Beneath a Midnight Moon - By Amanda Ashley Page 0,27

he flushed under her probing gaze.

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of,” she said. “Lots of men have . . . trouble. That’s why they come here.”

“There’s nothing wrong with me,” he said curtly.

“Perhaps the fault lies with me. Perhaps I don’t please you?”

“You’re very beautiful, but . . .”

She smiled sagely. “But I’m not her?”

“No, you’re not.”

“She’s a lucky woman,” the courtesan murmured. “Perhaps, if things don’t work out between the two of you, you’ll come see me again.”

“Perhaps,” Hardane replied, but he knew it was a lie, and so did she.

Without another word, he left the woman’s room. In the hall, he drew a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. Other men might find relief here, but he felt degraded, unclean.

Downstairs, he ordered a flagon of ale, then sat in a dark corner to wait for Jared, wondering how his friend could find pleasure in the arms of a woman who sold herself to any man who could pay the price.

He was half asleep when Jared entered the room, a grin stretching across his face.

“Well, aren’t you the quick one,” Jared remarked, slapping Hardane on the back. “Been waiting long?”

“No. Shall we go?”

“In a minute. How was she? Did she give you your money’s worth?”

“I learned what I needed to know,” Hardane replied ruefully, and wondered if he’d perform any better with Selene than he had with the woman in the blue room.

And if he didn’t, what then? What of the prophesy that foretold the birth of twin sons? How could he hope to produce an heir when his body refused to respond? Perhaps there was some flaw in his masculinity, perhaps he could only be aroused by a woman he couldn’t have . . . Kylene.

He cursed softly as he felt his manhood stir to life. He had only to think her name, he mused, and desire ran through him, as hot and swift as lava spewing from a volcano.

Kylene.

He hurried to his horse, Jared and the woman in the blue room forgotten in his haste to return home, to see her face, hear her voice.

He railed at the cruel hand of fate that had played him such a cruel trick, and then he forgot everything but the need to be with her, the woman who held his heart.

Kylene. The one woman who could never be his.

Chapter 15

Hardane left Jared to look after the horses and hurried into the keep, driven by an uncontrollable urge to see Kylene, to hear her voice. He needed the company of her sweet presence to banish the last vestiges of the pleasure palace that lingered like a bad dream in the back of his mind.

The castle had never seemed so huge as it did now as he walked through it room by room.

He found her in the small sala in the far reaches of the keep, a delicate piece of lace embroidery in her lap, a faraway look in her eyes as she gazed out the open door into the gardens beyond.

He stood inside the doorway, just watching her, for a long moment before he spoke her name.

Kylene’s heart fluttered with excitement at the sound of his voice. All day, she had been thinking of him, wondering where he had gone, when he would return. It baffled her, how eagerly she had awaited his return, how empty the hours seemed when he was not there. And mingled with that bewilderment was a strong sense of guilt because she spent so much time thinking of him, only him, when she should be examining her soul, seeking penance and forgiveness for her wayward thoughts.

She laid the needlework aside as he crossed the floor to stand beside her. She tilted her head back so she could see his face, mesmerized, as always, by his rugged good looks.

Hardane stared down at her, suddenly at a loss for words now that he’d found her. The sunlight streaming through the open door made her skin glow and cast golden highlights in her hair. But it was the look of welcome in her eyes that brought a smile to his lips.

He nodded toward the gardens. “Do you . . . would you care to take a walk?”

“Aye, my lord.”

He offered her his hand and helped her to her feet, pleased that she was a woman who knew her own mind, that she didn’t feel the need to be coy, or to play silly games.

Outside, they walked along the wide paths that wound in and out of the gardens. The