Page 23 of Saxon Blade Norman Blood
But why would he take her defense? Because he had saved her from peril once? It was foolish of her to expect anything from him, because of course he did not owe his would-be killer his protection.
“Need I remind you that, contrary to what people believe, you are not here to enjoy my favors but because you tried to kill me?” His stern answer echoed her thoughts. “You are not my mistress, you are not sharing my bed for my pleasure, or yours. I’m sure you will agree that I am under no obligation to aid the people who want to see me dead in their petty squabbles with servants.”
Even if it hurt Rowena to acknowledge it, he was right. “I see,” she mumbled, thoroughly chastened.
William gave a sigh, something that might have sounded like a surrender in another man. “If you must know, I did not intervene because I thought you were doing quite a good job on your own,” he said more amenably. “I doubt I could have done better myself. And now, thanks to your efforts, we should sleep in spotless sheets tonight.”
*
“I have found a use for you,” William announced without preamble.
The altercation with the maids that morning had given him an idea, and he had gone to find the girl at the earliest opportunity. He wanted to make her see that he was on the side of the innocents because in this affair, she had been the injured party. She had not provoked the maids, yet they had been unforgivably harsh to her. He had enjoyed seeing her fend for herself with a mixture of dignity and waspishness, but she was not to know that, and he meant to make amends of sorts.
Her eyes widened at his words. “A-a use?”
“Not that,” he soothed, realizing how it must have sounded. “I already told you, I won’t touch you. Although I could be persuaded if youever wished—”
“No!” She cut him short with a fierceness that made it clear she would never agree to let him bed her.
“No,” he agreed, edging toward her. “You evidently came to my bed to dispose of me at my weakest, not because of an excess of desire for me, so I will not be able to make the most of having you next to me. It’s a shame. I thought you rather liked what we did. As did I.”
The little gasp she gave sent shards of desire shooting straight up his spine. Why did this woman send him in such a flurry of need? It was not as if he was an untried youthon the look out for the first opportunity to indulge his senses. Considering the reason for her presence by his side, this attraction was all the more inexplicable. Respect and desire were the last things he expected to feel for someone who had tried to kill him, yet that was what exactly what he felt for her.
Respect for her courage and ability to remain level-headed in the face of danger.
Desire for a woman he found beautiful.
She flushed and moved farther away from him when he growled low in his chest.
“Are you ever going to tell me what these plans are?” she murmured, not addressing the fact he had been on the verge of pouncing on her.
William nodded slowly, knowing what he was about to say would be a shock to her. “I am to meet with a Saxon lord in a few days. I want you to serve as an interpreter for me.”
She couldn’t have looked more stunned if he had told her he wanted her to train his stallion. “Don’t you have people to do that already?”
Not liking the distance between them, he planted himself in front of her again. “Of course I do. But they are all Norman. Leowald is rather suspicious of my good intentions, and it would serve me well to have you by my side. Having a Saxon as an ally would present me in a much more favorable light.”
“I’m an ally now? I thought I was a sent assassin?”
“Leowald doesn’t need to know the particulars of our meeting.” William could not help an appreciative smile. “As long as you refrain from stabbing me in his presence, I do not think he will identify you as a potential killer.”
“No but he might help me if I decided to threaten you.”
His smile broadened at the provocation. Oh, he liked her spirit! It pleased him to see she made no effort to curb her instincts in his presence. Over the last few days, she hadobviously come to see he was more even-tempered than she had feared and concluded that a man who had not hurt her when he had found her in possession of a dagger would not cut her throat just for asking a question.
“I have no doubt that he would,” he agreed, eager to show she was right not to be afraid of his temper. “At the moment he feels obliged to indulge me, but really he would prefer to see me and all my damned Norman race dead.”
“Why take the risk of meeting with him if he wants to kill you?”
“I have every confidence in my ability to defend myself. In any case, we won’t be alone, and I will be ready for an attack this time, not half naked and without my sword. I will be in a much less vulnerable position with him than I was with you. He lacks the charms needed to lure me into bed.”
The girl let out a croak then blushed and covered her mouth with her hand. Something in him softened. She really was delightful. Then another part of him hardened, because she was also impossibly alluring.
“All my interpreters are men. It would be better to use a woman in this instance,” he continued, refusing to dwell on that.
“Why is that?”
“Leowald will not credit you with the same acumen as my other interpreters. I believe he suspects them to twist his words in order to try and influence my decisions in favor of Normans, but he will never imagine that you could possibly be intelligent enough to try and do anything other than dumbly relay his words to me.”
