Beloved Abductor by June Francis

Author:June Francis [Francis, June]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Endeavour Press
Published: 2016-06-28T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Felicia caught the gleam of a knife as Edmund rolled over. ‘What is it? What is wrong?’ he asked.

‘N-Nothing.’ Felicia’s teeth chattered uncontrollably as she pulled the blanket tightly about her.

‘Nothing?’

She nodded and closed her eyes tightly, trying to shut out his probing gaze. He would think her an utter dolt. There was a short silence.

‘That cousin of yours hasn’t been upsetting you again, has she?’ He spoke with a vehemence that caused Felicia’s eyelids to fly open.

‘It is nothing like that!’ She flushed beneath his scrutiny. From his expression, she guessed he would not be fobbed off with a lie. ‘It is mice ...I cannot abide them. The thought of their little scratching feet scrabbling and the sight of their long naked tails!’ She shuddered.

‘Mice!’ There was a hint of a quiver in his voice.

‘I knew you would laugh!’ she said indignantly, moving away from him.

‘I am not laughing.’ The grooves in his cheeks deepened, and a muscle twitched in the bare column of his throat.

‘You are! Or you would like to! You do not know how utterly demoralising it is to confess to a fear of mice.’

His smile grew. ‘We are all afraid of something.’

‘Afraid! You? I don’t believe you fear anything.’

‘Don’t you?’ Startled, he leaned up on an elbow. ‘I’m afraid of you,’ he said seriously.

She flushed, lowering her eyes, veiling their loveliness with a sweep of long dark lashes.

‘Don’t you believe me?’ He reached out and took one of her hands, feeling it tremble. ‘I think you’re a witch.’

Felicia peered at him from beneath her lashes. ‘That is even more foolish than my fear of mice,’ she said in a low voice. ‘You called me a wanton yesterday.’

‘A wanton witch who has set an enchantment about me. I want you, and it hurts here.’ He placed her hand over his heart.

Her pulse raced. ‘This is a foolishness. It is the ale and the starlight; they have gone to your head,’ she said unsteadily. ‘I—I had best get back to Joan.’ She made to pull her hand out of his grasp, but he held it tightly.

‘Haven’t you a remedy to break the spell, beautiful witch?’ He gazed into her face, and she could see the glint of his eyes catching the starlight. ‘A kiss might do it,’ he said. ‘A kiss from a witch, who knows what might happen.’

‘You’re jesting. You cannot be trusted, Master Abductor!’ She attempted to remove her hand from his grasp, aware of just how much she wanted him to kiss her.

When an owl screeched, she instinctively shrank towards Edmund and he put his arm about her. They both looked up at the bird as it swooped, then swung up again with its prey dangling from its talons.

‘One down,’ he murmured.

She could not help but chuckle.

A delightful sound, thought Edmund.

‘No doubt you consider me foolish,’ she said lightly.

‘Perhaps. Maybe it is the starlight that is making fools of us both.’

His arm tightened about her, and the smile froze on her face as his searching mouth found hers with barely any effort, or protestations from her.

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