Reckless (Age of Conquest #5) - Tamara Leigh Page 0,61

you.”

Her words making him ache, he searched her face for the reckless young woman it was easier to dismiss than this one being refined by a close look at the reality of the world from which she had been shielded and the suffering of those who knew no shield.

“Do you truly believe that is infatuation?” she asked. “I hope it is not, that I have more regard for you than you have for me.” As if to ensure he did not think that last born of bitterness, she added, “As is right.”

She left him, and though she spoke little the remainder of the day, he did not think she sought to punish him. Simply, she was sorrowful and thoughtful, refusing to succumb to anger though he had thought it best.

Following a generous meal of foodstuffs bought at market—meat, cheese, bread, and the apples gifted him which they washed down with good wine—once more they made their beds across from each other. The distance between them was far from proper for a lady but necessary to protect Nicola, whether from herself or any beast who happened on the camp.

It was over an hour before Vitalis sensed she was asleep behind her lids, and only then did he lower his own. And live again this day.

The market. Normans delighting in Zedekiah’s desecration. The gap-toothed woman who named the conquerors rats and advised her fellow Saxon to live. The inside-out turning of Nicola’s belly that allowed him long-denied privacy. The raging under cover of the falls. Succumbing to tears in the presence of a woman whose witness should have shamed him enough to reject her touch and the succor offered. Her hands on him as he pressed his face in the hollow between her lovely neck and shoulder. Breathy words he had not realized were prayers for him until he began to regain control. Then more kindness in tending his injuries. And a kiss.

More than he regretted allowing Nicola to see a warrior cry, he regretted returning that kiss, and not only because it encouraged her feelings, but that it encouraged him to feel and desire the forbidden. He did still love Hawisa, but when he named her not only his first love but his last, it had felt a lie.

Despite all Nicola was and was not, despite all she had done and did not, he was exceedingly attracted to her. It would be easy to overcome were it merely desire that drew him to her, but more the lie it would be if he did not accept this went beyond desire, and that it could make havoc of him the same as done when he lost all hope of Hawisa—mayhap more havoc for twice in a lifetime wanting something that lay outside his future.

Draw no nearer me, Nicola, he silently entreated, tempt me no more. I would lose you now rather than later when I wish to lose you not at all.

Chapter Fifteen

The days ran together. Was it four or five since she held Vitalis behind the falls? Mayhap six?

Not six, she determined as she drew the string to her cheek and attempted to sight the partially obscured pheasant down the arrow’s shaft to the steel tip she prayed would land true so the bird did not suffer greatly.

To Vitalis’s credit, he kept his distance, allowing her to do what he would do again once his hand fully healed. To her credit, once more she had stayed put while he went to town seeking tidings better than those thus far gained, ones that would indicate it was safe to travel to Wulfen.

Nicola had given her word she need not be bound, and she had kept it though great the impulse to hunt so she would have the nooning meal on a spit when he returned. Now, as had become routine these past days, whatever he gleaned from frequenting the market must save until game was taken and set to cooking.

Did Daryl’s men, whose ranks Abbot Turold had increased following the delivery of Zedekiah’s head, continue to move deeper into East Anglia in search of Vitalis? Or did they accept their prey had gone elsewhere?

“The latter, Lord,” she said on the exhale which flew the arrow that, if it came close to skimming the tree behind which the bird pecked, would land true.

That it did.

She wanted to ignore Vitalis as was best for both beyond discussing matters related to her return to Wulfenshire, but she looked to where he was visible only because