Chapter Ten #4
He started to laugh, as he did when speaking of a horse named Jesus.
It really was quite naughty of him to have named his horse that.
Because he was laughing, Katiana began to laugh simply because he was being so dastardly about his horse’s name.
But just as he opened his mouth to say something, a couple bashed into him from behind because Titus was simply standing there in the middle of a crowded dance.
Titus stumbled, grabbing hold of Katiana so she wouldn’t fall.
He ended up clutching her against his chest as her arms went around his neck for support.
The fact that he’d been jostled and nearly dropped Katiana infuriated him.
Titus set her to her feet and whirled on the pair that had smacked into him.
An enormous hand shot out and grabbed the man around the throat as the woman in his arms shrieked.
Titus cocked a fist and was preparing to slam it into the man’s face when he heard a voice beside him.
“Titus,” Katiana snapped quietly but firmly. “You will not hit him. It was an accident.”
Titus froze, looking over his shoulder to see Katiana standing beside him, frowning. When their eyes met, she lifted her eyebrows.
“Do as I say, please,” she said calmly. “Release him. He has done nothing wrong.”
Titus looked at the man, who was gazing back at him in pure terror, before releasing his grip and unclenching his fist. He even went so far as to smooth out the wrinkles he’d caused to the man’s tunic. Then he turned to Katiana.
“Should I put him to bed now, too?” he said sarcastically. “I’ll take him by the hand and lead him home to ensure he returns safely.”
Katiana eyed him. “I do not think that will be necessary,” she said. “But if you feel that you must, then go right ahead.”
His eyes narrowed. “You seem so concerned for him, so I thought I’d ask. What is your pleasure, my lady?”
Katiana was trying very hard not to smile at Titus as he verged on a tantrum. “My pleasure is that we should continue dancing without any unnecessary fighting.”
He was grossly unhappy that she’d stopped his fury, but there wasn’t any force behind it.
He was being petulant for show, mostly. The tantrum was his version of surrendering kicking and screaming.
Moreover, if he’d really wanted to strike the man, he would have done so.
But Katiana’s soft, firm voice had been like throwing water on a fire.
Other than his mother and grandmother, Titus had never let another woman tell him what to do in his entire life.
Until now.
And it seemed like the most natural of things.
“I do not feel like it any longer,” he said, turning his nose up at her as people danced around them. “I want to find some ale or wine.”
Katiana started to walk away, but he just stood there.
When she looked at him, puzzled, he cleared his throat loudly and looked down at his arm.
He kept looking at her and then at his arm, again and again, until she figured out what he wanted.
Now, she couldn’t help but grin as she went to him and put her hand in the crook of his elbow.
Then he started to move.
“God’s Bones, Titus,” she muttered. “You are impossible.”
“That is not true,” he said. “I am very possible. But my feelings are easily hurt.”
“Because I asked you not to strike that man?”
He simply looked away, and Katiana sensed the game afoot. Somehow, she’d injured his pride. It was probably only the fact that she’d asked him to behave in front of witnesses and nothing more, but she took the hint.
“Then I am sorry,” she said, somewhat exaggerated. “I simply didn’t want our lovely visit to the faire to be ruined by a fight. I did not mean to hurt your feelings.”
He grunted and shrugged. “It is of no matter.”
He sounded hurt, and he even wiped at his eyes to show that he’d been growing teary over it. It was all such an overt act for sympathy that Katiana couldn’t help but laugh at him. Silently, of course. He was carrying on, and she thought it was hilarious.
And endearing.
Somehow, the massive knight feigning the teary eyes was so incredibly charming.
But it was more than charming—it was Titus as he had always been, the loud, humorous, thoughtful, and caring boy who had grown into a knight with the same qualities, only greater.
He was greater. The man had been speaking of a marriage since nearly the moment of their reassociation, but she’d resisted strongly.
Yet now… now, she was wondering if she could really go through the rest of her life without his joy and intensity.
He lived his life passionately, and that was something she lacked.
Her life was predictable. Sad, even. Seeing life through Titus’ eyes had given her a taste of what it was like to actually be happy.
He made her happy.
For the first time, her resistance against his desire to court her was beginning to waver.
“It is of great matter to me,” she said as they headed toward the tables that held the drink. “What can I do to prove it to you? What more can I say?”
“Say?” he repeated, cocking his head in thought. “There is nothing more you can say. My injured feelings require a great gesture.”
“What should I do?”
“Can you not think of something?”
“If I could, I would not ask you.”
He came to a halt and faced her, fists on his hips.
“I’ve never asked for a kiss from a woman, and I’m not about to start now,” he said.
“I have brought you to a fine festival, I have procured food, I have danced with you, and now I must tell you what more you can do to ensure the insult you dealt me will not stay with me forever? There is only one thing that will soothe me at the moment.”
God’s Bones, but the man could be petulant when he wanted to be.
But it was all the more charming to her, truthfully.
He was like a little boy with the playful edge to his personality that most men lacked.
He wasn’t afraid to show it, and she found that incredibly refreshing in a world full of serious, dedicated, and sometimes humorless men.
She wished she had the ability to be as unbridled as Titus could be.
“May I remind you that it would not be proper for me to kiss you, out here for all to see?” she said.
“It is bad enough that we have come here without an escort, just the two of us. Now you want me to kiss you? You must think poorly of me, Titus, that you should expect me to kiss you in the open like this.”
He eyed her a moment before turning for the tables of drink just a few feet away.
He didn’t say anything, simply poured himself a cup of wine and downed it, followed by a second cup in short order.
He kept his back to her, and Katiana could feel the humor draining from the situation.
Her smile faded as she watched him drink, and she was starting to think that the man was at his end with her.
Not that she blamed him. He’d been kind and thoughtful, and she’d been resistant and reticent.
He spoke of marriage; she spoke of unsuitability.
He told her she was beautiful and accomplished, and she told him not to say it anymore.
Suddenly, Katiana was getting a good picture of just how she had behaved with him.
It was a wonder the man was still speaking to her.
Still, she couldn’t give in to his demand for kisses.
She was afraid what more he would demand, and she didn’t want to open the door for greater physical interaction.
If he expected kisses, what more would he expect tomorrow night or in two nights?
The problem was that the way she was feeling, she wasn’t sure she could put up much more of a fight.
Big, strong, and handsome Titus had her maiden’s heart fluttering.
But she suspected all he was really doing was teasing her.
Could they really wed? Did he truly believe they could wed?
Or was he simply behaving on the spur of the moment?
Sighing faintly, she turned away from him and started walking. Back through the crowd, skirting the dancers, and heading out to the section where the entertainment and trades were. She was just entering the area when someone suddenly grabbed her by the arm.
“Stop,” Titus said, greatly concerned. “Where are you going?”
He had her by the arm, but she pulled herself free. “Back to the tavern,” she said, having no idea why she was bordering on tears. “I want to go to sleep.”
She started to walk, but he grabbed her again. “Wait,” he said, sounding as if he was trying not to beg. “Why?”
She pulled her arm from his grip a second time. “Because… because I do,” she said, moving away from him so he couldn’t grab her again. “We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow, and a longer week still. We do not have time for faires.”
He was walking behind her as she headed away from the festivities, back the way they had come. “Katia?” he said. “What has happened? You were joyful just a few moments ago. What did I do? Was it the kiss?”
At least he was willing to acknowledge that he’d had a part in her change of mood. She supposed the least she could do was give him an answer. Anything at all. With a heavy sigh, she came to a halt and turned to him.
“I think it is everything,” she said truthfully. “You seem to not to want to listen to me. You seem to want to tell me how things should be and what you want, but have you ever asked me what I want?”
“What do you want?”
“I do not want to kiss you in public and then be punished because I do not comply.”
He was properly contrite. “I am sorry,” he said. “I did not mean… I did not mean to make you unhappy.”
Katiana wondered if he even understood what she meant. “You did not,” she said. “I’m simply tired. I want to go to sleep.”
“I was hoping you would sit up with me tonight,” he said softly. “We could… talk. We have not had much chance of that throughout this journey.”