“That’s because you have witnessed my skill,” he said in mock solemnity, “and know I’m unsurpassed.”
It was my turn to laugh. “Is there nothing I can do to persuade you to take me with you?”
He turned, cocked his head, and watched me for a minute as though contemplating my question, which I knew he wasn’t.
Nevertheless, I loved his eyes, the rich dark blue that at times could be penetrating and intense but at other times were light and playful. The slanted angle of his brows only served to draw me in further so that I was liable to drown in his eyes if he looked at me long enough.
Even though an invisible force seemed to pull us together—or at least pull me toward him—he somehow managed to maintain a proper distance during our outings. Of course, having his squires as our constant chaperones helped to keep our interactions platonic so that we’d had no opportunities to repeat the kisses we’d exchanged on our betrothal day.
I could readily admit I wanted him to kiss me again. I’d relived the two he’d given me a dozen times. And every time I did, warm pleasure whispered through me.
“Well?” I queried, my voice echoing in the empty stone passageway. “Is there nothing, then, that I may do to change your mind about the hunt?”
“There may be one thing,” he said. “But I don’t think you’ll like it.”
“What is it?”
He glanced toward his squires, still waiting for us near the doorway, and then lowered his voice. “Lord Pitt insists I have treated you like one of my knights rather than my betrothed.”
Only three days remained until our wedding, but neither of us brought up the looming deadline. In fact, we didn’t talk about the betrothal either, as if by ignoring it we could somehow forget it had happened.
But as the deadline approached, so did the conflict we’d attempted to hold at arm’s length. For all his kisses and his bluster about not wanting his freedom, he was only marrying me out of obligation. And for all my infatuation with him, I wasn’t sure I was ready to give up so easily on my father. If I willingly married Aldric, I’d forfeit my loyalty to my family. Since I’d always put my family’s needs above my own and had done everything my father asked, I wasn’t sure I could—or even wanted to—make the change.
“If you treat me like one of your knights, why should Lord Pitt care?” I asked, the lightness I’d felt a moment ago falling away.
Aldric studied my face carefully, and I suspected he could read my every feeling and thought. “Lord Pitt believes I need to woo you more than I have.”
I wanted to ask why that would make any difference. Lord Pitt had given me little choice but to marry Aldric whether he wooed me or not. “I do not wish to be wooed.”
“I predicted as much.”
“I do appreciate your kind gestures,” I replied, not wishing him to think I was ungrateful. “But what difference will wooing make when I must marry you or face the hangman’s noose?”
Aldric’s eyes took on the haunted quality that told me he was troubled in spirit, likely thinking of the mistakes he believed were unforgivable. Was Lord Pitt orchestrating our betrothal and wedding more for Aldric than for me? Perhaps the older man, out of his fatherly affection for Aldric, was trying to help his commander recover from his past pains. Perhaps he believed if Aldric married again, the knight might finally be able to bury his grief over his previous wife.
It was a clever plot, one Aldric had tried to avoid, and likely would have continued to avoid if I hadn’t gotten caught in Lord Pitt’s treasury. Now that Aldric was trapped into our betrothal, Lord Pitt was still meddling and pushing Aldric to develop his feelings for me.
I wanted to sigh in frustration. “How does Lord Pitt wish you to woo me?”
“I am to plan a special outing.”
“An outing?”
He nodded, refusing to meet my gaze this time, which told me he was embarrassed.
“And if we both willingly subject ourselves to such an outing, will he allow me to accompany you on the boar hunt on the morrow?”
“As long as you ride with me, on my horse. Lord Pitt insists that if I take you outside castle walls, you are to be with me at all times.”
I rolled my eyes in an unladylike fashion and almost smiled at Lord Pitt’s pathetic attempts at matchmaking. “Very well, sir. I shall go on any outing you wish. And I shall ride with you on your steed for the hunt.”
His eyes widened just slightly. “I hadn’t expected such easy acquiescence, my lady.”
“Ever since you regaled me with your boar hunting escapades, I have been hoping for the opportunity to go. Thus I cannot neglect the adventure when it is within my grasp.”
His lips curled into the beginning of a smile. “Very well. Then let us be on our way to the outing.”
It was my turn to be surprised. “I thought you needed to plan it.”
“I have.”
“You planned an outing even though you knew not whether I would agree to it?”
His brows rose giving light to his eyes. “I took a chance.”
“And what would you have done had I not acquiesced so easily?”
“Persuaded you.” His voice dropped low. His gaze dropped as well, landing upon my lips and revealing how he’d planned to persuade me.
My pulse began to thrum. Had he resigned himself to our impending marriage? Was he finally ready to lay his past to rest? Perhaps Lord Pitt’s unconventional methods had some merit after all.
I dragged in a breath, attempting to make my lungs work. “You have no need to persuade me. You are fortunate.”
“Or unfortunate.” He tore his sights away from me. “Shall we go then, my lady?”
“Lead the way, noble sir.” I made my voice light so he wouldn’t know just how much his suggestion affected me, how much I liked him, and how much I was looking forward to our time together.
Within the hour, we were on our way with the accompaniment of a small regiment of Aldric’s men. I rode in front of him, squeezed into his saddle, his chest against my back, his hand lightly bracing my waist.
I hadn’t complained. Secretly, I’d been pleased to be within the confines of his arms. I hadn’t even minded the scarf he’d tied over my eyes in his attempt to surprise me with the outing.
We’d ridden only a short distance when he slowed his mount.
My fingers rose to the blindfold, but his hand caught mine, preventing me from adjusting the scarf.
“No peeking,” he whispered near my ear, which made my insides flip upside down.
“You are cruel, sir,” I responded playfully.
His laughter rumbled against me. And as he lowered my hand, he intertwined his fingers through mine even as he directed his mount to continue on.
As we rode, I was conscious of nothing else but his hand against mine, his strong hold that was still infinitely gentle. Being with him and holding his hand was a special enough outing. I needed no more wooing than that.
Yet, he stopped again soon enough and released my hand to dismount. “Here we are, my lady.” He lifted me down before steering me over uneven ground. A short distance away, came the rushing of water, and I guessed we were at some sort of river.
“Will you allow me to see now?” I asked. “Or am I to spend our entire outing blindfolded?”
“Perhaps I shall leave you blindfolded,” he retorted. “Then I may do with you as I please.”
“You should know I am not so easily controlled.”
His fingers connected with the knot at the back of my head. “You have already taught me that lesson well enough.”
I smiled, sure he was remembering all of my attempts at escape during our ride to Tolleymuth. I no longer had any desire to escape this man, and I was quite sure he knew it.
As he loosened the knot, he brushed aside the pretty but sheer veil that covered my elegantly coiled hair. Without the veil, my neck was exposed. I waited breathlessly for his fingers to make contact, for him to graze my skin.
But he finished tugging the scarf loose and made no move to skim my neck.
“Are you ready, my lady?” he asked.