Medieval 02 - Forbidden

laughter, could be a deadly enemy.
    With careful movements, Duncan took off his mantle and draped it on a trestle table to dry.
    “May I?” he asked, reaching for Amber’s mantle.
    “No. I—that is, I’m—”
    “Afraid your laces aren’t fully tied?” Erik finished gently.
    She gave him a fearful look.
    The expression that came over Erik’s face didn’t make Amber feel any more easy. He was in a savage humor.
    “What, no protestations of innocence?” Erik asked in a soft voice. “No reassurances that you didn’t leave Egbert sleeping in a field while two horses cropped grass nearby?”
    “We—” Amber began, but Erik’s voice overrode hers.
    “No soft cries that honor hasn’t been outraged and trust breached, along with your maidenhead? No blushes—”
    “Nay, that’s not—”
    “—and stuttered little pleas that—”
    “ Enough .”
    The flat promise of violence in Duncan’s voice shocked Amber.
    The hounds around Erik’s chair came to their feet in a bristling, snarling rush. The peregrine’s hooked beak opened in a shrill, savage cry. Unknowingly, Amber’s nails dug into Duncan’s wrist.
    “Leave off harrying her,” Duncan said, ignoring the threatening animals.
    He opened his mouth to add that discussing Amber as though she were a virgin was ridiculous, and nobody knew it better than Duncan. But a look at Erik’s feral, wolflike eyes convinced Duncan to be careful how he stated the truth.
    “Amber’s maidenhead is as intact now as it was this morning,” Duncan said flatly. “You have my vow on that.”
    In a silence outlined by the leap of flames, Erik turned the dagger over and over in his hand whilehe studied the dark warrior who loomed in front of him, ready for battle.
    Yea, even eager for it.
    Abruptly Erik understood. He threw back his head and laughed like a tawny devil.
    The hounds settled their ruffs, stretched, and sprawled at ease once more, yellow eyes reflecting fire. A sweet whistle from her master cooled the peregrine’s ire.
    When quiet had been restored, Erik gave Duncan a look of masculine sympathy.
    “I believe you,” he said.
    Duncan nodded curtly.
    “You don’t have the relaxed air of a man who has spent the afternoon—and himself!—lying between a woman’s soft legs,” Erik added.
    Duncan said something profane beneath his breath.
    “Come to the fire, warrior,” Erik said, struggling not to show the smile concealed within his beard. “You must be stiff as a sword with chill. Or is that the only part of you still warm?”
    “Erik!” Amber said, embarrassed.
    He looked at her bright cheeks and smiled with a combination of affection and amusement.
    “Little Learned innocent,” Erik said gently, “there isn’t a man or woman in the keep who doesn’t know where Duncan looks—and who looks back at him.”
    Amber put her hands to her hot cheeks.
    “’Tis a source of much betting among the men,” Erik said.
    “What is?” Amber asked faintly.
    “Whether you or he will break first.”
    “It won’t be Duncan.”
    Amber didn’t understand how much the tartness in her voice had given away.
    Erik understood immediately. So did Duncan. While Erik gave in to laughter, Duncan went toAmber and hid her flaming face against his chest.
    The contradictory currents Duncan’s touch revealed—prowling hunger, rue, laughter—were oddly comforting to Amber. But nothing was as reassuring as knowing that Duncan again welcomed her touch.
    He had all but turned himself inside out to avoid contact with her on the way back to Sea Home.
    With a sigh, Amber leaned against Duncan. Silently she drank the heady wine of his presence, letting it drive out the cold that had come over her when she heard the geese descending.
    “Touching,” Erik said dryly. “Literally.”
    “Leave off,” Duncan retorted.
    “I suppose I must, but I haven’t been quite this amused since you accused me of wanting Amber for myself.”
    Her head snapped up. She looked at Duncan, startled.
    “You didn’t,” Amber said.
    “Oh, but he did,” Erik countered.
    Amber made an odd sound.
    “Are you laughing?” Erik asked.
    “Ummm.”
    He frowned at her.
    “Do you think it so unreasonable that a maid might be drawn to me?” Erik asked, offended.
    “Nay,” Amber said quickly.
    Erik raised his eyebrows.
    After a moment Amber lifted her head and looked at the dark warrior who held her quite gently.
    “But,” Amber added, “’tis absurd to believe that this maid would