Read Online A Knight's Temptation by Catherine Kean - Free Book Online

fingers would feel running over his bare skin.
    “You still want the pendant, then?” Lady L murmured.
    “I do.”
    She waved the knife, indicating the floor between them. “Drop the bag of coins.”
    He frowned.
    “Drop it,” she repeated, “where I can reach it.”
    Anger hummed inside him. If she thought to grab the reward and run, she was in for a nasty surprise. “Agreed,” he said softly. “Then you will hand me the pendant.”
    “Fine.”
    For all her determination to flee, she sounded as eager to be rid of the jewel as he was to get it. How intriguing. If she’d wanted to forfeit the responsibility of such a treasure, she could have sold it during the days it had taken him to reach the tavern. She could have found a less-than-reputable merchant who would have bought it at a fraction of its real value. Less risk for her, and she still would have walked away with a payment.
    Which led to yet another question. Why had she contacted de Lanceau to arrange the meeting at this tavern? Why was it important to her that the pendant be returned to his lordship?
    Questions de Lanceau had every right to ask her himself.
    And he would.
    Aldwin tried not to smile as a new plan played out in his mind. He stepped forward, the bag in his outstretched hand. Beware , his mind whispered. Don’t let her guess what you intend .
    Halfway between them, he opened his fingers. The bag plummeted to the floor and landed with a musical thud . Spreading both arms wide in a gesture of surrender, he stepped back.
    Her gaze dropped to the coin. An odd expression—a poignant mix of relief and regret—flitted over her face. Then, releasing her white-knuckled hold on the door, she edged toward him. Her wary gaze still upon him, she stooped to pick up the bag.
    The moment her focus left him, Aldwin lunged. He kicked the knife from her hand, sending it flying across the room, at the same moment her fingers closed on the coin. He followed, his hand crushing down upon hers.
    “What—” she cried.
    “Pity that I had to deceive you.”
    She sprang back, grabbing for the door. Her fingers touched the panel, but he wrenched her away. With a sharp tug, he drew her into his embrace. Her honeysuckle scent hit him a moment before her body slammed against him. Chest to chest.
    His arm clamped around her waist, smaller beneath the cloak than he’d suspected.
    Her breath rushed out on a huff. “Why, you—”
    With his free hand, he snatched the bag of coins. “I will take that.” He shoved the sack inside his cloak.
    She writhed in his hold. “Sir Reginald!”
    “Still unconscious,” Aldwin said.
    “Twig!” she shrieked.
    “Cannot hear you.”
    Her gaze became a frigid gleam, an instant before her knee jerked upward. He twisted to the side, avoiding a blow to his groin that would have left him crumpled in agony on the floor near Sir Reginald. Instead her knee bumped against his inner thigh, protected by his cloak.
    Aldwin crushed her tighter against him. “Tsk-tsk. How unladylike of you.”
    A wicked glint lit her eyes.
    He smiled. “Pity, that you underestimate me.”
    Her body tautened in his grasp. Before she could carry out whatever assault she was contemplating, he dropped to a crouch, slid his arm down behind her legs, and tossed her over his left shoulder. She landed with a gasp.
    Grunting at her weight, he stood.
    “Put. Me. Down,” she cried, trying to rise up on his shoulder.
    “I would gladly do so.” He tightened his hold on her thrashing legs. “You weigh far more than any lady I know.”
    “Oh!” Her elbow jabbed into his ear.
    He almost laughed. While her bulky cloak concealed the contours of her body well enough, he’d already determined her enticing proportions. Full breasts. A rounded bottom. Long legs. He resisted a groan. For what he had in mind, he’d have preferred her old, ugly, and completely undesirable.
    Her toes whacked into his gut, knocking the breath from him on a grunt.
    He bounced her, once, on his