Page 8 of Promise of a Knight
Chapter Three
Overnight, the temperature outside had lessened, so that they were not suffocating in heat. The sun was out and a smattering of clouds covered the blue sky.
Already seated on the palfrey she’d ride beside the queen on the way past Coldingham Abbey, where they’d pick up the remainder of their group, before heading toward Dalkeith, Alex’s heart fluttered with the passing of each English knight in anticipation of seeing Sir Alaric de Garde.
Her hand still tingled from where he’d kissed her, the way his lips had lingered on her skin. His soulful eyes had been filled with mischievous intent. The armor-clad male was wicked, aye, that she knew, to have so easily enraptured her. For that was what it was, there was no other explanation as to why she would be so enamored of him.
Nay, she argued with herself, ’twas not that she was enamored. Couldn’t be.
She was fooling herself. And her parents would have a fit if they knew she was even entertaining a flirtation with a bloody Sassenach. But he was like no other Englishman she’d ever met. Hmm… not that she’d met many Englishmen, besides the ones who wanted to take her home. But Alaric was nothing like them. Kind, gentle, full of chivalry, and beneath all that raw strength, he exuded a power that begged to be unharnessed.
Alex shivered.
He was wicked. She was more so.
’Twas a sin for such thoughts to be tumbling through her mind. Perhaps when they reached the abbey she should beg to be let inside for confession. But then someone would want to know what was so important, what weighed so heavily on her conscience that she would stop an entire royal procession to go and confess it.
God’s teeth, but she would not stop. She would not confess. Not yet. She’d just have to pray extra hard the entire journey.
And then there he was, walking toward Princess Margaret with a small, wooden chest in one hand, his helmet under his other arm.
He presented her with the chest, opening it up to reveal a beautiful emerald and amethyst necklace.
The very one her mother wanted her to steal.
Alex’s breath caught on a gasp and she had to stifle a cough.
Margaret smiled, gushing that she’d loved the gift when it had been presented to her, and how could she have forgotten it in her chamber upstairs?
Alex wanted to slam her head into something. The forgetful princess had left the necklace upstairs? Oh, she could have screamed! To have had such an opportunity present itself and she’d not even bothered to take advantage of it. She could have been well on her way back home by now, with the necklace hidden beneath her skirts. Once there, she would have buried herself beneath her bed and told her mother she wasn’t ever coming out again.
This was a sign. She didn’t want to steal the necklace and here was a sign that she shouldn’t. Right? Or was it a sign that the princess would often leave her gems unattended? Alex shook her head, confused.
“Is everything all right?” Alex startled from her thoughts to see Sir Alaric standing beside her horse, a curious expression on his face.
“Everything is fine,” she said a bit too haughtily. Oh, how she wished they were back in the garden.
“You are well enough to ride?” Sir Alaric’s gaze roved over her form as though he would assess what was wrong with her, but given there was nothing, she only felt the heat of his regard.
Alex looked away, embarrassed at how easily her body reacted. And then she wished she hadn’t done so. All eyes were on them.
“Why shouldn’t I be?” She looked down her nose at him, wishing him away. Did he not realize with his questions he was drawing unwanted attention to her? Despite her heart pounding, her breath hitching and her eyes staring at his mouth, she managed to say most coolly, “Ye need not concern yerself with me.”
“I am in charge of Princess Margaret’s safety. That naturally extends to the well-being of her ladies.”
Oh, dear sir, please go away!Lady Home would, no doubt, add this to her overlong list of blunders Alex was making. “Do I look in danger?”
His eyes darkened, smoldering even, and his gaze fell to her lips. “Depends,” he replied.
Oh, the rogue! He was baiting her! And she liked it. For, if it had been only the two of them, she wouldn’t have wished him gone. She would have climbed down from her horse and fully engaged in this flirtation.
Nevertheless, that was nonsense, and they were not the only two people present.
Alexandra straightened her shoulders, which only pushed out her breasts, and being that the knight was as tall as he was, they were so close to his face. Her nipples grew taut and tingly. She bit her lip, quickly hunched her back and then waved him away.
“Let us go.” She leaned forward, lowering her voice. “Ye remember yer promise about my reputation?”
He smiled, a wicked curl to his lip and a wink of one handsome eye. “Aye.”
