As soon as they reached the solar, she fled into her bedchamber with her maid.
“Come sit with me when you have finished preparing for bed,” he called after her as the door closed in his face.
His irritation rising, he stalked into his own bedchamber to undress.
“Good evening, m’lord.” His manservant’s voice startled him from his thoughts. It had slipped his mind that Thomas had arrived today and would be waiting to help him undress.
“I hope you did not look at your new bride like that,” Thomas remarked as he knelt to remove William’s boots.
William gave him a quelling look. “Just because you have served me since I was twelve does not mean you can say what you will,” he said, though they both knew Thomas could speak his mind with impunity.
William pulled his tunic over his head and threw it in Thomas’s direction. Unperturbed, Thomas snatched it from the air and waited for the shirt to follow. Showing his usual good sense, Thomas helped William into his robe and left the room without another word.
William washed his face and hands in the basin of water Thomas left for him. Frustrated, he ran wet fingers through his hair.
Surely Catherine must be ready by now.
The solar was empty, so he called her name outside her chamber door. Getting no reply, he eased the door open. God grant him patience. His wife was sitting on the trunk at the foot of her bed, wringing her hands as if waiting to be taken to her execution.
As he stepped into the room, she gave a startled yelp and jumped to her feet. He might have laughed if his heart did not feel so heavy. When he noticed the maid cowering in the corner, he jerked his head toward the door. It gave him some small satisfaction to see her scamper out like a frightened mouse.
“M’lady wife, I have told you I will not harm you,” he said in a quiet voice. He held his hand out to her. “Come, let us sit and talk.”
Hesitantly, she came to him and took it; her fingers were icy cold. He led her to the window seat in their solar. After handing her a cup of warm spiced wine, he sat beside her. To calm her, he talked about what he accomplished that day. Then he asked her advice about the stores that would be needed to withstand a long siege.
When he felt her tension subside, he risked resting his hand on her thigh. She started, but he did not remove his hand. The warmth of her skin through the thin summer shift filled him with such lust. He wanted to lift her by her hips onto his lap and have his way with her right here.
It took all his concentration not to rub his hand up her thigh. He would force himself to go slowly, but he was determined to move things forward tonight.
“Catherine.” He lifted her chin with his finger so she would have to look at him. “Surely you know this cannot go on.”
He dropped his gaze to the swell of her breasts beneath the thin cloth. His throat was dry, his erection painful.
He brushed his lips against her cheek. “How can I make you forget your fears?” he breathed into her ear. “What can I do?”
He pushed her heavy hair back and moved his mouth along her jaw. “Does this help?”
As he made his journey down her neck to her delicate collarbone, he asked his questions against her skin. “What of this? And this? And this?”
He was lost in the smell of her skin, the feel of its softness against his lips. And the anticipation of having her naked beneath him. To be inside her at last. For surely it would happen this time. He ran his tongue over the swell of her breast above the edge of her tunic.
“Perhaps you could tell me something of your family?”
Her voice, high-pitched and sudden, startled him. He bolted upright.
“Catherine, when I asked what I could do, I was not asking you to suggest new topics of conversation, and you know it.”
She was pressed against the wall behind her. But he would not be deterred so easily this time. He eased the shift off her shoulder with his finger and kissed the exposed skin.
“Mmm, lavender,” he said, nuzzling her neck.
She remained as stiff and unyielding as ever.
Since his efforts at seduction were failing so miserably, he would try goading her.
“You are being a coward, Catherine.”
Looking straight into her eyes, he put his hand again on her thigh. This time, he did rub it firmly from knee to hip. Lord in heaven, it felt good. So good, he almost could not hear her speak over the rush of blood in his ears.