A Knight in Central Park(89)

“’Twould seem you are not the only one who was keeping secrets,” Alexandra admitted, realizing she should have spoke to Mary of her plans.

Mary wiped her eyes before she reached out and pulled Garrett into their tight circle, giving him a warm squeeze, making him both wince from pain and blush from embarrassment.

“It might cheer you to know,” Mary said to Alexandra, “that Richard has provided me with many skilled tutors. Since arriving, I have devoted myself seriously to my studies. Not only have I learned the abacus, dear sister, I have made the acquaintance of geometry! And who would have guessed there to be such a long line of poets, orators, and philosophers?”

Alexandra looked to Joe.

He smiled at her, and she smiled back.

Her gaze fell to the blood staining his clothes, and then back to his pale face. His legs wobbled just before he crumpled to the ground.





Chapter Twenty-Four



As the steel of the Sword must be tempered in fire and water, so must the soul of the Knight be tempered by adversity and compassion.

—Unknown

It wasn’t easy, but Joe sat up in bed. Somebody had dressed him in a long-sleeved tunic. The garment was soaked through with perspiration. He pulled it over his head, wincing as a sharp pain shot through his well-bandaged arm. The bed was layered with too many fur covers. He was thankful for the cool air coming through the arrow slits across the room.

For an instant before waking, he thought his miraculous travels nothing but a dream, but then everything came back to him in a flash.

He moved his legs over the feathered mattress, his bare feet brushing against the stone floor. He remembered the malicious look on the assassin’s face as they rolled on the ground. Joe was lucky to be alive. Moonlight filtered in through the arrow slits and narrow windows. His mouth was dry. He needed water. He stood, wobbled slightly as he set off to look about in the semi-dark for a pitcher of water. “Ow! Damn chair.”

Somebody moved within that same chair. His eyes had not yet adjusted to the dark as he reached out blindly. He felt strands of silky hair...a woolen blanket...a shoulder. “Alexandra?”

Startled, she jumped to her feet, the top of her head hitting his chin. Joe rubbed his chin and held back the curses begging to come forth.

“Sir Joe, is that you?”

“What’s left of me,” he managed.

Her hand reached out for him in the dark, brushing against his groin, thigh, abdomen, arms. “You’re cold,” she said. “You best return to bed so I may check your wound.”

“Another minute under all those furs and I would have been roasted alive.”

She bent over to retrieve her woolen blanket and once again brushed against what was now his full-fledged erection. “God’s teeth, I am sorry,” she said, leaving the blanket. She cleared her throat and said softly, “I did not realize you carried a weapon whilst you slept.”

“Handled properly,” he said, finding the pain from his injury quickly replaced by something much more promising, “you’ll find that my weaponry is hardly perilous.”





Alexandra laughed, then reached out a hand, this time purposefully seeking him out. She would never have thought she would find a man’s body so wonderfully fascinating. God’s creation was indeed extraordinary, she thought, as she ran her fingers down his rigid shaft, surprised by its unyielding hardness. “Mayhap to you it is not dangerous because you are familiar with its behavior,” she said.

He stifled a moan. “It’s not an animal, Alexandra. It won’t sit or roll over.”

“Then why,” she asked playfully as her fingers explored, “does it stand ever at attention, awaiting my orders like a lovesick pup?”

He released a long, shuddering sigh. “Because he likes you,” he said as she continued her exploration, sliding her fingers tightly around its thickness until he let out a growl and gathered her into his arms, carrying her only a few steps back to the bed.

“You are injured, and I do not wish to hurt you further,” she said when he placed her on the feather mattress.

“Trust me when I tell you that all pain left me the moment I found you watching over me.”

In the dimness of the room, Alexandra saw him as a silhouette, a dark shadow keenly watching her as he undressed himself and then her until they were equally bare. His hand fell upon her knee, climbing higher as he said, “It’s my turn to explore.”