Wicked Whispers. Tina Donahue

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СКАЧАТЬ see. Have you suddenly lost your desire to defy convention or was I correct that you trust me so little?”

      She didn’t trust herself. She’d proven how weak her flesh was when they’d been on the balcony. To have the excuse of riding behind him would prove too tempting, her hands roaming his chest, firm belly, thighs, the area between his legs.

      She shook her head. “We both risk injury if you fall off your horse because you need sleep.”

      “I have never been more alert and will protect you.”

      He would undo her resolve as surely as the sun rose each morning.

      Before Sancha could counter him, he left his chair and approached Maria’s mother. “Will you be able to care for your child when she awakes?”

      “Nothing will stop me.” She turned to Sancha. “I remember everything you said I should do. If Maria needs you again, I promise to send word.”

      “Never speak of what happened here to anyone,” Enrique said. “Do you understand?”

      She drew back at his suddenly harsh tone. “I know what trouble gossip can bring, and so do the others in the village. They too may need help someday.” She glanced at Sancha. “You saved my daughter’s life. I owe you my own. No one will ever make me betray you.”

      After embracing the woman, Sancha checked the linen covering Maria’s wound. Everything was as it should be. With naught to delay her, she followed Enrique outside, her heart pounding. The coming dawn tinted the horizon orange, pink, and pale blue, colors that seemed more vivid this morning than they had on any other day. A soft breeze shooed away the acrid smoke, replacing the stench with the scent of vegetation and Enrique’s delightful fragrance.

      Giddy with anxiety and excitement, she locked her knees to keep from swaying. He offered his hand.

      She didn’t slip her own inside. “If you mount first, you can easily help me up so I can ride behind you.”

      “And have you tumble off my steed if you fall asleep? What kind of a protector would I be to allow such a thing?” He dragged his hair off his forehead where the wind had blown it. “I can see to your safety far better if you ride in front of me. No arguments, as I gave you none during your time with Maria.”

      No wonder he’d been so agreeable, figuring he might use his actions to sway her at some future point. “Any protests you might have made would have angered the child’s uncles and her mother.”

      “I fear no one’s fury except yours. Especially if we reach the castle in full light with the guests seeing how we ride.” He pointed at her shirt. “And how you dress.”

      Darkness was definitely her friend.

      She allowed him to help her mount. He settled behind her, his muscular thighs pressed close, stiffened shaft nestled against her buttocks. She gripped the saddle horn to steady herself. Her pulse throbbed even harder.

      With too much ease, he held her to him and left the village.

      The men guarding the community lifted their pitchforks in farewell. Enrique bowed his head in acknowledgment, his heated breath skipping across her cheek.

      She turned into him without thinking, reckless need racing through her until she curbed her feelings. Sitting straighter, with her back barely touching his chest, she searched for something to discuss. She sensed her experiments would hold his full interest and would open a flood of questions she wouldn’t want to answer. Speaking about Maria seemed safe, until she considered him asking how many other times she’d stolen into a village to treat a peasant.

      Better never to address the subject.

      He settled his mouth on her ear, his lips heated and soft. “Are you comfortable?”

      She was about to lose control. Her heart walloped, and perspiration ran down her spine. She dug her nails into the horn and willed herself not to ease closer to him, her desire and self-control battling with longing determined to win. She made a noise that sounded wanton to her.

      He leaned over, his face close. “What did you say?”

      “Why did you warn Maria’s mother?”

      “What? Warn her? When?”

      His admonition to the woman had surprised Sancha and gave her something to speak of other than his thumb stroking the area directly beneath her breast. Her belly fluttered. “You told her never to mention my visit. Why would she? I helped her daughter.”

      “You exposed yourself to gossip.”

      She waved her hand. “A woman invites scandal if she breathes too deeply.”

      “Make light of this if you will, but did you ever consider how miraculous your healing appears to others?”

      She twisted to look at him. Even in the wan light, his forelock stood out within his dark locks. His handsome features and hooded eyes seemed slightly dangerous, completely male. “My intent has never been to amaze anyone but to offer what relief I can.”

      “Your intent hardly matters. There are many who would insist your healing powers are so great you gained them from something other than the books you read. Namely, Satan. They would also suggest if you have the means to heal, you can also use your talent, power, or whatever you want to call it, to destroy.”

      Although she was well aware of how foolish and cruel people could be, having him state the matter made her belly cramp. “Do you think so of me?”

      “You know I never will.”

      “Nor do the peasants.”

      “Until you fail them, which you will at some point, as you are hardly God. When one of them dies in your care, the others may begin to talk, accuse, and want revenge. Have you ever considered such an outcome?”

      She’d been so intent on helping others, she hadn’t considered the aftermath of failure. “If your intent is to dissuade me from healing—”

      “I want you to understand the possible consequences of your actions. As a wealthy woman, you have much to lose to the inquisitors. All they need is a reason to confiscate what you own in the name of saving a sinner. Rumor says many innocents face accusation so the inquisitors can enrich themselves. Powerful men have gotten rid of their wives by claiming those women were witches. Nobles can easily dispose of rivals with false allegations. If the tribunal succeeded in accusing you, men would search every part of your body for witch marks and perhaps rape you in the process. Even if you lived through such horrors, death by strangulation or burning alive at the stake would be next. For what? To practice your healing?”

      “To save others. Am I to live my life in fear or do what I must? If an enemy were to come to Spain and threaten her, what would you do? Flee to save your life or fight to spare others?”

      He sighed. “The situations are hardly the same.”

      “They are precisely the same and you know it.”

      He lifted his face to the sky. The ridge in his throat bobbed with his hard swallow. “You and Isabella…”

      “Me СКАЧАТЬ