Page 31 of The Warrior's Innocent Captive

Cai broke into a gentle trot and Linota slipped her arms around Erik’s waist. She could have held on to the saddle to gain purchase, but the chance to hold him innocently was too good an opportunity to pass up.

Even through the layers of clothing she could feel the firm muscles of his stomach and a strange yearning opened up inside her. She wanted to run her fingers over the bare skin of his chest, to feel those muscles against her skin. She closed her eyes as the intense longing washed over her.

Seemingly oblivious to the exquisite torture she was going through, Erik tried to engage her in conversation.

‘You’re very quiet this morning, Mistress Leofric. You’re normally much chattier than this. Is everything all right?’

‘Everything’s fine and I thought we agreed that Mistress Leofric was too formal for our situation. I fully intend to keep calling you Erik, Erik.’

She felt his quiet laughter rumble through him. ‘All right then, Linota it is. Do you ever shorten it to Lin?’

No one ever had, but she liked the idea of him having a private name for her.

‘You could call me Lin,’ she mumbled into his back. She straightened. ‘How about you? Does anyone ever shorten your name?’

‘Erik doesn’t really lend itself to being shortened.’

‘What about Rik or Rikky?’

‘Absolutely not! Anyway, Rikky is longer than Erik so that defeats the purpose.’

She passed the rest of the early morning by coming up with increasingly ridiculous nicknames for Erik, pleased every time she got a chuckle out of him. She delighted in making him laugh and knew it was something she would never get tired of doing.

She only stopped when he threatened to call her Ot from now on.

The laughter between them slowly ebbed away and was replaced with a deep contentment. Being with Erik was easy. There was no tension, no worry that she might say the wrong thing and upset him. She sensed that he would not whisper behind her back or listen to nasty rumours about her family.

‘Did you know,’ asked Erik, when they had been riding for some time, ‘that Borwyn is one of the largest landowners in the country? Only the King has more and only the Earl of Ogmore has similar reach and influence.’

‘I did know because you have already told me.’ She waited a moment and then added, ‘Why do you do that?’

‘Do what?’ said Erik. ‘Talk to you about things? I thought you might be interested.’

His words were light and dismissive. It was only because she had her arms around his waist that she knew his body had tensed. Therewasmore to this than idle chatter.

‘No, you didn’t. There is something else going on here and I want to know what it is.’

Erik laughed, but the sound was nothing like his real one—the one she was coming to love. ‘There is nothing going on, Lin.’

‘Do you promise me?’

There was a long silence and her heart thudded painfully.

‘I...’

‘Erik, please... If there is something going on I need to know about it. I’m not a child.’

‘Damn it, Linota. I know you are not a child. Every moment of every day I am aware of the fact that you are a woman. This has nothing to do with your age.’

Her heart fluttered at his words even as her brain reminded her to keep pressing for answers. Something was off and she needed to know what it was.

‘Then what is it? Why does it sometimes seem to me as if you are trying to sell me Borwyn and his land?’

Erik huffed out a long breath. ‘I’m sorry. I don’t mean it to come across that way, although I suppose I am doing that, in a way.’

Her breath caught in her throat. ‘Why?’

Erik groaned. Linota almost felt bad for pressuring him,almost.

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