lys’s anger deserted her as quickly as it had arisen, leaving her feeling like a naive fool. She, of all people, should have known the price of believing a man’s sweet lies, for she lived it every day. She swept the kitchen floor and fought against the weight of her disappointment.
Aunt Deirdre, of course, was quick to gloat.
“Alys!” Aunt’s shrill call echoed through the kitchen, setting each and every servant there to grimacing. Even the goats bleating in the bailey fell silent momentarily.
“Have you heard the news?” Aunt asked none in particular. “Burke de Montvieux has come to choose between my daughters for his bride.” She smiled. “Clearly he is a knight of discerning eye.”
Or he has lost his eyesight completely, Alys thought.
“How may we aid you, my lady?” Cook asked politely.
“ ’Tis my niece I would summon.” Aunt’s smile turned cold as she surveyed Alys. “Our guest knight would bathe. Naturally, a man of such nobility could not be aided by one of common lineage, and he has no squire with him.” A smirk tugged at the older woman’s lips as she surveyed Alys. “He has requested your aid.”
“Mine?” Alys blinked, but Aunt merely smiled more broadly. Alys heard Cook catch his breath and Edana gasp, even as she stepped forward to argue. “But, Aunt, I cannot aid a knight at his bath! ’Twould be completely inappropriate!”
But her aunt looked untroubled. “Should it be any consolation to you, Burke showed tremendous concern when Malvina impulsively offered to aid him.” Aunt dispatched a smile around the room, no doubt granting Alys time to accustom herself to this new and unwelcome task. “He was most chivalrous in expressing concern for her maidenly modesty, no less for her reputation. Indeed, I believe he fancies her.”
Then Aunt’s gaze locked with Alys’s own. “ ’Tis telling that he recalled you only when I confessed our lack of servants with noble blood. Then he specifically requested your aid.”
Alys was startled that Burke should treat her so shamelessly, but Aunt ignored her and spun to leave, her kirtle flaring out behind her. She paused on the threshold and glanced back, her eyes glittering.
“Perhaps the man has need of more than a bath,” Lady Kiltorren declared. “ ’Tis clear enough that he knows how to have his needs satisfied discreetly, no less who should fulfill them.”
Aunt would not, Alys told herself. She could not.
But Aunt did. Worse, she punctuated her demand with a piercing look to her niece. “I told you before, Alys, that what was bred in the bone would out in the flesh, and here you have the proof of it. The daughter of a whore should ply her mother’s trade without undue difficulty. See that our esteemed guest is not disappointed, Alys, or I shall be very disappointed in you.”
With that, Aunt was gone.
Alys’s mouth worked in silence for a moment, so great was her anger. ’Twas one matter that Burke desired her, yet quite another that her guardian would endorse his lust!
“I will not do it!” she cried.
The silence in the kitchen was deafening, then Cook began to dice parsley with a vengeance. He was a tall and muscular man, as bald as an egg. “Nay? Then what will you do?”
His question made Alys pause to think. To defy Aunt was not without consequence, and she cursed Burke thoroughly for putting her in such a quandary. Alys hauled buckets from the corner, filling them before she could change her mind.
“I shall do Aunt’s bidding and give this knight the bath he demands, no more and no less.” Alys splashed water on the floor in her annoyance, but she did not care. “I will not roll to my back for any man before I am wed, be he knight or knave!
“Burke de Montvieux will have neither what he expects nor even what he wants of me.” Alys ladled water grimly. “Indeed, ’tis time the man knew exactly what I think of his deeds,” she declared as the staff in the Kiltorren’s kitchen cheered.
The bathing chamber was a warm room, situated as it was behind the bread ovens set in one wall of the kitchen. Those ovens seemed to radiate heat long after the bread was finished baking, and Alys had always thought her grandfather’s design most clever. ’Twas not unpleasant that the room always smelled of fresh bread.
There were no windows in the bath chamber and the ceiling was low. A pair of wooden tubs deep enough for a man to immerse himself to the shoulders stood in the middle of the stone floor. The room had need of a good sweep, for it was seldom used in these days since her aunt and cousins had taken to bathing in their rooms. Alys filled the tub with hot water, then set to work as it steamed.
’Twas true that few knights visited Kiltorren, though no knight had ever come this way without a squire. That was a scheme of Burke’s, Alys knew it well. No knight, especially one of Burke’s wealth and success, rode without a squire, if not several. The man meant to seduce Alys fully, and that before he took his bride. Perhaps he would even expect her to continue providing his pleasure afterward. No doubt Burke had abandoned his entourage in the last village.
Alys swept and fumed at this knight’s cavalier disregard. She had been sorely deceived by this man’s charming manners and smooth persuasiveness before, but his deeds told of his true intent. Burke was not the knight of her dreams and Alys would not surrender to his touch.
’Twould be best to make that inarguably clear.
Alys halted and smiled at a sudden wicked thought. She could ensure that this bold knight was at her mercy, a most tempting prospect indeed. That would turn the tables upon him, for Burke was always one to hold a situation in the palm of his hand.
Aye, then when she had her say, Burke would have no choice but to listen. Alys chuckled under her breath at the tempting prospect, pivoted to sweep the last corner, and froze.
For the knight in question leaned in the doorway.
And Alys’s resistance to him began to crumble the moment she met his silvery gaze.
This was no good sign.
Burke’s arms were folded across his chest, a wry smile twisted his lips, and he was watching her with that intensity that made her tingle from head to toe.
“Ah, Alys,” he murmured, the very sound of his voice prompting her heart to race. “How can you be even more fair than I remembered?”
The words brought Alys back to her senses as naught else could have done. His compliment could have been paid to any maid, and, indeed, Burke uttered it so smoothly that she had no doubt he was confident of its success. She would show this man the value of his charm!
But she would have him where she wanted him first.
Alys smiled with all the sweetness she could muster. “I must get more water,” she said with a softness she was far from feeling. “Perhaps you might begin to disrobe?”
Burke flashed a smile and then caught her arm with gentle fingertips. His touch launched a shiver across Alys’s flesh. She caught her breath yet she could not pull away.
Indeed, his gaze seemed more piercing when they stood so close. Alys’s mouth went dry.
“Alys,” he whispered. “Would you be so kind as to bolt the door on your return? I would not have us interrupted.”
While he claimed what he desired of her. The request was yet more evidence that she had read his thoughts in truth. Heloise had oft said that it was the mark of a woman of sense never to make the same mistake twice. She would heed that advice on this day.
Alys stubbornly kept her smile in place. “ ’Twas my thought exactly,” she managed to say. Burke might have pulled her closer, his gaze falling pointedly to her lips, but Alys hauled her arm from his grasp. She hastened to the kitchen, knowing he watched her retreat, but did not look back.
Her heart was hammering and her hands were shaking, though Alys could not say whether ’twas because of the warmth of Burke’s touch or the boldness of what she meant to do.
She certainly would not admit that she had hoped for three long and lonely years that matters had been otherwise than they had seemed, that Burke had had good reason to abandon her, that Aunt had been wrong and that Burke would return.
Aye, her knight in shining armor would still come one day to Kiltorren, but Burke was clearly not that anxiously awaited man.
’Twas better to know the truth, even if it did sting.
Burke frowned, uncertain what to make of Alys’s manner. She was no longer angered with him, yet she had ducked the kiss she must have known he intended to share. There were shadows lurking in the golden depths of her eyes, and Burke had an unwelcome sensation that he was responsible for their presence.
’Twas confusion at root, no more than that. He had done naught to insult or hurt Alys, and she soon would know the truth of it. Burke’s lips curved in a smile of anticipation as he imagined the kiss they would share then.
Indeed, should his fortune hold, he and Alys might have all resolved between them before leaving this chamber. Burke could announce their betrothal at the evening repast and they could leave Kiltorren at first light.
’Twould be perfect.
Burke whistled to himself as he unbuckled his belt and laid his scabbard aside. He doffed his tabard, flexing his shoulders beneath the weight of his mail. Contrary to his earlier comment, Burke had no intention of burdening Alys with the task of removing his hauberk. The chain mail was simply too heavy.
And, ye gods, the woman had worked hard enough in Kiltorren, by the look of it. Burke doffed his boots, knowing he could shed the mail on his own. He had done it oft enough in the past year.
Burke pulled the hauberk up to his underarms, working it free of the padded aketon he wore between mail and chemise, then bent over, almost grasping his own ankles. He wriggled his shoulders and the hem of the hauberk slipped over his neck, the hard mail rings landing against the back of his head. Burke rolled his eyes at the indignity of it all, glad ’twould shortly be done. He gave his shoulders a shake.
And naught happened.
His mail was caught on the aketon.
Burke muttered a curse and stood up, quickly discovering that the hauberk was not prepared to fall back into place either. It was fairly wrapped around his neck, snagged on that cursed aketon, and hanging over his head like a monk’s snood. Burke could not even put his arms down; his elbows were trapped around his ears. He bent over with a growl and set to some serious squirming, determined to work his way free in short order.
’Twas thus, of course, that Alys found him. He knew ’twas her by her surprised laughter. Indeed, Burke had always striven to make the lady laugh, but not at his own expense!
“ ’Tis hardly amusing from this perspective,” he said with a growl.
“Oh, I might argue that,” Alys said easily. “ ’Tis not often you are found at disadvantage.”
The thread of humor lingering in her tone rankled. “And what does that mean?”
“Only that you are a man who sees his own desire fulfilled, if naught else.”
Burke did not know what to make of that comment. He heard the bolt slide home and was relieved to know that, at least, none other would see him in such ignoble circumstance. ’Twas not precisely the way he had hoped to meet his lady, but there was naught for it now.
“Alys, you have but to pull the mail free of the aketon to see it fall clear away.”
There was a stillness in the chamber, as if she considered him. “And that would be … convenient?”
“Alys, this is no prank,” Burke said sternly. He had little patience with her teasing in this moment. He wriggled with vigor, his teeth clenching when the cursed mail did not move. “Surely ’tis not too much to ask for a simple gesture of assistance in this …”
Alys crossed the room to stand before Burke, then moved no further, as if she wanted to ensure he could see that she did naught. He studied her through the tunnel of chain mail, and she returned his gaze evenly.
And she did not lift a hand. Indeed, Alys folded her arms deliberately across her chest, the move emphasizing the soft curves of her breasts.
“On the contrary, sir,” she said solemnly, “it seems to me that you have no right to expect anything from me, after all you have done.”
Burke blinked. “What nonsense is this?” He fidgeted but made no progress, his temper rising with the obstruction of both hauberk and maiden, “Alys, I have done naught amiss!”
Her eyes flashed golden. “Naught amiss? You abandon me in shame, you return to court my cousin, you expect me to submit to your touch immediately upon your arrival, and, failing that, you would ensure that my reputation is completely sullied!” She arched one fair brow. “Truly, if that is naught, I should hate to see what you consider to be a deed of merit.”
Burke could not even think with the weight of the mail caught over his head. Indeed, Alys might have been speaking in tongues. He wriggled with new persistence and something tore. Certainly his temper was wearing thin.
A pox on this hauberk!
“Alys, you make no sense. ’Twas you who sent me from Kiltorren’s gates, if you care to recall the truth of it”
“I? You left! And that with nary a word to me.” Alys leaned closer, her eyes snapping. “And you can well imagine what my aunt made of that, after she found us with your hand on my breast!”
Burke exhaled in frustration, then fought to keep his tone even. “Alys, ’twas a misunderstanding …”
“Aye, ’twas that!” the lady declared. “For I believed you would treat me with honor.”
“I did!” Burke cried ’Twas she who had spurned his suit, after all. “What else was a man of honor to do after all that occurred but depart?”
Alys gave a short hoot of laughter. “No man of honor would conduct himself as you have done.”
Burke fixed his lady with a steely glare through the tunnel of his mail. ’Twas hardly a position in which a man could make a concerted appeal to a woman, but it seemed he had little choice. “Alys, I believed that there was tenderness between us, that my regard for you was returned in kind …”
“Aye!” Her eyes flashed like amber in the sun and she stepped closer, but only to shake a finger at him. “You desired me, ’twas clear, and I was fool enough to believe ’twas more than a mere rutting you desired!”
Rutting? He was no barnyard animal!
“What vulgar nonsense is this?” Burke bellowed, writhing with newfound vigor against the mail.
The aketon tore, the hauberk moved, and Burke shook it over his head with a snarl. It clattered to the floor just as Alys jumped away, and Burke gave the unworthy pile of metal a hearty kick.
Then he glared at the woman backing away from him and propped his hands on his hips.
’Twas time to have the truth of it.
“What is this nonsense you spout, Alys? ’Twas no rutting I desired of you, and you know it well.”
“Hardly that!” the lady replied, her eyes snapping. “Even now you would try to compromise me while you court my cousins.”
“I am not courting your cousins!”
“Nay? Then why did you return to Kiltorren?”
“For a bride, Alys, I told you well.”
“And you also confessed that you did not expect me to be here.” Alys glared at him. “Which can only mean that my cousins are sole candidates for that role!”
“Nay, Alys, I came for you!” Before she could protest, Burke hastened to clarify. “I meant to find word of you and seek you out. I meant to make you my bride.” He stepped closer, offering his hand to the wary damsel. “Alys, you know that I am a man of honor.”
“Nay, I do not.” Alys danced backward defiantly, her eyes snapping in a most intriguing way. “There was no honor in your pursuit of me three years past, and so there can be none now.”
“No honor?” Burke shoved a hand through his hair. “What, then, of my offer for your hand? How is that a dishonor to you?”
“You made no offer for my hand!”
“I most certainly did!” Burke did not know how she could deny this simple fact. “ ’Tis not a matter a man readily forgets.”
But Alys was clearly unconvinced. She tossed her braid over her shoulder, lifted her chin, and eyed Burke so pertly that he longed to kiss her senseless. He certainly did not recall that she had fired his blood so thoroughly before.
“Perhaps you have confused your many courtships with those days at Kiltorren,” she suggested with soft challenge. “I have no doubt you have found much success in noblewomen’s chambers.”
Burke shook a finger before her, not at all caring for the tone of this conversation. “There has only been one proposal to cross my lips, Alys, and only one that has been spurned.”
“Aye?” She arched a brow. “And to whom did you propose?”
“ ’Twas to you!” Burke bellowed.
Alys leaned closer and whispered the charge. “Liar!”
“I am no liar!” Burke roared, half believing that volume would make her listen. “I offered for your hand in good faith.”
Alys was unpersuaded. “That cannot be true,” she said crisply. “For surely I would have known of such an offer.”
Burke was incredulous. “You did not hear of it?”
The lady shook her head. “Because there was none.”
How could this be?
Burke lowered his voice in appeal, sensing that something was amiss. “But, Alys, I assure you that there was! I offered for you, I swear it. I grant you my word of honor.”
Alys rolled her eyes but, before she could speak, Burke stepped forward and snatched her shoulders. She caught her breath and her eyes widened, as reassuring a sign of her awareness as could be. She was soft beneath his hands, her pulse fluttered at her throat, and the sweet scent of her skin inundated him.
Something had gone sorely awry and Burke meant to repair it.
And then he would have that kiss.
“I made that offer, just as surely as you spurned it,” Burke insisted, willing Alys to believe him. “I pledged for your hand, I offered to wed you three years past.” He felt a measure of his own hurt filter into his words. “Truly, Alys, I thought you would have the dignity at least to refuse me yourself.”
Alys frowned and uncertainty filtered into her gaze. “But …”
Burke needed no more encouragement than that to press his appeal. He pulled her closer, noting how she leaned toward him, and sensed success in the wind. “Alys, I would see a return to that sweet afternoon. I would begin again …”
Alys’s eyes flashed and she ducked from beneath his hands, quickly putting the steaming tub between them. “Aye! But you would fully make a whore of me this time!”
“What?!” Burke lunged after her, wanting to shake some sense into this infuriating woman his Alys had become. The lady suddenly scooped up one of the buckets she had brought. The water within spilled slightly over one side at her hasty gesture.
“ ’Tis icy cold, sir, and likely not the bath you desire,” she warned with a surety of herself that Burke could not ever recall witnessing in her before. “Keep away from me or you shall wear its contents.”
Burke folded his arms across his chest and surveyed this unexpectedly bold damsel. He had no doubt she would do as she threatened.
Truly his Alys had changed.
And truly she was much, much more interesting than the sweet maiden he recalled.
Ye gods, but Burke was glad he was right! ’Twould be a fine battle to win, for this Alys would kiss like a goddess once she knew he had done naught wrong. Their reconciliation would be well worth whatever price he paid.
But the issue remained—how could she not have known of his proposal? It made absolutely no sense …
Unless her family had lied to her.
Burke caught his breath in certainty that he had guessed the truth. Indeed, they did not treat Alys well in any other matter; why should this be different? If that were true, was it so very surprising that Alys had lost her faith in him?
Burke wished with sudden fervor that he had never been so trusting as to leave without hearing the lady’s refusal fall from her own lips.
What other lies had been told of him and his deeds?
Burke propped his hands on his hips and leaned across the steaming tub to hold Alys’s steady gaze. “I would know the fullness of the crimes for which you hold me accountable.”
“You have forgotten them already?” Alys asked mildly.
Burke felt his lips thin. “It would seem that I am ignorant of them.” He lifted a brow in turn. “Or, perhaps, innocent of them.”
“Innocent” she echoed, and a playful smile unexpectedly curved her lips. “I hardly think that innocence would be one of your attributes, Burke.”
Burke could not help but grin at the truth of that. “To be falsely charged is perhaps not quite the same as to be innocent,” he conceded.
Alys chuckled as if she wished she could stop herself, then bit her lip. She sobered and eyed him with sudden solemnity. “You had best have your bath before it grows cold.”
’Twas an abrupt change of topic, but Burke recognized the good sense of it. And he was in dire need of a bath. Perhaps that was what offended his lady.
Burke eyed Alys, not at all certain he could predict her response in these days. “And then you will tell me of this?”
Alys held his gaze. “No doubt I will tell you more than you have any desire to know.”
Fair enough. Burke nodded approval, shed his torn aketon, then hauled his linen chemise over his head.
He flicked a glance to Alys who watched him warily, and his voice turned gruff. “Turn around. ’Tis not fitting for you to see a man fully.”
Alys cast him a challenging glance. “I thought you had no care for my reputation.”
“You thought wrong,” Burke retorted.
“Then why request to have me here?” Alys set the bucket down with a thump and propped one hand upon her hip. “ ’Tis no place for a maiden. How could you compromise me thus?”
“I would not compromise you!” Burke insisted. “ ’Twas the only place I could think that we would be undisturbed and where none could hear our words.” Alys’s skepticism seemed unaffected by this claim, so Burke willed his determination to show. “Your honor is the concern of none beyond myself.”
She seemed surprised by his vehemence and momentarily at a loss for words. Burke felt more irritable than he could recall—’twas one matter for a man’s deeds to be found wanting, quite another for the lady of his heart to judge him harshly when he had done naught amiss.
Burke frowned pointedly at the lady in question when he reached for the drawstring on his chausses. He was almost surprised when she did his bidding and turned away.
Burke dropped his chausses and climbed into the tub, soothed as the warm water closed over him. Indeed, ’twas enough to dismiss his foul mood and rekindle his usual optimism. He would persuade Alys of the truth, and then she would welcome his return with open arms.
Indeed, Burke had never failed at achieving any goal before, let alone one of such import. Why should his fortune change now? Once he knew the crimes for which she held him guilty and the lies she had been told, Burke could refute them with the truth.
’Twould be simple.
“Tell me, Alys,” he invited gently. “Tell me what is amiss.”
But the lady darted around the tub. She picked up all of Burke’s garments, unbolted the door, and cast them out into the corridor with unrestrained glee. Burke watched Alys in astonishment, momentarily distracted by the way her faded blue dress clung to her curves and her bare feet flashed beneath the worn hem.
When she spun to face him, Burke was startled that the lady’s eyes suddenly shone with mischief. Her expression put him so in mind of a younger Alys that he did not immediately understand what she had done. Indeed, that dimple fleetingly returned.
Then Alys shot the bolt home with a victorious gesture and Burke frowned.
Why had she cast out his clothes?
“And now,” she declared triumphantly, “you are completely at my mercy, sir.” Before Burke could comprehend her actions Alys picked up a bucket of water once more. She advanced upon him with a determination that seemed a bad omen for his immediate future.
“What is this you do?” Burke demanded, half rising from the tub before he recalled her maidenly innocence.
And his own aroused state.
He sat down with a splash, his gaze falling on the flash of her feet beneath the hem of that cursedly short kirtle, and matters became worse. If only he had some garb! He felt his eyes widen as she hefted the bucket, her expression one of resolve.
Verily, he was trapped.
Something clearly had gone awry, but Burke did not know what. After all, ’twas not like his Alys to be so unpredictable.
But his Alys was locked away inside this intriguing stranger, this woman who defied and challenged him, and prompted his desire in ways that his maiden had not.
“Now, Burke de Montvieux,” Alys confided with a little smile that made Burke’s blood quicken despite his predicament, “I shall tell you precisely what you have done, no less what I think of your deeds.”
And Burke realized that he had made a miscalculation, no less one that might prove most dire.
To Alys’s surprise, she did not feel nearly as victorious as expected when she had Burke cornered. ’Twas just his infernal charm working upon her resolve, she knew it well.
And indeed, he did not even look cornered, which was most unsatisfactory.
For a fleeting moment, alarm had flashed in his eyes, then Burke settled back in the tub with an indulgent smile. The man looked supremely in control of the situation, even though he sat nude in a tub of water, devoid of garb and completely at her whim. He watched her carefully, though Alys imagined a dozen plans of action were already forming in his mind.
But she would not be deterred. Alys stepped closer. “Three years past, you kissed me in the stables.”
Burke arched a dark brow and settled back into the tub, his eyes narrowing as he considered her. The water swirled about him, steam rising from the surface of the water. The sight of his broad, bare, and tanned shoulders did little to bolster Alys’s resolve.
“Aye, that I did.” The admission fell readily from Burke’s lips. Indeed, he looked untroubled. “As I recall, you, my lady fair, did kiss me back.”
Much to Alys’s irritation, the knight looked bemused.
Burke leaned forward and braced his elbows on the rim of the tub, a devilish glint dancing in his eyes. “Indeed, if ’tis another kiss you desire, Alys, you have but to ask.” He grinned and Alys’s heart skipped a beat. “ ’Twould be my pleasure.”
“Your pleasure is precisely the issue between us!” Alys dropped the bucket to shake a finger at this suavely confident knight. “You took advantage of my innocence and my trust.”
“You enjoyed those kisses as well, Alys.”
Alys flushed at the truth of that. “But you took advantage of the fact that I knew naught of knights of your kind!”
Burke’s eyes flashed and he leaned forward with new intensity. “My kind? Why does that not sound complimentary, Alys?”
Alys tipped up her chin proudly. “I refer to rogue knights, who take their pleasure and care naught for the consequences.”
At that, Burke took umbrage. He straightened and his dark brows drew together. “I am no rogue knight!”
“Nay? Would you have halted with fondling my breast had we not been interrupted?” she demanded, hating the catch that appeared in her voice. “Or would you have had your way with me fully before you abandoned both me and Kiltorren?”
“Alys!” Burke’s expression turned shocked, and Alys was glad she knew how readily he lied. “I never abandoned you …”
“Nay, you have returned to finish your seduction while you court my cousins.” Burke caught his breath, but Alys could not halt now. “What of this demand that I service you in the bath? How can you imagine that the hall will not be full of tales as a result?”
“I care naught for servants’ tales!”
“I do! Did it occur to you to consider my honor in this? I must live in this hall, I must survive beneath my aunt’s thumb, and when she calls me ‘whore,’ I assure you ’tis not without consequence.”
“Alys, I would never dishonor you.”
“That seems an empty claim after you have done precisely that!” Alys dared to lean closer and dropped her voice to a determined undertone. “My aunt made much of my loose morals these three years, as any fool might imagine, and I have learned the price such a charge does bear. Do not imagine that I shall indulge your whim, for I know now the manner of man that you are.”
“Do tell,” Burke invited softly. He was dangerously still, his eyes glinting, and Alys knew the satisfaction of having captured his attention fully.
“Incorrigible, impossible, and not to be trusted,” she declared, leaning ever closer to make her point. “And know, sir, that I shall never be fool enough to believe you, let alone cede to your touch, ever again!”
Burke’s eyes flashed, but Alys did not note the warning before he had caught her about the waist. At his abrupt move, she lost her balance and tumbled against him. There was no time to fear she might fall, for Burke caught her protectively against his chest. Her hip was perched on the edge of the tub, Burke’s arms were wrapped around her, her kirtle trailed into the bathwater.
And Alys could not look away from the resolve in Burke’s gaze. Indeed, she could not seem to summon the strength to move, not even when he inclined his head, not even when his lips hovered a finger’s breadth above her own.
Because she knew what he intended to do.
And despite all her fine words, Alys wanted naught more than that kiss.
Curse him.
“Have you had your say?” Burke murmured. Alys remained silent.
“Then I shall have mine,” Burke declared with low resolve, his gaze unswerving. “You should know me well enough to know I can never resist a challenge. We shall touch again, my lady, and often. Upon that you have my solemn pledge.”
Burke smiled, that slow crooked smile that had always stolen away Alys’s breath.
Her breath did indeed abandon her, as if she knew naught of this man who held her in his possessive grip, as if she knew naught of the price of wanton urges. Her heart pounded in anticipation of his touch, and Alys hated herself for being her mother’s daughter.
“You are, after all, my own lady fair,” Burke continued so deliberately that Alys’s mouth went dry. “I have won you before and I shall win you once again. And that, Alys, you may rely upon.”
Alys had time to catch her breath and no more, before Burke’s lips slanted purposefully across her own.