sparked between them? He had glimpsed a well-spring of hope within her, a yearning for a home and family of her own, longing for the home she had left behind. What, if anything, had she sensed in him?
Rhianna took a deep breath, unsettled by the tension between them. "Would you mind if I shared your wine?"
"I doubt you would find it to your liking."
She glanced at the dark liquid in the decanter, then reached for her own glass, which was filled with water.
"Finish your supper, Rhianna," he said. "You need to keep up your strength."
"Why? I never do anything more strenuous than play the piano."
"Because you're hungry."
Obediently, she picked up her fork and began to eat. She was hungry, after all.
Later, he sat in a chair before the fire, sipping from his wineglass, while she read to him. Time and again, she glanced in his direction, expecting him to be bored or asleep, but always she found him watching her, his fathomless black eyes burning with a strange fire, a warmth hotter and more penetrating than the heat radiating from the crackling flames in the hearth.
"Tell me about yourself," he said, surprising them both.
"There's little to tell, my lord. I have four sisters, all younger than I." Her voice turned bitter. "My father sold me. Surely that tells you all you need to know."
"It tells me he needed money."
"He could have sold his horse."
A wry smile curled Rayven's lip. "And would you have pulled the plow in the horse's stead?"
She lifted her chin defiantly. "I have done so in the past."
Her admission touched a chord within him. Proud, she was, in spite of her poverty.
"You'll never have to do so again."
"Why did you buy me?"
Rayven shrugged, unable to admit the truth. "Why do you think?"
"I don't know." Her gaze slid away from his. "I thought that... I mean..."
" Go on. What did you think?"
"Nothing."
"Tell me." She heard the sliver of steel beneath his softly spoken command.
"I thought you bought me so I wouldn't have to disrobe in front of the others."
"You're very perceptive, sweet Rhianna."
"But why? You never..." Fire climbed into her cheeks, and she bent her head to the book.
"I never come to your bed?"
She didn't look up, but she nodded.
"And that bothers you?"
"Oh, no," she said quickly. It didn't bother her, not really, although it stung her pride to think he found her so ugly as to be completely undesirable.
"Rhianna, look at me."
Slowly, she met his gaze.
"You are a beautiful young woman," he said quietly. "But you are young. Far too young for me." His hands clenched in his lap. "Be glad I do not come to your bed." A shiver ran through her as his gaze held hers. "You would not like what would happen if I did."
She stared into his eyes, caught in their darkness, in blackness that was icy cold yet hotter than flame. It was like looking into eternity, she thought, into an endless black void filled with such yearning that she wanted to weep.
Muttering an oath, Rayven stood up. "Go to bed, Rhianna," he said curtly.
Frightened by the seething turmoil in his voice, she scrambled to her feet and hurried from the room.
Panic lent wings to her feet, and she fairly flew up the stairs to her bedchamber. Inside, she turned the key in the lock, then collapsed on the bed, feeling as though she had just escaped, though from what, she couldn't say.
Chapter Four
I shadow my gaze in your presence
and pray you may ne'er be part,
Of the hunger that claws at my vitals
of the evil that blackens my heart.
Rayven stared after her, his hands curled into tight fists. It had been a mistake, joining her at supper.
Never before had he spent time with the women he brought here. He used them as long as it was safe, then he paid them handsomely and sent them away. Far away, with a warning never to return. He had never watched any of the others so avidly while they slept, or burned with such longing for the touch of their flesh.
But Rhianna... She drew him in ways he didn't understand. She was no different from the others. All had been young. All had been beautiful. Though none had been quite so young, or quite so beautiful, as Rhianna. All had been born in poverty and ignorance. But none had expressed such an eagerness to learn.
He should send her away now, before it was too late.