Page 85 of Bold Angel
Even before it was over, tears formed at the corners of her eyes and slipped in salty rivulets down her cheeks. She tried to get up but he would not let her, sliding an arm around her waist and drawing her close against him. She rolled to her side, fighting back sobs,her body shaking with her effort at control and the burden of her failure.
One of Ral’s big dark hands smoothed the hair away from her cheeks. “You cry because you think you have been defeated,” he said softly. “Can you not see it is you who has won?”
A half-stifled sob was the only sound she made.
Ral gently turned her to face him. In the flickering light of the candle, his eyes looked more blue than gray and a lock of thick black hair fell over his forehead.
“Listen to me, Cara. There is no more need for tears. ’Tis you who have won this battle, not me.” He smiled, but weariness shown in his features. “I have made arrangements with the Lord of Pontefact. On the morrow, by the time we leave this room, Lynette will be gone from the castle.”
“What?”
“I am sending her away.”
“But why?” Caryn searched his face. “Why would you do such a thing?”
“Is it not plain,cherie?” A hard male knuckle brushed the wetness from her cheeks. “’Tis not Lynette that I want. ’Tis you and no other.”
Caryn watched the play of shadow against his dark features, the proud, beard-roughened jawline, the steady look in his eyes. Did he mean it? Did she dare to put her faith in him again? “I want to believe you, Ral, but—”
“’Tis the God’s truth, Cara. I have thought of no other since the night I left your bed.”
Fresh tears stung her eyes and she had to look away. “Then why did you do it?”
For a moment Ral said nothing, then he sighed. “’Tis hard for me to say. In part, ’twas because of Stephen and Eliana. Because of the power she holds over him. I have seen what a woman like that can do to a man.”
“But I am not like that.”
He smiled at her softly. “No, you are not.”
“Did you love her?” she asked.Do you love her still?
“Mayhap I did… once. Now I see her for the greedy, power-hungry female that she is.”
“And Stephen?”
For a moment he seemed uncertain. “He loves her as a man loves a woman.”
“You do not mean—”
“Aye.”
Caryn sucked in a sharp breath of air. “’Tis the gravest of sins.”
“Aye. ’Twill mean God’s wrath for sure.”
“I still do not see what it has to do with me.”
“Do you not, Cara?”
“No, I—”
“Mayhap ’tis better that you do not.” He kissed her then, long and deep, and she could feel the steady beating of his heart.
“I have missed you so much,” she said softly.
“Nay, my love, not nearly so much as I have missed you.”
Caryn closed her eyes and let the warmth of him engulf her. He hadn’t said he loved her, had only said he desired her above the rest. Still, it was a beginning, more than she dreamed he would ever concede.
