Page 101 of A Knight’s Vengeance

“Who would dare to betray you?” she shrieked.

He did not answer. His gaze shadowed, and he looked at Dominic. “Send the women and children to the storage rooms below. They will be safe there. Wake every able-bodied man and order them to the bailey. Double the guards at the gate. No one enters or leaves.”

“Aye, milord.”

Elizabeth held her breath until the doors clicked shut behind Dominic. She trembled. “Geoffrey, what will you do?”

He strode to the wooden chest against the wall, shoved open the lid, and withdrew a suit of mail armor. “What I am expected to do. Fight.”

“You cannot! Please. This must be a misunderstanding⁠—”

He dropped the chain mail on the bed, and the iron links settled with a metallic chink. “I knew your father and I would face one another in battle, but I did not imagine ’twould be today.” He smiled at her, but his expression offered neither tenderness nor comfort. “You do not dance with joy, milady?” He reached into the chest again and tossed a padded gambeson and sheathed sword atop the mail. “Why not? You have looked forward to your rescue.”

Elizabeth shivered and turned her back to him. She could not bear his callous words, not when she remembered the taste of his bronzed skin beneath her lips. It had been wondrous to curl up in his arms, to sleep with her back pressed against his chest, to feel each of his breaths pressing his body closer to hers. She would cherish those moments forever.

“Elizabeth?”

Tears misted her vision, but she blinked them away. She crushed her fingers into the sheet. “How can I be joyous, when this may be the last time I see you alive?”

“A lady like you wants naught from a rogue like me.”

She could not stop a sad smile. “Only your heart.”

“Ah.” His laughter sounded strained. “My heart carved out in triumph and displayed on a silver platter. ‘The dark heart of a traitor’s son,’ the soldiers will cheer. ‘Strange how his blood is red like ours.’ Shall you also demand my severed head? My steaming entrails? My⁠—”

“Never!” She swung around to face him, her cheeks wet with tears. “How can you accuse me of such atrocious things? How, after all that we have shared?”

He glanced at the rumpled bed. Anguish clouded his gaze, and he shook his head. “Elizabeth, I⁠—”

“Do you believe I care naught for you? That I wish you dead?”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. “With all that stands between us, damsel, ’tis not a fair question. As well you know.” He picked up his sword, drew it partway from the scabbard, and checked the lethal blade.

Desperation screamed inside her. “Do not fight my father.” Her words softened to an urgent plea. “I beg you, find another way to resolve your feud.”

Geoffrey sheathed the weapon and dropped it onto the coverlet. “Do not ask me to forfeit my revenge. I cannot and will not promise you that. I have waited eighteen years for this fight.”

“I could not bear to see you killed.” A sob wrenched from her before she could put her hand over her mouth.

He bowed his head and cursed. It seemed an eternity before he crossed the few steps between them and gathered her in his arms. He held her in a firm, possessive hug, and she pressed her face against his tunic. “I never thought to hear you say those words,” he murmured into her hair.

“Nor did I.”

With exquisite tenderness, Geoffrey smoothed wayward curls away from her face and tilted her chin up, warming her with his sensual smile. “When the siege is over, we will speak of us again,” he whispered against her lips.

“Promise?” Elizabeth linked her fingers through his. The press of his strong hands offered reassurance, yet fear roiled inside her like a terrible beast. Despite his brave words, Geoffrey might not live to see another dawn.

“I promise,” he said. “With my very breath.”

She managed a weak smile. “’Tis not your breath I want to seal your vow, milord.”

Half-chuckling, half-groaning, Geoffrey dipped his head and kissed her until her pulse pounded and her knees shook. As he drew back, he brushed away her tears with the pad of his thumb. “No more crying, damsel.”

He stepped away, and Elizabeth sniffled and hugged the sheet close to her chest. “What will happen to me?”

He scooped up his gambeson, armor, and sword and strode for the doors. “You will be safe here. Stay in the solar,” Geoffrey said over his shoulder. “I do not want you harmed.”

She huffed a breath. “You cannot expect me to sit idle and wait. I do not want you to die, but I will not allow you to kill my father, either.”