Vow of Seduction. Angela Johnson
in is mine.”
She pulled out of his arms, her eyes narrowed with contempt. “We may still be married, but I will never share your bed again.”
Then she spun on her heel and entered the bedchamber. Alex moved before the hearth to stare into the flames. He was deep in thought when she returned. In her arms were a straw mattress, woolen blankets, and a pillow.
“Here are some blankets. You may sleep in the antechamber until you find other accommodations tomorrow.”
Alex threaded his fingers through his hair, sweeping it off his forehead. “Answer me one question?”
She placed the bedding on the settle and nodded reluctantly.
“Rand mentioned that when I left to go on Crusade, people thought I had spurned you because you were not a virgin. I don’t understand. How could this be? The proof of your virginity was on our bridal sheets. I made sure our marriage could not be contested, knowing I would be away for some years.”
“You need not remind me of that night,” she choked out, bitterness tainting her words. “I remember how you forced me to consummate our marriage.”
Kat stood straight and proud as she glared at him, her stormy gray eyes condemning. She was beautiful in her wrath. Her clear smooth skin glimmered golden in the firelight. Her long, straight hair tumbled over her shoulders. Through the black silk screen, her breasts peeped out like twin melons, lushly abundant and full. He wanted nothing more than to pluck the sweet flesh to readiness, to suck and plunder her breasts with his lips and tongue.
“I may have tied you to the bed when you refused me, but there was no force involved. You climaxed sweetly in my arms several times that night.”
She raised her chin in defiance. “So that makes it all right? You know I wanted no part of a marriage based on duty.”
“Neither of us had a choice. I made a vow to honor and protect you and that meant a consummated marriage. And you swore an oath to your father before his death to marry me because he wanted to insure your protection from grasping usurpers.”
“That was before I realized you were the man I saw rutting with that slut Doris in the stables the day before our wedding.”
Alex gnashed his teeth in frustration. “Must we go over this again? Aye, I bedded Doris. But I had not seen you in three years, Kat, and—more to the point—you and I were not yet wed. I broke no vows to you.”
Kat scoffed. “And after we married? Surely you do not claim you have been a faithful husband these last six years.”
Red crept up his cheekbones, his voice gruff. “I have lain with no woman since the night we wed. No woman but you, that is.”
Her mouth dropped open. Then she snapped it shut and her eyes narrowed to disbelieving slits. “I don’t believe you.”
He stiffened. “Believe it or not. But it’s true.”
“Whether true or not, that does not absolve you of your actions that night. You tied me to the bed, by God—”
“After you nearly unmanned me! My duty aside, your father entrusted me with your welfare and so I took whatever means necessary to ensure your compliance.”
“How dare you! My father would never condone what you did.”
“Can you honestly tell me I harmed you in any manner, that you did not enjoy every moment of our joining? Because I remember vividly you writhing beneath me when you climaxed.”
Her eyes glowed with ire. “Enough. That is not the point—”
“Nay. There is no point in discussing this anymore, Kat, ’tis in the past and cannot be undone. And I no longer feel as I did then about our marriage. Now, will you tell me what happened after my departure?”
She looked away and stared into the flames, brooding. Alex went to the table.
He picked up Kat’s chalice, refilled it and poured another for himself. Then he returned to Kat and handed her the wine. She scrupulously avoided touching his hand and sat down on the cushioned settle.
Alex watched as she drank, her gaze never wavering from his. His wife had ever been challenging. She licked her lips before beginning. “When I woke to discover you had gone on Crusade, leaving only a note behind, in my anger I destroyed the evidence of my deflowering.” She shrugged nonchalantly as if to prove how indifferent she was to her actions now. “Had you not left, I never would have destroyed the bloodied sheet, it would have been hung for all to see, and my status as a chaste wife would have been confirmed.”
Her silver gaze glittered with contempt. “But when you scuttled away directly after the wedding and no proof of my virginity could be displayed, vile rumors started to spread. People claimed you discarded me because I was no virgin. Or worse, that you were so repulsed by me you could not bring yourself to consummate our union.”
Alex paced away. A sense of powerlessness, such that he had not felt since his imprisonment, rose up to choke him. He clutched the goblet until his knuckles whitened. Then he released a long shuddering breath. He had been a thoughtless fool. Not once had he ever considered how his hasty departure would be interpreted or that Kat would be harmed by such cruel speculation.
Kat had every right to be furious with him. Had he remained behind and not run away like a coward afraid of his burgeoning feelings, the rumors never would have been born. Though he took a healthy swig of his claret, it tasted as dry as dirt.
He spun around, placed the chalice on the small table by the hearth and knelt before Kat, taking her hands in his. The flames flickered across her face, the red glow highlighting her long slender nose and high cheekbones, her full blush lips. “Forsooth, I had no idea the damage my departure would inflict upon your reputation. I was selfish and thoughtless. But I swear to you that I shall do everything in my power to make up for the hurt I have caused you.”
Shivery heat shot up Kat’s arms.
Troubled, she jumped up and paced away. When he touched her, her body responded counter to her mind and heart. Kat momentarily forgot the heartache she had suffered because of his betrayal, and merely felt.
But passion alone did not make a marriage. She learned that lesson the painful way. Kat had loved him once, but his abandonment destroyed some vital essence of her being and crushed her dreams. She would not allow Alex to turn her into one of those pathetic women who pined away because they foolishly fell in love with a man incapable of loving them.
“You can no longer hurt me, Alex. Indeed, I want naught to do with you. This conversation is over. I bid you goodnight.”
As she entered the bedchamber, his voice reached out to her, soft though determined. “Sleep well, Kat.”
Chapter 3
Alex moved to the table and refilled his chalice. He drank deeply until he drained the cup. Though Kat refused to share her bed, he had no intention of lodging anywhere else. Why give up such comfortable quarters? They were still man and wife and naught could change that. Besides, not to mention the gossip it would cause, how could he seduce his wife if they slept in distant chambers? But he had no desire to disabuse her of her assumption yet and argue with Kat again.
After Alex prepared his pallet by the fire, he stripped naked and slid beneath the blankets. He was so weary. All that had happened today was too overwhelming. Fear that he would arrive too late to stop the wedding was all that had kept him upright on his horse on the long journey. Then he turned into a rabid beast when he saw Kat and Luc standing so happy before the priest.
Alex’s head sank deep into the soft pillow, every ounce of his strength slowly ebbing away. The scent of lavender teased his nostrils. A long, deep groan of pleasure erupted from his chest. He had not felt this clean and comfortable in six miserable years. Since he had left Kat in June, the year of our Lord twelve hundred and seventy.
After leaving Kat, Alex had gathered his troops and made his