Blood Bounty: Chapter 4

            Stockton escorted Bear to a suite of finely decorated rooms.  However, it was hard for Bear to focus on much of anything at that point.  The news of Somerisle’s intent to marry Ursa had dealt him a great blow.  For the moment, all he could think of was that damned pompous nobleman with hands all over his beloved Ursa. Bear snarled a bit and stocked around the room, not realizing that Stockton was still there.
    “You seem upset, Sir Bear,” the doorman commented.
    Bear tried to suppress his growl.  “You are very observant.”
    The older man nodded sympathetically.  “Master Somerisle must have told you about his desire to wed our dear Mistress Ursa.”
    This time there was no hiding Bear’s anger as he turned away to lean against the window and look out.  He could see the stables from there and to his surprise he watched as Ursa emerged from the horse pen, carrying the stable boy over one shoulder.  She seemed to be playing with him, dropping him gently on the ground where there was a blanket and opening a small basket.  The boy looked delighted as he reached in and took out something to eat.
    “If you ask me,” Stockton commented, dragging Bear away from his thoughts. “Master Somerisle would make a suitable, proper husband for Ursa.”
    “Well, no one did ask you,” Bear grumbled, pacing back and forth behind a couch.
    “Now, there are several things sweet Ursa needs from a husband, many, many things,” the older man continued, ignoring Bear’s outburst.  “But I’m quite sure suitable and proper are not any of them.”
    Bear looked over at Stockton who gave him a grin and wink. “Well Sir Bear, I’ll leave you to get ready for the gala tonight.  There are fresh clothes just your size in the wardrobe and shaving items in the lavratory.”
    With that, the doorman left leaving Bear a bit shocked.  He paced around a bit more, thinking of what the man had said.  Taking a glance out of the window one more time, and finding Ursa still outside, running around and laughing with the stable boy, Bear made up his mind.  With a bit of a huff, he walked into the bathroom and readied his razor.

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    The main hall was rather loud and crowded that evening.  Bear was surprised so many people had attended Somerisle’s party. Surely he couldn’t have near that many friends or associates.  Bear highly doubted even people who called themselves his friend really liked him at all.  But still, the hall was full of rather important looking people.  A rather pretty woman wearing a dark blue gown smirked at him from a small group of people and started walking towards him.
    “Good evening, sir,” the woman said smoothly.  “I am Lady Sarah de Wollet of Orleans.  And who, may I ask, would you be?”
    “I go by Bear, m’lady,” he replied, bowing courteously.  “I have no fancy titles.”
    “Well, they’re not everything, you know,” Lady Sarah giggled.  “A fine specimen of a man like you needn’t worry about catching the eye of a wealthy, unattached woman.”
    Bear cracked a bit of a smile.  “You sound like you have someone in mind, ma’am.”
    The Lady Sarah batted her eyes a bit and began to speak when someone touched Bear’s shoulder and drew his attention away.  He only had to look down slightly to see Ursa’s face staring at him in pleasant surprise.  “Why, you do clean up nicely.”
    She giggled a bit and Bear took the time to look her over.  Her dress was crimson satin without the fashionable decorations the other women were wearing.  Beautiful and sharp cut, just like the woman who wore it.  At least Bear’s opinion was such as he smiled playfully.  “I could say the same about you, sweet Ursa.”
    “Quite,” Lady Sarah commented, having so rudely been forgotten.  She turned a raised eyebrow on Ursa and made a clucking noise with her tongue.  “My dear, how refreshing it is to see you dressed in the clothing of your own sex.  I was starting to believe you’d turned into a man.”
    “Lady Sarah,” Ursa replied with the same mock cordiality.  “How refreshing it is to see you with clothes on at all.  I was starting to think you had let your corset loose permanently.”
    The shock and rage on Lady Sarah’s face was almost gruesome to see as her jaw dropped and she started to stutter “You little… How dare you…”
    Before things could escalate further, Bear took Ursa’s arm and pulled her away into another crowd of people.  Her face was set grimly letting Bear know she was very displeased with what had happened.
    “That wasn’t very polite, you know,” Bear joked anyway, not able to hide how amusing he found Ursa’s response to the pompous woman.
    “Yes, well,” she replied glancing at him and trying to hide a smile.  “As you know, I’ve never been one for polite society.”
    Chuckling softly, Bear reached up and brushed the back of his hand against her cheek.  She looked up at him with a soft smile and he couldn’t help but remember how soft her lips could feel against his and how well she used to fit against his body.  Grudgingly, he turned his attention away to the dancers on the floor.  He raised his arm beside her and winked when she looked surprised.
    “Oh Bear, you know I’m not very light on my feet when it comes to dancing,” she shook her head.  “I’d trip all over you and knock all the pretty dancers down.”
    “Please Ursa,” he asked in his simplest voice and he watched her as she silently gave in and was led onto the dance floor.
    As they waltzed across the floor, Bear could tell Ursa was nervously looking at her feet and the other dancers about them.  He tried to go slower for her, but she managed to trip anyway, falling against him and starting to laugh raucously, drawing the attention of a few of the other guests.  Bear chuckled as well helping her right herself before he caught sight of Sir Somerisle at one of the tables.  The nobleman sneered a bit causing Bear to frown just as Ursa looked up at him.
    “What’s wrong, Bear,” she asked, following his gaze.  Somerisle’s face turned into an obliging smile making Ursa even more confused.
    “Bear,” she said urgently, grabbing his arm and dragging him off the dance floor by force.  “Is there something going on I don’t know about?”
    Ursa didn’t seem to care that most of the people around them were staring in shock.  As much as Bear did not care about the opinions of the other guests, he was disinterested in causing a scene.  He guided Ursa gently toward one of the walls, away from everyone else.
    “Ursa,” he started, taking a second to swallow the bile that was rising at his thoughts.  “Somerisle told me this afternoon that he was planning to ask for your hand in marriage and…”
    The look of horror and disgust on Ursa’s face was answer enough to Bear’s unasked question.  She shook her head in disbelief saying “Good God!  That putrid, despicable little ponce.  There’s no way in Hell I’d marry that man.”
    Bear brushed his fingers across her lips to silence her just as a waiter came walking by.  She looked up at Bear and pulled his hand away, whispering “I’ll take care of this.”
    Before Bear could say anything she was gone, grasping the waiter’s arm and whispering something in his ear.  He watched as the waiter nodded and went over to Somerisle, whispering to him as well.  A grin crossed Somerisle’s face before he stood up and walked over to Ursa, whose demeanor was anything but happy.  They walked together out of the main hall into a side room.  They were there for quite some time before Somerisle emerged, looking incredibly angry.  He stomped away from the door and sat down in a huff at the table again.  Bear waited for Ursa to come out, but several minutes passed with no sign of her.  A little worried, he went to the room and opened the door.
    Ursa wasn’t there; apparently she had left through a side door of the room.  A little disappointed, he made to return to the main hall when he heard someone call him from the other door.  Turning, he saw Stockton standing there.
    “Mistress Ursa has gone to her rooms,” the older man said, a devious little smile crossing his face.  “She’d like you to join her there.”
    He nodded, following behind Stockton as he travelled up a flight of stairs and down a few corridors.  Reaching one door in particular, Stockton stopped and knocked.  A few seconds later, an elderly woman opened the door, smiling broadly.  Stockton looked up to Bear with a grin.  “This is the Missus Stockton.”
    Bear nodded in understanding as the woman opened the door to let him in.  Stockton remained outside as his wife joined him in the hall.  Bear looked around the room; highly polished wooden furniture gleamed underneath the low lamps, dark red drapery hung to the floors, all highlighting the delicately carved columns depicting elegant hunting scenes and wild animals.
    He was drawn away from his beautiful surroundings when he heard running water in the other room.  Walking in, he found Ursa in nothing but her corset and shift leaning over a tub with warm running water.  Bear was a bit surprised by it, not only Ursa’s near naked state, but the new-fangled plumbing.  She stood up and looked over at him, giving a bit of a smile.
    “Hot water is nice for a change without having to warm it yourself,” she chuckled putting a hand on her hip.  “Anything interesting happen after I left?”
    “Somerisle was a bit perturbed,” Bear replied, eyes following her curves downward.  “What exactly did you say to him?”
    Ursa ran her fingers through her hair with a sigh.  “I told him I had heard of his plan and that I am not his woman nor ever shall be.  And that I intend to go with you on this mission, perhaps the last one I shall ever go on under his care.”
    Bear stood there a moment, looking at her face as he said “Then you don’t love him?”
    “Heavens no Bear,” she replied, looking like she might be sick.  “No weasely, runt of a man such as him can hold a heart like mine.”
    “Really,” Bear said quietly, watching as she finished the job Mrs. Stockton had started of taking off her corset.  “Then what kind of man does it take?”
    Ursa looked over at him, peeling off her corset and letting it fall to the ground.  Then she stepped over to him wearing nothing but her almost transparent shift.  His fingers ached to touch her like they had so many years before.  He remembered every curve of skin, every tremble of muscle beneath his touch, even the way she would cry out in leasure in his arms.  It was almost too overwhelming when she brushed her fingers against his cheek, letting him feel how close to bare she actually was.
    “You held my heart Bear, and for the life of me you still do,” she practically whispered.
    He gulped hard, trying to hold his demeanor.  “Then why did you deny me your hand?”
    “Because,” she clucked her tongue.  “You were younger then.  No doubt you would have grown restless and in a month’s time you would have left me, probably with child, to continue on your journeys.”
    “Did you think so little of me then,” he questioned, unable to keep his hand from finding their old haven upon her hips.  He pulled her closer until she rested against his chest, her head beneath her chin as he continued “I’ve done much growing since.  Let me prove it to you.”
    His heart skipped a bit when she nuzzled her face against him and whispered his Christian name upon his skin; a name known only by a few.  He had heard her say that only once before, the night they had first coupled, beneath a full moon by which they had been hunting.  It sent a shiver all over his skin making him kiss her as hard as he had then.  She relented easily, arching into him as he tugged her shift off.  In a manner of moments he had her on the bed, where to his delight she moaned his name and her love for him loud enough so that not even the stars in the sky could have any doubt of it.