Page 25 of Tears of the Wolf
She was willing to work as hard as the rest of them, judging by how easily she had taken to mending a stranger’s boots. She’d shown him respect in front of his men and hadn’t kept them waiting at the ship for her.
She didn’t expect to live in comfort. She wasn’t the spoiled sorceress he’d feared. She was…
“I want a life I chose,” Brynn finally confessed. “Not one that was chosen for me.”
Brynn was saying she would rather be an alderman’s wife on her own terms than something greater by the will of someone else. She fascinated him, this king’s daughter who had chosen to marry a stranger because it was the one choice she could make for herself.
She stirred something deep in Cenric’s chest. Something warm that tugged him toward her.
Loose tendrils of her hair whipped against her cheek and neck as the wind picked up. Those few strands were so at odds with the rest of her—controlled and restrained.
“Brynn.”
She turned to him, her face tight, like she was bracing herself for what he had to say.
“May I touch you?” He didn’t realize that was what he was going to ask until the words left his lips. Out loud, it sounded awkward as a boy wooing his first girl—but Cenric very much wanted to touch her.
Brynn searched his face for just a moment. “Yes,” she whispered, her voice little more than a croak. She lowered her knees, leaning against the barrels at her back so she wasn’t closed off from him. She uncrossed her arms, though her hands remained knotted in her lap. She might have given permission, but it was like she braced for a blow.
Cenric caught the loose tendrils of her hair, feeling them between his fingers. They were just as silky as he imagined. He traced his fingers along her jawline, feeling the softness of her cheek as he tucked her hair behind her ear.
Taking a breath, Cenric dropped his hand, facing the front of the ship again. He hadn’t wanted to stop touching her, but didn’t want to frighten her. He suspected her previous experience with men had been unpleasant. It might take time before she was ready to trust him.
Several of the men at dice shot them covert glances but left them alone.
Brynn’s maidservant had returned the boots to Daven and now seemed to be intently studying the shoreline.
“You asked permission…for that?” Brynn’s voice shook with quiet surprise.
Cenric quirked a smile in her direction. “Would you like me to touch you more?”
“I told you I’m prepared to do my duty” Her voice was barely more than a whisper.
That word again—duty. Cenric wasn’t sure why it annoyed him.
Brynn wasn’t going to stop him from touching her. He realized now that she wouldn’t have stopped him if he’d wanted to bed her last night.
“Are yousure?”Cenric cocked his head toward her. He held eye contact until she shifted, but she didn’t look away.
Brynn cleared her throat. She fluttered her hands in her lap and adjusted her skirt. “You’re mocking me?”
Cenric was trying to tease her, but he supposed they were not at that point, yet. “Tell me about Selene. Will she cause problems for us?”
“She respects the wishes of her king,” Brynn said.
“But will she be against this marriage?”
“My mother knows there is nothing she can do.”
Cenric’s eyes narrowed. “You are dancing around the question, lady.”
Brynn looked up, frustrated.
“I take it she approved of Paega?”
Brynn grimaced at the name of her first husband. “She did.”
“But you and the king did not?” Cenric asked.
