Chapter Six #4
He sighed deeply, gazing at her glorious black head.
After a moment, he turned away and marched to the chamber door, calling for a servant.
When two women appeared, wide-eyed and eager to do his bidding, he instructed them to escort Micheline to Lady Wanda’s chamber.
He wanted to speak with Mara, alone. To see if he could undo, or at least ease, the damage done.
Micheline was reluctant to leave, but did so obediently. Kirk closed the door, returning his attention to the bed where Mara remained huddled and weeping. Silently, he approached.
“Did you kill them?” she asked.
Her voice was soft. Kirk sat down on the mattress beside her before replying. “Of course not,” he said softly. “I would know who has told you the tales of Anchorsholme Castle.”
She sniffled, struggling to calm herself. She had a terrible headache as a result of her crying jag. “It does not matter,” she said, with less force. “But I know everything and I demand that you let Micheline and I leave before we fall victim, too.”
“That is not going to happen,” he said firmly. “I would never allow any harm to befall you.”
“It befell the other women.”
“If you know the tales as you have said, then you would also know that I wasn’t at Anchorsholme Castle at the time of their disappearances. Had I been here, I most certainly would have protected them.”
“Did you never try to find out what happened to them?”
“By the time I returned, all evidence had been removed. And Edmund’s story was always solid. As my liege, it was not my place to question him. But, unfortunately, there was no one who could tell me much more than what I already knew.”
“So you ignored the disappearances?”
“I wasn’t given much choice, Mara. One does not question the activities of one’s liege, no matter what the circumstances.
I realize that excuse is weak, but you must understand that as lord of Anchorsholme Castle and head of the House of de Cleveley, Edmund is answerable only to his liege, the Earl of Carlisle, to the king, and to God.
I have no right accusing him of something I cannot prove. ”
“But did you ever try, Kirk?”
He nodded. “I did as much as I could,” he replied.
“I would follow clues that servants or soldiers would tell me but they always led to a dead-end. After the last disappearance, I had some of my men dig around in newly disturbed earth outside of the walls in the dead of night to see if we could come up with a corpse, but there was nothing. Mara, lass, I am not an ignorant or cowering wretch. I understand what justice is. But even if I were to find the bodies of the women who had disappeared, what could I do with them? Confront Edmund? If he denies any knowledge, then I must believe him. I have no choice because no one, save God himself, will bring him to justice because I promise you the earl and the king would do nothing. Edmund is nobility and he is untouchable. ’Tis the way of the world. ”
Mara continued to sniffle, wiping her eyes and digesting his words. She could tell that he was pained by his helplessness, a big dark shadow that he was unable to shake. After a moment, she cast him a long glance.
“I was told that all of the women had eyes for you,” she said quietly.
He met her gaze, a smile creeping over his lips. “Now I see why you are so worried. Certainly you fit the pattern.”
She frowned. “What pattern?”
“Having eyes for me.”
Her bow-shaped mouth opened in outrage. “I do not!”
He grinned. “Pity. After all, I have eyes for you.”
She turned her nose up at him, looking away. It was purely a defensive reaction, however; she did not want him to see that his words had pleased her.
“You are wasting your time, Kirk Connaught,” she said, though she did not mean a word of it. “I have no interest in you.”
“You do. Admit it.”
“I will not.”
He leaned close, burying his face in her silken hair and inhaling deeply. Mara froze, feeling his hot breath against the back of her head as chills enveloped her body. Closing her eyes, she could hardly repress the mad trembling that had suddenly taken control.
Kirk smiled into her hair, taking an inky tendril and wrapping it around his finger. “Then if you have no interest in me, kindly explain why rumors of my curse have upset you so?”
Mara shuddered violently, scarcely able to reply as his massive body pressed against her back. “I… I was afraid.”
“Afraid of me?”
She nodded, unaware that she was listing against him. As her eyes remained closed, she had no idea that she was literally collapsing in his arms. “Afraid of you.”
Mara was cognizant of his lips against her temple.
Somehow, she was falling, falling into the curve of his strong embrace and she had neither the desire nor the strength to resist him.
And if she had learned one thing from the very beginning of their association, it was that Kirk Connaught had strong, warm, wonderful arms. Arms that made her feel more protected, more cherished, than anything on this earth.
“You need never fear me, love,” his mouth was moving down her face, his hands caressing her cheeks. “I am the last person you need dread. But you, on the other hand…”
She was lost as his lips roved her chin. “What… what of me?”
His mouth hovered above her luscious lips, quivering with desire. Mara opened her eyes long enough to meet his liquid gaze.
“You scare me to death.”
It was the truth.