Temptress Unbound by Lisa Cach Page B

inadequate his sword skills were.
    Bit by bit, however, Terix was beginning to win his respect. Not for his fighting skills, which would never be excellent; not even for his persistence, although that helped. What impressed Brenn was Terix’s buoyant spirit.
    â€œYou like Terix,” I said aloud. “You see how even when he is ground down with exhaustion and is beaten by every opponent, even while lying on his back with dirt and blood on his face, he still finds a turn of phrase to make others laugh.”
    Brenn grunted in affirmation.
    â€œYou doubt he’ll ever be a great warrior,” I went on, “but you think he’s immensely valuable. He lightens hearts. He can heal an infection of bad morale, and can make hard work almost . . . fun. You would have him in Ambrosius’s army, if he would stay. But mostly you train him hard because you know he may not, that he will follow me wherever I go, and that there might come a day when Terix is all that stands between me and death.”
    His shoulders and back were tense, his jaw moving in grinding thought. “Any observant eye could see that. Is this supposed to be a show of your Phanne powers?”
    Apparently not. How’s this? I said into his mind, and felt his whole body startle, strong enough to make his horse dance sideways and almost pull our hands apart.
    â€œWhat are—” Did I just hear her— “Did you say something?”
    Think of your favorite food .
    In his mind, without his bidding, an image cropped up along with smell, and taste. I gagged. “Raw oysters? Really? You couldn’t like honeyed almonds or baked apples?”
    â€œWoman food,” Brenn groused. “Men like meat.”
    â€œIf that’s what you want to call raw oysters .”
    â€œThey remind me of home. Armorica.” Another image started to form in his mind.
    â€œAnd they make you think of—”
    A vivid picture emerged of the similarity between slurping an oyster and laying his tongue against a woman’s sex.
    â€œOh—ah, er . . .” I dropped his hand. That wasn’t a picture either of us needed to share.
    His face turned as scarlet as I felt my own going.
    â€œSo you can get into a man’s mind,” he said, his voice gruff with embarrassment. A shudder ran over him, and then he twitched his shoulders as if shaking off a ghost.
    â€œI’m sorry,” I said. “It was all I could think of, to show you that Phanne powers are real.”
    â€œDoes Arthur know you can do that?”
    I shook my head, not meeting his eye.
    Brenn was suspicious. “You haven’t done that to him without his knowing it, have you?”
    I didn’t answer. I couldn’t admit out loud that I’d deliberately pushed Arthur past his scruples so he would lie with me in the forest; that I’d taken unfair advantage because I’d wanted him so badly and thought my own judgment better than his.
    â€œNimia . . .” Brenn sighed, and I heard the disappointment in his tone.
    It was on the tip of my tongue to say that all was fair in love and war, only I knew it wasn’t true. Instead I hunched my shoulders and played with the horse’s mane, self-loathing bubbling up from its endless spring. “I won’t do it again.”
    â€œNot that I blame you for it,” he conceded with honesty. “I imagine it’s a hard temptation to resist, looking into the mind of someone you yearn for.”
    â€œBut love should be the greatest reason not to do it.” I wouldn’t admit that what I’d done to Arthur was worse than taking a peek into his thoughts. I’d manipulated him. “It shows no respect, and what type of love shows no respect?”
    â€œThe scared kind. The desperate, uncertain kind.”
    I made a soft grunt of agreement. “True enough.”
    â€œYou can’t ever let fear drive you, Nimia. It’ll bring you