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and strode right in.
But the surprise was all his this time.
She was standing in the middle of the chamber, half-turned toward the door, her kirtle in her hand. There was nothing between him and her soft flesh, those glorious legs, but her linen shift.
All the while the brazier flared wildly behind her, silhouetting her too perfectly.
Touché, madam .
“You should keep your door locked, my lady. With a lust-driven lord housed just a few steps away, you never know what might happen.”
She chewed on that for a moment, then arched an eyebrow. “Ah, then we’re even, my lord, aren’t we?”
“Not nearly, my lady.” He enjoyed the crimson that rose from her gaping bodice, the whetted peaks of her breasts. He shut the door behind himand opened his mouth to begin his own list of orders, but then noticed the room.
Wilting flowers had been woven into sagging greens, draping the bed hangings and winding down the poles. Pale petals were scattered across the plank floor and the counterpane. A small cask of wine and two cups perched on a chest at the foot of the bed.
An unsettling picture, framed by a half-clothed woman glowering at him from over her pale, finely formed shoulder, her hair free of its moorings.
“What’s all this?” Although he already knew at the core of him as he lifted a branching of laurel draped over the doorway. A leaf came off in his hand.
“’Tis a bride bed, my lord. A wedding bower. Or it would have been, if you hadn’t come when you did.”
A damned disruptive thought that made his gut churn. Bloody hell, if he’d arrived two minutes later…
A marriage interrupted.
A wedding night never completed.
And it pleased him deeply.
“But I did come, didn’t I?”
She took a deep, uneven breath. “I’ll admit, my lord, that in this one matter at least, I’m very grateful that you have such perfect timing.” Sheturned from him, hitching her shift back onto her shoulder. “You’ve never married?”
“No.” It was an unbalancing question. One that he bloody well shouldn’t have answered so blithely, so quickly, not with her outrageous orders still clinging to him, unchallenged. But she had an unsubtle way about her, an honesty that he could only admire, no matter the trouble it might cause between them.
Unusual in a woman. Compelling in this one, standing now with her back to him as she laced up the front of her linen shift.
“Why haven’t you, my lord? You’re certainly old enough.”
A knight without land hadn’t much choice in the matter. Though now that he had Carrisford Castle and the king’s support…
“Circumstance, madam.” She didn’t need to know anything more.
“And children?” She went to the bed and unhooked a green garland from the drape. “How many have you fathered?”
“I have no children.”
“None that you know about, at least.” She draped the garland over a chair back and returned to the bed for another.
“You presume entirely too much.” He found himself standing beside her in the next breath, outraged to the marrow at her accusation, liftingher chin with his fingers, forcing her to look up into his eyes. “I’ve fathered no bastards.”
“But you’re a soldier, after all. It’s all a part of the plundering, isn’t it? Planting your seed—”
“Enough, madam. I’ve come here to disabuse you of the notion that you will set the rules for this matter between us. That I would obey them.”
“You are my guardian, not my lord and master. Nor will you ever be.”
“And you, Lady Talia, are about to learn my rules.”
He allowed her to slip out of the circle of his arms. “Oh, and what might your rules be?”
“There’s but one for you to remember.”
“And that is?”
“Simply that I make all the rules and that you will obey them.”
She laughed lightly and swept the flower petals off the counterpane. “That’s two rules, my lord. I’d be happy to lease you my chaplain. He’s very good with figures.”
“I rule
But the surprise was all his this time.
She was standing in the middle of the chamber, half-turned toward the door, her kirtle in her hand. There was nothing between him and her soft flesh, those glorious legs, but her linen shift.
All the while the brazier flared wildly behind her, silhouetting her too perfectly.
Touché, madam .
“You should keep your door locked, my lady. With a lust-driven lord housed just a few steps away, you never know what might happen.”
She chewed on that for a moment, then arched an eyebrow. “Ah, then we’re even, my lord, aren’t we?”
“Not nearly, my lady.” He enjoyed the crimson that rose from her gaping bodice, the whetted peaks of her breasts. He shut the door behind himand opened his mouth to begin his own list of orders, but then noticed the room.
Wilting flowers had been woven into sagging greens, draping the bed hangings and winding down the poles. Pale petals were scattered across the plank floor and the counterpane. A small cask of wine and two cups perched on a chest at the foot of the bed.
An unsettling picture, framed by a half-clothed woman glowering at him from over her pale, finely formed shoulder, her hair free of its moorings.
“What’s all this?” Although he already knew at the core of him as he lifted a branching of laurel draped over the doorway. A leaf came off in his hand.
“’Tis a bride bed, my lord. A wedding bower. Or it would have been, if you hadn’t come when you did.”
A damned disruptive thought that made his gut churn. Bloody hell, if he’d arrived two minutes later…
A marriage interrupted.
A wedding night never completed.
And it pleased him deeply.
“But I did come, didn’t I?”
She took a deep, uneven breath. “I’ll admit, my lord, that in this one matter at least, I’m very grateful that you have such perfect timing.” Sheturned from him, hitching her shift back onto her shoulder. “You’ve never married?”
“No.” It was an unbalancing question. One that he bloody well shouldn’t have answered so blithely, so quickly, not with her outrageous orders still clinging to him, unchallenged. But she had an unsubtle way about her, an honesty that he could only admire, no matter the trouble it might cause between them.
Unusual in a woman. Compelling in this one, standing now with her back to him as she laced up the front of her linen shift.
“Why haven’t you, my lord? You’re certainly old enough.”
A knight without land hadn’t much choice in the matter. Though now that he had Carrisford Castle and the king’s support…
“Circumstance, madam.” She didn’t need to know anything more.
“And children?” She went to the bed and unhooked a green garland from the drape. “How many have you fathered?”
“I have no children.”
“None that you know about, at least.” She draped the garland over a chair back and returned to the bed for another.
“You presume entirely too much.” He found himself standing beside her in the next breath, outraged to the marrow at her accusation, liftingher chin with his fingers, forcing her to look up into his eyes. “I’ve fathered no bastards.”
“But you’re a soldier, after all. It’s all a part of the plundering, isn’t it? Planting your seed—”
“Enough, madam. I’ve come here to disabuse you of the notion that you will set the rules for this matter between us. That I would obey them.”
“You are my guardian, not my lord and master. Nor will you ever be.”
“And you, Lady Talia, are about to learn my rules.”
He allowed her to slip out of the circle of his arms. “Oh, and what might your rules be?”
“There’s but one for you to remember.”
“And that is?”
“Simply that I make all the rules and that you will obey them.”
She laughed lightly and swept the flower petals off the counterpane. “That’s two rules, my lord. I’d be happy to lease you my chaplain. He’s very good with figures.”
“I rule
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