned. “Actually quite a refreshing one, sire.” He bent down to admire the colt. “May he be as steady as his dam and as fast as his sire.”
    Alfred nodded. “They make a good combination.” He got to his feet and dusted off his hands. “Udell left in the night.”
    “Good. I assume Athelred awaits him at the border.”
    “He does, although he had some difficulty convincing my daughter to remain behind.” The king could not suppress a proud smile. “Athelflad thought to ride with him.”
    “A true daughter of your house, my lord.” Wise enough to have sniffed out Udell's perfidy and sent her royal father swift warning of it. “Udell should have ample time by now to grow careless. I ride within the hour. Between us, Athelred and I will squeeze the life from his traitor's bones.”
    “Ordinarily, I'd suggest bringing him back to stand trial but—”
    Alfred did not have to go further for Hawk understood full well. The king focused his attention where it belonged, on the Danes. It was only by so doing that he had forged and kept the peace. Udell would not be allowed to distract him from it.
    Hawk took his leave a short while later. He went around to the barracks where his men were housed. His lieutenants awaited him. Keen-eyed men long skilled in intrigue, they had known full well what the outcome withUdell would be. Their horses were saddled and waiting. Behind them, drawn up rank upon rank, Hawk's personal guard, the most feared army in all of England, was mounted and ready. Sooner even than Hawk had promised, the force rode out through the gates of the royal residence and down the long road heading north out of Winchester. Hawk turned once in the saddle, eyeing the room where Krysta slept as it faded into the distance.
    He supposed she would be concerned when she found him gone. Perhaps she would think he should have awakened her. But there had been too many farewells in his life; he had a keen dislike of them. Besides, he would be back within scant days and all would be well between them. Reassured that he had taken the proper course, Hawk continued on his way, his mind clear and untroubled, filled with pleasant