When Laney stopped just short of leaving the woods, the Woad slipped off her horse and bowed. She bowed her head toward him and watched as he silently ran back through the woods. She tried to remember how they had come, but unless she attempted it in the daylight she didn't think she would have any idea where she was going. 'Well, if Merlin wants to talk to me, he knows where I am.' She thought to herself as she headed toward Tristan's horse. She didn't see the scout anywhere but his horse was still standing where she remembered when she left. She was sure he would be close by.
She stopped just short of Tristan's horse and dismounted. She listened for any sign that he was near and hearing nothing, she headed toward the rock she had decided belonged to her as much time as she spent sitting on it. She had been sitting there for a few minutes when she heard a noise coming from the bath house. Thinking Tristan had gone inside for some reason, she headed in that direction. When the lone dark figure stepped out from behind the second pillar she would have hit him if she had thought to pick up something before going over that way. Her quick indrawn breath and step backwards caused the man to grab her by the arm, she would have screamed except for the kiss he was bestowing on her.
When he let the pressure of his mouth lessen she pulled her mouth free and exclaimed, "Lancelot, what are you doing here?" As she spoke the words, Lancelot was running his hands over her body. "Are you hurt?" She slowly shook her head as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "No, my Love, I am not hurt. But if you promise to welcome me back so fervently each time, I will take a journey more often." Her tone was teasing as well as the little nibbles she was giving his lips.
This continued for a while before Lancelot told her. "I couldn't stand it any longer. I had to find out if you were okay. I came up from behind the bath house and sent Tristan back to the fort." He paused and looked at her. "He didn't want to go, but after I said I wanted to make love to you as soon as you returned, he changed his mind." He was smiling and she snuggled into his body. "We should go as well, Arthur will be waiting for my report."
"Tristan will tell Arthur enough to satisfy his curiosity until we arrive." Lancelot murmured into her neck as he kissed it gently. "Then lets not make a liar out of you. Nothing will disturb us here." She whispered back as her body began to respond to his kisses. They slowly turned and headed into the bath house.
Laney lay beside Lancelot watching him try to breathe normally. She never thought their lovemaking would get better than the first time, but with each time her feelings became more intense. With each time, her love grew stronger. Would she be able to live if he died in battle? She doubted it. She knew she had an important duty to perform, but if it placed Lancelot's life in danger she didn't think she could do whatever she was expected to do.
Lancelot sensed the sadness in her and turned to wrap her in his arms. "What troubles your heart? Did you not feel my love as deeply as I felt yours?" His question was not teasing. He genuinely thought her sadness had something to do with their lovemaking. "Oh, Lancelot, I felt your love all the way to my spirit." She reached up and touched the curl that had fallen in his eyes. "That is what makes my heart sad. I can't think of a future without you in it and I know you place your life in danger almost every day." She began tracing the outline of a scar on his shoulder. "If this had been a little lower you would not be here to break my heart." She spoke lightly but his frown said he took her words literally.
"Laney, I will try not to break your heart. If I am not successful, then know that I will have done all I can and Fate intervened. It will be Fate that breaks your heart, not me." He gently brushed his fingers across her cheek. "All I will ever do is love you with all my heart," he gently placed a kiss on her lips and the next words were spoken softly against them. "My spirit," he smiled his roguish smile as she saw the spark in his eyes as he looked into her eyes, "and my body." As he finished speaking, he lowered his mouth to cover hers. She felt the fire in her belly as his kisses re-ignited the flame of passion. "Oh, Lancelot, I never knew how your caresses could make me feel." Her words were a breathless whisper as his thumb gently caressed her nipple, making it become erect with anticipation.
Her words seemed to spur him on and he slowly trailed his lips to take the bud between his teeth to gently nibble. She took his head in her hands and tried to pull it closer to her breast. Their passion grew as their hands and lips slowly brought pleasure to their flesh. "We must marry soon," Lancelot whispered. "Before you become with child. I have never cared before but I do not want our child to be a bastard." He was looking at her face as she slowly opened her eyes. "A child created with this much love could never be that." She told him quietly. "Our love goes beyond the boundaries of normal time and place."
As she spoke the words, Lancelot slowly lay his head on her abdomen. Her could feel her muscles, taunt with anticipation. He slowly raised his head and began to trail kisses across her stomach. "Delaney," he said between kisses, "I have never felt the things you make me feel. I would be perfectly content with touching and kissing you whether I ever enter your body or not." He then began to earnestly prepare her for their lovemaking. It didn't matter how much he enjoyed it when she did the same for him, his passion always reached its peak faster when he could feel her responses to his kissing and touching her body.
When Laney felt him raise his head, she waited for the next warm kiss he would bestow on her already sensitive skin. After a moment she realized he hadn't kissed her again, she opened her eyes with a moan of complaint. The love she saw in his eyes made her forget the feelings she had been enjoying only a moment before. He moved over her and never taking his eyes from hers he slowly began to make love to her. They continued looking at each other until closing her eyes, she reached a level of satisfaction that was stronger than any she had ever felt before.
When Lancelot felt her give in to his movements, it caused him to lose control and he joined her. Afterwards all he could do was lay on top of her and try to catch his breath. It never ceased to amaze him how this one woman could make him so aware of his body. She may not believe him when he told her how much he loved her, but he knew she had taken control of him and every move he made from now on would revolve around the life he planned for them both. Her happiness was paramount to his existence.
Laney waited until they were able to breathe and talk normally, then lightly touching the hair that seemed to fall into his face every time he lowered his head, she told him, "Lancelot, I think I could eat my horse." He looked up at her and laughed. "Well, we'd better find something else so you won't have to walk all the way back to the fort." The reluctantly pulled away from each other and stood up. Laney looked at the beautiful form of the man she loved and reveled in their passion. Slowly she gathered her clothes and began to pull them back on. She became engrossed in getting dressed and did not notice how he was standing there watching her, his heart swelling with the love he felt.
Laney looked up and found him staring at her with a smoldering look. As she finished fastening her pants, she walked over and stood in front of him. "Lance, lets just ride back to the fort. We can eat a quick dinner and visit with Arthur before we retire for the night." She looked at him expectantly, waiting for his answer. "Is there something that Tristan cannot tell him?" was all he said in answer. She hesitated only a moment, then she pulled him over to sit on one of the stone benches. He sat down and then pulled his shirt over his head as she sat down next to him.
"I met with Merlin, as I'm sure Tristan told you. He wouldn't tell me and I'm not sure he even knows, what I have to do. He did say that I had already begun." She stopped talking and was staring into the water. She was trying to remember exactly what he had said. "He told me a prophecy that had been passed down. I think it went like this, 'One will come who will unite the peoples of Britain against a terrible force.' Then he said it is also written in the heavens that 'the one will not be successful unless she is there, but will spill his blood on the land.'" She waited for the words to sink in before continuing. "I'm still not sure why he thinks I am the 'she' he spoke of or if I really am, but I have to do whatever I can to prevent whoever he is from dying on a battlefield." The last was said with such forcefulness that Lancelot looked quickly up to see her eyes bright with determination. "Laney, I will not allow you anywhere near a battlefield." She looked back into his eyes when he had finished speaking. She saw that he would be just as determined to protect her as she was to protect Arthur and him. "Lancelot, you cannot stop me when it is time for me to do whatever I must do. We can love each other, we can spend every moment trying to prolong our time on earth, but neither one of us can change the tide of Fate once it has been released." She gave him a pleading look that was intended to make him see what she was trying to show him with her words. "To try to change our fate will destroy what we have found in our love."
The look he gave her in return let her know that he was afraid, as she was, that they would lose something that could never be found again. "Whatever happens, we will always have this time, these feelings to remember." He heard the words and tried to understand, but all he could see in his mind, was a broken man who could not keep what he had found. A man who had no reason to live since the woman who gave him the reason was no longer there. He stood up and faced that woman. "Your words sound pretty, but the reality will not be so." Then he stalked off and began gathering the things he had let drop when he had first taken her in his arms.
She watched him move about the bath house with an angry, jerking motion. She closed her eyes and heard Merlin's final words, '…opened the heart of the one called Lancelot… be passionate about what your heart tells you.' 'Being passionate will not be the problem when it concerns Lancelot.' She thought to herself. 'Being able to let go if I need to will be what will stop me from doing what I must.' She shook her head to dispel the thoughts that were bringing tears to her eyes. Then she stood up and walked over to him, trying to think of a way to wipe the anger from his face and his heart.
Lancelot felt her step up behind him. He expected more arguments to try to change his mind, instead he felt her wrap her arms around his middle as she lay her head against his back. He stood rigidly for another couple of breaths, then as he tried to turn to face her, she loosened her hug. He took her by the shoulders and overcoming the desire to shake her until she agreed to listen to him, he looked questioningly into her eyes. The truth he saw there made him shiver. She would pretend to listen for a time, then she would do as she pleased in the end. He dropped his hands and continued to look into her eyes. "Delaney, don't expect me to give up on this. I will not lose you and nothing you say will make me believe I will ever agree to something that could have that outcome." He took her chin in his hand, "Now lets not speak of this again. I am ready to leave when you are." He released her chin and headed toward the back of the bath house.
"I'll meet you by your horse." He sounded so business-like that she felt tears spring into her eyes. She should never have mentioned anything to him. How on earth was she going to undo what she had just done. He would watch her every move from now on, she was sure of that. If he couldn't be there to watch himself, he would have someone else doing so. "Damn," she said out loud to no one, "I've really started something now." Then she headed outside to where she had left her mare. No matter how hard she tried, she could not dispel the thought that she had done something wrong that would come back to bite her at a later time.