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e roof was too low for him to stand—and turned to look at her.
His eyes searched her face, which was pale, she knew, from lack of sleep, while she sat, avoiding his gaze, wondering what he was seeing, what he was thinking.
Reynard sighed. “There is something wrong. Tell me, so that I can help you.”
He would help her? It was as if a warm light pierced the sense of aloneness that had begun to swallow her up.
She would not cry. She would not cry.
“How can you help me?” she asked him, her voice husky with emotion. “I am beyond it.”
Reynard touched her cheek with his finger, gently brushing her skin, leaning in so close to her that his breath warmed her. “Nay, you are far from that, lady.”
She wished it were so. But he did not know her, not really. Rhona sighed. “I am what I am because I have had to be, in order to survive. Things are not…easy in my father’s keep, Reynard. I learned long ago that I must be strong for my brother as well as myself. And now there is a chance,” she said as she looked at him sideways, beneath her lashes, wondering just how much she should tell.
“A chance?” he prompted.
“A chance to escape forever. To Normandy. My father will let us go if I help him to gain Lady Jenova.”
Reynard paused a moment. “And by ‘gain’ you mean that she should marry your brother?”
“Nay, not Alfric. We have gone beyond that. Wed my father.”
Their eyes met. She saw no particular reaction in Reynard’s—did he already know? Well, he may as well know the rest.
“It was my idea.”
Now there was disgust before he masked it. Rhona told herself she was not upset or insulted, for it was only what she felt for herself. “I cannot be squeamish,” she went on quietly. “I cannot afford to be. I have my brother and myself to think of. My father has said he will let me sail for Normandy if I gain him Lady Jenova, and I hope to take my brother with me. I cannot take him if he is wed to Jenova. If I must sacrifice her to achieve our freedom, then I will do it.”
Reynard nodded, slowly, as if he truly understood. “Do you believe your father will grant you this freedom? Do you trust him?”
Rhona smiled a bitter little smile. “I want to. I have to. I have no option.”
Again he nodded. “Do you trust me?” he murmured in a deep voice.
“I don’t know,” she managed, her eyes staring into his. What did she see there? Darkness, desire, faraway places.
He kissed her, a gentle brush of his lips to hers. Her lips parted on a sigh, and he kissed her again, more firmly, their flesh clinging, melding together. Rhona leaned into him, her arms slipping about his neck, and it felt right. Entirely right.
“Lady,” he breathed against her cheek. “You know I want you, but only if you want me.”
She caught her own breath, leaning back a little to see his eyes. She could drown in them, she realized. Sink deep into their heavenly darkness, floating in a midnight sky. “I want you,” she said, and wondered if he even realized what she was saying. She didn’t just want his body, although that was a part of it; she wanted him.
He smiled and gently pushed back her hood, smoothing his hands over her fair hair, kissing her brow like a benediction. “Good,” he said. “Very good.”
Rhona reached up to undo the ties of her cloak, but he caught her fingers and held them, stilling her. Confused, she tried to read his expression.
“You do not want to…you do not wish me to…” she stumbled.
He shook his head, his fingers caressing hers, sending a wave of heat through her trembling body. “Then it would be like the others. I want it to be something, somewhere, special. A proper beginning for two people who mean to spend their whole lives together.”
“Reynard, we hardly know each other,” she began reasonably.
“Oh, we know each other, lady. I need only to look into your eyes and I know everything I need to know about you. Your beauty, your pain, your strength, your bravery.”
Tears filled her eyes, and she bowed her head. “You cannot know,” she whispered, “what my life has been.”
“It will be different from now on.” He placed a finger under her chin and tipped her face up, using his thumbs to smooth away her tears. “Trust me, Rhona. I will help you to free yourself.” His mouth closed on hers in a deep kiss.
