Lady Thief - By Rizzo Rosko Page 0,55
not do their work Hawisa and I shall scream their ears off.”
William laughed. Marianne opened her eyes so that she might see his amusement.
His lips stretched into a smile that touched and lit his eyes. His gaze could teach the stars to sparkle.
She touched his face, inspired by the thought. “I’m glad ‘twas you I forced to wed me.”
She spoke the words without thinking, but once they were out, she realized they were true.
He took her small hand into his larger one and brought it to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to her fingers. “As am I.”
He had said kind things to her before, had comforted her and never pushed her for what she could not give, but those words warmed her like naught he had ever said.
His hand traveled sensuously down her torso and legs, burning through the blanket she did not remember being covered with before falling asleep.
“As much as I prefer being here with you, we are not in our chamber, and if the servants think we are missing they shall call for Blaise, who will riot until we are found.”
Moaning, Marianne grabbed the woolen blanket and pulled it over her head.
“Am I to take that to mean you do not mind?” William asked.
She snorted. Marianne struggled with the thought of leaving her comfortable cocoon, turning her eyes away from William’s naked chest beneath the blanket, and getting up to ensure that the morning’s duties were handled properly.
“God’s teeth.” Marianne threw her covers off and hissed against the sudden cold as she searched for her chemise and gown.
Only when Marianne managed to half dress herself did she sense William watching. He stayed in bed, leaning against one arm and smiling leisurely as he observed her.
The blanket fell over his upper thigh, barely concealing his manhood, yet revealing his firm legs and his lightly haired chest. Seeing him barely clad was somehow more erotic than if he’d been completely naked.
Though she tried to refuse the blush, it came without her permission. She turned her face away and her nose found the air. “Ye are as bad as a curious boy.”
“Ah, but I am not curious. I have already had you. Now I merely wish to admire you.”
The heat ravaged her cheeks. She grabbed his tunic and flung it at him. He caught it and laughed again.
***
William rose to dress with her, contemplating taking her back to bed despite the consequences he’d told her of. But there were things that needed to be done and decisions to be made.
William should have gone with his men on their search for Marianne’s father. But the theft, while insulting, had not posed enough threat for him to leave her side. Not when she would likely do something rash without calm words to sooth her hissing spirit.
And now, Holton’s theft was not the only thing on his mind. Last night he said—to himself at least—that he loved Marianne.
Strange how thinking such things about his wife could stun him. As if he had been hit in the head with a club, or thrown from his horse.
He could allow himself to grow fond of her, to enjoy her like he had last night. So how was it possible for him to love after all the pain the emotion had brought him the last time he experienced it? The foolish way he acted because of it? Ruined a young woman’s life over it?
Even if he could love her, until he was certain that he could defend her from Ferdinand’s threat, if the man did indeed pose a threat, he would keep the emotion that squeezed in his chest under firm control. For both of their sakes.
***
Marianne could not finish tightening the back of her gown on her own. When she finished as much as she could, she looked to William, sensing the mood darkening around him, and puzzled over it.
Only a few moments ago he’d lain with her and laughed with her. Now she did not know what to make of him. His sudden scowl was uninviting and his back visibly taut. She reached out to touch him but he pulled away from her.
Her hand retracted. Though she had not touched him, she felt as though her entire body burned with painful rejection.
He tried to hide his behavior by smiling at her again. ‘Twas too late. She had already seen that something was amiss.
“Perhaps you shall spend more time with me today,” He said, leaning back with the air of a man who had everything