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“A mistake I’ve already apologized for.” He looked at her lips. “I don’t think you’re going to want to have to apologize to me.”

For a heartbeat she stared into his eyes, and finally realized that her treacherous body was enjoying having his beneath her. She swept to her feet. “Never.”

He stood up. “You have every reason to be angry with me, Anne.”

Just hearing her maid’s name made her vaguely uneasy. How ridiculous! He had not yet proved that he deserved to be trusted with the truth of her identity.

Twelve

John felt frustrated and guilty and angry when they were finally sitting in the cart, driving toward Hillesley. In front of them rode two mounted soldiers, who conversed with each other and ignored the cart and its occupants behind them. The sky was overcast, and a light mist had begun to fall, but it didn’t even begin to touch the fever that heated John’s blood.

How could he continue to be so drawn to Anne? She was angry and hurt, and had every right to punish him. For all he knew, Lady Elizabeth had told Anne to torment him, as if he had to prove himself.

He’d passed the first test, at least as far as Anne was concerned. He hadn’t touched her, hadn’t kissed her.

But inside, where it most counted, he’d failed. His fingers had itched to caress her; his cock had been so hard, he wasn’t sure how he’d managed to keep the proof of it from her. Leaning away as she’d sat atop him had helped.

He’d had the faint hope that things would be easier once Anne knew the truth, but it wasn’t so. He still wanted her. If only he could see Lady Elizabeth again. Her beauty as a child had been enough to make him follow her like a puppy, until she’d laughingly chased him away. But that image was fading now under the onslaught of Anne’s creamy skin and haunting dark eyes. And her lips⁠—

John flicked the reins in disgust and said in a low voice, “The soldiers can’t hear us. We’re alone. What did Lady Elizabeth say when you told her about me?”

Anne wore a cloak against the rain, and the hood hid almost all of her face from him but the tip of her nose and chin. He almost demanded that she take it off, so that he could read her face. But he would have to judge by her voice.

“Anne?” he repeated.

“I heard you. Lady Elizabeth was quite distraught over your method to win access to her.”

John was tired of apologizing, so he remained silent.

“She refused to believe your insistence that the disaster that has befallen Rame Castle was the late Lord Russell’s fault.”

“It wasn’t a suggestion, it was the truth.”

“You may think so, but surely there is another reason.”

John didn’t press the point; Lady Elizabeth had obviously been enamored of William. He had never considered that he might not be able to win his bride’s affection from the ghost of his dead brother. And that angered him.

“She doesn’t know whether she can trust you,” Anne said softly. “She is very confused.”

“But surely she wants to be rescued. Doesn’t that matter more than what she thinks of me?”

“Aren’t they intertwined?” Anne asked, finally turning to look at him.

He saw sadness and resignation in her eyes.

“It is not just a matter of Lady Elizabeth herself,” she continued. “She worries about the fate of Alderley, but mostly she worries about her people.”

“I think her people would be relieved to know that she’s safe.”

“They won’t feel that way if Lord Bannaster takes out his wrath on them. He strikes me as a man who feels his connection to the king gives him powers above common men. My lady is worried that he is capable of…anything.”

“Very well,” John said, looking forward again as they crested a hill and Hillesley came into view. “Then I need to convince her of my sincerity. If I write to her, will you take the missive? Only if it is not dangerous to yourself, of course.”

“Aye, she would wish to hear your words.”

He inhaled. “Was she angry when you told her about the kiss?”

“I didn’t tell her yet.”