Page 87 of Bold Angel
“I will not do it, Richard. Not you, nor Braxston, nor anyone else can make me. I mean to marry for love.”
Richard scoffed. “You speak like a foolish young girl. Your uncle knows what is best for you and you will do as he wishes. Should you be my ward, I would beat you for running away.”
“Well, I am not your ward. And I have never seen you so much as raise your voice to another person, let alone your hand.”
Richard flushed. He could no more beat her than he could fly. In truth, it was all he could do not to reach out and touch her. He had wanted to, he realized, for a very long time.
“Lord Ral must be told.”
“A pox on you, Richard. I thought we were friends.”
Friends.It occurred to him that what he wanted from Ambra was far more than friendship. He also knew that she was a lady, wild and unmanageable as she obviously was, and she was betrothed to another.
“Aye, that we are, I suppose.”
“Lady Caryn has agreed to help me. Tell me I may count on you, too.”
She could, he realized, fighting a fresh rush of desire for her. “You are headstrong and willful. You are certain to lead whatever man you wed upon a merry chase. But, aye, you may count on me.”
She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly on the cheek. “Thank you, Richard.”
It was all he could do to keep from pulling her against him and kissing her the way a woman should be kissed. Instead he cleared his throat and backed away.
“My first loyalty remains with the Lord of Braxston Keep. You’ve time to decide what you would do, but I cannot promise your safety forever.”
Ambra merely smiled. She did a quick little step, once more Ancil the jester. “I am glad that you know the truth, Richard.”
So was he. Decidedly so. At least he was certain now that the desire knifing hotly through his body was for a woman and not for a boy.
***
Caryn descended the steep stone stairs into the great hall. Since Ral’s return to her bed, he had been kind and considerate, loving and gentle, and fiercely passionate in bed.
Yet he seemed wary of letting down his guard completely.
And even more so was she.
As Ral had promised, Lynette had been sent from the castle, but still Caryn did not trust him as she once had, and though each night her body craved his touch, she wasn’t sure she ever would again. She avoided him as often as she could, fearful of the power he held over her, determined to protect herself, to keep her heart sealed off from him as much as she was able.
He smiled as she approached, his fathomless gray eyes revealing a moment of hunger before he forced the look away. He waved her over as he stood near the open front door, welcoming the Arab physician, Hassan, back to the castle.
Though Ral spoke to the Arab, his arm went possessively around her waist, drawing her close to his side, making her heartbeat quicken.
“’Tis good to see you, my friend,” he said to the tall, dark-skinned man. “We had little chance to speak when last you were here.”
“It is good to be back.” He was a quiet man, lean to the point of meat over bone, dark and exotic. His nose was sharp and bent a little in the middle, his eyes black as night yet they seemed to reflect some inward glow.
“Hassan has agreed to remain for at least a fortnight,” Ral said, smiling down at her. “’Twill give us time to renew our acquaintance.”
Caryn smiled, too, though she wished Ral wouldrelease her and she could move a little bit away. “’Tis said Arab healers are the finest in the land. Has your friend Hassan also agreed to grant me some time for instruction?”
The Arab’s white teeth flashed. “Of course, my lady, if that is your wish.” He bent over her hand. “The pleasure will be mine.”
Another task to occupy her mind, give her something to do besides think of Ral and worry about the future.
“Ral says you were once physician to the king,” Caryn said to Hassan as they made their way inside the keep and across the great hall. They sat down at a table on the dais.
“That is so. I remain in his service even now. It was William who asked me to travel to Grennel. The king will be pleased to know his friend there will live.”
