‘So you just take what you want, with no mind to my feelings.’
‘Aye, for you are safe here, better off. You will have a comfortable home and protection.’
‘That is no comfort when I will have to suffer you.’
Her words hit their mark, and Jasper’s face changed from smug to disappointed. Then he recovered himself, and cold indifference took its place.
‘Maybe you should not have thrown yourself in my path and led me on with affection you did not feel.’
‘I showed no affection beyond making you welcome, and my father told me our lives depended on that. And I only sought you out for news of my sister because you are cruel enough to take her.’
He sighed. ‘I swear, I did not, on my life. And just think of all the men I can send out looking for your sister if you are nice to me.’
‘No.’
His jaw set in an angry line. ‘Well, we are here now, so we had better make the best of it. You have gained status as my wife, and I have gained a bonnie lass to warm my bed and provide me with a son. A fair trade, I would say, and a good day’s work.’
‘I would rather die than share your bed.’
He gave a bitter laugh. ‘I doubt it will come to that, and there are worse fates than I, lass. Or would you prefer Wymon Carruthers climbing on top of you?’
‘Oh, don’t pretend you are rescuing me from him. You are only following your own selfish whims.’
Almost nonchalantly, he picked at a nail, but Rowenna sensed a dam of anger he was holding back. ‘I can’t argue with that. Tell me, lass. What do you know of me?’
‘You have a bad reputation. Some say you are a monster.’
‘Aye, but I am a monster of considerable means and power. You would do well to remember that. What else?’
‘I hear you are utterly ruthless in pursuing land and power.’
‘Finally, you find a virtue in me.’
‘It is not a virtue to be ruthless.’
‘It is in the Marches if survival is your goal and you have people to protect.’ Jasper frowned. ‘And you do want to survive, don’t you? You want your clan to survive, or are you happy to sacrifice them to a woman’s whim?’
‘I have always done right by my family, however distasteful it is.’
‘Distasteful is it? Am I that hideous?’
‘What’s on the outside doesn’t matter.’
‘You look very well on the outside, and that is what matters to me.’
Rowenna took a deep breath. ‘Aye, for you are not capable of love, are you?’
‘How can you know that?’
‘You did not love your wife. Folk say you married her for money and land, which makes you heartless.’
Jasper gave her a flinty look. ‘My wife was as heartless as I, make no mistake. And I am not marrying you for money or land. Perhaps I have soft feelings for you, a certain tenderness.’
His face changed, and Rowenna saw vulnerability there, and she almost believed it. She was struck anew by the beauty of his eyes when they were not blazing in anger. But Jasper Glendenning was changeable, and every word out of his mouth was a lie.
‘Do not talk of tenderness. You are a bully who cares nought for the feelings of others,’ she hissed.
He grabbed hold of her and flung her onto the bed. His weight pressed down on her as he pinned her arms.
