Julie Garwood - [3 Book Box Set] by Gentle Warrior:Honor's Splendour:Lion's Lady Page A

sureness and victory, in the tightly fisted hands resting on his hips, but most of all in his face. And the power drew her to him.
    Elizabeth met his stare and slowly walked over to him. She stopped directly in front of him and waited. For what, she knew not.
    Geoffrey’s body relaxed. Elizabeth could see the tension, the violence, evaporate. He took a deep breath and his eyes warmed a little. And the fear left her.
    “I have just killed for you.” His tone was arrogant and challenging.
    Elizabeth watched as Geoffrey cleaned his blade and then replaced it before she replied, “Yes, you have saved my life. I am in your debt,” she acknowledged, her voice soft.
    “That is so.”
    “But I have also saved your life,” Elizabeth added, “for I was the one who tended your wounds.”
    “I remember,” Geoffrey answered.
    “And therefore, you are in my debt, are you not?”
    “I am your lord.” What was Elizabeth leading to? Geoffrey wondered. What was her plan?
“You
belong tome.”
    Elizabeth didn’t answer, waiting for him to continue. A long moment passed and the lord frowned his displeasure. It would do her cause no good if shealienated him, for her fate was in his hands. In truth she did belong to him. Was that all he wanted? Her acknowledgment that he was now her lord?
    “You belong to me,” he repeated.
    Elizabeth was about to agree when his hand moved as lightning to the back of her neck, his fingers locking forcefully in her hair. “It is I who decide your future,” Geoffrey stated.
    Elizabeth frowned with frustration. He was supposed to be in her debt. He should be grateful, but instead, he was demanding that she acknowledge her position to him.
    Geoffrey was not pleased; he twisted her hair until she cried out in pain. Still he did not relent, but pulled her closer until her chest was flat against the cold steel links of metal covering his. Elizabeth shut her eyes against the pain and the look in his eyes, her mouth tightly closed so that she would not cry out again. She was trembling inside but vowed he would not know of her apprehension.
    Geoffrey stared down at Elizabeth’s face, smiling at the way she tried to mask her fear. There was a streak of rebellion in her eyes. He had not missed that, and it pleased him. He judged she would not intimidate easily. She was spirited and courageous, Geoffrey guessed, for she had lived outside the walls with only her animals for protection. ’Twas unheard of for a gently bred lady to do such a thing, yet she had done it. Stubborn too, Geoffrey knew, with perhaps a bit of wildness in her nature. He would tame the wildness without breaking the spirit. And the taming would begin now. His mouth descended to hers in a kiss that was meant to conquer. He would have her submission! He felt her jerk with the initial touch of his mouth, but he ignored her efforts for freedom, forcing her by merely tightening his hold in her hair until she opened her mouth to protest. And then his tongue invaded, tasting, probing, taking. His assault was not gentle, forin truth he knew little of wooing the weaker sex; still, he made an effort not to overwhelm her. She was gentle-bred, he reminded himself, and while he thought to drug her with his sexual prowess, he soon found that it was he who was fast losing control. She tasted so sweet, so fresh, and when she finally began to respond, when her tongue timidly touched his, he felt a wave of hot fire race through him.
    The effect on his captive was just as startling. Did she struggle? Elizabeth thought that she did, but when the kiss ended, she found that her arms were wrapped around his neck. Had he placed them there? No, she answered herself, she had done that herself. Her face rested against the mail covering his chest. Shame tried to claim her attention, but Elizabeth fought it. She had not forced his embrace but only submitted because of his superior strength.
    She felt Geoffrey’s hand tighten and only then realized that his arms