Page 30 of The Mercenary

He turned to Sabine’s outstretched hand. She was sitting up in the bed in the same shift she’d worn the night before. He moved toward her, not daring to think of her parted lips as a sign. But when she lifted her neck, he was powerless to prevent his eyes from lingering on the creamy skin there.

Guy deliberately allowed his fingers to linger as they brushed hers. Grasping the cloth, he turned away, but not before he gave his wife a knowing look. One that told her what he wanted. Despite everything that had happened that day, or maybe because of it, he wanted her.

So much death, always.

As he dried himself off, Guy thought of the man he’d slain that day. It was little consolation his own life would have been forfeit had he not reacted so quickly. Death was death. And it mattered little that he had seen it often. Each and every one haunted him, even the nameless faces of men on the battlefield.

Such was the life of a mercenary. At least the order’s cause was just. He would gladly fight for it, die for it.

Finished, Guy took out his bedroll and placed it on the floor, avoiding Sabine’s gaze. The more he looked at her, the less he would be able to resist her.

“You’d sleep on the floor?”

Cursing under his breath, he muttered an affirmation.

“’Tis unnecessary. There is space here, beside me.”

Guy looked up then, and even in the dim moonlight streaming into the room through the sole window, he knew that look.

Sabine’s eyes fluttered upward, but it was too late.

“What exactly are you offering, Sabine?”

He deliberately drew out her name, his meaning clear.

“A bed to sleep in.”

“Nothing more? ’Tis a small bed.”

“Nay. Nothing more.”

Though he admired her bravado, Guy nearly laughed at her expression as he moved toward her. Did she think he would decline the offer? Had she made it expecting him to do so?

“Many thanks,” he said, as formally as he could.

Lying next to her, as he expected, their bodies kissed in a way they had not. Her legs, her hips . . . but still he would not relent until she did so first.

“Good night, Sabine.”

Though he closed his eyes, Guy knew sleep would not come. If he had not slept the previous night, knowing she lay beside him in the large bed, or the night before that, lying beneath the stars with her, he certainly could not manage it now. He had a feeling he’d not sleep until they parted.

A thought he wished to avoid.

“Guy?”

He smiled, eyes still closed.

“Aye, my lady wife?”

“You are . . . quite large.”

He knew she referred to their close proximity but could not let the comment pass.

“So you did stare overly long at my braies? I thought as much. Thank you for saying so.”

He waited. It didn’t take long.

“I did not mean—”