possess too much of myself?”
Her eyes were like dark mirrors to her soul and he could see each brush of his lips, each flicker of his tongue reflected there. She was still aroused, still peaking delicately, languidly, in a way that made him acutely aware of where they were still joined together.
Ariel was aware of it too and her lashes fluttered down and her teeth caught her lower lip, curling it between them in a sharp bite for courage.
“Have you … given any thought as to what will happen at Gloucester?”
He had given a good many things a great deal of thought over the past twelve hours; he had not anticipated the need for outright answers so soon.
“I … know I have no claim,” she stammered, swallowing to cover the awkward gap caused by his silence. “Nor do I expect you to feel any obligation to marry me, but … I would ask … beg … that you do not cast me aside altogether. I w-would stay with you as your mistress, your cook’s helper, your boot scrubber if that is what you would make of me, but only … do not … banish me—” she sobbed, “—to Wales. Do not … m-make me wed a man … I do not know … or … do n-not care to know … or …”
She dissolved in tears and buried her face against his throat, too mortified to see the look of shock which she was certain must be widening his eyes as he beheld the ultimate proof of her brashness. He still cupped her hand over his lips— it was frozen there by horror, she supposed—and she could feel his breath, hot and stilted, gusting into her palm.
She reclaimed it with yet another sob and clenched it into a fist, fighting the urge to strike out at something, anything, but most especially the motionless, unresponsive wall of muscle that held her trapped against the moss.
“I … have no need for a boot scrubber,” he admitted finally. “And I have already sampled your talents as a cook’s helper, only to find them sadly wanting. As to a mistress … aye.” He paused consideringly and ran both hands down the curve of her back. “You show promise of a distinct knack there, my lady, but alas … no. I have no need for a mistress either. I have neither the time nor the energy to spare on such things.”
Ariel’s hopes sank and her shoulders sagged, but it seemed he was not finished chastising her yet. Nor would he let her escape without tilting her face up and forcing her to meet his gaze.
“It will have to be as a wife, or nothing at all,” he said quietly.
Ariel’s breath stopped in her throat and her heart missed a noticeable beat.
“Your … wife?” she whispered.
“If you will have me: a scarred and saddle-galled beast, arrogant and ill-mannered, brutish, unfeeling—” He pursed his lips and frowned. “My memory fails me, was there more?”
She studied his smile intently. “You mock me, sir.”
“I love you, my lady. God Himself could be waiting for you at Gloucester and I would not relinquish you.”
Stunned, she barely responded as he bowed his head, kissing her with all of the tenderness she could have longed for and more than she deserved.
“Of course … your uncle is another matter. He will not be pleased to hear how you have spurned another groom.”
“I have not spurned Rhys ap Iorwerth,” she protested softly. “I have simply made a wiser choice.”
“Nonetheless, you have broken your contract with him. A contract your uncle signed and sealed in good faith.”
“The contract is void if I marry another—Lord knows the Welsh have stolen enough brides away from their intended grooms to be well acquainted with the law. As for Uncle Will …” She paused and the relief she felt brought forth a giddy question. “Are you afraid of him?”
“Me? Afraid of the Marshal of England? The greatest champion of all time? Only from the ankles up, my love; only from the ankles up.”
“But he likes you. He admires you; this he told me himself.”
“Aye, well, his admiration might dim somewhat once he learns how sadly we have botched things.”
“Botched? But you have saved the princess. You have stolen her out of King John’s clutches.”
“That we have,” Eduard agreed grimly, disengaging himself as gently as possible. “But in such a way as to leave no doubt who was responsible. Part of your uncle’s plan was to keep the king from