a bit too breathlessly for his own comfort.
An innocent who had no idea of the possibilities in pleasure between a man and a woman. Well, he did andhis body did, too, reacting to the thoughts racing through his mind now that involved this tub, hot water, soap and the woman standing before him. So much for his finding a refuge of peace and quiet. He needed to change the direction of this conversation and his thoughts before all his control was lost and he was pulling her into the tub or tumbling her onto the bed and taking the wife he was still not certain he wanted.
Soren understood that what had happened to her, with her, that first day and night, had given him a reprieve of a sort. Time to sort things out once the haze of his rage eased and time to avoid mistakes that would haunt him for the rest of his life.
One such mistake was taking her as wife.
Heâd done it in the heat of battle, in spite of his words to Stephen to the contrary. Now, he knew that consummating their vows would have bound her to him, leaving no way out. Once heâd made that decision, though, the thoughts of her and the images that seemed to occupy his mind were all of the passionate kind. As sheâd begun to heal a bit and come around, evidenced by her plucky resistance to his demands for the location of the manor rolls, Soren found her occupying his thoughts much more than he wanted to admit. Now she stood before him, dressed in only the thinnest of bedrobes, blushing and breathing in a manner that spoke of arousalâ¦or at least interest.
âSo what did you think this bath meant, if not to share it with me? Did you think I was being kind, then?â
Would he never learn, or rather unlearn, his damned attraction to women? When would he realise that this was going in a dangerous direction? But years of flirtingwith and enjoying the company of women, beautiful and plain, high-born and common, had taught him habits that were nigh impossible to forget. And even the recent scorn and fearful reactions of women to his new appearance had apparently not burned it out of him either. She stammered at first, then shook her head as though refusing to answer, but she closed her eyes, tilted her head up as though offering a prayer of some kind and then spoke.
âWeâ¦Iâ¦I thought you meant to claim your marital rights,â she proclaimed, looking none too happy over the possibility of it.
This explained much. Sorenâs men had been staring at him all afternoon in a strange way. Smiling at him, too, in an unexplained manner and for no reason. But now he understood what they thought, what they all thought, thanks to one untrained boyâs misspoken messageâthey believed he was here to bed her. Part of him wanted to laugh over this and part wanted to get out of the tub, peel off her robe and claim those marital rights.
He could almost hear Lord Gautier laughing at him in that moment. And as he searched for the right way to handle this, he knew that mayhap he was not as far gone as he and many others had thought him to be. A bit of the man he used to be crept into his soul.
âAnd is that what you want me to do, Lady Sybilla?â
Chapter Ten
W hy had she foolishly admitted the truth to him?
She should have remained quiet and not spoken and not engaged him in this conversation that was now mired down in a dangerous place. If heâd only wanted a bath, that was all right with her, but talking about sharing a bath had caused such strange feelings to rush through her body. Then one word led to another, a question to an answer and so on until now sheâd unwisely shown him that she had thought he was here to share her bed!
Sybilla reached up and pushed her hair away from her face. Loosened from its braid and freshly washed, it was an unruly mass that surrounded her shoulders and face with a mass of curls. She realised that no man had looked on her hair this way. Why was she thinking such frivolous things when he
An innocent who had no idea of the possibilities in pleasure between a man and a woman. Well, he did andhis body did, too, reacting to the thoughts racing through his mind now that involved this tub, hot water, soap and the woman standing before him. So much for his finding a refuge of peace and quiet. He needed to change the direction of this conversation and his thoughts before all his control was lost and he was pulling her into the tub or tumbling her onto the bed and taking the wife he was still not certain he wanted.
Soren understood that what had happened to her, with her, that first day and night, had given him a reprieve of a sort. Time to sort things out once the haze of his rage eased and time to avoid mistakes that would haunt him for the rest of his life.
One such mistake was taking her as wife.
Heâd done it in the heat of battle, in spite of his words to Stephen to the contrary. Now, he knew that consummating their vows would have bound her to him, leaving no way out. Once heâd made that decision, though, the thoughts of her and the images that seemed to occupy his mind were all of the passionate kind. As sheâd begun to heal a bit and come around, evidenced by her plucky resistance to his demands for the location of the manor rolls, Soren found her occupying his thoughts much more than he wanted to admit. Now she stood before him, dressed in only the thinnest of bedrobes, blushing and breathing in a manner that spoke of arousalâ¦or at least interest.
âSo what did you think this bath meant, if not to share it with me? Did you think I was being kind, then?â
Would he never learn, or rather unlearn, his damned attraction to women? When would he realise that this was going in a dangerous direction? But years of flirtingwith and enjoying the company of women, beautiful and plain, high-born and common, had taught him habits that were nigh impossible to forget. And even the recent scorn and fearful reactions of women to his new appearance had apparently not burned it out of him either. She stammered at first, then shook her head as though refusing to answer, but she closed her eyes, tilted her head up as though offering a prayer of some kind and then spoke.
âWeâ¦Iâ¦I thought you meant to claim your marital rights,â she proclaimed, looking none too happy over the possibility of it.
This explained much. Sorenâs men had been staring at him all afternoon in a strange way. Smiling at him, too, in an unexplained manner and for no reason. But now he understood what they thought, what they all thought, thanks to one untrained boyâs misspoken messageâthey believed he was here to bed her. Part of him wanted to laugh over this and part wanted to get out of the tub, peel off her robe and claim those marital rights.
He could almost hear Lord Gautier laughing at him in that moment. And as he searched for the right way to handle this, he knew that mayhap he was not as far gone as he and many others had thought him to be. A bit of the man he used to be crept into his soul.
âAnd is that what you want me to do, Lady Sybilla?â
Chapter Ten
W hy had she foolishly admitted the truth to him?
She should have remained quiet and not spoken and not engaged him in this conversation that was now mired down in a dangerous place. If heâd only wanted a bath, that was all right with her, but talking about sharing a bath had caused such strange feelings to rush through her body. Then one word led to another, a question to an answer and so on until now sheâd unwisely shown him that she had thought he was here to share her bed!
Sybilla reached up and pushed her hair away from her face. Loosened from its braid and freshly washed, it was an unruly mass that surrounded her shoulders and face with a mass of curls. She realised that no man had looked on her hair this way. Why was she thinking such frivolous things when he
Similar Books
