Chapter 14
A lthough Liana had assured him their staying another night in the woods did not trouble her, Darien disliked that they’d been forced to do so. He would not chance being followed by the band of men who, despite their allegiance to Matilda, were too dangerous to be trusted. Their altered route would allow them to reach Stanford Manor by tomorrow evening and, if the weather held out, Castle Blackwood the day after it. But it meant Liana was, once again, without a bed in which to sleep.
He’d laid grass and leaves beneath her bedroll, started a fire, and unpacked the meal prepared by Liana’s new friend, the abbess from Whitley Abbey, in an attempt to make their “lodgings” more comfortable.
As she sat on the log beside him, one Darien had cleared off as thoroughly as possible, he could not help, as he’d done all day, remembering how it felt to ride with her beside him. The moment he mounted behind her, Darien wrapping one arm around her and hanging on to her mount’s saddle with the other, he’d felt as at home as when he arrived back at Ellsworth Castle. They fit together perfectly.
How had he so quickly become accustomed to having her by his side? And what would it be like to touch her cheek? To kiss her?
To make love to her?
“You are thoughtful this eve,” she said beside him, eating. He reached down to the ground, lifted the leather water pouch to his lips, and drank deeply from it, considering how to respond.
“I am,” he admitted, unable to say anything more. What should he say to her? That Darien had been thinking of what it would be like to feel her beneath him, no clothes between them, sinking into her? That he wondered what her moans of pleasure might sound like?
“I’ve not met a man or woman,” she said, “as reticent as you. Your reputation certainly does precede you.”
He’d heard as much many times, though it never bothered him. It was the Ellsworth legacy, their secrecy necessary lest all know the reason those who lived on the Isle of Ely had managed to escape every conflict unharmed.
However, he did not wish it to be that way between them.
“Ask anything you would like, and I will vow to answer truthfully.”
Finished chewing, Liana took the waterskin from him and drank. He watched as the firelight illuminated Liana’s profile. Though he understood her reasoning, Darien could not understand how some man had not persisted and claimed her for his wife.
“Anything?”
“Aye,” he said, meaning it. “Anything.”
She shifted toward him, and Darien could not take his eyes from her face. She truly was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
“What were you thinking?”
His mother, when she was alive, told anyone who might listen that her son was an intelligent child. She said it so often, Darien had believed it, whether her claims were true or not. Apparently, he’d thought too highly of himself for far too long.
She smiled.
He was caught in his own snare. He either lied or backed away from this game he’d started. Or...told her the truth.
“I was wondering how it was possible no man could have claimed you for his wife.”
If she was surprised by the topic, Liana did not reveal as much. “Perhaps because I did not wish to be claimed?”
“If the right man were to do so? Would you consider it?”
She thought about that, answering finally, “Men like my father—who could be trusted fully and accept my mother’s destiny—are rare. I do not believe that man exists.”
“You would forgo a family of your own to protect mine?”
“I’ve been given a gift. ’Tis not for me to question it or bemoan the consequences of it.”
Beautiful. And brave.
“Another question, if I may?”
“As I said. You may ask anything.”
“There have been rumors of your own marriage to Lady Evelyn of Harrington.”
Lady Evelyn was everything expected of a match for the Earl of Ellsworth’s son—beautiful, poised and possessing a dowry that would secure their family’s alliance. Yet, there was little warmth in her gaze, little fire in her heart. He had as much desire to marry Lady Evelyn as he did to spend his days settling household accounts.
“A marriage to Lady Evelyn has been spoken of many times,” he admitted. “And yet.”
“And yet?”
“There are more pressing matters at hand.”
“When the succession crisis has ended?” she pressed.
Darien looked to the fire, considering her words. He’d pushed off his marriage for more years than his father would have liked. “I will need heirs,” he said finally, not convinced those heirs would be from Lady Evelyn. It was a good match, but not one he wanted.
When he turned back to Liana, their eyes met.
I could be the right man.
Would his father stop him? Darien had never been formally betrothed to Lady Evelyn. And none who knew of her abilities could argue that Liana would help him secure the future of Ellsworth and the Isle of Ely as much as any other alliance. But she would keep her true abilities a secret, so none would know of it. Would she be accepted as his wife?
“Of course,” she said.
This time it was Liana who looked away.
Surely, she was not wounded by his words. To be so, she would have to feel something for him beyond their relationship as earl’s son and seer.
“Liana?”
She continued to stare into the fire.
He moved close to her and, without thinking further on the consequences, Darien reached up to her face. Turning her chin toward him—a brief touch, for he pulled away immediately, as if he’d jumped headfirst into the fire—he watched as her eyes widened. Watched as she remained still while Darien leaned forward.
She did not move.
But something else did. In an instant, Darien was up, bow in hand, racing toward the line of trees around them. The moonlight was hardly enough to guide him, but the sound of broken branches aided Darien’s search.
The thought of someone in the woods, the armed men they’d met on the road or any other, a threat to Liana...
Darien’s heart raced faster than in any battle. He’d been on the precipice of certain death and had not felt as he did in that moment. Terror, unlike any he’d ever felt, gripped at his chest. If he were outnumbered? He should not have taken her. Put Liana in such danger.
He froze at the retreating sound to his right. Darien strained to see in the darkness, but could easily see that the deer was not a band of armed men. Lowering his bow, Darien stood there, regaining his breath.
Liana was not in danger.
His relief was short-lived as a second thought assaulted him.
He’d almost kissed her. Darien had almost kissed a woman he was bound to, one he could not marry. What had he been thinking?
He hadn’t. And that was the problem.