The Raider (Highland Guard #8)(100)

There was more to him than the brutal war machine bent on vengeance, striking without thought. The reprieve he’d given her had proved the man she remembered still existed. But she was painfully aware that reprieve was only temporary. The men could return at any time.

Would he send her back or did he love her enough to fight to keep her, even if she was English and Robert Clifford’s sister? Her deepest fear was that he would never be able to reconcile the two. And worse, that maybe he wasn’t keeping her in this tower just to protect her but also because he was ashamed of her. That a relationship with an Englishwoman somehow diminished his reputation as the freedom fighter who despised all things English.

She tried to ignore the stab of disappointment when he didn’t respond to her vow not to marry Sir Henry. Instead, he started to roll off the bed. “I need to return to my chamber.” After the first night, he’d come to her.

“Already?” she asked, trying to hide her disappointment with a smile.

He saw through it anyway. “I’m riding out at dawn. Besides, I do not want to give Lady Joanna any reason to suspect that I am not enjoying the fine bed in her mother-in-law’s chamber.”

Rosalin suspected it was too late for that. She suspected Lady Joanna knew exactly whose bed he was enjoying.

She watched him dress in silence, wishing that their worlds did not feel so apart. The one he shared in here with her and the one he shared out there with everyone else that required strapping on armor and swords. Her eyes moved from the bruises on his ribs to the one on his face. “I hope you will not be returning with any more ‘scratches’?”

One corner of his mouth lifted. “Not today, unless they are wielded by farm implements.”

She gazed at him questioningly.

He grimaced. “One of my duties for the king is to listen to the disputes of the people when he cannot, which means a long morning listening to a bunch of squabbling between neighboring farmers.”

“The Devil’s Enforcer meting out justice?”

Her incredulity seemed to amuse rather than offend him. “Aye, well, it’s only one of my duties—a very small part. My reputation is not in any danger.”

She’d sat up in bed to watch him, and she realized his gaze had fallen to her very thin chemise. Although he did not seem to possess a modest bone in his body (admittedly with good reason) and came to her bed completely naked (not that she was complaining), sensing her modesty, he had not pressed her to remove her chemise. But if his heated gaze on her barely covered br**sts was any indication, she suspected that patience was almost at an end.

“Have you heard of the legal term quid pro quo?”

She translated the Latin in her head: this for that. She wrinkled her nose. “Nay.”

He grinned. Perhaps if she hadn’t been so excited by his next words, she would have noticed how slyly. “How would you like to go on a short hike later?”

She practically jumped out of the bed. “Really?”

That smile deepened. “Be ready at about three.”

She nodded excitedly. “I will be.”

He started out the door, but at the last minute he turned. “And Rosalin.” Her eyes met his. “Make sure not to wear anything with too many ties.”

She was left to ponder that for the remainder of the day.

Rosalin spun on him angrily, eyes flashing and hands on her hips. “You should be ashamed of yourself, Robert Boyd. You tricked me and brought me up here under false pretenses.”

Robbie tried not to laugh, but she looked so adorable and outraged it wasn’t easy. He gestured to the valley below them. “I promised you a short hike and a beautiful view. Did I not deliver both?”

If looks could kill, he’d be dead right now. “It’s breathtaking. But you know very well it’s not the view. It’s the payment you’ve demanded in return that’s the problem.”

He shook his head, tsking. “I wouldn’t use the term ‘payment’; it sounds too…”

“Underhanded? Strong-arming? Unscrupulous?”

He grinned. “I was going to say formal. I prefer quid pro quo. I give you a little something of this, you give me a little something of that. Everyone’s happy.”

“I’d hardly say stripping down naked in the middle of the day outside where anyone can happen upon us is ‘a little something.’”

“We are up on a hilltop, surrounded by trees, with no one around for miles.” A slight exaggeration, but he would hear anyone who tried to sneak up on them. “I thought it would be fun.”

“Fun?” she exclaimed, practically sputtering. “Fun for you, you mean.”

He had to grin at that. Damned right it would be fun for him. Even the thought of all that naked skin bared to his eyes in the sunlight made him hard. He shrugged as if it didn’t matter. “That’s all right. I thought you were more adventurous, but if you are too embarrassed by whatever it is you are intent on keeping hidden under that shift, we can return to the castle.”

Aye, and he’d be lying dead with two very green daggers in his chest. “You are a horrible man who deserves every bit of your ruthless reputation.”

He grinned harder. When it came to having her naked, she was probably right. He waited with surprising patience, when all he wanted to do was rip those clothes right off her and taste every inch of that naked skin. He was rewarded. A moment later she started furiously working the ties of her gown. She was calling him all kinds of names under her breath, but he didn’t care. His pulse had stopped and his breath seemed lodged in his lungs as piece after piece of clothing fell at her feet.