“Do you not?”
He liked the sound of her voice, soft and whispery. “Have I given you reason to fear me?”
She raised her eyes to him at last, then quickly lowered them. Leonie had forgotten how beautiful he was. With his helmet clasped in his hand, his black unruly hair curling around his head gave him a boyish appearance contrasting with the rest of his powerful body. His silence had unnerved her, but his gentle voice was just as frightening somehow.
“Your overlong silence was disconcerting.”
“Forgive me, my lady. I deliberated too long, wondering what name to call you.”
“I have a name, but if you wish to choose another, that is your prerogative.”
“You misunderstand, my lady. It is your own name I would call you by—if you will tell me what it is.”
Leonie’s eyes widened and she looked up at him. “You want me to tell you my name?”
Patiently, he said, “That would be helpful, yes.”
She frowned. Was this some game he found amusing? No, she didn’t think he would amuse himself that way. But that left only one other possibility. She was so insignificant to him that he truly had forgotten her name!
She drew herself up as tall as she could. “What does a name matter?”
Rolfe was amazed to see those lovely silver-gray eyes become stormy. He had riled her somehow. Well, if she wanted to keep her identity a secret, that was her affair.
“Indeed, ‘little flower’ will do just as well,” he said agreeably, taking a step closer.
“I wish to discuss something with you, in a more private place,” he said softly.
“Private?” She stepped back and looked around, wondering how much more private he wanted to be. “Where—did you wish to go?”
“Where you sleep, little flower.”
There was no need to be more explicit. She was mortified by the telltale blush spreading over her face. She had never expected him to come to her home forthatreason. Amelia had said he wouldn’t bother her in that way, and she had believed her. The dreadful thing was, she could not refuse her husband.
“If—if you will follow me, my lord.”
She had trouble saying the words, and even more trouble walking. Her legs felt leaden, and tears threatened. For all his gentle manner, she suspected an angry motive for his wanting to take her to bed. On theirwedding night he had been drunk, perhaps too drunk to recall the revenge he’d wanted to exact from her. Had he come now to punish her? She would not beg for mercy. Shewouldnot.
Rolfe was so surprised he almost didn’t follow her. Her acquiescence had been too easy. Did that mean she did this often? Who was her husband that she cared for him so little? An older man, or one she despised? Still, Rolfe wanted her, so he followed.
As they crossed the bailey to the forebuilding leading into the great hall, Rolfe suddenly remembered where he was. His wife was there somewhere. Did she know he was there? Even if she did, how could he give up this opportunity? The girl leading him to her bedroom was exquisite.
He barely noticed the room she brought him to, so intent was he on the girl as she closed the door and turned slowly to face him.
“I do not suppose there actually was something you wanted to discuss?” she asked him.
Rolfe mistook the hopeful note in her voice for teasing and smiled, shaking his head. “Come here, little flower.”
Leonie detested the ridiculous name he had chosen for her and wished she could tell him so. She detested, as well, the fact that she feared him.
She approached, miserably, eyes downcast, and waited in front of him. She didn’t quite know what she expected—a slap, an announcement regarding the wretchedness that would be the rest of her life, a beating.
What she didn’t expect was to be drawn gently into his arms and held. They stayed that way, and then he picked her up and carried her to her bed. He settledher carefully, then sat down beside her, running his finger along her smooth cheek.
His eyes, like dark brown velvet, moved over her disturbingly. There was a look in those eyes that made her body go rigid, and when he bent his head toward hers, she gasped. His lips touched hers and she imagined a thousand gasps trapped inside her, trying to escape through her belly, for that area came suddenly alive with the strangest sensations.
The pressure of his lips increased steadily and then her mouth was opened and their tongues entwined, and Leonie was bemused to realize who was giving her this first kiss.
Rolfe might have guessed her inexperience if she hadn’t followed his lead so well, but deep in her lived the knowledge that this was one man she didn’t dare resist, so she followed his every move. It caused him to think she wanted him as much as he wanted her.
