Medieval 01 - Untamed

staggering. Instantly Dominic reached out and lifted the hauberk from her arms, using only one hand.
    Meg looked from the armor to the man who held its weight with such careless ease. She had known Dominic was large and certainly strong, but until that moment she hadn’t understood how much stronger he was than she. The muscular lines of his body were clear against the supple leather undergarments that were all he wore.
    She felt an urge to test his strength with her fingertips, her nails…her teeth. The thought of it startled her even as it sent a curious frisson of heat shimmering through her core.
    â€œDo you?” Dominic asked curtly.
    â€œDo I?” Meg repeated, dragging her attention back to his words with an effort.
    â€œBathe with the Scots bastard.”
    She frowned. “Why would I do that? We both have attendants.”
    It was Dominic’s turn to frown.
    â€œWhy?” he asked. “For the pleasure of it, of course.”
    Color climbed up Meg’s cheeks.
    â€œI’m neither a handmaiden nor a leman to attend Duncan’s baths,” she said distinctly.
    â€œâ€™Tis not what I hear.”
    â€œThen you are listening under the wrong eaves!”
    Dominic grunted. “They are the same eaves where talk of Glendruid witches is heard.”
    â€œThe winter was long. There was little else to do but gossip and wait for the storms to pass.”
    â€œHave you lain with Duncan of Maxwell?” Dominic asked bluntly.
    â€œWhat a low opinion you have of your wife.”
    â€œYour mother married when she was pregnant. You were betrothed to Duncan once. You knew Duncan’s treacherous plans and made no outcry. What opinion should I have of you, wife ?”

10
    M EG DREW A SHARP BREATH that made the chain of Glendruid crystals she wore flash and sparkle in the candlelight.
    â€œIf you had Glendruid eyes, you would not see me so badly,” she said.
    â€œI have the eyes God gave me and they see quite clearly.”
    â€œIf you think so little of me, why did you agree to the match?” The instant the words left her mouth, Meg knew the answer.
    â€œLand and keep,” she said before Dominic could.
    â€œAnd heirs.”
    â€œAh, yes. Heirs.”
    â€œUnlike John,” Dominic said curtly, “I have no wish to raise another man’s bastard, nor to scatter my own about the countryside like chaff on the wind.”
    Meg turned away with a speed that made the fey cloth of her dress lift and swirl like mist. Dominic’s free hand shot out, catching her arm before she could get beyond reach.
    â€œI ask you for a third time, wife. Are you breeding Duncan’s bastard ?”
    Meg opened her mouth to speak but no answercame. If she had been in Dominic’s place, and had lacked Glendruid eyes, she would have been as suspicious as he. But it galled her just the same.
    â€œNay,” Meg said, keeping her face turned away.
    Her voice was low, trembling. The same tension vibrated through her.
    When he remembered the rough treatment Meg had had at John’s hands, Dominic’s grip shifted subtly on her arm, becoming caressing, reassuring her even as his words did.
    â€œHave no fear of me, small falcon,” he said. “I’ve never abused a horse, a squire, or a woman.”
    Meg’s head snapped up. A single look at the green blaze of her eyes told Dominic that it wasn’t fear that had made her tremble.
    It was fury.
    â€œI am not a red-lipped leman to lie down on every man’s command,” Meg said through her teeth. “I stood beside you before God as pure as freshly fallen snow, yet I have heard nothing but insults from your lips.”
    One black eyebrow lifted. With a casual strength that told its own tale, Dominic flipped the hauberk one-handed onto the back of Meg’s chair. Metal links flashed and rattled as the garment settled over the wood.
    Then there was silence while Dominic studied his reluctant wife, a girl who stood close to him only because he held her arm within the iron grip of his right hand. His sword hand.
    â€œYou have heard nothing but truth from my lips, not insults,” Dominic said in a clipped voice. “Was your mother pregnant when she married?”
    â€œAye, but—”
    â€œWere you once betrothed to Duncan of Maxwell?”
    â€œAye, but—”
    Relentlessly Dominic overrode Meg’s words. “Did you warn me of the ambush in the