Vow of Seduction. Angela Johnson
departure was delayed, but on the twentieth of August the English crusaders crossed to France, traveled inland down to the Mediterranean seaport of Aigues-Mortes, and then sailed for Tunis. There Edward was to meet up with another crusader force led by King Louis of France. But when Edward arrived in North Africa, Louis was dead, struck down by disease that had spread rampantly through the crusader ranks in Tunis.
At this turn of events, France pulled out, but Edward was determined to carry on. Finally, in the spring of the next year, Edward and a thousand crusaders landed in Acre. The fighting, little more than raids and counter raids, lasted for about a year and achieved no major victories. When King Hugh, nominal king of Jerusalem, signed a treaty with the Mamluk Sultan, Baybars, ending hostilities for ten years and ten months, Lord Edward was appalled. But there was little he could do with so few troops at his disposal.
Before returning to England, Edward had sent Alex with a small contingent of men on an embassy to Tripoli. They made camp at a watering hole on the second night of their journey, and it was there Alex was ambushed. He had been unprepared, restless and preoccupied with thoughts of Kat, measuring the time until he could hold her again.
It seemed little had changed, he thought in frustration. Alex shoved the heels of his hands against his eyes as images of Kat entwined naked with Luc tortured him. He swore he would obliterate every memory she ever had of the man, no matter the cost to his soul.
She is mine.
Naught could keep him from the peace and devotion he desperately craved. With Kat he had felt alive and challenged, yet humbled by her unswerving devotion. But he had discovered the truth only after he deserted her. And with that single, despicable, self-absorbed act he would regret for the rest of his life, he had destroyed any feelings she had for him.
Sighing in misery, Alex turned on his side and pulled his blanket up. Mayhap by the morrow, a plan would have come to him on how to go about wooing his wife, to convince her to give him a second chance. But what if he could not persuade her? Suddenly, the sensation of drowning was overwhelming. Sinking deeper and deeper, he gasped for breath. Perspiration broke out on his temples.
If he did not win Kat, he would slowly be deprived of air until he was well and dead. Leaving him prey to the demons that haunted his dreams.
A fierce cry startled Kat from a deep sleep. Drowsy and disoriented, she sat up and blindly reached for the dagger under her pillow. Her hair tumbled over her face. She shoved it back and stared into the darkness. The guttural cry came again from the antechamber, followed by the hissing sound of a steel sword being withdrawn from its scabbard.
That was when she suddenly remembered Alex was sleeping in the other room. Or had been sleeping. Kat pulled the blankets up to her neck, wondering what Alex could possibly be doing when all honest men were fast asleep? She wiggled her toes, and jiggled her legs, but unable to contain her curiosity, she pulled the bedclothes aside and slid off the bed. She crept quietly to the curtained archway and peered into the other room.
Kat gasped. Alex knelt completely unclothed amid his disheveled pallet brandishing his drawn sword. The fire shimmered golden light over his smooth muscular chest and the indentions down his taut stomach. His powerful hips and thighs flexed as he got to his feet. Unable to keep her eyes from going to his groin, she stared wide-eyed, then flushing with embarrassment, quickly raised her gaze back to his face.
But he was not looking at her. His eyes were oddly vacant, even as they darted around the room as if he expected an attack from imaginary foes.
“Alex, what are you doing?”
When he did not respond, Kat slowly approached him. “Alex,” she said more loudly, sternly.
Alex turned towards her with his sword extended. She jumped back when the tip nearly sliced her stomach, her heart leaping into her throat. “Don’t come any closer,” he swore, his voice sounding as though slurred with sleep. “I demand you release me. I have told you numerous times I have the means to pay ransom.”
Shock held her immobile as she tried to make sense of his strange behavior. Obviously he was not cognizant. He was trapped in a nightmare that held him as surely as the Saracen fortress once had. She wondered what had happened to Alex that he would be reduced to fighting demons in his sleep?
Her heart contracted at his fear. But Alex was a proud man and would despise her pity.
Desperate to do something to wake him, she ran back to her room. When she returned, she tossed the water in her basin at his head. It was a direct hit. Alex roared in outrage, shaking his doused head. Kat gasped as water splattered her thin chemise and face.
He took a menacing step towards her, his furious gaze raking her face. “What the hell did you do that for, Kat?”
“I had to do something to wake you.” She motioned vaguely to his bared body, the sword dangling in his hand. Her gaze purposely avoided his groin area.
Frowning, he looked down. “Jesu,” he swore. His sword clattered to the floor. He raised his gaze to her, fear replacing his anger. “My God, Kat. Did I hurt you?” He stepped forward with his arms outstretched, then jerked to a halt. A shutter fell over his eyes and his arms dropped to his side.
Kat sat the basin down on the small table by the fire. “I am fine, Alex. But I’m concerned about you. What just happened here?”
Not looking at her, Alex shrugged. “’Twas naught but a waking dream,” he said, his voice gruff. “I had too much wine after little sleep. You need not be worried.”
Then Alex’s gaze moved to her breasts. His eyes darkened. Midnight flame engulfed her. “Mayhap I spoke too soon,” his voice a hoarse caress.
Kat followed his gaze. Gilded by the firelight, the dark crests of her breasts were visible through the flimsy fabric. She swore and crossed her arms over her chest.
Alex moved her arms down. “You have beautiful breasts, Kat. You need not shield them from me.”
Disgusted that he would turn her concern into something lurid, Kat turned her back on him and moved towards her chamber. “I’m going to bed. I suggest you do the same.”
“Is that an invitation?” his voice wickedly amused.
At the threshold, she turned around and glared at him. Dark and ruggedly handsome, he stood naked and bold as Adam, the flesh between his legs stiff and stretching skyward. He was a large man; his tumescent shaft, long and thick, sprouted from a nest of curly black hair. Her stomach quivered in primal reaction, but she ignored it.
“Don’t hold your breath or you will choke on it.” Then she yanked the curtain closed on his grinning face.
Stomping to her chest, Kat tugged her wet chemise off over her head and tossed it to the floor. She found a clean, dry chemise and changed into it. Normally she slept bare, however, while Alex resided in the next room, she felt more comfortable sleeping in a shift. She knew it was a rather flimsy shield, but protecting herself came naturally to her. Her instincts warned that Alex would be ruthless in his pursuit of her.
Kat crawled back into bed and was surprised when she heard the outer portal open and then shut. When she went to peer into the antechamber, Alex was gone. No longer tired, she pulled on her chamber robe and moved to the window alcove overlooking a small private garden, wondering what Alex meant to do at this time of night. Then she inwardly berated herself for even caring. The man betrayed her, humiliated her, and rejected the only thing that she as a woman was truly free to gift a man. Her heart.
What did she care where he went or slept? Or with whom he slept? The notion that Alex remained celibate these last six years was laughable. His prowess with women was as renowned as his skills on the battlefield.
Kat curled up on the cushioned window seat, opened the shutters and looked up at the midnight sky. A soft breeze blew; wisps of hair hanging loose from her braid fluttered and caressed her cheeks. The deep blue of the night was the exact same hue of Alex’s eyes when they darkened with lust. She recalled the way he had stared at her breasts, his desire unconcealed.