“Just as I do with you,” she cut him off sharply. “I am letting my heart speak and not my head, because my head tells me that I am committing unspeakably foolish acts with you. Do you know what would happen if my uncle, not to mention Aubrey, found us right now? Do you have any idea of the horror that would await us both?”
Brogan’s good humor faded. He averted his gaze, looking at his lap, unable to answer her at the moment. He knew very well what could happen.
“It is well worth the risk,” he said after a moment. “Given a thousand chances to make this decision, I would make the same choice a thousand times over.”
She watched him, the masculine beauty of his face, and felt her outrage ease. “As would I,” she murmured. “I’ve never truly had to make a choice of the heart, Brogan. You have been my very first one.”
He looked up at her. “Then marry me,” he whispered. “Marry me and let us live happily where the crown and your uncle cannot destroy us.”
“Now you’re thinking with your heart.”
“I do not care. It is what I feel and I will not deny it.”
Her eyes twinkled. “But what about Poupée?”
He looked at the little girl stuffing her face. The child met his gaze, letting out a loud burp to which she laughed loudly. Brogan grinned, his enchantment growing. “Her, too, if that is your wish. But I will not call my daughter Poupée. You must think of a better name than that.”
Avalyn laughed softly, touching his dimpled cheek sweetly. “I promise.”
He gazed into her golden eyes, feeling his limbs tingle and his heart swell. He leaned closer to her, feeling her sweet breath on his face.
“Then you are agreeing? With your heart and not your head?”
Oblivious to the child between them, Avalyn could focus only on his amazing features. He was so handsome, strong and masculine, so much more than any man she had ever known. Of course she wanted him, and she knew without a doubt that she could spend the rest of her life married to Aubrey and never erase Brogan from her mind. Even in the short time she had known him, their connection was so strong that it was as if he had been tattooed on her heart. She put her hands on his cheeks,stroking the tanned, smooth skin, running her finger over his full lips. Beneath her touch, she felt him shudder.
“Get the baby a bath,” she murmured, kissing his cheek, just close enough to his lips that she did not quite touch them. It was tender, delicious, and wildly erotic. “Give me time to think.”
His lips brushed against her mouth, so gently that her body ached with a wonderful sort of pain. It was enough to suck every thought out of her head. Just as she leaned in for another kiss, he bolted up and stalked across the room, finding the round-faced innkeeper and making demands in German. Avalyn smiled as she watched him send the employees to a frenzy, her smile broadening when he leaned against the bar and turned to look at her. He winked boldly at her, the dimples in his cheeks carving great chasms down his face. Avalyn turned back to the little girl on her lap, her eating frenzy almost at a dead stop.
“All finished?” she asked the child.
Poupée, miserably stuffed, nodded in response to Avalyn’s question. Her mouth was still full, but she wasn’t chewing; the food was just sitting there. She wiped the hair out of her eyes with the back of her hand, spoon still clutched in her fingers. Avalyn pulled the spoon free and encouraged the little girl to swallow the contents of her mouth. With a great struggle, the child did so. Avalyn lifted her from her knee and set her to the ground.
“Where are we going?” the little girl asked, rubbing an eye. Already she was sleepy with so much food and warmth.
“To get a bath.”
“A bath?”
“You do not even know what that is, do you?”
The child just lifted her shoulders unsteadily. Avalyn took her hand and led her away from the table, over to where Brogan now stood with a massive pot of steaming water in his hands.With a tilt of his head, he motioned the ladies to follow him up the narrow stairs into the loft above.
The innkeeper and the skinny boy were already in the loft, putting water into a big copper tub that looked as if horses had been eating out of it. Avalyn looked at the surroundings, noting a bed with dirty covers and little else. There were no walls, but the loft was high enough from prying eyes of the room. Only those coming just inside the entry had a somewhat clearer view. She led the child over to the bed, stood her up on the lumpy mattress, and began peeling away the filthy clothes.
She stripped off the only shift the child had, holding it out with disgusted fingers. “Burn this,” she ordered the innkeeper softly, “and bring me something else, anything at all will do.”
The innkeeper took the torn, soiled shift and held it away from him just as Avalyn had done. “I have no girl child clothes, my lady.”
“Do you at least have a clean shirt she can use? I shall pay you handsomely for it. And make sure it is warm. Hose, too, if you have any that might be serviceable.”
The innkeeper looked at Brogan before quitting the loft, uncertainty in his expression. But Brogan gazed back boldly as if daring the man to complain. As the innkeeper descended the stairs with a puzzled expression, Brogan’s gaze returned to the tub. He poured the last of the hot water into it, watching is splash over the sides. Then he tossed the iron pot aside.
“There,” he went over to Avalyn where she stood beside the naked girl. “Get her in the tub before she freezes to death.”
Avalyn scooped the child up and plopped her in the water. The little girl howled.
“What’s wrong?” Avalyn demanded, concerned.
