Alissende’s flinch in response to that sent a tingle of warning through him, but he had no time to contemplate its import as her mother finished, “Will you be able to as easily walk away from your own flesh and blood should Alissende find herself with child when the allotted time is up?”
Damien thrust that bittersweet image from his mind, subduing the twisting sensation it set off inside him. He had known from the moment he’d decided to stay that he would need to address this, but the reality of doing so suddenly seemed far more difficult than he had anticipated.
“Scoundrel that I am, my lady, even I am not so reprehensible,” he managed to say, somehow keeping his true feelings tightly reined. “There will be no child—because the marriage will remain unconsummated.”
That finally managed to draw Alissende’s gaze back to him, punctuated by her soft gasp, but he did not look fully at her until he had finished saying, “That is my fourth term of agreement, and as such it will provide even more compelling grounds for annulment when the time comes.”
Then he did allow himself to look at her, forcing himself not to react to the emotions he saw shadowing her eyes. Disbelief had brushed her cheeks an enchanting pink, and her mouth was slightly open, inviting thoughts he could not allow himself to indulge. She was angry now—and stricken too, unable to shield her expression from him before he saw the depths of her hurt.
And why wouldn’t she be? You know the truth as well as she. This term is a moot one, for your union with her was consummated long ago—sweetly, tenderly…and, ah yes, passionately too—many, many times over….
The mocking voice taunted him, pushing those delicious memories to the forefront of his mind. He tried to hold them back, but they came flooding through his resistance, making his gut clench anew and almost preventing him from standing firm before her.
He kept his gaze fixed to Alissende, to see what, if anything, she had revealed to her mother or the rest of the world about just how much they had shared during that sultry, enchanted summer. But except for the delicate flush on her face, she remained stoic. In fact, in the next instant, she seemed to undergo a transformation of sorts. Her expression tightened—hardened, even—and the tumult in her eyes cooled; it might have almost made him feel a twinge of shame at what he’d just done.
Almost, but not quite.
He dragged his gaze away from her long enough to note the others in the chamber. Ben and Michael both seemed somewhat abashed at this latest of his terms, while Lady Blanche looked nothing less than relieved.
Alissende had not told any of them the full truth about his intimacy with her, then.
That realization sank like a fist in his belly; he couldn’t decide whether he felt annoyed or thankful that she’d kept silent. It did not matter, of course, for her discretion in the matter was what was allowing him to proceed now with this damnable plan into which he had become so deeply embroiled. He would learn more about the whys of her silence later, when they spoke in private.
Right now, everyone seemed to be waiting for her to make clear her decision about the terms he had imposed upon their potential alliance.
She did not disappoint. Just moments ago, her demeanor had shifted from that of the vulnerable, somber beauty she had seemed upon her arrival in this chamber to a woman of composure and cool detachment, even more breathtaking for the strength that seemed to radiate from deep within her.
Now she spoke with all the self-assurance of the noblewoman that she was, standing slender and elegant before him. “You have stated four terms, sir. Are there others?”
“Nay.” Damien met the challenge of her stare with the heat of his own. “They comprise all.”
“Very well, then. I accept your offer.” Her chin tilted a hair’s breadth—enough, he realized with amazement, for the regal impression she had cast moments ago to suddenly increase tenfold. “For the space of six months you will act as my husband and protector against Lord Harwick or any other who may seek to coerce me. If you fulfill that duty with competence, then at the end of that term you will be released from all ties to me.”
He never broke his stare as he tipped his head mockingly, his voice resonating with dark promise as he answered, “Never fear, lady. When I have done with my part of this bargain, no man, knight, or lord will dare even to think upon you improperly without fear of the consequences. You will be well protected with me, I vow it.”
He thought he caught a flicker of something in her eyes once more as he spoke those last words, and he saw with certainty the way her lips tightened. Yet she did naught but offer him a clipped nod in response.
Father Michael, Ben, and Lady Blanche remained quiet, but it was impossible not to feel the almost palpable ebbing of tension that spread in the wake of this resolution. Still, before another easy breath was taken, Alissende stepped brusquely toward the door, turning her head to call to him, as she reached the portal, “A servant will be sent to inform you when I am finished readying the lord’s chamber that is yours now by right. Until then, there is time enough to call for some refreshment if you wish.”
And then she was gone, slipping into the corridor and leaving him to do as she’d bid or not, as he pleased.
If he hadn’t been so conflicted about all that had just transpired here, he might have smiled in grudging admiration. She was remarkable, turning the tables on him just now in what seemed little more than the blink of an eye. With her calm, matter-of-fact manner, she had somehow shifted the power in their developing struggle for control firmly back into her own graceful hands.
For now, anyway.
Encouraging that twinge of irritation to drive out the softer and far more dangerous feelings that had crept in, Damien remained in place for but a moment more before he turned and nodded his leave-taking to the others in the room. Then he trained his gaze on the door through which Alissende had gone, clenching his jaw as he set off to follow her.
He was no lord, but he was no serving lad, either, and she had just dismissed him as if he was, taking it upon herself to conclude their meeting without a by-your-leave. It was the kind of treatment he’d vowed never to accept willingly from anyone, from the time he’d been old enough to use a blade or even his fists in commanding respect; it was one of the reasons he’d sweated and bled, driving himself to be the best in everything he did.
He had scratched his way up from almost nothing—he and his brother Alex, both of them becoming swordsmen of great skill and, eventually, both Templar Knights of the most elite inner circle of the Brotherhood. Yet it did not change the fact that common blood ran in his veins, and he was well aware of just how much that had cost him in his past.
Having to endure snubs and rejection for lack of family pedigree was a truth of this world; he could not alter that any more than he could make himself into a noble lord of a castle, despite the farce of this proxy arrangement.
That didn’t mean he had to like it.
The thought burned deeper with every step he took down the darkened corridor. It underscored his resolve to do whatever was necessary to reclaim his integrity, his honor—and his masculine pride as well, the precepts of the Templar Brotherhood be damned. He would begin that process with the woman he had just promised to champion for the next six months…for apparently the cool and imperial Lady Alissende didn’t understand that he wasn’t finished with her yet. Nay, not by half.
But she was about to find out.
