“I am a knight. My duty is to protect the innocent.” He straightened his shoulders. “I will fight them.”
Gratitude shone from her shimmering eyes. “They might throw you in the dungeon for heresy or you might die. That’s not the answer. We have to stop the bishop. He needs to…” She looked at him intensely. “Die.”
Richard balked. “Mercy. Don’t say that. He is a man of the cloth. He is defenseless.”
“So are the children.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I just… I hate him! He should be good and kind, but he is compassionless and cold.” She stood and paced before him. “What kind of man takes children to work in the name of God?”
“Children are assigned to lords as pages at a young age. Perhaps there is nothing to fear.”
Mercy searched the ground with her eyes as if the answer were there. “Pages are given up willingly. This feels wrong. I can’t explain it.” She sat beside him, taking his hands into hers. “I’m afraid.”
Richard pulled her into his embrace, holding her tightly. He felt her body shake with a suppressed sob. He wanted to comfort her. All he could think of doing was holding her close. She was warm and soft. She pressed her face against the hollow of his shoulder as he stroked her hair. “I won’t let them take Kit.”
She pulled back to look up at him. So vulnerable. So desperate.
His gaze moved over her face. Beautiful. Soft. Tempting. He pushed a strand of hair from her cheek. Her lips were so full and tempting. And then she was leaning in. Instinctively, he cupped the back of her head and pulled her to him. Longing speared through him at the touch of her lips. His mouth moved over hers gently in reassurance. As the flames of passion ignited within him, the kiss deepened. He urged her lips to part and she willingly obliged. He thrust his tongue forward, tasting her, exploring every luscious corner of her mouth.
She answered by pulling him tightly against her; her tongue meeting and battling his.
Lord, how he wanted her. All of her. Beneath him. He wanted to touch and savor every inch of her delectable body. But not now. Breathing hard, he pulled away, separating from her. In her lidded eyes, he saw need and desire. His own need hardened in his leggings. Damn, he wanted her.
He didn’t think it right to take her without knowing his past. Without knowing if he was committed to someone else. “Mercy…”
She grinned and ducked her head. “It’s alright. You’re a knight and I’m –”
“No.” He caught her chin and lifted it. “I have to find out who I am before I can give myself to you. Before I can make you mine.”
Her gaze moved over his face, touching him with understanding. She bobbed a nod.
“Make no mistake, my fiery wench, I will have you in the beat of a heart if I am able.” She smiled at that. “Do you understand?”
“Yes,” she answered and rose. “I shall wait for you to find yourself.”
Richard nodded. Everything in him wanted to save her. To save her son. “Until I do, pack. We will leave immediately. Get as far away from Goodmont as we can.”
“Leave?” She looked around.
“Perhaps when Kit is older, we can return. But this is truly the only way to escape the bishop.”
She nodded with excitement. Her eyes held hope. “I’ll start packing.”
Richard watched her leave. His heart was filled with tenderness and possibility. He was doing the right thing.
He had one thing he needed to do first. She wouldn’t even know he was gone. His hand closed around the cross tucked into his waistband.
