Chapter One #4
To his horror, Brogan’s heart began to beat just a bit faster.
Something about the way the woman smiled made his heart race.
She was such a lovely creature. He would have had to have been both dumb and blind not to realize her beauty.
And her voice was sweet like honey, a purring tone that felt more like a caress than a sound.
It flowed over him, across him, through him, like a warm breeze.
He must have been standing there like an idiot for an inordinate amount of time, because she bid him a good eve and began to limp away on a foot that still had a burr in it.
Brogan felt very strange watching her turn from him; he didn’t want her to go.
He wanted to continue talking to her. He’d never had that reaction before in his life and wasn’t quite sure how to handle it.
Maybe it was the emotions of the night, the anguish he had been feeling before the lady plowed into him.
She had distracted him from his pain and he was glad for it.
Before he could think it all through, he heard himself speak.
“My lady,” he said. “Your horse… if you would like me to help you search for it…”
She paused, her delicious features bathed in a golden glow from the softly burning hall torch. “I hope that will not be necessary,” she said. “I am fairly certain he will have gone back to the stables. But I thank you just the same.”
He didn’t say another word. He didn’t want to sound any more like an idiot than he already did. But she stumbled on her injured foot and fell right to her buttocks. He was on her in an instant.
She was holding her foot up, wincing as she tried to locate the burr that was paining her.
Brogan took her little foot in his hand.
It was a bold move and she should have yanked her leg away, but she didn’t.
Perhaps it was a test of trust, curious about this man who rescued her from the Thames and carried her with such strength.
She wanted to see what he was going to do.
“Hold still.” He almost looked around to see who had said that. It was a tone far gentler than he ever knew himself capable of. He spied the prick immediately. “There it is.”
He popped it out, leaving a pin-point of blood on the ball of her foot. She removed her foot from his grasp, rubbing the sting. All the while, Brogan just stared at her. She caught his expression, something between wonder and interest.
“What is it?” she asked. “Why do you look at me like that?”
He averted his eyes and abruptly stood up, feeling completely stupid now. He extended a hand to her to help her to her feet, but she continued to sit on the floor and look up at him.
“You’re not much for conversation, are you?” she said, her tone somewhat quiet.
His gaze was guarded, very aware of his giddy behavior for the past several minutes. Normally, he would not have answered such a question. He would have ignored it. But, for some reason, he felt compelled reply.
“I am when I have something to say,” he replied.
She smiled faintly and his heart started thumping again. She pushed herself up from the floor. Brogan reached out to help her, but he was too late. She was already on her feet, still gazing up at him.
“I would believe that,” she said thoughtfully. “But you do seem to ebb and flow. There are moments when you say virtually nothing. But there are other moments when it seemed as if you want to say a great deal.”
Now he was feeling cornered, but not in a bad way.
The woman had known him all of a half hour and already she could sense him.
She was pivoting him from feeling to feeling to feeling with no effort at all, but how she understood something about him in the brief amount of time they had been acquainted was a mystery.
It was true that often there was a good deal on his mind, but he simply kept his mouth shut.
With his heavy accent and awkward English, no one would want to hear him, anyway.
His only real verbal strength was barking orders to terrified soldiers.
He’d used his intimidation factor to communicate and had never needed any other method. Until now.
Avalyn watched him shuffle, seeing his discomfiture. Her smile broadened. “Have no fear,” she assured him. “I am not looking for an answer. It was simply an observation. You are a quiet man and I respect that.”
He looked at her, his deeply tanned cheeks carved with massive dimples on either side. The deep blue eyes glittered. “If I had something to say to you, I would most definitely say it.”
She laughed softly. “I am sure that you would.” Standing in her cold, bare feet, she shifted on the floor and thought that perhaps she had better continue her journey homeward.
It was getting late. But she realized with surprise that she wasn’t as eager as she should be; she rather liked speaking to the man with very little to say.
“Thank you again, Brogan d’Aurilliac. I hope that you will let me repay the kindness some day. ”
His reply was one modest nod. He watched her walk down the hall, her petite frame fading into the darkness.
Suddenly, bodies appeared out of the shadows and he tensed.
But Avalyn did not start in the least, indicative that she knew those who approached her.
One of them passed in front of a lit sconce; Brogan could see that it was a soldier.
And there were several of them guarding the corridor. Beauchamp men.
He faded back, to the top of the steps, watching the men escort her to a door at the far end.
The door opened, illuminating her with bright light.
He saw her turn in his direction as if to see if he was still there.
But then she quickly disappeared inside the door shut.
The hallway was dark once again and the dark figures disappeared back into the shadows.
He was positive they knew he was there so it was best to leave before there was a confrontation.
Brogan lingered a moment before descending the stairs and quitting the tower, his thoughts dwelling on the lovely little woman with the big golden eyes.
He’d left her in the Beauchamp Tower, which meant she was Lancastrian.
Only Warwick and the like occupied that stretch of chambers.
He hadn’t wanted to admit that until this very moment.
Until this moment, he hadn’t cared. But now he did.