Captive of the Border Lord by Blythe Gifford

Author:Blythe Gifford [Gifford, Blythe]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-11-03T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

His eyes darkened. Disbelief? Desire? ‘Do you?’

No more doubt. No more delay.

She threw her arms around his neck and threw her lips on his.

She knew little of kissing and less of what came after. But in the shocked moment when Carwell’s body met hers, she realised that there was more to it, much more than she had ever thought.

And that lips were the least of it.

Her body pressed against his, much closer than in the dance, but she had learned something of him during all those pavanes and galliards. Even without music, she sensed what should come next. His body spoke as clearly as his eyes had done, hips urgent in seeking hers, hands gentle in holding her head, lips eager in tasting hers.

And then, everything stopped.

He set her away from him, arms straight, his breathing as ragged as her own.

‘Nothing...’ He took a breath to try again.

She reached for his cheek, hot against her fingers, and he grabbed her hand, as if it had burned him. Then, with the deliberate reverence, he kissed her palm, let her go and stepped back.

‘Nothing will change.’

She looked down at her hand, hanging limp and useless at her side. Stunned, she stilled. Withdrew. Retreated to become again the silent, watchful woman she knew how to be.

What had she done?

Yet she knew what. And why. Her body still throbbed with want, with urges stronger than the hunger and thirst. So strong and deep they drowned thought and silenced speech.

Urges she had thought he shared.

Wrong. Wrong again about this man. She knew nothing of him, still.

He does not want me. No more than the other one did.

He, too, had acted from duty. To fulfil his promise. Or worse, perhaps from pity.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said. Then realised it was a lie. He might be a mystery, but she refused the protection of silence. She had swallowed so many words over the years they near choked her.

She lifted her head and met his eyes. ‘No. That’s not true. I am not sorry.’

Afraid, yes. Afraid as she looked in his eyes that she would be rejected again. But if that were to be, he would know the whole of her first.

‘I have spent,’ she began, not knowing why but knowing it was important to speak ‘my entire life in silence, in the shadow of Brunsons who roared or blustered or even those who used silence as a weapon.’

Blunt, he had called her. You must learn to watch and wait. Did he not know she had spent her entire life watching others? Her brothers and all the people of her tower; she was watchful of their feelings, even before they spoke, never allowing her own to intrude.

She took a breath. ‘Just once, I wanted...’ Hated tears gathered. This was why she had stayed silent, why she had buried what she wanted so deeply she could not feel it claw for the sun, why she had never dared stretch out a hand to reach for what she wanted.

Because it was always, always out of reach.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.