“Men aren’t burned for treason, but for heresy. How could God not strike down your king for this? William is the heretic! Denying the presence of Christ, daring to take on himself the power of God. Your king—”
“He is your king as well, Mother. He’s the one who allows you this home, the clothes you wear, the food you eat. You would do well to remember that.”
“I would be damned if I acknowledge him as my king. Mary should have the throne. And she will when the world is set right.”
“Do you have anything to say to this?” Dominic demanded of Michael, who had listened with a closed-off expression.
He looked at Dominic mildly enough, but something in his eyes shook Minuette, and suddenly she realized what she should have seen before—Michael was no clerk. “The wicked take the truth to be hard,” the priest—for that he surely was—murmured.
“You will watch your words, and ensure my mother watches hers, or I will see to it that you are put out of England for good.”
Michael almost smiled. “You are not hard enough for the quarrels of religion, Lord Exeter. You have not studied your king so well to learn that.”
Philippa rose abruptly. Leaning down to take Minuette’s face in her hands, she rasped urgently, “My sonishard, though, child. Don’t you mistake it. The Courtenay men are all of them hard. His love will crush the life right out of you.” Her eyes glittered unnervingly.
“Mother!”
The priest intervened. “I’ll take her to her chambers. Come along, Philippa.”
He led her away and suddenly it was just Minuette and Dominic, and she knew the moment had come for confrontation. Trembling, she braced herself for his recriminations about her drinking and her appalling behavior that last night at the French court. She also braced herself to be angry about Aimée coming from his bed, but she was unprepared for what Dominic said first, or how he said it.
“My mother is right, you know. You have ample cause to regret that I fell in love with you.”
At once, her anger dissolved into bewilderment and hurt. “Do you mean that you are regretting having fallen in love with me?”
“Unlike you, Minuette, I mean exactly what I say.”
Oh, here came anger again. With a vengeance. “What are you implying?”
“I have watched you with William, and I have heard him speak of you, and I know that he has not the slightest doubt you love him. And I honestly don’t know if that is a result of his own delusions, or a measure of your ability to dissemble, or the simple fact that you are truly in love with him.”
“So this is my fault,” she said, feeling a stab of pain behind her right eye. “You think I’m a liar—to William or to you or perhaps both. That would be convenient for you because, if I am false, then what does it matter whom you take to bed?”
He flinched and she was savagely glad of it. “I did not take Aimée to bed.”
“Really? So it is only in public corridors that you kiss a woman while completely naked?”
“I did not sleep with her,” he said stubbornly. “She caught me unawares while I was asleep and I put her out at once.”
“It didn’t look like you were putting her out. It looked like you were enjoying yourself quite thoroughly.” She was almost frightened by the savagery in her voice.
Dominic’s cheeks darkened. “I swear to you by all that is holy, I did not sleep with her that night. We had a brief…liaison when I was last at the French court two years ago. She wished to take advantage of that. And think of me what you like, Minuette, but I have the desires and weaknesses of all men. I should not have kissed her as I did. But that was the whole of it, I swear. And you are avoiding my question.”
“I don’t believe you actually asked me anything.” With every patient statement Dominic made, she wanted more than ever to break his infuriating control. If that smug French girl could shake him so that he acted on impulse, why couldn’t she?
She wanted to hurt him as she’d been hurt, so she said the worst thing she could think of. “Will touches me, you know. When we are alone. You did not imagine we spend all that time playing chess, did you? His control is not as good as yours—or is it that he desires me more? He is careful, of course, of my honour. I am virgin still, if it matters to you. But I have spent much time with my eyes closed and his hands and mouth on me, and do you know what I see then? Always you.”
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what? Be honest? I know a woman is not supposed to feel this way, or at least aladyisn’t. But it is the truth. When I saw you kissing that woman, I wanted to be her. I wanted to be the one coming from you half dressed and wanton. I wantyou,Dominic, in every way. I think it is you who must regret loving me, for you have scarcely come near me for months.”
Her eyes were stinging and she struggled with all her might not to cry. She had meant to hurt him, not humiliate herself. She hadn’t even known how deeply his coldness had damaged her until it spilled out.
Dominic moved so swiftly that she just had time to breathe in before he pulled her against him. His kiss was not gentle, not sensitive and careful like he usually was. It was demanding and brutal, and Minuette met it with equal passion. Her hands wound into his hair, seeking to tug him closer. His arms dropped to her hips and tightened, holding her fixed against him. At some point she felt herself back into the table’s edge. Dominic released her just long enough to shove a spot clear of dishes and food and then she pulled him with her as he laid her down on the wooden surface.
“You think I do not want you?” His voice was rougher than she’d ever heard it when he pulled away. “If I did not love you so much, I would show you this moment that my desire is the equal of any man’s. Do you imagine I have not thought of the possibilities? Adi futuremarriage—we have made our future vows. I dream every night of cementing that promise with my body. And if we were anyone else, I would. But to do it right, Minuette, to marry with a priest and witnesses, so that it cannot be undone—that is worth waiting for.”
“So your honour will always be greater than your desire,” she snapped, shoving against his chest until he moved and let her up. She hated that he could be so reasonable when she seemed to be all blood and breath and warm skin.
