Bride Of The Tower. Sharon Schulze

Чтение книги онлайн.

      Chapter Five

      Julianna kept tight hold of the missive she’d found in her patient’s pack, despite his unyielding grip on her fingers and the way his body pinned hers to the rough plaster wall. He might be bigger and stronger than she, but from the way he trembled and rested his weight against her—as much for support, she’d guess, as to hold her in place—she’d only to remain patient and wait a bit before she won this battle.

      Before she could read the rest of the letter addressed to her enemy.

      His warmth sank through her clothing and into her flesh, tempting her traitorous body anew and reminding her what a fool she’d been. To trust a stranger for even a moment, to lust for a stranger’s touch, when she knew naught of whether he be ally or foe.

      Dear God, she must be mad!

      The sense of betrayal gave her the determination to slip from beneath his weight. He tightened his grasp, however, his hand fisted around hers, the parchment crumpling within her hold as he spun her around to face him.

      “Have a care who you call traitor, milady,” he warned, bending so close to her, his whiskers scraped along her jaw. “Else I’ll be forced to judge you traitor instead.” A swift glance at his face showed no weakness now, only a steady resolve she’d do well to heed. Though his blue eyes burned with fever and pain, she couldn’t mistake the outrage lurking there. Had she insulted him? Could it be that he was no more a traitor than she?

      Or mayhap he was simply better at disguising his true nature.

      She pushed away from him, making him reel for a moment before he caught his balance against the wall. He retained his grip on her hand, however, maddening her all the more. “With what reason?” she asked. “I am a true and loyal subject of our king—”

      “Are you?” he ground out, straightening to his full height and taking a step toward her. “I know nothing of you, lady—not so much as who you are, or the name of this place.”

      “Tuck’s Tower,” she told him with hard-won calm. “Do you know of it?”

      He shook his head. Then, his lips twisting into a mocking smile at odds with the steel in his gaze, he tugged her nearer. “But who are you? A lady dressed in warrior’s garb…I’ve only known of one other woman who would do so. ’Tis uncommon, you must admit—rare enough to raise questions in a curious man’s mind. Do you command the defense of Tuck’s Tower, milady?” With his free hand he cupped her chin, then slid his fingers down along her neck and over her shoulder before stopping, his open palm pressed lightly just above her breast. “’Tis a puzzle certain to entice a man,” he murmured. “Or could it be you’re simply a siren, meant to lure a man to your bed and render him your slave?”

      The low timbre of his voice sent a shiver of awareness down her spine and made her heartbeat thrum faster beneath his hand—he found her alluring?—before the insult of his words and bold caress made its way to her poor besotted brain. He mocked her, more likely.

      Though it took all her resolve, she reached up and yanked his hand away. “Hardly a siren,” she scoffed with a mirthless laugh. “Nor a puzzle, either. I am simply a woman, though one with no wiles to tempt a man. I scarce appear a woman at all.” She grabbed the loose-fitting tail of her shirt and held it out. “A man’s garb, stout armor and a strong sword are hardly the weapons of enticement, though they serve me well enough.”

      “Aye, they suit you well indeed, milady,” he said, his gaze roaming along her from head to toe, lingering upon her legs in their snug braes before rising to her face and pinning her fast within the heated blue of his eyes. Sudden awareness hardened his features; he shook his head and glanced away for a moment. When he turned back to her, his expression pensive, he added, “Mayhap you’re naught but an outlaw or a robber, then, setting upon any hapless traveler who passes your way. This is Sherwood Forest, after all.”

      How СКАЧАТЬ