Page 33 of Saxon Blade Norman Blood
She had to save him to save herself.
“We need to leave without delay. The other man has gone to get more friends,” she told him under her breath. “And they mean to kill you.”
His eyes narrowed. He seemed surprised to hear her urge him away from danger, as well he might. After all, she was supposed to want him dead.
“Come closer to me,” he told her with a straight face. “The man will not allow us to leave so easily if he means to keep me here until his friends arrive. I need to be able to protect you.”
Rowena nodded and took a step toward him, behaving as if they were having an innocuous conversation. She was confident the Saxon did not understand a word of what theywere saying and had assumed she was simply helping him to kill time until the others arrived.
Her heart was beating furiously in her chest, but the farther she got away from the man, the safer she felt. When she was within arm’s length of William, she let out a shaky breath, like someone who had just escaped a great danger.
Whatever happened now, the Saxon could not get to her. He would have to get past William first.
“Run back toward the castle,” he told her, placing his strong body between her and the man. “Wait for me at the edge of the forest. Go.Now.”
She ran, not stopping until she was a good distance away.
Panting, she stopped and glanced around her. From where she stood, she could not see the clearing, and the only sound reaching her ears was the chirping of birds. What had happened out there? Had William managed to escape before the man’s friends had arrived? Anguish tightened her chest and she realized that he was worried for him, which did not make sense.
But then again, nothing made sense where this man was concerned.
For the second time, she had missed her chance to kill him. She might be able to persuade herself she had been unable to do it on the night at Old Sarum because he hadn’t come anywhere near her—at first at least—but this time, sparing him had been a conscious decision. His death had been within her grasp, yet she willfully rejected it.
It was no use telling herself she had done it for her own protection. She knew her reasons were much more confused than that.
Ater a while William appeared, walking as calmly as if he had not just been in mortal danger. Not wanting to hear he’d had to kill him, she did not dare ask what he had done to the man.
“Let’s go.” He walked past her without breaking his stride, staring ahead.
She saw then that, far from being relaxed, he was in a foul mood. His gait was so graceful, she’d mistaken it for nonchalance at first. Her insides withered.
Oh Lord.
He was angry.
Withher.
*
William could barely think for rage.
If he hadn’t followed her into the forest, the girl would have woken up with a man on top of her,insideher. How foolish could one be?
For a moment he considered showing her the reality of what she had narrowly avoided. Feeling herself trapped and powerless under a man’s weight might knock some much-needed sense into her, more than any remonstrance would. He should tumble her onto the floor right here, right now, and show her how dangerous men could be.
He shook his head.
He would never have the control required for such a risky experiment.
If he lay on top of her to illustrate what a man without scruples would do, he wasn’t at all sure he would be able to keep his desires in check. Since their encounter at Old Sarum, he’d obsessed about taking her, and he might find it impossible to resist the temptation to do just that if he felt her writhing under him. He was fairly certain she would not push him away if he attempted to seduce her, but he’d promised not to touch her in that way. He meant to honor that promise, however much it cost him.
“What were you doing in the meadow?” she asked after a while.
“I followed you. And a good thing I did too. Do you often fall asleep in the forest, unprotected and alone?” He came to an abrupt halt. “Have you no sense? Do you have any idea what men who found you alone and asleep in the grass would do given half the chance? What those two almost did? And why did you go alone to the forest? What is there to do there?”
The girl shrugged. “I like to wade in the water, smell the flowers. I was raised outside, in nature. Unlike you, I did not spend my time in grand castles. I like to be with myself. At the castle I feel like…”
“You feel like?”
