Warprize (Seven Brides for Seven Bastards, 5)(MFMMMMMM)
offered. Dom smiled and
followed her out of the stables. She walked ahead of him with that
long, confident stride—one she would never be able to manage in a
long, wool skirt, he mused. He tried to picture her hair grown out
and wondered if it had always been chopped short. It seemed likely.
She had evidently done the best she could to hide her good looks,
to roughen her edges.
    It suddenly made him want to buy her
gowns, to pamper her from head to toe, to wrap her up in warm furs
and feed her with fruit basted in honey. No woman should have been
left the burden of this manor. She had handled it admirably, but
was she happy, content, fulfilled? His brothers would laugh at that
question, saying there was only one way for a woman to be kept
content. But Dom was the thoughtful sort. Indeed, that caring side
had often been his downfall.
    His brothers frequently teased him
because of the gentle nature, hidden under his gruff exterior.
Admittedly it took him a long while to ponder his thoughts
sometimes, but it was worth it in the end, to get it all straight
in his head and to be sure he did the right thing. That way he
would never have any regret.
    Now he turned his thoughts to this
strange woman trapped in a man's clothing.
    One certain thing he knew already: he
would not cause Cedney Bloodwynne hurt or trouble, but if he walked
away, turned his back and did nothing, someone else may soon come
along and care far less about her and what she'd achieved. They
would take everything from her, perhaps even her life, because of
this trick she'd played. And it simply was not possible for her to
keep this up forever. Sooner or later the truth would come out. She
needed someone to stand by her, to protect her.
    Not that she would agree, he thought
wryly. The woman still thought she had him fooled. Perhaps she had
played the part of a man for so long that even she believed it.
Certainly her fyrdsmen seemed to believe it.
    Cedney took him through the great
hall, up a short flight of wooden steps and into her large private
room. The bed cover, as he'd noted last night, was a richly colored
tapestry—considerable luxury, and there was a woven cloth on the
flagged stone floor to add a touch of warmth underfoot. There were
even curtains around the bed to keep out drafts. Dom had seldom
seen such splendor. His father's fortress was a work in progress
and since it was inhabited only by men for some years there was
little in the way of comfort. But now that the brothers began
collecting wives the place bore more resemblance to a home. Dom's
elder brother, Salvador, had built his own castle some miles across
the fields from their father's manor, but that was a place as grim
as the temper of its owner.
    "You referred to the fact that I have
a secret, Redbeard," she said suddenly, spinning on her heels to
face him. "So I decided I should show it to you. No reason to hide
it any longer."
    He grinned slowly. "Indeed." With
fumbling fingers he began removing the brooch that closed his
cloak. "It is the only sensible thing to let me share your
secret."
    But she remained still, watching him
with faint amusement in her eyes.
    As his confused gaze circled the room,
it caught on a gleam of gold. Atop the table where last night they
had played chess, there was a small box with the lid partially
open. A sultry shimmer of light came from within, as did one half
of a stream of gemstones that lay like a languid snake in a coil
upon the table.
    She gestured toward it with a limp
hand. "This, Redbeard, is the secret I wished to show you. Some of
it, at least."
    His pulse slowed.
    She shrugged off her mantle and tossed
it over the end of the large bed. "But I also wanted to offer you a
gift. In celebration of my forthcoming marriage to your
niece."
    "Is it not I who should present you
with her dowry?"
    "This is not a dowry." She strode to
the table and laid her hand on the lid of the box. "This is nothing
more than a token. A little thing to show

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