Page 42 of Peregrine's Call
“Here in my chamber, I have a scrap of privacy…so long as no one thinks I’m doing anything useful. The walls are thick and I know of all the hiding spots. Hence my invitation to you. All they know is that I’ve asked a beautiful lady to my chamber. Theythinkthey know why.”
“To seduce me?” Robin asked.
“Precisely.”
“I’m armed,” she warned. She wore a dagger concealed under her skirts, never one to let her guard down entirely. “I’ll stab you in the gut if you try.”
Improbably, Pierce just laughed. “I expect you might, for you’re less a lady than you seem.” He stepped back to survey her. “Pity. Are you sure you wouldn’t like to be seduced? We do have the whole evening to ourselves, after all.”
“Don’t you dare.” All her previous compassion for him vanished. He was just as bad as the stories she’d heard. Maybe worse.
“What’s the matter, dear heart? Afraid that you’ll not be able to resist?”
Robin frowned at him. “Do I look that naive? I assure you, you’re not the first man who’s offered to take me to bed. I have plenty of practice resisting.”
“I can guess how many men you’ve been forced to fend off,” Pierce said. “But those men weren’t like me, were they?”
“How do you mean? Arrogant and entitled?”
“Handsome and skilled,” he corrected, with an undeniably arrogant smile.
“I’ve been importuned by handsome men as well as ugly men. As for skilled, I never cared enough to learn if they were or not.”
“Is that it?” he asked. “Or are you saving yourself for your knight? Hoping he’ll offer to seduce you?”
“Take that back,” she snapped, offended and defensive on his behalf. “Octavian has always treated me with respect.”
“His loss,” Pierce murmured.
“You’re disgusting.”
“Not so loud, darling,” he cautioned, unmoved by her judgment. “We are still pretending to be enjoying each other’s company.”
She rolled her eyes. “How long must I continue to enjoy your company, then?”
“A little while, at least.” Pierce’s expression grew serious. “And when you leave here, at least try to look as if you want to return, because I’ll likely need to call for you again. You’ll be the trusted confidante between me and Octavian. Tell him to make a plan to get me far from this place, somewhere safe. We don’t have much time, I fear. No more than a sennight.”
“What happens in a sennight?”
“The Welsh are coming here to Willesden, and when they arrive it will be too late. I got word earlier today. There’s nothing I can do to stop them.”
“You should just tell Octavian whatever secret you’re keeping,” Robin said, alarmed by this new development.
“I know too much to commit to another’s memory,” he replied. “And besides, that would run counter to my plan to save my own skin. Speaking of skin…” He ran a fingertip along the edge of Robin’s bodice. The trail of his touch sparked heat and then a chill in its wake. Robin shivered, though the feeling was not exactly repulsive.
“Stop touching me,” she warned, her hand dropping to her skirt where a hidden slit would let her find her dagger.
“This hardly counts as touching.” Pierce’s smile widened. “Kiss me.”
“Absolutely not. Why would I?”
“If someone happens to barge in, we should look appropriately inappropriate.” He reached out and touched the hair she’d insisted on having braided earlier. “And you’ll need to look more disheveled. The devil knows I’ve never left one of my lovers with such tidy hair.”
“If this is just to preserve a subterfuge, I can undo it,” she said.
“No, let me. Turn around.”
He turned her and ran his fingers through her hair, separating the strands. The sensation was really rather pleasant. Almost soothing, if it hadn’t been Pierce doing it.
