Page 33 of One Knight in the Forest

The softest touch swept his cheek.

Flinching, he turned his head to find her barely a hand’s span away. Gently, so very gently, she brushed her thumb over his cheek again. “You did not get all of your tears.”

He yearned to hold her, but after what he’d divulged, he no longer had any right. “Magdalen,” he said hoarsely, but before her name had left his lips, she eased forward and kissed him. Her mouth molded to his, offering comfort and forgiveness.

He didn’t deserve either. He mustn’t kiss her back.

Ah, God, he should push her away, never touch her again—

She was trembling, and just as he meant to break the kiss, to draw away, he tasted the hot saltiness of her tears.

“Kiss me,” she pleaded against his mouth.

“I should not—”

“You honored me by telling me your secret,” she said softly. “Now, trust that I will not abandon you.”

He stilled, for he couldn’t have heard her correctly. His pulse lurching, he gazed into her tear-filled eyes, searching for the hatred he knew must be there…but wasn’t.

Her fingers swept his face again, and a shiver raked through him. How fiercely he craved her touch, longed for the sweetness of her lips, and with a ragged groan, he reached up to bury his fingers into her hair and draw her in for a kiss. A little cry broke from her, and then her mouth was moving on his, suckling, seeking, an urgency to her kisses that hadn’t been there before.

He kissed her again and again, sliding his tongue into her mouth, cherishing her passionate responses and her awed sighs. With each kiss, he told her he loved her, that he was so very grateful that she was still willing to accept him, despite what she now knew. As his anguish dimmed, a gnawing heat grew, pooling in his groin and making him tremble anew, this time with desire.

Breathing hard, he drew back. In the golden fire glow, her cheeks were flushed, her eyes sparkling and bright. Tonight, though, was not the time to pursue their passions further.

He pushed wayward hair away from her face. “Mayhap you should return to your cot. In the morning—”

Smiling, she kissed him again, thoroughly enough to make him groan, before she shrugged off her blanket. “Tonight, I want to stay with you.”

He forced his hungry gaze from her gaping shirt. “Magdalen, you are a lady. ’Tis not proper—”

“No one will know. Even if Borden saw us, he would not tell anyone.”

She had already shifted so that her back faced him. Drawing his right arm over her waist, she coaxed him to lie down behind her, so she could use his left arm as a pillow. For the briefest moment he resisted, but God above, lying close to her was what he wanted, too.

Magdalen reached back to spread her blanket over their legs. After settling with a sigh, she found his right hand under the blanket, slipped the ruby into it, and then closed her fingers around his, trapping the stone between them both.

Savoring the silk of her hair beneath his cheek, Cyn shut his eyes. He might only be able to lie beside her for this one night, but he’d cherish it forever.