“And why is that?” he wanted to know. “You do not hesitate otherwise.”
“I have been surrounded by men all my life and know their prideful ways. You would never forgive me were I to best you in front of someone. But here, alone, it would not matter.”
He laughed at that. “I think that applies to you as well, vixen.”
She shrugged before lying back on the bed to stare up at him with half-closed eyes. Royce sucked in his breath. Her invitation was clear in the way she lay before him, relaxed, waiting. Heat shot through his vitals, yet he did not move, afraid that if he did she would bolt. This was just too much of an about-face after last eve’s stormy encounter.
His hesitation brought a laugh from her, a deep, throaty sound. “I understand, milord.”
He felt irritation rise and mix with his desire. Dealing with Kristen was a constant drain on his wits. She never once did what was normal or expected.
“What do you understand?” His voice sounded harsh even to his ears.
She leaned up on her elbows. Another woman would have cringed from his tone. Kristen smiled at him.
“I am soaked in my own sweat. ’Tis no wonder you do not find me appealing.”
Air caught in his lungs again. “Not appealing?” he fairly shouted.
She still ignored his agitation. “Aye. I would ask to bathe, except I would have to go down to the hall to do it, and ’twould be too obvious to your guests. They would think ’twas your order, that you would not have me as I am. I do have some pride.”
He stared at her in amazement for a second’s breath, then placed a knee on the bed to bend over her. “Woman—” he began.
She planted her hands in the middle of his chest to stop him. “Nay, I must stink as well. How can you?”
He was chuckling now. “I can, with pleasure. But if ’tis a bath you really want, there is a small lake near here.”
Her eyes lit up. “You would take me there?”
“Aye.”
He leaned into the pressure of her hands to snatch a kiss from her, feeling a strange delight in the pleasure of her expression. So he was once again caught by surprise when she groaned.
“Oh, unfair! To tempt me with a swim in cool waters, when I am so tired I can barely lift my hand from this bed!”
“God’s mercy!” he growled, leaning back from her. “You will drive me mad, wench!”
“Why?”
He looked at her through narrowed eyes. Then it struck him that she was not teasing him. She was serious. He saw all of her actions since she had come into the room in a different light now. It was true disappointment that made her cry out in dismay.
“Are you really so tired?”
She smiled faintly. “I fear the heat of your hall has drained my strength away. The work I can do, but ’twas so crowded…” She fell back on the bed again with a sigh. “’Tis well you do not want me now. I do not think we would either of us enjoy the sport.”
He started to say, “Speak for yourself,” but did not. Weeks ago such a brazen statement from her would have shocked him. Perhaps he was getting used to the way she spoke her mind, if not to her inconsistencies.
“Do you still want that bath?”
She closed her eyes, though her lips still smiled. “’Twould be nice, but I still will not go below. I hope you will not make me stir myself to argue about it.”
An annoyed sound came from his throat. She would stir herself to argue, but not to make love. And he did still want her, regardless of her exhaustion and condition. But he had to concede that she was undoubtedly right. He would feel cheated if her response to him was sluggish, when her fiery passion was what he enjoyed most.
Kristen had opened her eyes at the sound he made, enough to look at him beneath her lashes. Her mind must be as weary as her body. She had made an assumption based on what she was feeling. It was not what he was feeling, as she could see by the way he was looking down at her with an almost pained expression. He did in fact want her now. That knowledge did not fire her blood. She doubted anything could at the moment. But it did make her feel unaccountably good inside.
“If it pleases you, milord.”
She saw him tense at her offer, but then he relaxed, his features softening too. “Aye, it pleases me, wench, but I will do what pleases you instead. Come, you will have your bath.”
