Chapter Two #4
His mouth tried to claim her again, but she turned her head away, sobbing.
The knight, however, was unable to progress any further; the chamber door suddenly exploded in a hail of splinters and Mara saw a flash of steel and armor.
The knight rolled off her, scrambling for his weapon as the intruder entered the room.
Kirk brought the blade down against the man’s neck, going no further than to imply the obvious. The knight froze and dropped his weapon as stone-gray eyes glittered with unnatural fury.
“I am weaponless, my lord,” he said calmly.
Kirk did not reply. His eyes remained trained on the defenseless knight as he spoke to Mara.
“Did he deflower you, Mara?”
Mara was standing by the end of the bed on quaking legs. She had no idea how she got there. “Nay, my lord,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “But… but he tried.”
Kirk’s blade remained poised at the man’s neck a moment longer before removing it with amazing speed. “Then I will spare him,” he growled. “Vacate this room immediately before I change my mind.”
The knight rose, collecting his armor and weapons. Kirk continued to stare at the man as he quit the room, unmoving until he heard the boot falls fade away. Then, he turned to Mara.
“What happened?”
She was shaking so terribly that she had to sit down. She could hardly look him in the eye. “I wanted to sleep in a warm, dry inn,” she said weakly. “The knight thought I was a whore. How did you find me?”
Kirk sheathed his sword and suddenly, he was looming over her. “By thinking like an idiot,” he said, a flash of anger coming through. “Christ, woman, what on earth possessed you to do something like this?”
She was staring at her bloodied hand. “I… I wanted to sleep at the inn,” she repeated, feeling exhausted and ashamed. “Micheline does not like taverns, so I….”
“So you went regardless of the fact that had I denied you, simply to spite me,” he finished for her, his anger piqued.
In fact, he couldn’t remember when he had been quite so angry.
Or, for the second time in as many days, frightened.
Working into a righteous rage, he noticed Mara’s bloody hand and felt himself weaken. “Did he do that?”
She shook her head. Kirk watched as a single tear fell, bathing the bloodied flesh. “I did it whilst attempting to defend myself.”
He sighed heavily, his fury fading in spite of the effort to maintain it. Glancing about, he spied a square of linen by the basin and snatched it, kneeling beside Mara and silently wrapping her hand. He was nearly finished when he glanced up to find bright blue eyes staring at him.
“This is twice in two days that you have saved me.”
The vortex of her eyes was enough to erase all fury. Christ, she was so very lovely, so fragile. And so terribly headstrong. Wrestling against a same unfamiliar tenderness that had swamped him yesterday, he tore his gaze away.
“And who was there to save you before I arrived?” he asked, gruffly, to mask his emotions. “I cannot imagine that I have seen your first attempts at foolishness.”
She did not say anything for a moment and Kirk forced himself to look at her. It was the first time since they had met that she appeared emotionally vulnerable. Away from all of the fire and resistance, he could see the soft little lady beneath.
“There was no one to save me,” she murmured. “I did as I pleased.”
He wasn’t strong enough to tear his gaze away this time. The urge to give into the strange emotions was overwhelming. “Those days are gone, lady.”
She continued to stare at him, without the usual hostility. “My sister calls me a hellion.”
“And my men call me the Master. Who do you suppose will be the first to surrender to the other?”
“’Twill not be me.”
“It had better be. Or I will do what I should have done yesterday.”
“What is that?”
He rose, the stone-gray eyes intense. “Take my hand to your backside. One more infraction and I shall.”
She lowered her gaze, giving a careless shrug. “My father threatened me all the time but never once carried through.”
“Then you do not fear my threat?”
The bright gaze fixed on him again. He swore he saw a flicker of a smile. “I believe you.”
“That is not what I asked.”
“I know what you asked.” She stood from the bed, deliberately avoiding his gaze and he saw the smile broaden. “I choose to give you a pleasing answer rather than the reply you truly seek.”
He sighed heavily. If he had any sense, he would spank her this minute and be done with it.
Even so, he couldn’t seem to muster the will and his impotency confused him.
Knowing only that this lack of sense had something to do with the odd warmth this little hellion seemed to provoke.
Emotions he had no intention of exploring.
“We shall arrive at Anchorsholme come the morrow,” he muttered. “I suggest for your own sake that you behave yourself, whether or not you give credence to my threat. Do you comprehend?”
Mara nodded faintly. But Kirk did not like the gleam to her eye; nay, he did not like it at all.