Margaret Moore - [Warrior 13] by A Warrior's Lady

was very relieved that my ruse worked.” She made a little smile. “Thank you for cushioning my fall. I could have injured myself had you not caught me.”
    And held her in his arms, her body warm against his.
    He fought the urge to clear his throat, for it seemed a lump had settled there. “And your brothers? Did they punish you?”
    She shrugged her shoulders, and even that gesture was graceful. “I went a day and a night without food. It was no great hardship. I have fasted thus many times before.”
    She apparently thought little of it, but he would add this to the Delasaines’ list of crimes and mete out a suitable punishment when the time came.
    “It is good of you to be so concerned, Sir Reece.” Again she smiled, and again, he felt dazzled, or as bashful as a lad trying to steal his first kiss.
    But he had even been too bashful for that, afraid any of the village girls or serving wenches or young ladies who came to visit his home would laugh in his face if he tried. He was not like Blaidd and Kynan, who would probably laugh with them. He would have wanted to die from shame.
    He hadn’t kissed a woman until the Earl of Beaumonte’s daughter had backed him into a dark corner one Christmastide. She had done more there, too.
    Then a plan came to him, one that did not depend on delaying the marriage Henry was so keen on. It was not an easy solution, but given how little time they had before the wedding, it might be the only one that had any chance of succeeding.
    He drew himself up, like a guard on the gate, and commanded himself to concentrate on what must be done to get out of this predicament.
    And it was a predicament, no matter how attractive he found Anne, or how he hated to think of her with such brutes for brothers.
    “Lady Anne, I deeply regret following you and speaking to you,” he said, stiff and formal and very proper. “I did not foresee this most unfortunate consequence.”
    She cocked her head to regard him and he realized how very green her eyes were, like a tree coming into bud, or the grass of a meadow in springtime. “I’m sorry my half brothers hurt you.”
    He stiffened. He didn’t want her pity, or a reminder that he had been ignominiously beaten.
    She reached up and touched his shoulder. It was a simple act, and he had been touched in a hundred more intimate ways by other women after Claire, but never had the simple pressure of a hand upon his shoulder hit him with such force. Heat, tingling and exciting, spread outward from her hand, all the way below his sword belt.
    No, his plan was not without some serious faults, if he ever forgot his ultimate goal and gave himself over to the desire coursing through him even now.
    “Sir Reece, my half brothers are as responsible for this as you are,” she said, the gentle words issuing from her full, soft lips. “If they had behaved as knights should, following me would have been nothing more than a charming encounter after a feast.”
    Charming? She found him charming, as women found Blaidd and Kynan Morgan charming?
    He had feared his feelings alone could jeopardize his plan. Perhaps he should come up with another…if he had more time, and the king had not made such a terrible threat, and she was not looking at him with those brilliant green eyes.
    “Regrettably, Damon will not see it that way,” she continued. “He will be angry and blame you.”
    She spoke as if he must be afraid of Damon, or fear his wrath. “I am not afraid of him, or any man.”
    Yet what did her opinion of him matter, after all? He simply could not be married to a Delasaine for the rest of his life.
    “My lady, since neither of us desire this marriage, I have a plan to free us from it.”
    She remained enigmatically silent and slowly crossed her arms. Her action drew attention to her shapely breasts beneath her lovely green gown. Desire—unbidden, yet strong as a mighty blow—threatened to rob him of rational thought, and never had there been a time he more