Page 36 of Forbidden

“Duncan,” Amber whispered. “How do you know?”

“What?”

“That you were born a bastard. That one of your parents committed adultery.”

Duncan’s mouth opened but no words came. He shook his head sharply, as though to banish a blow.

“I don’t know,” he groaned. “I don’t know!”

But he had known. Just for an instant. Amber had sensed it as clearly as she sensed the heat of his body.

For a moment the shadows had lost some of their power. A few bright stars had glimmered through the dense night that shrouded Duncan’s past.

“Why can’t I remember?” he asked savagely.

“Let it be,” Amber said softly. “You can’t batter down shadows. You can only slide between them.”

She sensed the tension leaving Duncan before he did. Taking her hand from his, she gave him a bittersweet smile and opened the cottage door. Before she could cross the threshold, Duncan pulled her back.

Startled, Amber turned to him. His hard hand fitted beneath her chin with surprising delicacy. She closed her eyes for a moment to savor the sweetness pouring through her from Duncan’s touch. His concern for her was like spring sunlight, warming without burning.

And the passion just beneath his concern was a wild torrent of fire.

“I didn’t mean to make you unhappy,” Duncan said.

“I know,” she whispered, opening her eyes.

Duncan stood so close that Amber could see the shards of green and blue, gold and silver that made up the hazel of his eyes.

“Then why do tears cling to your eyelashes?” he asked.

“I am afraid for you, for me, for us.”

“Because I can’t remember?”

“No. Because you might.”

His breath came in sharply. “Why? What could be wrong with that?”

“What if you are married?”

“I think not. Surely I would feel its absence as I do my missing sword.”

“What if you owed fealty to a Norman lord?” Amber asked desperately, trying to quench the passion in Duncan’s eyes.

“What would it matter? Saxon and Norman are at peace.”

“That could change.”

“The sky could fall, too.”

“But what if you are Lord Robert’s enemy? Or Sir Erik’s?”

“Would Erik have brought an enemy to you?” Duncan countered.

When Amber started to speak, he talked over her.

“What if I’m merely a knight back from the Holy Land looking for a lord to serve?”