Page 50 of The Mercenary

Tossing her hose aside, Sabine planted her hands on her hips.

“’Tis quite a boast.”

Guy chose that moment to lift his linen shirt above his head. Clad in nothing but trewes, he was nothing short of magnificent.

“And a true one, as Noreham would have learned.”

A feeling of warmth coursed through her. Dismissing it, she asked, “What happened after I left?”

Guy shrugged. “I made mention of Carcassonne, reminding de Chabannes that perhaps he should have more loyalty for a fellow mercenary than a king’s man.”

“Carcassonne?”

“Where I saved his life.”

“You . . . you saved de Chabannes’s life? And did not think to mention it to me?”

Guy frowned. “There’s much we haven’t spoken of, Sabine.”

“Such as?”

He took a step toward her.

“How Lance and I met Conrad and Terric at the Tournament of the North. We came upon one of the king’s men poised to rape Terric’s sister. Just children, or barely beyond it, we overpowered him together. We killed the man and dumped his body in the river.”

Sabine froze.

“I’ve not told you about all the nights I cried myself to sleep wondering how a mother could simply walk away from her only child. Or how I somehow felt she might do so, a fact that terrified my father. Or the ones I lay awake wondering how a man who wants nothing more than to be alone craves the company of a woman already pledged to him.”

Sabine wanted both to weep at his loss and smile at his admission.

“I’ve not made mention”—he closed the distance between them—“how, for the first time in my life, I became angered by the mere suggestion that another man might want the woman I care for.”

Her chest heaved as it rose and fell.

“Nor have I admitted that I want this mission to succeed as much for you and your parents’ sacrifice as for my brothers in the order.”

“But most of all, I regret not having mentioned before this moment that not spilling my seed into you last eve was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done. And not something I ever wish to repeat.”

They stood there staring at each other, neither making a move. All she had to do was reach for him. Admit to herself that needing Guy was not the same as needing her parents. When they’d been taken from her, she’d been lost. As lost as she would be if Guy walked away from their marriage.

Just say it. Ask him. Find out this very moment if he still plans to leave you when his business with de Chabannes is all over.

Nay, you need only say three simple words.

I love you.

All she needed to do was speak the words aloud.

Chapter 24

Sabine said nothing.

Guy’s heart throbbed in his chest, but it didn’t matter, he wanted her anyway. Even though he’d just admitted more to her than he should have, more than he’d consciously realized himself. Tomorrow would be soon enough to consider what it all meant.

Right now he wanted only to show her pleasure, this woman who was his wife. Who had blackmailed him. Who had escaped from a destiny that would have crushed most people. Who’d been betrayed by the overlord her parents had reluctantly trusted. Who had marched from that solar today knowing full well he could not protect her.

He would show her that she did need him.