AT FIRST SIGHT: A Novella by Parris Afton Bonds

Author:Parris Afton Bonds [Bonds, Parris Afton]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Paradise Publishing
Published: 2017-04-13T23:00:00+00:00

§§ CHAPTER SIX §§

Once again, Evangeline faced Adam in a bedroom, if this, one of the tavern’s four bedrooms, could be designated as such.

Not much larger than a horse stall, the sparse room contained a rope-strung bed overlaid with a straw mattress barely wide enough for two. Three wall pegs for hats and cloaks, topped by a shelf with ceramic pitcher, basin, and chamber pot, completed the room’s furnishings. His russet cloak hung from one peg, along with his hat.

“Another one-hundred guilders?” Her chin jutted and her hands clenched and unclenched at her sides. “William had already paid you to find me – and then you had the gall to bed me, as well? Mercy me, aren’t you the opportunist?”

“Well, not quite in that order.” He dribbled wax from the candle stub he held onto the shelf and anchored the candle in it, then he tossed his saddlebags on the warped, pine floor beneath. “And you do recall that it was you who sought me out in my bed,” he added, as nonchalantly as though he were discussing livestock breeding.

“And now this – this latest escapade of yours.” She jabbed her finger at him. “How did you delicately word it before God and the world at Printz Hall tonight?”

But he was not listening. He had gone to the window and unbarred the shutter, opening it only slightly. A rush of cold air fluttered the candle. His and her shadows combined to waver eerily on the wall. He appeared to be intent on the comings and goings of the late-night merrymakers on the street below. Their laughter and good-natured shouts mocked her foul temper.

“A strumpet you called me.” She ranted on, both thoroughly humiliated and, aye, nervous. The hint of danger about him she had perceived at the Virgin Queen Tavern was more pronounced now here, at the Cock and Bull. What had transpired between them at her ordinary had occurred by mutual consent. But this, this was cold-blooded, heartless, and hurtful.

“And next, if I recall correctly, you announced that by the time William returned with his warrant, we will ‘have done with our pleasuring tonight?” She grabbed at the bed’s lumpy pillow and hurled it at him.

With a grin, he moved his shoulder only slightly to dodge the pillow but kept his eye trained below.

“If that is what you are planning,” she gritted, “then you might as well couple with a corpse, for that is all the response you will get from me.”

At this, he shifted his gaze from whatever was outside that elicited his interest to her. His eyes were intent with the same concentration he might use when focusing solely on his fencing foe. “I am tempted to challenge your assertion. However, we have only a few hours left here, and anything trifling or casual would be a waste after what we had Christmas Eve. So, cease your fretting. We have far more important matters to address.”

Her heart stumbled. Had she been wrong? What had happened between them

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