A Night of Wicked Delight. Joanne Rock

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      He did not wish to confront this fiery noblewoman in front of his men. Not when their last conversation had been so highly charged. Instead of taking her to the camp, he would bring her to his keep and speak to her in private.

      Within the confines of his chamber, behind a bolted door.

      He would not take advantage of her, but if she was insistent about trading her favors for his compliance, he would be better served locking her away from himself, where she would remain safe. Untouched. He would sleep among his knights so she would have his chamber to herself. He would not be conquered by his enemy’s cousin, even if she looked at him without the revulsion he’d noted in other women’s eyes.

      A few feet away, Emma’s maidservant lay quietly with her hands tied and her mouth bound by Bronson’s tunic sleeve. Bronson would help push the cart past the gatehouse until they arrived at their waiting horses in the forest nearby. Gareth would free the captives’ bonds as soon as they were far enough from Edenrock not to be overheard.

      For now, he had his hands full keeping Emma still and quiet next to him. She’d been straining against him in earnest ever since he’d put her in the cart. Not that she was much trouble, her strength was minimal compared to his own. Still, he regretted her discomfort since she hadn’t been the one to betray him. She hadn’t been the one to sell him to an eastern flesh trader in order to plunder Gareth’s keep five years ago.

      Nay, that treachery had been committed by her guardian. Emma had done naught but remind him how long it had been since he’d had a sweetly scented noblewoman in his arms.

      He cursed the inappropriateness of that thought.

      “Be very, very quiet and you will not be harmed,” he warned her, knowing they must be passing through the gate in the castle walls by the way the creaking wheels had slowed.

      All at once, she bit the center of his palm, her teeth scraping along his flesh. Gareth’s grip eased for only a moment, but it was enough for her to scream if she’d wanted to make noise.