Nigel gave her a look that made Gisele decide it might be best to remain quiet for a while. He lifted her up onto his saddle, hooked her horse’s reins over the pommel, and then mounted in front of her. She ached to tell him that he was being arrogant and had no right to order her around, but the confrontation with the robbers had left her doubting her own judgment. Nasty and spiteful though his words had been, there was some truth in them. She had been on her own for only a little while and had already found herself in serious difficulty. Maybe she had been mad to think she could get all the way back to France on her own.
All the way back to the village she struggled to think of ways to defend her decision to leave. Her confidence had been badly shaken, however, and she was no longer sure her reasons were sound. Had she really been running to France to clear her name, or had she been running from Nigel and the feelings she had for him? Gisele inwardly cursed when she discovered that she had no answer for that question.
The innkeeper gave her a strange look when Nigel ordered the same room she had left but a few hours before. The man probably thought she was Nigel’s errant wife, and Gisele opened her mouth to try to explain, then quickly closed it. It was all too complicated to explain, and she would probably just leave the man thinking she was mad.
The moment they entered the room she pulled free of Nigel’s grip on her arm and sat on the edge of the bed. He leaned against the thick, roughly cut post at the foot of the bed and stared at her. It took all of Gisele’s willpower to not squirm guiltily beneath his gaze like some scolded child. She had nothing to feel guilty about, she told herself firmly.
“And just where did ye think ye were going?” he finally asked, struggling to control his anger.
When he had first come upon her in the wood he had nearly charged in, sword swinging. He had been that furious and concerned. It had not taken him long to see that she faced two cowards who might be willing to test themselves against a small lass, but would never stand to fight a fully armed knight. Although the fear he had felt for her safety had eased, the anger it had bred was still churning inside of him. Gisele did not completely deserve that, and he knew visiting it upon her would also seriously hinder any sensible discussion.
“I was returning to France,” she replied, mildly fascinated by the way the anger slowly left his expression.
“Ah, ye are weary of life, are ye? Suicide being such a great sin, I suppose it makes some sense to just walk back into the grasp of those ye ken will gladly kill you.”
He might be conquering his anger, she mused, but he clearly had no intention of dulling the sharp edge of his tongue. “I intended to go home and clear my name. I decided that I had left that duty in the hands of others for far too long. Hiding behind others was not working, so I felt it was past time to try confrontation.”
“Did ye really convince yourself that the DeVeaux could be talked to as if they were reasoning people?”
She scowled at him. The man had a true skill for finding the one real weakness in a plan. “They are not the only ones I could plead my case to.”
“Weel, now there is no need to plead it to anyone,” he said and thrust a piece of paper at her.
Gisele had to read the letter three times before she was able to believe in the words written there. “I am free?”
“Verra free, and the DeVeaux have been warned to leave ye and your kinsmen alone or suffer unnamed consequences. That threat came from the king himself. ’Tis clear that your family wielded almost as much power as the DeVeaux, once they decided to believe in you and seek to prove your innocence.”
“But they seemed so afraid of that family and its wealth and power.”
“Outrage over your treatment must have conquered that fear.”
“I feel so grateful, so elated, yet this freedom comes at a great cost to others. Two men have been hanged.”
“They were the true killers, lass,” he said gently. “Your husband deserved his death, but that doesnae mean the way he was killed was right or lawful. And, those two men were content to sit quietly and let a wee lass take the blame. In a way, they were willing to kill ye, as weel. ’Twas honorable of them to avenge the rape and beating of a kinswoman, but that honor was tarnished when they let an innocent woman take the blame.”
“I know. ’Tis just a shame that they had to die, that there was apparently no other recourse but murder to gain the justice they and their poor kinswoman so deserved.”
“So now there is no need for ye to go to France and martyr yourself. Ye may return to Donncoill with me.”
He watched her closely as he spoke, taking careful note of her sudden agitation. She would not meet his gaze, and absently plucked at the old, thinning blanket covering the tiny bed. Getting her to return to Donncoill with him was not going to be as easy as he had hoped it would be.
“Since I am free, there is no longer a need for your protection. You have fulfilled your vow. Your honor is unstained.” Gisele did not want Nigel clinging to her out of some misplaced sense of duty.
Nigel moved to sit next to her, ignoring the way she tensed slightly as he pulled her into his arms. “Honor has naught to do with why I ask ye to return to Donncoill with me.”
“I do not need a place to live. I am not without funds, and I have a small property I may reside upon.”
“Nor do I ask ye to return with me out of some misguided sense of duty.”
She softly cursed, but did not resist him as he gently pushed her down onto the bed, neatly tugging her around until she was sprawled beneath him. He too quickly guessed her every doubt and concern, yet somehow managed not to tell her what she wished, and needed, to hear. The feel of his long body on top of hers, however, was making it difficult to think. It had been too long since she had tasted the passion they could share. It was easy to let wanting push aside all interest in talk.
“I will not become your mistress,” she said even as she tilted her head back so that he could more easily cover her throat with warm, tantalizing kisses.
“I wasnae asking it of ye.”
Before she could muster the wit to ask him just what he did intend, he kissed her. The hunger in his kiss brought her own rushing to the fore, unwilling to be ignored or brushed aside. She wrapped her arms around him and fully returned his kiss. Gisele knew she was giving him a silent but clear agreement to set aside all talk for a little while, to once again revel in the heat of their passion, but decided that it did not matter. As she had ridden away from Donncoill one sharp regret she had suffered from was that she had not made love with Nigel one last time. If she still had to walk away from him at the end of this day, at least she would not suffer from that regret.
They had been apart for too long for the reunion of their bodies to be a lingering pleasure or a gentle one. Gisele tugged off his clothes as swiftly as he tugged off hers. They both shuddered when their bodies finally touched flesh to flesh. She found that she could not get enough of the feel or the taste of him, touching and kissing every inch of his strong body. Nigel returned her every kiss and caress with the same fevered urgency until they both shook from the strength of their need for each other.
