Deceiving the Highlander by Emma Prince

Author:Emma Prince
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Highland
Publisher: 0
Published: 2019-03-27T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

Will stirred awake sometime later. The fire had died and his chamber was cast in darkness.

Without thinking, he stretched his hand across the bed—only to meet cool linen sheets.

Had it all been a dream? Nay, for the scent of Eleanor’s skin still lingered on the pillow beside him. He had taken her right here. And she had taken him.

The intensity of what they’d shared had left him shaken. He’d been relieved when she’d softened into sleep beside him so quickly—so trustingly. It had given him some time to chew on what had happened. But he was just as conflicted now as he had been before unconsciousness had overcome him.

They were playing a dangerous game. Nay, as she’d said, this wasn’t a game any longer. It was their very lives they gambled with now.

Indeed, his life was in her hands. If she betrayed him… It sickened him to contemplate it, but he couldn’t ignore the possibility. Yet her life was also in his hands. She had entrusted him with the truth about David and how she’d become a spy. And she’d given herself to him with a vulnerability and honesty that had stolen his breath.

One way or another, they were bound together now—their fates, their lives, and mayhap even their hearts.

He stared up at the canopy over his bed for a long while, waiting for her to return. She must have slipped off to her room to refresh herself or use her chamber pot. But as time stretched on, niggling doubt crept in. Where was she?

Slowly, he dragged himself from the bed. He fumbled in the dark for his breeches and tunic. Her clothes were no longer piled on the floor with his.

With a hand extended before him, he found the tapestry-covered door leading to her chamber. He tried the handle. The door swung open, unbarred.

The shutters on her window were cracked, letting in a single beam of moonlight. It revealed an empty chamber. Her bed was still made and naught was amiss. The little bottles and vials on her dressing table were still in place. Her clothes were nowhere to be seen.

Nor was she.

Will padded silently to the door that led from her chamber into the corridor. It opened on silent hinges. Unease pricked him as he glanced both directions down the dark corridor. Where the hell had she gone?

He checked to make sure his dagger was still tucked into his boot, then slipped into the passageway. He crept toward the great hall, uncertain what would bring her there at this time of night, but it was a starting point.

Once he reached the hall, he glanced inside but remained in the shadows of the corridor. The servants and quite a few of the courtiers slept on the floor. It seemed that even a palace the size of Langley did not contain enough chambers to accommodate as large a retinue as King Edward traveled with. Several snores rose from those in the hall, but there was no sign of Eleanor.

Will

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.