Lady Thief - By Rizzo Rosko Page 0,52
this time, there was enough of him there to make her aware that she was still under his power.
“If you would like to scream as you are prone to do, I would prefer that you not do so in front of the servants.” He reached out for a pillow and handed it to her. “Screaming and shrieking into this should stifle most of the noise.”
Marianne lowered her hands but did not take the pillow. “Nay, I think I shall not scream today.”
He raised a brow at her, tossing the pillow away. “And you will not try to gallop off into the forest?”
She glared again, but she did not put her usual spirit into it. “You have made that quite impossible already, dear husband.”
She did not use the name with any of her earlier sarcasm. In fact she shocked herself with the playful tone she heard there.
William smiled, tracing her jaw with the tip of a large finger. “Simply because you decide not to scream does not mean I wish for you to contain your anger. You are allowed to be cross with Blaise.”
Marianne eyes widened. How had he seen through her like that? “What gave you the impression I was not going to be angry with him?”
His pleased smile turned from innocent to wickedness. “My dear, whenever the world vexes you, you either scream at the top of your lungs, or you run away from it.”
“You will haunt me with the forest incident for the rest of my life, won’t you?” Marianne shut her eyes against him, exasperated and willing for her strength to not leave her. “I’ll have you know that was a singular moment of foolishness.”
William’s brow nearly touched his hairline. The vision of her running from the church upon discovering that he was not who she thought he was flashed in his memory. ‘Twas no singular incident, but he said nothing of it.
“Very well,” he said.
Marianne worried her bottom lip. “If your men find my father, and bring him back, and if he did steal those things from you, what will you do to him?”
William clasped the bridge between his eyes, as though he searched for the proper words. “‘Tis a difficult question. He needs punishment, I cannot pretend he did not steal from me simply for your sake and allow him to stay.” He looked down at her. Marianne squirmed as he continued. “Yet for your sake, I do not believe I can not turn him out into the cold.”
Marianne hesitated. Actually, he could do whatever he wanted to the man and Marianne could say naught about it. She certainly did not want her father to freeze during the winter months, but at the same time…
“You could always give him a thrashing.”
He sputtered. “What is this?”
Marianne did not know if he was shocked by her statement or the predatory smile on her face.
“Or you could put him in the barn and have him clean the stalls until he has learned his lesson. But you must wait until they are good and full, with no one there to aid him.”
William laughed. “Aye, I can see him in my mind doing that. He will need to be watched of course,”
“Naturally. We cannot have him trying to run off again.”
“Aye, when he returns I shall have to order the men at the gates to not only refuse to open the drawbridge for you, but now for him as well.”
Marianne laughed. How was it possible he could still her anger like this? The tension was no longer in her body, and their closeness did not stir a worry in her gut either. The old warm feelings in her belly returned, the air surrounding her became hot and comforting. How could she tell him that she wished to make love again without humiliating herself?
His face was close to hers, breath warming her cheeks further. The heat traveled into her lungs, which worked harder to take in more air. Slowly, hesitantly, Marianne reached up to touch his lightly colored hair, holding the strands between her fingertips like he had done to her.
The few threads of gray made him handsome, and she wondered if he had been just as handsome, or more so, before the small lines creased under his eyes.
Nay, she thought after some seconds of study, smoothing the hair the dropped to his forehead. He could never have been more pleasing to the eye at any other time. He was perfect now.
Marianne shifted, embarrassment gripped her body and she bit her