A Wager for the Widow by Hobbes Elisabeth

Author:Hobbes, Elisabeth [Hobbes, Elisabeth]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-07-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

‘Did you plan this on purpose?’ Eleanor rounded on William furiously.

‘What?’ William looked at her, his eyes as grey as the waves that crashed behind him. ‘That’s a serious accusation, my lady. Do you think me capable of such duplicity?’

‘You schemed to accompany me here,’ she said. ‘Why shouldn’t I think you capable of anything?’

He looked outraged. ‘You think I might have contrived to strand us here so I could seduce you, I suppose?’ William said sardonically.

The heat drained from Eleanor’s face. That had been her suspicion exactly, but to hear William speak her thoughts so clearly made her stomach curl with embarrassment. Her heart began to pound with some other sensation she refused to acknowledge. ‘I didn’t say that!’ she answered defensively.

William closed the gap between them in a single stride. He towered above Eleanor. ‘You thought it, though. Whatever you believe, I don’t need to resort to such trickery when I want a woman’s company,’ he said contemptuously, ‘and I’m not in the habit of forcing myself on unwilling victims.’

Eleanor’s stomach did a slow flip at his words. During the storm he had held her with such ease, though she had fought against him fiercely. She had no doubt he could have taken anything he wanted from her if he had chosen to do so and she was unsure how unwilling she would have been. She glanced away quickly in case he saw where her thoughts were leading.

Will sighed and gestured around. ‘In any case, the last place I would choose to bed anyone would be a rain-drenched spit of land in winter!’

‘Why did you follow me here, then?’ Eleanor asked suspiciously.

‘Your room was empty,’ William said. His brows knotted together as he spoke, as though it was a personal slight. ‘I told you to wait until morning before coming here. Why couldn’t you obey a simple instruction? If you had done as I said, this would never have happened.’

Eleanor let out a gasp of indignation. ‘I am not yours to command!’ she said haughtily. She stomped to the water’s edge. ‘I had plenty of time to get back across safely. This would not have happened if you had not ignored me when I said we needed to cross.’ She narrowed her eyes as her earlier suspicions reared up once more. ‘What were you doing in my room?’

‘I wanted to check you were all right,’ William said. ‘I should have guessed you would have run here as soon as my back was turned, but I thought I could trust you to keep your word.’

‘I mean, what did you want?’ Eleanor asked again, ignoring the jibe.

William gave a hollow laugh. ‘I thought you might be hungry so I brought you a fish. In fact—’ He broke off, delved into his saddlebag and produced a greasy roll of crumpled parchment. He held it out to Eleanor who unwrapped it. A solitary mackerel stared back at her through one charred eye, long beyond caring what trouble it had unwittingly caused.

‘Well, at least we won’t go completely hungry tonight,’ Eleanor said with a heavy sigh.

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