Teresa Medeiros by Shadows & Lace

Author:Shadows & Lace
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Gareth slammed Rowena to the safety of the floor as an instinct bred deeper in him than bone or blood sent him diving for the hearth and his scabbard. He unsheathed the broadsword with both hands and crossed the tower in three strides. He drew the sword over his head, prepared to plunge it into the heart of the assassin who had burst through the window. The blade quivered, then froze in its downward motion.

Steel gray eyes glared up at him. Little Freddie lay on his back, knees akimbo, his weight propped on his elbows. A scarred hunting knife spun on the floor a few feet away. He regarded Gareth’s blade without a hint of a plea in his silvery orbs.

“You,” Gareth breathed.

The plea absent from Little Freddie’s drawn features came tumbling into view as Rowena tripped over her brother’s foot and sprawled across his thin body.

She tossed her head back. Her gaze traveled from Gareth’s straddled legs to his poised blade to his features, which hardened as if someone had set them in stone.

Her voice was low and urgent. “Gareth, please. Don’t chop his head off. I beg you. Don’t hurt him. I shall do anything you ask.”

A dull red flush suffused Gareth’s face as he realized the reason for her sweet subterfuge of passion. His eyes raked her in a wordless insult, taking in the mop of tangled gold falling over her face, the slender curve of her hip where her skirt had ridden up, her parted lips.

“Anything?” he heard himself reply coldly. A mercenary song strummed to life in his groin.

“Anything,” she repeated. Her eyes met his boldly even as she clenched her jaw to stop it from quivering.

“Rowena!” Little Freddie squirmed beneath her with an agonized croak. “Make no bargains with the devil.” His foot shoved at the small of her back.

“Be still, boy!” Gareth brought the sword down with a roar. The blade sank nine inches into the wooden floor between Rowena’s knees.

“I would have driven it through your hearts,” he hissed, “if I thought either of you possessed one.”

Two pairs of wide eyes blinked at the vibrating blade. Rowena swallowed audibly.

Gareth strode across the room and splashed wine into a goblet. “Mummers, indeed. If you could have extracted such a winsome performance from your sister at any one of those villages, you would be choking on gold by now.”

Pink stained Rowena’s cheeks. She and Freddie jumped as Gareth slammed the goblet down and paced back to them. He rocked lightly on the balls of his feet, locking his hands behind him. An unpleasant light glowed in his eyes.

“Let me insure that I understand you, Lady Fordyce. To spare the head of this brash stripling, you offer me anything I desire from you.”

Rowena met his eyes over the sword hilt. She nodded, ignoring the vicious pinch Little Freddie gave her.

Gareth crossed his arms. “No remorse. No rebuke. No mewling tears of recrimination on the morrow.”

“None,” Rowena said softly.

“You heartless bastard!” Little Freddie flung himself

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