Page 29 of While Angels Slept
They moved towards the door of the solar. “Then we should probably start making some manner of preparation,” Val said, not entirely upset by the prospect of going into seclusion with de Lohr.
“I’ll know more after I talk to Lady Penden,” Tevin said. Noting his sister’s expression, he held up his hands in supplication. “I’m simply going to talk to her about Gillingham and nothing more. And stop looking at me like that.”
Val stuck her tongue out at him and made her way to the stairwell that led to the second floor. Tevin stood at the base of the steps, making sure she didn’t falter as she mounted then. When he was sure she was safely on her way to her chamber, he went to seek out Lady Penden. While the knights had gathered in the solar, she had taken her son out into the kitchen yard. He would start looking for her there.
*
Tevin found Cantiafar beyond the kitchen walls. Far beyond Rochester’s walls, in fact. It seemed that Hunt wished to chase rabbits and she had followed her son out into the flat, vast plain just to the west of the castle. His momentary annoyance at her leaving the safety of the castle was dashed when he saw her face. She was laughing as her son would run after a rabbit and then trip over himself in his efforts. She was having a marvelous time.
Cantia noticed him approach and she turned to him just as her son fell flat on his face when a rabbit slipped away from him. Before she could speak, Hunt waved and called out.
“My lord,” he picked himself up off the grass. “I am catching rabbiths!”
Tevin gave him a short wave. “I can see that,” he said, turning his focus to the boy’s radiant mother. “Why aren’t you helping him?”
She smiled. “Because he and the rabbit are much faster than I am.” She watched him snort. “Is there something I can do for you, my lord?”
Tevin’s dark gaze lingered over the topography before settling on her. “I need to speak with you when you are free of rabbits,” he said. “Something has come up and I require your assistance.”
“Oh?” she cocked her head, shading her eyes from the sun overhead. “Is it serious?”
He nodded faintly. “It could be. My cousin, the Earl of East Anglia, is coming to Rochester.”
Her eyes widened. “How marvelous,” she said. “When is he due? I must make all necessary preparations for the.…”
He cut her off. “’Tis not a grand occasion, I assure you.” Hunt was off after another rabbit and Tevin lowered his voice as he watched the lad leap over the tall grass. “I do not want you or your son here when my cousin arrives. I would ask your advice on where to send the two of you for the duration of his visit.”
She gazed at him a long moment before lowering her hand from her face. She seemed to lose her good spirits. “Of course,” her voice was strangely cold. “We would not want to be underfoot. We will certainly go away for the duration of the earl’s visit if that is your wish.”
He sensed that perhaps she had taken his meaning wrong. “Cantia,” he said gently. “It is not that I wish you to go away. It is a necessity. My cousin is, shall we say, a less than scrupulous man. I am even sending Val with you because I do not trust him where women are concerned. Especially around you.”
Her momentary offense at what she thought he had been trying to tell her vanished with his quiet explanation. She should have known better.
“Why especially around me?” she asked.
Tevin’s dark eyes glimmered warmly at her. “Because you are the most beautiful woman in England, if not the world, and my cousin would not be blind to that. He might very well try to make you another one of his conquests and I would not stand for that.”
She gazed up at him, her lavender eyes luminous. A hint of pink crept into her cheeks. “You wouldn’t?”
He frowned. “I do not wish to commit murder, which is exactly what would happen were he to so much as look in your direction. You are not a woman to be trifled with.”
She lowered her gaze, humbled with his words. Or so he thought. As Tevin watched, she slowly reached out and took his fingers in her small, warm hand.
“How fortunate I am to have a protector such as you, my lord.”
He gripped her hand strongly, bringing it to his lips for a tender kiss. “In private you will call me Tevin,” he rumbled. “And I will protect you, always.”
Cantia felt the heat from his kiss course down her arm like a river of fire. She remembered the kiss in the church, the force of his passion, and it made her knees weak.
“Because it is your duty?” she asked breathlessly.
He shook his head. “Because I want to.”
She smiled at him, a dazzling gesture that sent bolts of exhilaration pulsing through Tevin’s big body. He kissed her hand again, forgetting about the boy chasing rabbits or the fortress behind him. There could have been eyes watching them at that moment and he could have cared less. All he cared about was that beautiful face.
“God, I wish I could kiss you again as I did at the cathedral,” he admitted, his mouth against her fingers.
She put her hand on his head as he bent over her hand, feeling the soft copper tendrils beneath her fingers. “As do I,” she whispered. “Yet I suspect this is not the place for it. But at least there are no candles.”
