“The castle.” She took a step toward him. “It was more than I—” her voice broke off as she looked up into his eyes. Up close they weren’t the frigid blue she had first noted, but were in fact a strange mixture of blues.
Never had she seen eyes quite like them. They reminded her of a stained-glass window. Why, there was even a fleck of red in his left eye just below the pupil.
His gaze sharpened on her just the way Theodore’s always did right before he attempted a kiss.
Emily stood completely still, both anxious and afraid that he might try it.
Lord Draven was so large compared to her and no one had ever considered her slight of form. Indeed, her father hardly had an inch on her height, but with Lord Draven, she barely reached his shoulders.
The soft wind caressed the dark locks of his hair. His gaze dropped to her lips, and she saw the raw hunger in him. Breathless, she licked her lips in expectation of his kiss.
His head dipped ever so slightly and his lips parted.
Just as she was certain he would kiss her, he straightened abruptly. “I must be going,” he said tartly, placing his book beneath his arm.
Annoyed by his abrupt dismissal, she watched him step around her and head toward the keep.
Emily put her hands on her hips and watched him walk away. “This is not going to be easy,” she muttered beneath her breath.
How could she seduce him if refused to stay near her?
Crossing her arms over her chest, she headed back to the keep.
She had only come around it when Lord Draven’s squire almost ran her over.
“Beg pardon, milady. I must prepare his lordship’s horse.”
Emily frowned as the lad dashed to the stable. Her consternation doubled as she entered the hall and overheard two knights speaking.
“I thought we weren’t headed to Lincoln for another fortnight?”
“Seems Ravenswood changed his mind.”
The other knight growled low in his throat. “I grow weary of this travel. We just returned from London.”
“Were I you,” the other knight said with a note of warning in his voice. “I’d not speak so loudly lest he hear you. Otherwise, you’ll be pulling watch for the next two months.”
They continued their conversation as they walked past her and out the main door.
Before she could recover, she heard Simon’s voice on the stairs. “What do you mean you’re bound to Lincoln?”
“You know the king ordered?—”
“But now?” Simon almost roared.
“Now is as good a time as any,” Draven said in that low almost lethal tone of his.
Simon snorted. “It’s her, isn’t it?”
Emily’s heart leapt at the words. Dashing to the wall just inside the hall, she pressed herself flat against it and listened carefully.
“Don’t be absurd,” Draven groused. “I told you the lady is nothing to me.”
“Then why have you moved your trip up?”
“Because it suits me to.”
“And why is that?”
