Ensington Wood

He was walking through Kensington Wood. His clothing was non-descript: brown tunic, brown pants, and brown shoes. He carried a small animal-hide pouch on a leather cord slung across his chest and a seven foot long staff of sturdy oak in his right hand. He was enjoying the sounds of the wood: the insects, the birds and the wind rustling the leaves, when a piercing scream hushed all but the wind. The scream came from further up the road so he set out in a jog. He had not gone far when he heard the sound of hooves racing down the road. The horse came bounding out of the shadows farther down the road and he saw a man at the reins holding a struggling girl in front of him. The traveler planted himself in the middle of the road and waited for the rider.

The horseman reined in the horse a few dozen yards from the man. "Out of my way, fool, before I ride you down!"

"The lady seems to be accompanying you against her will. Release her and you may pass." The lady heard the words spoken with a hidden authority.

"I eat upstarts like you for breakfast. And feed the scraps to my dogs." And with that the horseman turned his mount and rode back down the road a little further. Here, he put the woman down by a tree.

"Don't move. I'll be back for you when I'm done with the village idiot over there," he commands her.

He faces the horse down the road and draws his sword. The sound of steel sliding on steel echoes through the trees. And then he spurs his mount to a gallop. The stranger doesn't move as the horse and rider bear down upon him. Closer and closer, but still the man does not move. The horseman is upon the traveler in moments and the sun flashes off his sword as its arc carries it towards the stranger. Now the man is a blur. He ducks out of range of the sword and the staff swings around and cracks the rider soundly on the back.

The horseman falls to the ground and doesn't move. The man in brown casually walks over to him as the lady comes running down the road. He kneels over the injured man.

"I told you to let her go," he said, not so much a taunt as a statement of fact.

"I can't feel my legs or my arms! You bastard!"

The man slaps the injured rider hard across the face. "Watch your tongue in the presence of a lady."

"What does the bitch mean to you, anyway?"

Another slap, and he stands. "I warned you about your tongue." And he turns to the woman.

"Would you please retrieve his horse?" She hears his words but she finds it extremely difficult to take her eyes off his. The blue is deep and it seems to pull her in to him. But she turns and walks toward the horse.

"I am Sir Robert of..."

"Now," he says, turning back to the cripple and cutting off his whining. "I don't know who you are. And I don't want to know who you are. You attacked me and I defended myself. And you have the gall to insult a lady while you lay helpless on the ground. Well, I have no way to care for you, and I'm sure the lady will have nothing to do with you." He bends down to pick up the fallen sword.

"If you live by the sword, you shall die by the sword." And with that, the stranger runs the sword into the man's heart. His eyes widen in disbelief as the last breath of air escapes his lungs.

The stranger walks over to the lady as she leads the horse back.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Bryan from Langston."

"Well, Bryan. I am Lady Helen of Kensington, and you have my undying gratitude for rescuing me. I was picking flowers in the wood and got lost. I had just found the road and was heading back to the castle when that rogue rode up and just grabbed me. If you take me back to Kensington Castle I'm sure my father will reward you richly."

"My Lady, it would be an honor to escort you to the castle, but I need no reward." And Bryan takes the reins and turns the horse.

"If you please, my Lady," he says, offering to lift her into the saddle. She feels his hands on her waist and she senses the power in him that is hidden by his simple clothes. She seems to float up into the saddle.

"What about... Oh!" Her voice catches in mid-sentence as she sees the now lifeless form of her former captor.

"Well," Bryan says. "I couldn't leave him lying there without his sword, could I?" His straight-faced humor catches her off guard and a giggle escapes her lips. He says nothing else as he takes the reins and leads the horse to Kensington Castle.

-

"Father, you should have seen him! He moved so quick. And he only hit the man once with his staff and the brute never got up again." Lady Helen was telling her father of her rescue.

"Well, lad. You seem to be pretty handy with that stick. I am deeply grateful to you for saving my daughter. Anything I have in this castle is yours for the asking. Anything!"

"Well, sire," Bryan says. "I really don't require much in my journeys. Lots of coins would only attract robbers and thieves. And I have nowhere to keep possessions. But I would accept room for the night. And I will be on my way tomorrow."

"Nonsense," the Duke says. "You shall have your room this night. But, we will discuss my offer some more in the morning.:

"Richard," the Duke calls to a servant. "Take our special guest up to my son's room."

"He won't be needing it," he says to Bryan. "He's off fighting in France."

Richard leads the way through the castle and finally stops in front of a pair of double oak doors. Richard opens the doors and inside is the most magnificent room Bryan has ever seen. Richard soon has a roaring fire in the fireplace and then turns to Bryan.

"If you give me your clothes I will see that they are properly cleaned. There is already a bath drawn in the other room."

So Bryan removes his clothes and gives them to Richard, then walks over to the bath. The water was steaming so it must have been prepared while Richard was building the fire. He climbs in and lets the hot water soothe his aching muscles. "It has been too long," he thinks to himself. He scrubs himself thoroughly (since he's not sure when the next chance will be) and dries himself off. He walks over to the bed and plops down on his back thinking, "This is nice."

Something awakens him, though he wasn't aware of when he had fallen asleep. Lady Helen is sitting beside him playing with his thigh. His naked thigh! And she's wearing nothing but his tunic.

"Richard asked me to bring your clothes back," she explains. "You were sleeping so peacefully that I didn't want to disturb you. But I couldn't help myself."

Bryan's manhood was already stiffening from her caresses and the thoughts now running through his head did not help.

"I figured," she went on, "that if you wouldn't accept a gift from my father that you might just accept a gift from me."

With that, she came up on the bed and straddled his legs. He could see the creamy whiteness of her thighs, and her breasts hung in plain view through the open neckline of his tunic.

"I want to give you me," she says as she crawls up his body. "I want to make your stay here special."

Bryan's mouth moves but he can't seem to find the words.

"Sshh," as she softly places a finger over his lips. "Don't say anything. And don't do anything. This is my gift to you. My 'Thank You." She pulls her finger from his lips and reaches between his legs and grabs his shaft. It is fully erect now and her hand brings a sigh of pleasure from him.

"I think this is ready now," she says as she backs against his hardness. She pauses briefly as he comes into contact with her womanhood, but then a little more pressure and he's in. As he enters her, her head drops to his chest and she nips one of his nipples. She hears his moan and notices his smile.

"You like that, huh?" Then she starts rocking in her rhythm of love. In his pleasure, he starts to move with her. The two of them moving as one being. But she stops and firmly pushes down on his abdomen.

"I told you not to move. This is from me to you!" And she resumes her movement.

"You feel so good inside me," she whispers in his ear, her voice now husky with passion. "You make me feel so full!"

She sits up and removes his tunic exposing a pair of breasts only an angel would have. She leans over and begins to rub her breasts on his chest.

"Your skin feels so hot on my breasts. Here, feel it." And he raises a hand to her milky white breast.

"No silly," as she slaps his hand away after a brief touch. "With your tongue." And she leans over to place a breast in his open waiting mouth.

"Oh, yes! That feels so good. Suck it and lick it, Bryan!"

Her hips start moving faster as she nears her orgasm. And he's not far behind her in their incredible journey.

"Oh, Bryan! You're doing it to me. You're doing it!" she squeals.

In the throes of her orgasm, he can't help grabbing her hips and pumping her. And with her muscles contracting around his shaft, he explodes inside her. Their bodies are a tangle of arms and legs as their passion briefly feeds each other's. Then they lay in silence as they share the journey back down from the mountain top.

In the morning, she wakes up in her brother's bed alone. She asks, but none of the servants can recall seeing him leave. Her father was upset that he left without the smallest token of thanks. But Helen walks around the castle all day with a smile on her face. She remembers the gift she was able to give.