Page 91 of Bold Angel
“I do not need your protection. And I have never behaved as aught but a lady. That I dance and sing does not change that.” She ducked beneath the curtain and Richard followed her in.
“Damn but you are vexing.” And too beautiful for words. Now that he could see beneath her disguise, his throat went tight just to look at her.
“And you, Richard, are stuffy and prudish. If I displease you so much, then why do you not just leave?”
He bristled, torn between fury and a lust that seemed to swell with every heartbeat. He gave her a courtly, mocking bow. “As you wish,my lady.”
“And do not call me that. ’Tis far too dangerous. What if someone should hear you?”
He scoffed at that. “Since when has danger been of any concern to you?” He turned and stalked from the room.
Chapter Eighteen
Ral rode his big black destrier at the front of his small band of men, their horses stirring up dust along the trail. They were dressed in full battle gear, chain mail hauberk, sword and shield, patrolling the landscape north of the keep, crossing mountain and valley in search of the Ferret.
Naught had been heard of the outlaw since his disastrous encounter with Malvern—no raids, no travelers assaulted, no caravans lost, yet Ral rode uneasy in the saddle. Instinct and long years of fighting said the Ferret would return, sooner or later, that even now he recruited more men and it wouldn’t be long before his villany would once more rain down upon the unwary.
Ral did not intend to let it happen.
“Tracks cross the trail near the river ahead.” Odo rode up beside him. “A wagon and travelers afoot. ’Tis unlikely that it is the Ferret.”
Ral nodded. “He and his men would needs be traveling horseback. Naught else looks amiss?”
“Nay, my lord.”
Just then Geoffrey approached from the rear, riding a big white stallion he called Baron. “Have you found him, my lord? Has Odo discovered the Ferret?”
“Nay, there has been no sign. ’Twould seem that for at least a while longer we are safe from his treachery.”
Geoffrey relaxedin his saddle. “’Tis my fondest hope he does not show his evil face again.”
Ral made no comment. In most ways he felt the same, yet the land he would receive for the outlaw’s capture remained all important. More so now, with the death of so many cattle. If the Ferret returned, he would rob and pillage and terrorize travelers on the roads. But without him, there would be no grant of land.
Ral glanced at Geoffrey, saw him smiling easily, laughing at something Odo said. He had thought little of Geoffrey since his return to Caryn’s bed. Yet thoughts of the handsome young knight crept occasionally into his mind.
Caryn still spoke with affection to Geoffrey, still gamed with him in the great hall, still laughed more readily with Geoffrey than she did with her own husband. What were her feelings toward him? Could he be certain those feelings would not grow?
Ral had known many women. But he had loved only once.Eliana.She was a viper clothed in female skin. She was temptation and corruption in the guise of a woman, a vixen who could dupe and betray without the slightest twinge of guilt.
Other women he had known weren’t much better. They worked to please him for as long as he would have them, but once he tired of them, they would move on, repeating vows of love and loyalty to the next man and the next.
Still, his mother had been a good woman, faithful even when his father had strayed. She had been kind and loving, tolerating her husband’s numerous lemen, always welcoming him back to her bed. And his sisters, so far as he knew, remained ever loyal to their husbands, happily so, it would seem.
But what of Caryn? He knew now that she would not forgive his infidelities, and in truth he had little desire for other women. But what of her desires? Besides herphysical need of him, what feelings did she hold for him? How much did she really care?
Each day his own feelings grew deeper. Frighteningly so. Yet he had forced himself to face them. To conquer his fears, to give her his loyalty—and his trust. Each day that trust deepened, reaching farther inside him, gaining a tighter hold on his heart.
It terrified him to think what he was risking.
As he rode back toward the castle, he prayed this time he would not regret it.
***
“The game is over—Beltar comes!”
Ambra’s heart slammed hard against her ribs. She was standing near the drawbridge, enjoying a walk before the midday meal, basking in the bright warming rays of the sun. At the sound of Richard’s voice, she spun in his direction.
“Dear God, Richard, say you do not mean it.” But his long grim strides continued toward her, and the look on his face said he meant every word.
