Lord Of Danger, Stuart, Anne [my miracle luna book free read txt] 📗

“No!” she cried, the panic back. “You can’t! I don’t think anyone else could keep me safe from Richard. You know it as well as I do.”

The problem was, he did know it. It was a simple choice. If he kept watch over her, his immortal soul was in very grave danger, for all that he denied it to her. He wanted her, it was that shameful and that simple. He was a man accustomed to resisting his needs, but his ache for Claire of Summersedge was stronger than anything he had ever felt in his life. Stronger, perhaps, than his love of God.

But if he abandoned her, she would be lost. No one would be willing to protect her from Lord Richard, and she would be helpless. And he would be damned as well, for denying his duty to protect the weak.

She didn’t look particularly weak at the moment She looked determined, tear-stained, and well-kissed. And he wanted to kiss her again.

“It will never happen again,” he said in low voice. “It will never be repeated.”

She kept her eyes chastely downcast, and perhaps she was agreeing. Or perhaps not.

She wouldn’t know the power of that kiss, she who’d only been kissed by a man she hated. She wouldn’t know that few kisses could shake one to the soul the way that one had. The one they’d shared.

He wasn’t about to inform her. Years from now she might remember the passionate kiss they had shared on the landing at Summersedge Keep, and she might wonder why no kiss had ever been quite as glorious. Or maybe she’d be lucky enough to forget.

He knew he wouldn’t be so blessed. He’d remember her mouth, the feel of her small, soft breasts pressing against him, he’d remember the tears and the taste and the scent of her. He’d remember the kiss until his dying day.

And he hoped it would come soon.

“I’ll take you to Brother Jerome,” he said shortly.

“I’m to confess my sins immediately?” she asked with a trace of laughter.

It was his sin, for all she denied it, not hers, but he forbore to argue it with her. He would do the confessing; she would take shelter from the rapacious men that surrounded her. Himself included.

“I told your… Lord Richard I was taking you to see Brother Jerome,” he said. “It’s best if we stick to the original design.”

“He is my brother, you know.”

“I know. There was a stronger resemblance when he was younger, but there’s no doubt the two of you are close kin.”

She shivered, but there was nothing she could say. She lifted her head, and her small smile was very brave. “Then let us go find Brother Jerome,” she said.

And he took her arm, cursing himself under his breath.

“She’s safe.”

Alys jerked her head up to stare at the wizard. She had done her best to ignore him for the last, endless stretch of time, too busy concentrating on controlling her fears. So much of her life was beyond her control. In the convent she’d been able to watch over Claire, to keep her safe from her wilder urgings, and there had been no men to threaten her.

But now, out in the real world, their greatest threat had come from one who should have been their greatest protector, and Alys was helpless to do anything about it.

She looked up at the man towering over her, anger and hope warring within her. “How do you know?”

“My servant came and informed me. Sir Thomas has taken her to Brother Jerome for safety and succor.”

“I didn’t hear any voices.”

“Godfrey is mute.”

“Then how do you know… ?”

“We have our own ways of communicating. Suffice it to say, your sister is safe.”

“For now,” she said bitterly. “What if Sir Thomas isn’t around to guard her the next time my brother decides to break God’s laws?”

“Richard spends most of his life breaking God’s laws, not to mention his own,” Simon said in a pragmatic voice. “But by tomorrow Lady Hedwiga will have returned, and if Richard is afraid of anyone, it is his sour-tongued wife. And I expect Thomas will keep a closer watch on her from now on. Before he simply thought he had to protect her from her own foolish impulses.”

“How can he protect her from his liege lord?”

“The same way he does everything. Sir Thomas is a man of tiresome nobility and integrity. He will forfeit his life to protect your sister. And Richard may demand just that,” he added, unmoved at the prospect.

“Would you?”

“Would I?” he echoed, perplexed.

“Would you give up your life for the sake of another? A woman?”

“You, perhaps?” he said lightly, and Alys kept the color from mounting to her cheeks by only the strongest effort. “I doubt it. I have learned to keep my own best interests in the forefront. If a woman dies, there is always another to replace her.”

He sounded perfectly reasonable, and yet for some reason she didn’t believe him. The serving woman’s burnt arm came to mind, and his efforts to secure Claire’s safety.

“You are a liar, my lord,” she said abruptly.

His golden eyes narrowed. “Husbands have killed their wives for saying less,” he warned her.

“But I am not yet your wife. And I suspect you are loath to kill, particularly a woman.”

There was no denying the bitterness of the smile that curved his mouth. “And you, my dear Alys, are a dreamer. Don’t make the mistake of thinking I value human life above my own comfort. I don’t People are a bountiful commodity. If someone dies there is always someone to replace that person, be it a woman, a servant, or a king.”

There was no reason why she should think his words were anything but idle banter. And yet there seemed a thread of meaning beneath that Alys found profoundly disturbing.

“I’ll take you to your sister,” he said abruptly, before she could question him more closely. “Doubtless she is completely distraught and will need the comfort