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Index
Prologue
Chapter One “You don’t mean to tell me that you have dragged me halfway across this frozen wasteland of a country to farm rocks amongst starving peasants? Because, if you have, Boy…” Robert smiled absently, his mind concentrating on the deceptively repetitive horizon, but about two days ago he had stopped listening to Matthew’s constant whining. Ideally, he should have left the old man and his endless steam of complaints back in the London inn that they had been calling home, but he had no idea how such a thing could have been achieved. After all, as he hadn’t invited him to come along in the first place, there was no way he could really have invited him to stay behind. From many years of hard experience Robert had learnt that nothing in the mortal realm moved Matthew one inch unless the cantankerous old man wanted to be moved. Just because the man called himself squire didn’t mean that he actually took orders at any point. Which was also only logical, Robert thought with a wry smile,
Chapter One
Chapter Two She let out a shrill peal of laughter. The hollow sound hung heavy in the air. She instinctively closed her eyes, wishing the laughter away. She wished she hadn’t given vent to the hysteria she could feel rising from her stomach, but somehow it was a force that could not be denied. The absurdity was just too great. He saw perfection. She couldn’t see at all. His deep, strong voice created pictures for her, but she could not see him, couldn’t tell what kind of man he was, whether he came to her dressed for war or wooing. She couldn’t even see to run away from him. A shiver ran down her spine. It was a creeping disadvantage. She longed to hide, and felt vulnerable when she knew she couldn’t. Roger’s dark whispers rose up to taunt her. Robert had both the strength and the determination to devote his life to one goal. He was here to claim his reward from the king, and she doubted that he would allow her to hide, but it wasn’t the king that she was afraid of. No, this was all Ro
Chapter Two
Chapter Three She heard the gathering long before they reached the hall. The low murmur of many voices sounded like the roar of a multitude in her mind. She had lived in her isolation for so long that the sound of the people from the Keep and the nearby villages gathered to see her was terrifying. The noise clouded her senses and dislocated her from the world. She moved as if in a dream. And the only real thing in her dream world was the man beside her. The warmth from his body seemed to calm the panic that was trying to form a cold knot in her stomach. He held her close to his side as if she was made of the finest crystal. This gentleness was perhaps the most surprising thing about her warrior. Instead of the exasperation and anger at her panic that she had expected, he had simply lifted her from the floor and looped her arm through his, placing his other warm hand reassuringly over hers. She was enclosed entirely in the strength of his almost-embrace. He had led her slowly from her s
Chapter Three
Chapter Four Robert leaned against her chamber door, panting for a moment. He still held her tight to his chest, his arms like steel bands around her. “Perhaps you should put me down now,” Imogen whispered huskily, barely able to recognize the voice that shattered the silence as her own. She didn’t even recognize herself in the wanton who so willingly embraced a man who was essentially a stranger, for all he was her husband, in her bedchamber. But she was. Despite all that Roger had done to her, he had not robbed her of her ability to find pleasure in the touch of this man. The realization staggered and amazed her. It was almost frightening, and a part of her wanted to run away from this strange new sensation, but a deeper, more primitive part had turned to molten lead. That was the part of her that seemed to be making her decisions at the moment. “Perhaps,” he said hoarsely and began to slide her slowly down his body till her feet made contact with the floor. She was unsurprised to fi
Chapter Four
Chapter Five Imogen stood with hands on hips, her face flushed with anger. “He’s gone where, exactly?” she bit out. Mary raised her hand, but quickly dropped it with embarrassment, realizing it wasn’t terribly astute to try and pacify a blind person with hand signals. “I said, he’s gone to the stone tower with a few of the men. They’re going to see what can be done with that pile of rubble, if anything.” Mary tried to ignore the look of fury on Imogen’s face, adding quietly, “It’s actually a very sound idea, Imogen.” “Oh, most sound,” Imogen snapped. “Everything he has done around here is most sound, most wise or just plain, bloody messianic.” She threw her hands into the air, growling with pure irritation as she stalked over to the window. She wrapped her arms tightly round her middle to try and stop herself from breaking something. There was no point breaking inanimate objects when it was his head she longed to crack like an eggshell. The sunlight streamed cheerfully through the open
Chapter Five
Chapter Six Robert stepped gingerly over yet another fallen stone. “…or we could always just paint it in your colors and stuff your banner on top…” Matthew said gleefully. And while his face might have appeared serious and earnest, Robert was only too well aware that his eyes were dancing. When he had first suggested this excursion, Matthew had grumbled loud and long at the earliness of the hour, then at the cold, then at the riding required. Robert had shrugged his shoulders and ignored him just as he usually did when Matthew got into one of these moods, but he had also known that Matthew would manage to extract his revenge at some point, both for being dragged from his warm bed and for being ignored. Matthew didn’t like being ignored. Robert sighed loudly and cast a puzzled eye over the tower. Matthew’s revenge had been too easy, really. No matter from which angle you looked at it, this derelict stone tower in the middle of nowhere was an absurdity, and Matthew was relishing pointing
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven Robert closed his eyes and, just for a moment, let himself savor the feel of her body close to his own. It seemed like an eternity since he had held her, inhaled the scent of her warm skin, heard the pounding of her heart in time with his own fevered pulse. Without any conscious thought his lips sought hers. She opened her mouth to meet the heat of his and he felt his desire rise till it consumed all rational thought. Her tongue met and mated with his, first sliding along his almost timidly, but soon staking a bold claim to him. A groan started low in his chest and rumbled up and into her mouth, causing a delicious shiver to run down her spine, spreading like a liquid flame through her body. When his hands moved up from her waist slowly, his fingertips just grazing the underside of the swell of her breasts, her heart stopped beating entirely. It started again only when his warm palm rested tensely against the side of them, then it raced as she waited for him to touch her
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight Robert winced when he saw that people were beginning to fill the courtyard as the sound of Dagger’s hooves on the compressed earth rang out through the early-morning silence. “So much for sneaking in before dawn,” he murmured softly into Imogen’s ear. She smiled lazily. In his arms she found nothing to fear at the sounds of the growing crowd. “Apparently you’re not supposed to sneak in on a horse.” Robert’s laughter rumbled through her. “I’d rather fail at a sneak on a horse when I have miles to cover, than to succeed on my feet.” “Amen!” Imogen said with a ferventness that made Robert laugh again as he swung down from Dagger’s back. After giving the openly gossiping crowd a stern look, daring them to comment, he turned and clasped his hands around Imogen’s waist, lifting her to the ground. He felt the by-now-familiar sliver of desire knife through him as he held her close, but with a resigned sigh he forced himself to step away from her. “Are you ready to face the hordes
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine The sound of Imogen’s laughter on the breeze drew Robert to the window. The courtyard below was bathed in sunlight, the snow of the long winter almost a memory, but it wasn’t the joy of the new season that filled Robert with warmth. No, it was the sound of Imogen’s laughter coming from the practice yard that brought a gentle smile to his face. He’d organized the space as soon as his men had started arriving on his doorstep, and now most hours of the day the courtyard was filled with the clash of steel on steel. Today, however, instead of the sound of men practicing war, all that could be heard was the murmur of voices and laughter. Yet again, it would seem, Imogen was distracting the men from their serious business. Not that they weren’t easily distracted, Robert thought wryly. She had only to appear outdoors and his men willingly laid down their arms just so that they might have a chance to vie for her attention, like now. Robert tried to find her in the scene below his w
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten When the first messenger arrived weeks later, Imogen hadn’t even realized that she had been waiting for it, waiting for Roger to stop biding his time and start playing the game in earnest. He timed his little drop of poison well, filling her with it just when she had started to forget how much pain he could inflict. Not that it wasn’t easy enough to forget his darkness when she was surrounded by Robert’s gentle, cleansing light. It seemed that in no time at all, he had changed her world. Under his care the Keep had slowly settled into a comfortable rhythm, everyone easily picking up the strands of their new lives. Imogen found herself intoxicated by the simple new life that now enclosed her. Tonight she could hear the murmur of women sewing and gossiping by the main hearth, hear the men cleaning their weapons or leathers, their deeper voices a bass note in the gentle, soothing hum that now filled the Keep. To Imogen there was no sweeter sound. She absorbed it as she sat opp
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven Robert swung the axe violently down, barely noticing that the log obediently split in two as he mechanically reached for another. Then another, and another. At some point he had absentmindedly discarded his tunic and the sweat ran down his exposed torso, glistening along the ridges of muscles on his abdomen. A dark lock of hair tried to fall over his face, but sweat held it in place at least for a moment, until he impatiently swept it back, then he hefted the axe over his head once more. He barely noticed the heat of the midday sun beating down on his exposed head, concentrating instead on each muscle as it stretched and shifted to do the repetitive work, relentlessly seeking oblivion in physical labor. Perhaps, if he worked his body till it was exhausted, he could achieve a state of numb bliss. It wasn’t working, he admitted grimly to himself as he brought the axe down. His mind refused to be silenced, ruthlessly following the well-trod circles of fear and anger, just a
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve Robert prowled around the room, the frustration that boiled restlessly inside him demanding a physical outlet. A week spent as the king’s “guests” and he felt like he had been static for an eternity. His muscles now demanded work, even if that work was only this pointless wondering. As he paced, his mind seethed with an uncomfortable mixture of memories and questions. No, that wasn’t honest. It wasn’t questions, plural, that haunted him but a single, solitary question. All of his curiosity could be rendered down to one simple, pure droplet of puzzlement: exactly what the hell was going on here? Robert strode from one side of the room to the other, then back again as his bewilderment went round and round his mind with a dizzying speed, but still he could find no answer. Not that it should have surprised him. Nothing was as it should be. In the time it had taken the king’s summons to reach Robert and for him to make his way down South, the king had decided to remove the co
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen Matthew sighed and lowered the wine jug to the floor, more than a little reluctant to actually sober up, but Robert needed him. That meant Matthew would do everything in his power to help. Well, try to, anyway. He stared at the ceiling and had to smile wryly as he acknowledged the folly he had committed himself to. Of course he would do what Robert had asked of him, just as soon as he worked out how the hell it was to be done. Sure, Robert had made it sound easy enough. Escape and warn Imogen. What could be simpler? Pulling your bottom lip over the top of your head for one, Matthew thought with a derisive snort that echoed in the silently empty room. No, it was no simple thing the boy asked, and Matthew had years of painful experience to compare it with. But difficult or not, he still had to do it. Slowly he moved his legs over the edge of the cot and eased his feet onto the floor. A raspy groan escaped him as he sat up, his stiff legs protesting his sudden desire to m
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen And to think the journey had sounded so simple from the comfort of the Keep, Imogen thought ruefully. She tried to stretch the nagging pain out of her spine, but nothing she did would shift it, not when the relentless plodding of the horse’s gait undid all her good works. Really she shouldn’t have expected anything else. It would seem that she was finally, truly comprehending that nothing in this world was easy. Imogen snorted quietly at the understatement. Easy, hell, this was almost impossible. It seemed so silly to think about it now, but “getting to Robert” had sounded like the easy part of the plan back at the Keep. All it really seemed to require was for her to throw her leg over a horse’s back and make a quick dash down south where the real work would begin. This going south was neither quick, nor a dash. It was tortuously backbreaking and it was taking so long that Imogen was becoming increasingly afraid it was to be a never-ending journey. She was starting to
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen A shiver ran down Imogen’s spine as the high walls of William’s fortress cast them into the shadows. She hunched her shoulders, trying to steel herself against the darkness of this desolate place. It seemed impossible to comprehend that somewhere within this stone menace was the man who had brought a little sunlight back into her life. It was all so alien to her, yet if her life had been all it should have been, she would have belonged to this cold darkness, it would have been so much a part of her that she would have long since stopped seeing the suspicion and hate that had built those thick stone walls. She would have seen nothing wrong in destroying an innocent man to satisfy another’s dark desires. With eyes that saw, she would have been blind to the gentleness and love that lurked under Robert’s armor. And that would have been a tragedy indeed. Imogen’s hands tightened compulsively as she heard the horses’ hooves strike the fortress’ stones. Suddenly, there was no
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen Gareth stepped quietly into Imogen’s chamber only after he had made sure no one had seen him skulking in the corridor outside her room. He gently closed the door, making no sound. He turned slowly, letting his eyes adjust to the dark room. He found Imogen standing by the open window, her profile bathed in moonlight. The dark waves of her hair hung like raw silk in the silvery light, lifting gently in the warm spring breeze, filling the chamber with its perfume. Gareth closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. “I see you not only managed to give your own guards the slip, but have also got past mine,” Imogen said softly. Startled, Gareth opened his eyes and responded to the slight smile on her face with one of his own. “And here I was thinking I was sneaking about most discreetly,” he said with a chuckle. She shrugged her shoulders elegantly. “Men who spend their days in heavy armor aren’t able to achieve the level of discretion required for a good sneak.” She smiled gently at
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen Robert was wide-awake and staring broodingly at the stones when the cell door opened. He didn’t bother looking up, his mind and soul still too consumed with Imogen to worry all that much about this new intrusion. Robert barely acknowledged the guards as they told him that they were taking him to the king’s private chamber. They removed the chains from his legs and wrists, one of them tersely ordering him to stand up. He stood stiffly, finding it difficult to get his back straight. The guard threw some clothes in his direction, which he caught clumsily. A small smile filtered across his face as he slowly dressed, the absurdity of the situation amusing him despite his worry. “Five guards?’ he enquired with a raised brow. “Surely William can’t be that worried. What sort of trouble does he really think I am going to cause while half-starved and unarmed?” He slipped on his boots, then tried to roll the strain out of his shoulders. “I suppose I should be flattered he thinks
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen Imogen couldn’t escape him. He was everywhere. He had effortlessly consumed her entire world till all that existed for her was his touch, his smell surrounding her with cold menace. He held her in front of him on the horse, like she was a child, enclosing her ruthlessly in his world so that she knew there was no escape. Her hands clenched together tightly and she drew a deep, stilted breath, trying to close herself off from reality. If she didn’t exist, then she would no longer have to feel the body that pressed hard against her back, trying to absorb her. But she did feel it and nothing she did was going to make it go away. A shiver of revulsion raced through her body before she could stop it. He felt it and she knew sickeningly that he enjoyed it. He pressed her so close that she feared she would shatter and be merged into him forever, the very thought making her shiver again. And that excited him more. She could clearly feel the heat of his erection where it throbbe
Chapter Eighteen
Epilogue
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