Chapter 4 #3
Jonathon released her quickly, and took a step backwards. Her foot missed him. However, the action set her off balance.
“My lady,” he cried, as she started to fall.
He grabbed for her, and when he did, she reached back and pulled him along with her.
Jonathon had been fooled. He tried to keep her from getting hurt, and because of it, they both fell prone on the floor.
He landed on top of her, trapping her body beneath his.
Rook burst out laughing, while Lark gasped and held a hand over her mouth.
“This isn’t funny!” spat Raven. “Get off of me, you fool.” She pushed her hands against his chest.
Jonathon looked down at Raven and lifted up his chest so he wouldn’t smash her with his weight.
His long hair made a tent around their faces.
This close up he could see Lady Raven better than he ever had before.
She had beautiful silver eyes that sparkled with tiny flecks of gold.
They looked almost birdlike, and magical, even though she was angrier than hell.
Her thick, long black lashes curled upward like a flower opening to the sun.
She blinked twice in succession. Surprisingly, she stilled long enough to look directly at him.
Their gazes interlocked. For Jonathon, time momentarily stood still.
He felt as if he were looking into the eyes of an angel. That is, a rebellious, defiant angel.
The girl’s cheeks were flushed and her mouth, even though it was pursed, looked like a little bow, and ever so beautiful to him. Her cute little turned-up nose made her seem more like a kitten than the fierce lion she was trying to portray.
“Did you h-hear me?” she asked, breathing heavily, which only made the swells of her breasts move up and down beneath him.
The oversized tunic had fallen to one side and he couldn’t help but notice her cleavage showing.
As his eyes roamed over to it, he breathed in her sweet, exotic scent.
She smelled like lilacs or wildflowers on a warm summer’s day.
Her long ebony tresses were loose instead of braided or hidden beneath a wimple.
A few curly ringlets framed her heart-shaped face, while the rest fell around her shoulders like water cascading down a mountain.
She was very enticing this close up, and not frightening in the least. The wench was actually alluring.
When she wasn’t fighting or chastising him, she almost seemed like a real lady.
His eyes went to her lips that were so close to his that all he had to do was lean forward and he’d be able to kiss her.
Jonathon shook his head trying to clear away these crazy thoughts or they would only get him in trouble.
Right now he was tempted to kiss the wench, when a moment ago he hated her.
What sort of witchery did this girl hold over his thoughts and desires?
A commoner just thinking of kissing a noblewoman could land them in the dungeon.
“Raven, are you all right?” Lark ran to her aid, followed by Rook.
“Get up, Sister. The game is over,” spat Rook. “Father is waiting for you.”
“I would move if my so-called personal guard would get off of me and stop hovering over me and staring at me like a wolf in sheep’s clothing about ready to eat me,” she ground out.
Jonathon sprang to his feet, feeling embarrassed and as if he’d voiced his desire aloud to kiss her.
God, he hoped no one had noticed the way he was staring at her.
His unspoken actions just violated a titled lady!
It wasn’t right. He did feel a little like a wolf on the prowl, and it disgusted him.
Now this is the way she saw him, when it is not at all what he’d intended. This job just became so much harder.
“Come, Raven.” Rook reached down and pulled his sister to her feet.
“Whether or not you’re going to change your clothes before you go to the great hall, I no longer care.
Just go and meet with the nobles. You’ll make a spectacle of yourself in front of them, and you’ll have to live with the gossip as well as deal with Father’s wrath, but that is your choice. ”
“I’m sorry, my lady,” Jonathon apologized. “I didn’t mean to... to hurt you.”
“Hurt me?” she asked in confusion, and then smiled. “Ha! You can’t hurt me,” she told him, brushing off her clothes.
“Please, allow me to escort you to the great hall.” Jonathon fixed his clothing and ran a hand through his tangled hair. “I’m sure your father is eager to find a suitable man for you to marry.”
Raven looked up at him and their eyes interlocked once more.
It was only for a brief moment, but damned if he didn’t see desire in those enchanting silver orbs.
Could she be looking at him with intent, the same way he’d been looking at her just moments ago?
Was it too bold of him to even imagine it was so?
“Stop staring at me,” she retorted, her brash words wiping any fool thought from his head.
It might be desire he saw in her eyes, but it certainly wasn’t desire to kiss him. Nay, he was sure what she wanted was probably to punch him instead.
“I’m sorry, my lady,” he apologized once more. “I didn’t realize I was staring.” He lowered his head in respect and held out his arm to escort her. She looked at him and made a face as if she’d smelled something foul.
“Nay. I’ll meet you in great hall. Let’s go, Lark,” she said to her cousin as she headed for the door.
“Raven, you can’t leave Jonathon,” Rook called out. “He was hired to be at your side every minute of the day.”
She stopped in the doorway and turned around. “Every minute? Nay! I’m going to my chamber to change my clothes, and he is not coming with me.”
“I thought you didn’t care about how you looked,” said Rook. “Why bother changing?”
“Well, mayhap I’ve changed my mind. After all, it is no one’s decision but mine what I wear.” She stormed out the door with Lark on her heels.
Rook let out a sigh and shook his head. “This isn’t going to be easy, Jonathon, and I don’t envy you in the least. Watching over my sister is not unlike trying to catch and tame a wildcat without having a trap or even a proper cage.”
“Aye, in many ways she is much like a wildcat, I suppose.” Jonathon’s gaze traveled to where Raven had just been standing. He found himself wondering once again what it would feel like to kiss her. “I’m not worried about it,” he told Rook. “Not really.”
“You’re not? How can you say that?”
“I happen to like wildcats,” he answered with a smile, realizing his job would now include taming a shrew. “Now, if you had compared her to a badger, then I’d be concerned. I cornered one of those in the woods once, and it wasn’t a pretty outcome at all.”
Rook chuckled. “Either way, you are going to earn every coin we pay you, and I can’t say it’ll be enough.”
“It’s not a problem, my lord. I like a challenge,” Jonathon answered with a nod, not able to stop thinking how Raven’s body felt beneath his.
It had been a while since he’d taken a wench to his bed.
And even though he’d never attempt bedding a lady, catching one’s interest was going to be enough to satisfy him for a long time.
He now wanted that desire he saw in Lady Raven’s eyes to change, and he’d do anything to make it happen.
Then, the next time he looked into her eyes, he would hopefully see her desire turn from loathe to lust. If he could do that with a woman like Raven, he would feel like he’d accomplished the impossible.
And impossible was not a word that had any place in Jonathon’s life.