The innkeeper’s bulbous eyes focus on the lady and he bowed a few times, very quickly and respectfully. “Of course,” he said in heavily accented English. “Right away.”
He lumbered away, barking orders in German to a skinny lad behind the bar. Avalyn watched him curiously.
“Is everyone you know German?” she asked.
The corners of Brogan’s mouth twitched. “When one is a stranger in a strange land, you learn where your countrymen have settled. My mother knows this man. They lived in the same village as children.”
As she nodded in understanding, he led her to a table near the smoldering hearth, offering some warmth against the chill of the room. He held the chair out for her as she settled carefully, shifting the child in her arms so she was seated across her lap. Brogan took the chair opposite, his eyes never leaving the beautiful lady. She had the little girl so tightly wrapped up in her cloak that the only thing visible was the top portion of her little head; big blue eyes and dirty blond hair peeked out at him.
Brogan couldn’t help the smile on his face as he leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees. A big hand lay gently across Avalyn’s knee.
“So I will repeat my question,” he said. “Now that she has caught you, what do you intend to do with her?”
Avalyn looked at the child, who gazed back at her with bottomless eyes. “Feed her,” she said softly.
“And then what?”
Avalyn looked cornered, determined and confused all at the same time. “One thing I will not do is allow her to go back to those horrible children. I cannot believe they would beat such a helpless baby.”
Brogan’s big hand patted her knee. “Don’t upset yourself so,” he said softly. “It is the way of things. Only the strong survive, you know that.”
Avalyn looked at him, stricken. “So I should have simply left her there to be beaten?”
He shook his head, the hand on her knee now stroking it comfortingly. “I did not mean that. What you did was most compassionate. But I cannot say I would have done the same.”
The little girl, sensing that the enormous man wasn’t perhaps as kind as the lady, pulled the cloak over her face to hide from him. Both Avalyn and Brogan laughed softly.
“You need not fear me, little one,” Brogan said. “I will protect you with my life if the lady says so.”
He was forced to remove his hand from Avalyn’s knee as the innkeeper brought the first of several portions of food. Big bowls of steaming carrots and cabbage, as well as some kind of meat were put on the leaning table. The skinny lad put a huge wooden tray of brown bread on the table before scampering away. As Avalyn pulled the cloak down to show the child the food on the table, the innkeeper reappeared with a pitcher and three worn cups.
“I am honored that you would bring your family,mein Herr,” he said, his eyes grazing Avalyn and the little girl. “You must be very proud. Never have I seen such beauty and a girl child who looks just as her mother.Schön!”
Brogan’s deep blue gaze looked sharply at the man. Avalyn, knowing what little she did about Brogan’s background, did not want to see the evening turn morose or ugly. Though he and the innkeeper knew each other, apparently it was only on an informal basis. Had the man known Brogan in-depth, he would have never made such a comment, knowing the pain it would provoke.
“Thank you, sirrah,” she said before Brogan could explode. “And thank you for this generous fare. It looks delicious.”
The innkeeper, red and round-cheeked, went through his quick series of bowing before hustling away from the table. Brogan just sat there, his expression unreadable, as Avalyn unwrapped the cloak enough to set the child upon her knee and move up against the table. As she helped the little girl pull apart a big piece of bread, her gaze inevitably moved back to Brogan. He was emotionless, his gaze on the pitcher of ale.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I did not know what else to say. I did not want to get into a lengthy explanation that was undoubtedly none of his affair. I did not mean to show any disrespect and I am sorry if I upset you.”
He looked up at her, his brow flickering with puzzlement. “Is that what you think? That you have upset me?”
She took the big wooden spoon that the child was trying to use to dish out cabbage and carrots, spooning out a careful portion on the girl’s wooden trencher.
“I did not mean to.”
He shifted his chair and Avalyn realized that he was moving it very, very close to her. As the child shoveled vegetables into her eager little mouth, Avalyn gazed up into deep blue eyes. Brogan put his massive arm around her shoulder, sitting indecently close. They were mere inches from one another, deep blue on golden brown, feeling the magnetism and power that so easily ignited between them. It was enough to set her heart to racing. He leaned over and kissed her on the temple, his lips lingering on her flesh long after the kiss died away.
“You did nothing of the kind,” he said, his mouth on her head. “As I listened to his words, I realized that I wished nothing more strongly. And then I realized that nothing is more impossible.”
She closed her eyes to the feel of his lips on her temple. The racing of her heart made her limbs feel warm and strangely weak. “Oh, Brogan,” she sighed. “I do not want to be without you. I do not want to marry Aubrey.”
“Then do not. Marry me instead.”
She looked up at him, her golden eyes wide. “Are you serious?”
He bent down, sweetly rubbing noses with her. “Never more serious about anything in my life. Marry me and let us leave thisplace and live where no one can keep us apart. Some place where there is no de Neville and no Edward and no Aubrey.”
