A Knight of Passion(12)

“A woman would do almost anything for a father,” he said slowly.

“Not almost anything,” Riana corrected. “Anything.”

“The duchess will expect her pet to be where she left him.”

Riana snorted a condescending laugh. “Her Grace has never set foot here, nor will she.”

Though if she knew what Riana was about to do, she well might hazard the foul stench to watch. Riana forced back a shiver. It was one thing for the duchess to have watched while Riana let a man rut between her legs when sprawled on the sweet-smelling mattress at Arundel, but quite another for her to enjoy the picture she’d painted of Riana chained to a wall as a man pounded into her while grunting like the animal he was.

The warden leant back in his chair. “The duchess is not a woman to cross.”

A tremor rippled through Riana. This man was no fool to be easily misled. She eased the hood from her hair, then undid the tie on the cloak and sloughed the garment from her shoulders. It pooled at her feet, but the warden’s eyes were on the well-fitting but low-cut bodice that revealed a hint of nipple.

He lifted his gaze to her face. “Word of your visit is sure to reach her ears.”

The damnable man was unmoved.

“I can remain here as long as you desire.”

A brow rose. “At my word, you would never leave here—and her spies would be no more.”

Riana’s pulse jumped. Coming from another man she wouldn’t have believed it. But this man might very well wield the power he boasted. Pray God he did.

“She need never know, then?” Riana stepped towards the desk. “You have that power?”

“I rule hell.”

So she would be forced to f*ck the devil after all. Though by the looks of him, his breath wouldn’t be as foul as that of the monster who had grabbed her. Or would he share her with those animals, as the duchess predicted? Mayhap he was like her, and preferred to watch?

Gaze locked with his, Riana inched the sleeves of her dress down her arms and allowed the dress to fall to the floor beside the cloak.





Chapter Seven

Bryant propped an elbow on the mantel in the great hall and leaned towards the fire crackling in the hearth as he nodded to the young warrior he was speaking with. The postern door opened and Sir Dunbar entered. He swept the room with his gaze until he met Bryant’s, and he crossed to where they stood.

“Leave us,” he commanded the young man. With a nod to Bryant, the warrior left. Dunbar remained quiet until they were alone, then said, “Your little bird has flown the coop.”

Bryant straightened from the mantel. “What?”

“Easy.” Sir Dunbar gave an almost imperceptible nod in the direction of the duchess, who sat beside Lady Siusan Ellis at the table. “Her Grace is a very observant woman.”

“What has happened?” Bryant demanded.

“The stable boy told me Lady Ellis left an hour ago.”

“That was before dawn. Did he say where she went?”

Dunbar shook his head. “Nay, but Klenmarnoch is just an hour’s ride north.”

Comprehension hit like ice water. “By God,” Bryant cursed. “It is. The little fool has gone to the gaol to beg for Glen’s release.”

“Exactly.”

Everyone knew of the duchess’ prison. Arundel Castle where the duke and duchess lodged was the largest castle within two days’ ride. The duchess’ ancestral home, Klenmarnoch, lay on the edge of the village of Geary where, ten years ago, they had established a prison. Thirty-seven cells wound throughout the maze of corridors and stairs of the four-storey castle. Riana could enter the prison and never be heard from again.

“She cannot hope to succeed,” he said through tight lips.

“Beautiful women often succeed where men cannot,” Dunbar said.

“But at what price?”

Bryant envisioned the picture the duchess had painted of Riana’s tender body shackled to a stone wall while the gaol master f*cked her until she was too sore to stand. Fury and fear rammed through his veins.

“You are not taken with the lass, by chance?” Dunbar asked.

Bryant recalled the exquisite torture of her arse tightening around his cock as he had eased into her and the way she impaled herself on the phallus as he thrust inside, and felt himself grow hard.

“You knew what she was when you hatched this scheme,” Dunbar said. “You did not expect her to change?”