Medieval 01 - Untamed

kicked up. “Was it that hard, small falcon?”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œGiving me what is my due as your lord.”
    â€œYou make me sound cold and selfish.”
    â€œNo. Just untamed.”
    Meg’s bleak smile surprised Dominic.
    â€œUntamed?” she asked. “Is that how you see me?”
    â€œHow else could I see you? You obey no one, not even your husband.”
    â€œI obey everyone, answering the needs of even the lowliest of Blackthorne’s people. Not once— never —has anyone asked me what my own desire was.”
    â€œWhat is it?”
    â€œFreedom, lord. Just that.”
    Slipping her hands from beneath Dominic’s, Meg got out of bed to tend the hearth.
    â€œSleep. Your body has much healing to do.”
    â€œI will heal more quickly with you beside me.”
    Meg hesitated in the act of adding a piece of oak branch to the fire. Tiny flames lifted toward the wood as though sensing that their destiny was to burn, and in burning, to warm lives that would otherwise go cold.
    Slowly Meg lowered the branch among the coals. Before she could take a full breath, tongues of fire raced over the oak, cherishing it and setting it ablaze. After a moment she stood and went back to Dominic’s bed. She pulled apart the heavy drapes surrounding the bed.
    Dominic was waiting for her. He held the coversaside, silently inviting Meg to come to bed. She slid quickly beneath the covers, not wanting any warmth to escape. Behind her, the drapes fell shut once more, cutting off the drafts from the shutters.
    â€œYou’ll catch a chill if you don’t keep the covers snugly around you,” Meg said.
    â€œYou’ll warm me.”
    Dominic’s strong arms reached for Meg, tucked her alongside his body, and pulled her close in an intimacy that had become familiar in the days since their marriage. Usually his was the greater warmth, but not tonight. Tonight, the last of the poison still touched Dominic’s body with cool fingers.
    Meg wrapped the covers closer around both of them and tried to cover as much of his flesh with her own as she could. The warmth of her body radiated against him. The feel of it sent a shimmer of simple pleasure through Dominic.
    Smiling, he brushed his lips over Meg’s forehead, smoothed her cheek with his palm, and gave himself back to healing sleep. Meg quickly followed, her body relaxing along her husband’s until both were warmed.
    Then the dream came and icy fingers clawed Meg’s heart.
    â€œ Nay! ”
    She sat upright in a rush, her heart racing like a runaway horse, shaking her.
    Dominic sat up an instant later, a knife in his hand. A quick glance told him that the draperies around the bed hadn’t been disturbed, for only a thin glimmer of light shone through the crack where the hearth lay.
    â€œDominic?” Simon called harshly from beyond the door. “Is all well?”
    â€œYes. It was only a dark dream.”
    Simon muttered something about witches andnightmares as he settled against the door once more to get what sleep he could from the remaining night.
    Beside Dominic, Meg shivered and murmured sounds which had no meaning except that of fear and denial.
    With a swift motion, Dominic slid the knife under his pillow once more, threw back a drapery, and lit a fresh candle from the guttering remains of the one on the table. The room was cold. Only bare embers remained of the fire. Yet he doubted that was why his wife shivered.
    â€œMeg?” Dominic said in a low voice, stroking her cheek. “What is it?”
    At first Meg didn’t hear him, for she was still in the grip of nightmare.
    â€œMeg?”
    Her eyes opened and she glanced around as though disoriented.
    â€œDominic? Is something wrong? Do you feel ill again?”
    â€œNo. ’Tis you, Meg. You cried out.”
    â€œOh.”
    Rubbing her palms up and down her arms, Meg looked around, truly seeing the room for the first time since waking. A fresh candle burned brightly a few feet from the bed. Embers glowed in the hearth. No hint of light came through the narrow gap in the shutters.
    â€œThe fire,” she said absently.
    â€œI’ll tend it.”
    â€œNo. You’ll take a chill.”
    Dominic turned Meg’s face until she looked at him.
    â€œWhat is wrong?” he asked.
    She opened her lips but no words came out. Shivering, she rubbed her arms again as though to put warmth back in skin that had gone