The Key by Lynsay Sands Page A

Her words died as he suddenly
     released her and threw himself from the bed. ”Well! We shall just see about that!" he
     snarled, collecting his discarded clothes.
    Sitting up slowly, Iliana anxiously watched him chess. “What will you do?” Her mouth
     tightened when an angry look was her only answer. He was nearly fully dressed ere she gave
     in and asked, “Will you have the wedding annulled?”
    Iliana cringed even as she asked the question. The consequences of such an action were
     horrendous even to consider. She would be returned to Wildwood in shame and her mother
     would likely be well and truly trapped with Greenweld. That could not happen. Her gaze
     rose instinctively to the drapes above the bed where the key rested.
    “Annulled?”Duncanturned on her, chawing her gaze back to his face. “Now that would be a
     trick, would it not? The bloody linens are probably already ahangin' from the railin'. Ye
     recall them, do ye not? Yer mother's linens withmy blood on them?”
    Iliana nodded her head slowly, relief rushing through her. He could not have the marriage
     annulled. Everyone thought it consummated. “What will you do then?” she asked now, but got
     no answer as he finished dressing and stormed out of the room.
    Duncanpulled the door closed with an angry bang. Pausing, he lifted one arm to sniff at it
     and scowled. He smelled just as he should in June. That did not seem good enough for his
     wife, however. It seemed she would have him bathed and powdered like one of her English
     dandies. Well, he would not have it. Should he give in on this, next she would have him
     wearing braies and hose. An indecent outfit as far as he was concerned, what with the way
     they clung to the body, emphasizing the lumps and bumps of a man's personal apparatus.
    Nay. He bathed every July and January and had done so for a long time now... and he would
     continue to do so. If his wee wife thought to change him, she could think again. And
     should she continue to refuse him his rights... well, he would just have to see to it that
     she did not refuse, Duncan decided, recalling the brief image he had been given of her in
     naught but the small scraps of leather and the lock at her groin.
    'Twas a damn exciting contraption no matter its name. And his wife had a luscious figure.
     He would not mind seeing her in that belt again. Hell, he would rather see her without it.
    So much for the wedding night he thought gloomily, leaving the door to stride down the
     hall. He should set her aside. Have the wedding annulled no matter the fact that everyone
     would then know that it had not been consummated. But damned if she did not now have the
     same attraction as a gift all wrapped up and left on his bed Christmas morn.Duncandearly
     wanted to unwrap her.
    Mayhap he could, he thought suddenly, as he reached the top of the stairs leading down to
     the great hall. Aye, mayhap he could. He would have a talk with the smithy.
    Iliana sighed dismally and forced herself to get up and chess. She ran into some small
     difficulty right away. The belt of chastity was good for keeping unwanted intimacies at
     bay but was quite inconvenient when it came to certain personal needs. It would have to be
     removed.
    Still clad in only the belt, she stepped onto the foot of the bed, grasped an end post to
     maintain her balance, and stretched a hand up to feel around in the drapes that were
     gathered over the bed. It did not take long to realize that this was not a good hiding
     spot. It seemed she had thrown the key farther than she had meant to. She could not feel
     it.
    A knock at the door made her stiffen. “Who is it?”
    Ebba's voice answered and Iliana relaxed with a sigh. Calling out to her to enter, she
     immediately turned back to the bed chapes, this time poking at the underside of them,
     trying to pop the key out.
    “My lady!” Ebba gaped at her briefly, then hurriedly closed the door and rushed to