Belial shrugged. “Our mother. She came from Flanders.”
Seemed simple enough, yet when Valteri glanced at Ariel, she had a peculiar expression as she watched her brother warily. Belial scared her, and she was trying hard not to show it. While he respected that about her, he wasn’t about to let her leave his protection until he understood what it was about her brother that made her so uneasy. “Well then, we are almost cousins, and as such, I invite you to stay and partake of our hospitality so long as you wish.”
Belial cocked a suspicious brow. “Truly? Why would you helpus,the defeated?”
In spite of his honied tone, there was a direct confrontation in those words. Aye, the look in his pale eyes left no doubt. This was a challenge.
Not that it mattered. Valteri had never backed down a day in his life, and he had no intention of starting now.
His gaze hard, he stepped toward the Saxon noble. “I offer you protection for the sake of your sister. ’Tis obvious she knows naught of suffering. I say we should keep it that way, and as her brother, I would assume you’d agree. For her tender welfare.” He raked Belial with a cold glare. “Personally, I care not what you do or where you go. To the devil, if it suits you. But I won’t see the lady harmed.”
A mocking smile curved Belial’s lips. He gave a short laugh. “So be it. For the sake of my sister, we shall stay.”
With a misplaced arrogance that told Valteri much about the man, Belial strode from the hall, out into the cool evening, as if he owned the manor.
It was enough to make him want to take his bow and plant an arrow square in that retreating back.
He savored the image. If only it wouldn’t have been an act of total cowardice, it would have been beyond temptation.
Ariel moved forward, her eyes filled with gratitude. “I cannot thank you enough for what you’ve done for me, Valteri.”
Then, to his utmost amazement, she raised herself up on her toes and planted a kiss on his cheek and squeezed his arm affectionately.
Shock almost sent him to his knees.
No one had ever shown him such kindness.
Blushing a becoming shade of pink, Ariel excused herself and headed to her chambers.
Alone.
His body on fire, Valteri watched her flee, his cheek still tingling from the warm softness of her lips. He dropped his gaze to the gentle sway of her well-rounded hips, and he clenched his teeth.
Don’t even think it.…
Yet he couldn’t help the image in his mind of her in his bed. Desire shot through him, igniting his blood, his loins. And for one single moment, he allowed himself to think of her in his arms, of her tender voice whispering in his ear while he held her beneath him. ’Twas a dream he’d banished long ago because he’d never thought to meet a woman who would touch him with anything save hatred, scorn, or fear.
And that even after he’d paid her for her services.
Indeed, he was tired of watching a woman cringe in his arms. Of seeing her fight with herself so as not to recoil from him. It’d become so bad that the last time he’d paid for a prostitute, he’d left her before he’d even entered her. Her obvious distaste at being with him had been more than he could tolerate. He’d rather take matters into his own hands than feel as if he were raping a woman he’d bought.
The concept that he’d ever have a woman who actually wanted to be with him had become a unicorn in his mind. Something for fairy tales and campfires. A mythical dream best left for fools and relegated to depths of his past so as never to torment him with what could never be.
But Ariel had pressed her lips to his flesh without any coercion.…
She’d smiled at him.
Grinding his teeth, Valteri closed his eyes in an effort to blot out the image. Then he flinched as he remembered the last time someone had dared show her gratitude with a chaste kiss.
Anger simmered in his gut at the memory. Nay, he couldn’t allow Ariel to touch him again.
No one must ever touch him. He knew that. The cost was entirely too high.
He would not see her labeled as the devil’s whore. He was used to the scorn and ridicule of others. The last thing he wanted was to see her scourged because she dared show him kindness.
Ariel sat at the table on the raised dais, listening to the myriad of conversations that buzzed around her. The last course had been served and still Valteri had made no appearance. She couldn’t fathom what kept him away from his dinner.
Then again…
