Bretton nodded. “We will eat it on the road.”
The old woman departed, shutting the door behind her. When she was gone, Bretton held up the robe to Allaston, but she shook her head at him.
“The drying linen first,” she said. “I will put the robe on after I dry my skin.”
He silently set the robe down and picked up the drying linen, handing it to her. Allaston reached out to snatch it from her position sitting inside the tub.
“Turn around,” she said. “I will not dry myself with an audience.”
He just shook his head at her as if baffled by her stance. “Must we go through this again?” he said. “I have seen many naked women in my time. Unless you have a third teat or something out of place on your body, nothing you can show me is any different from what I have seen before.”
Allaston tried not to laugh at him because he sounded genuinely perplexed. “Turn around.”
He sighed with exasperation. “Why?” he demanded. “I will marry you soon. Let me see what I will be getting.”
She scowled. “You cheeky devil,” she said. “Turnaround.”
Fighting off a grin, he did. He pretended to be quite put out by it because that was the tone of the conversation. They were actually laughing at one another, a rare and unexpected occurrence. He could hear the water sloshing behind him as she got out of the tub. The linen was still in his hand and she grabbed for it, but he held it fast.
“God’s Blood,” he hissed. “Is there something you do not want me to see?”
Wet and naked behind him, Allaston tugged on the linen. “Give it tome.”
He wouldn’t let go, his back to her. It was rather fun taunting her and he had so little opportunity to taunt anyone. It was rare, rarer still with genuine humor involved. He was actually enjoying himself.
“You are hiding something, aren’t you?” he asked, suspicious. “What is it? Do you really have a third teat? Or mayhap a fourth? Do you really look like a nursing dog, with rows of breasts down your torso, and you just do not want to show me?”
Allaston started giggling as she yanked at the linen, finally getting it away from him. Snatching the robe, she scurried behind the screen that had been partially blocking the tub. Once behind it, she began to quickly dry herself.
“You should know what I look like because you stole a glimpse of it,” she said, reminding him of two days ago when he had tried to take advantage of her. “You do not need to see it again until it rightfully belongs to you.”
He bit his lip to keep from smiling, crossing his big arms across his chest. “You clearly do not understand the concept of being a prisoner,” he snorted. “You are one of two things to me– either my captive or my wife. In either case, you belong to me and I can look at you any time I please.”
Allaston tossed the robe on and tied the fastens at the side. It was a rather luxurious piece of goods for belonging to the daughter of an innkeeper because it was lined with something very soft, lamb’s wool, she thought. In any case, it was clean, warm, and wonderful. She ran her hands over the sleeves as Bretton spoke, not particularly concerned with his view of their relationship.
“Mayhap that is true but you shall not be doing any looking tonight,” she told him as she stepped out from behind the screen. “I am hungry and I am weary, so if you will kindly direct me to my room, I would be grateful.”
He eyed her as she came out from behind the screen. In the pale robe, with her hair wound up around her head, she looked like an angel. He just stood there a moment, gazing at her, thinking she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
Seeing the odd expression on his face, Allaston cocked her head at him. “Why do you look at me so?” she asked.
He simply shook his head. “I have not had much experience telling a woman of my thoughts,” he said. “At least, I’ve not had much experience telling aladywhat I am thinking. I’ve not been around many of them and when I have, the situation has not been particularly calm.”
Allaston tightened up the tie on the robe as she approached him. “You mean the women you have killed when you have laid siege to their homes?” she asked softly.
He nodded slowly. “Mayhap.”
Allaston couldn’t help her thoughts from turning to Lady Miette. She sighed sadly. “It could have so easily been me,” she said quietly. “You could have very easily attacked my home and you would have killed me without care. I simply do not understand how you can do those things to people who could not possibly harm you.”
She wasn’t being combative but he didn’t like it when she brought up his methods. It made him feel so very guilty and that, in turn, frustrated him.
“You could very well ask your father the same thing with all of the carnage he created twenty-five years ago,” he said. “Whatever you ask me, and whatever you disapprove of, know that I am simply emulating what your father did those years ago. My methods are nothing new.”
She thought on that. The entire thing left a bad taste in her mouth. “May I ask you something?”
He lifted his eyebrows at her. “You are going to whether or not I give you permission.”
That was true and she pursed her lips wryly before continuing. “Lady Miette,” she ventured. “You… you did not personally kill her or defile her, did you?”
