The Captive by Amanda Ashley Page A

dangerous to her health, and her peace of mind, than a stallion that was
still half-wild.

Chapter Nine
     
    “You want me to do what?” Falkon stared at Ashlynne, unable
to believe what he was hearing.
    “I want you to pick me a bouquet of flowers and ferns.”
    “I don’t have time for that. Pick them yourself.”
    “Do as I say, Number Four, or I shall report your insolence
to my father, and you’ll find yourself back in the mine.” It was an empty
threat, and they both knew it.
    “Don’t you have anything better to do than torment me?”
    “No.” She looked up at him through wide green eyes. “Life
was really quite dull here until you came along.”
    Falkon glared at her. He had the feeling she was laughing at
him, that she was, indeed, telling the truth, and that he had become her greatest
source of amusement.
    “A large bouquet.” She picked up a blade of grass and
twirled it between her thumb and forefinger. “‘Twill look lovely on the table
at dinner.”
    Muttering an oath, Falkon tossed his shovel aside and
stalked toward the vast flower beds that grew along the south wall. Flowers!
    He made his way along the narrow brick-lined paths that
wound through the flowerbeds, randomly plucking the blooms that caught his eye.
He had to admit that whoever had arranged and planted the gardens had an eye
for color and design. He’d never seen anything quite so pretty. He had never
had much time to notice such things, and didn’t know what most of the flowers
were called, but they were beautiful, bright reds and blues and pinks and
yellows. Butterflies large and small and in bright rainbow colors flitted from
bush to bush. Sparrows sang in the tree tops, and he felt his anger dissipate
as he continued on. The sky was blue and clear, the sun was warm, the air was
filled with the sweet fragrance of the flowers, of earth and grass.
    “You’re not supposed to pick them all.”
    He turned around, surprised to find the girl trailing after
him, a smirk on her face.
    “You said you wanted a large bouquet.”He thrust the flowers
he had gathered into her hands. “Damn, girl, you’re harder to get rid of than a
case of the plague,” he muttered irritably.
    “Admit it,” she said. “You were having a good time.”
    “Don’t be ridiculous.”
    “I saw the look on your face. I’ll bet it’s the first time
you ever picked a flower in your whole life.”
    “You’re imagining things.”
    “Why are you so stubborn?”
    “Why are you following me?”
    She shrugged. “Nothing else to do.”
    He took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “How long did
you say you were you going to be gone?”
    “I didn’t say, but if you must know, I’ll probably be gone
the whole summer. I guess that makes you happy, doesn’t it?”
    Falkon nodded, but it was a lie. He was going to miss her
when she was gone, he thought. Her every move seemed to tempt him. Her mere
presence was a constant reminder that it had been far too long since he’d had a
woman. Woman, he thought. She was hardly that. She was young, far too young and
far too innocent for the likes of him, yet even now he felt his body hardening,
reacting to her nearness.
    He clenched his hands in an effort to keep from reaching for
her. She’d kept quiet about his spying on her in her room, but he doubted even
his threat to tell her father about her sneaking down to the mine would be
enough to guarantee her silence if he kissed her. But he wanted to, by the
stars, he wanted to, even though he knew it would be the biggest mistake he had
ever made.
    She looked up at him and licked her lips. In any other
female, it would have been a blatant invitation, but Ashlynne wasn’t
experienced enough to play games. He could teach her, he thought, teach her how
good it could be.
    “Damn!” All thoughts of her delectable body fled his mind as
he heard a low rumble.
    “What’s that?”
    Falkon lifted his head, listening. The noise came again,
louder and closer this