The Commander's Desire by Jennette Green

brother’s
murderer?
    “ A good start.”
    What did he mean by that? Elwytha found it
easiest to lay her head on his shoulder, huddled as close as she
was to him. The cloth of his jerkin felt rough beneath her cheek.
His warm hand curled around her clasped cold ones. She allowed it,
accepting his warmth, and his manner of care for her.
    The firelight felt warm on her face. After a
while, the chill left her, and she began to feel pleasantly toasty.
Drowsiness made her eyelids heavy. Last night’s disrupted sleep
caught up with her and she drifted peacefully to sleep, feeling
safe in her enemy’s embrace.
     
    * * * * *
     
    The Commander looked at Elwytha, asleep in
his arms, and a powerful, unfamiliar emotion gripped him.
Tenderness?
    He was amazed such an emotion could exist in
him.
    With that unsettling emotion came longing.
Would that she’d always allow him to hold her, to care for her like
this.
    Though she trusted him a little now, he knew
the deeper problem between them still festered like an ugly, oozing
sore. He’d need to lance it before they could ever have true peace.
While necessary, the prospect did not appeal. He had no wish to
hurt her.
    Her fingers felt so small and slender in his.
Protectiveness surged hard through him. A more familiar emotion.
But now he wished for something as he’d never wished before. The
love of this woman. He raised his eyes to the heavens. Was it
possible? Could it ever be possible for one such as he?

 
     
     
     
    Chapter
Seven
     
     
     
    When Elwytha awoke, she felt secure and comfortable. Where was she?
She smelled wood smoke, and felt the warmth of a fire…and the
warmth of a man’s body against her and his arm about her. She took
a quick breath. The Commander! She stiffened.
    “ I’m warm now,” she said.
Embarrassed, she pulled free and scooted some distance away. What
had she been thinking? Her head still felt groggy from her nap, and
she stared at him, bewildered.
    He watched her, his eyes calm and level. For
some reason, that made her feel even more uneasy. It was as if he’d
made a decision about her that she had taken no part in. Nor would
he let her.
    Insufferably arrogant and high-handed of him,
as usual. But as he hadn’t said anything, she couldn’t very well
accost him for looking at her in a displeasing way. “The rain has
stopped,” she told him.
    “ Yes. Are you ready to
go?”
    “ Of course I am. You
promised me a free afternoon, remember?” One freed of his presence.
What could be more splendid?
    “ Very well.” He rose to his
great height, and she quickly scrambled up as well, in an effort to
forestall any chivalrous gestures on his part—such as offering a
hand to help her up. Nay. She had already supped too closely of the
Commander’s nearness. Now she wished only to remain far, far from
him.
    The horses looked drenched and cold.
    “ You poor thing,” Elwytha
murmured, rubbing Sir Duke’s face. His brown eyes looked
reproachful of her ill treatment of him. “We’ll get you home soon,
with a warm blanket and a bucket of oats,” she promised him, and
swung onto his back.
    “ Do you often speak to your
mount?”
    Elwytha frowned at the Commander. “Horses
have feelings, too. Sometimes more than humans.” She patted the
horse’s neck and murmured, “Right, Sir Duke?”
    The Commander made no reply to this. Likely
he thought it nonsense, which only proved he had a cold stone for a
heart.
    Leaves and branches dripped water on them as
they rode through the pungent forest toward the castle. Elwytha
didn’t mind. She loved the smells that lingered after a rain
shower, particularly in the fall; the sweet scent of decaying
leaves, damp earth, and the fresh, clean smell of rain. The cool
moisture in the air freshened her spirits. She was almost sad to
arrive at the stable.
    The stable boy took Sir Duke from her and
Elwytha retired to her room to change. Unfortunately, her gray
dress hadn’t been washed yet—or perhaps it was still