Page 44 of To Honor

As their lips touched, Gareth vowed that he would show Evelina pleasure before this night was ended. Hearing of Fitzwilliam’s love story as the men remembered a man who’d been like a father to those who had none, as they made their way back to Castle Blackwood, his heart had broken. The man’s wife had died in childbirth, their daughter with her, and he’d never married again. The men said he had spoken of her rarely but always with a reverence that Gareth could understand.

Love.

He’d not felt it for a woman before. Lust? Aye. But not a need to be with her every moment. To protect her. Show her every pleasure possible. Hold her. Kiss her. Consume her.

“By God,” he murmured as they kissed, “I am in love with you, Evie.”

“And I you,” she said, her hands running through Gareth’s hair.

Pulling back, he looked at her. Really looked at her. She was so damned beautiful.

This time, he went slower. Leaning down to kiss her neck, Gareth did not stop there. Reaching into her low-cut gown, he freed both of her breasts. Evie gasped, but he didn’t stop. Cupping them, he gave one attention first, swirling his tongue around her nipple, bringing the other to a peak with his thumb and forefinger.

The sounds she made encouraged him, Gareth moving his mouth from one breast to the other. “They are incredible,” he murmured. Finally looking up, wishing he hadn’t, Gareth groaned. Evie’s eyelids were hooded, her lips parted.

He captured them with his own, demanding entry, hands on both breasts. She gave it, Evie’s tongue swirling and tangling with his as she moaned and writhed against him. He did the same, wishing he hadn’t given Eamon that vow.

“God damn Eamon,” he said, stepping back. He was going to take her on this stable floor if he continued.

“Of all the things you could have said just now, that’s not the one I’d have expected.”

“Mmmm.” Her breasts were magnificent. Helping her put them back into her gown was not something Gareth relished, but it needed to be done. “I promised him I’d not dishonor you, and I will not. But God’s wounds, Evie, I would make you mine this very night if I could.”

“I believe I would let you,” she said. Then, more soberly, “Gareth. There is a reason Eamon forced that vow from you.”

Though he hated to do it, Gareth took another step away from her. Evie clearly had something to say, and when he was so close, all he could think about was pulling her into his arms again. Leaning against the wooden column, he crossed his arms, as if entrapping them.

“Because he is a good friend to you. I know it well.”

Evie shook her head. “Nay. Because he is my father.”

“Your—?” Had he heard her correctly? “Your father?”

“Aye.” Evie explained all that Eamon had told her, and oddly, as the initial surprise wore off, it made sense. “Your father,” he repeated, thinking back on their conversation. “Yet he does not have any more information about your mother?”

“Sadly not. Though perhaps it is better I do not know.”

That seemed a strange thing to say. “Truly?”

“I’ve always thought ’twas because of me she left, and now I know it was, but not in the way I believed. She tried to protect me, I am certain of it.”

“It sounds very much so. But would you not wish to know for certain if she were alive?”

“Perhaps. But if she were not, to think she lost her life attempting to preserve mine, I could not bear it. I would believe instead she found a new man to love and is happily growing old somewhere. The truth, sometimes, is a harsh master, and one I’d prefer not to serve.”

Gareth was not sure if he agreed, but it was Evie’s opinion and therefore hers to have and keep.

“Tell me,” she continued, “of your mission.”

“Fitzwilliam is dead.”

Evie’s eyes widened. “Nay. ’Tis not possible.”

“I led him to his death,” he said. “Matilda’s forces had taken Lincoln Castle, but Stephen’s quickly besieged it. We broke the siege and united her forces from within the castle walls and allies from beyond it.”

“They took Lincoln Castle. That is perhaps the most important coup in the entirety of her campaign.”

“Many would agree with you. It is both a strategic and symbolic victory that now stands.”