Amongst Silk and Spice

Amongst Silk and Spice by Camille Oster Read Free Book Online Page A

Book: Amongst Silk and Spice by Camille Oster Read Free Book Online
Authors: Camille Oster
it angrily. He refused to be tempted by her. She was neither innocent nor virtuous, no matter how much she looked it. The circumstances in which he'd found her attested to it without doubt.
    Getting up, he made his way to the door and slid it aside. The sun was bright in the courtyard and fowl ran around across his path as he made his way out of their room. He walked toward the well in the center of the courtyard and undid the ties that held his chainmail in place and moved it off his shoulders, feeling the weight of it come off him. Along with his sword, he placed the mail down on the edge of the well and pulled the undershirt off him as well.
    The sun warmed the skin of his chest and shoulders as he pulled a bucket out of the well, washing the dust and grime off him. The water was icy cold and it bit his skin as he washed himself, leaving him feeling energized—that and the fact that he was finally on his way home. This journey had been longer than he’d expected, but the objective was achieved. He'd found her and he was taking her home. If her father would be pleased to see her, he didn't know, nor did he care. His quest would be dispatched and he would be free to return to France, unless the war was finished by the time he got back, which was a possibility.
    He couldn't quite imagine not being at war, having spent his whole adult life fighting the French, fighting for his king and country. It was difficult to imagine what peace would be like. He would have to return to Somerset and tend his lands. Either way, he would check in on his estate when he returned, to ensure nothing awry had happened, such as an over-optimistic heir taking claim. It had happened before, when an heir had wrongly heard a knight had died and staked claim to the estate and land.
    A small noise behind him alerted him to Eloise's rise. Again the image of her underneath him flashed through his mind. It had been too long since he'd lain with a woman, he conceded, but it wouldn't be her. She was walking past, trying to be silent. Hugo smiled as she dashed for the entranceway of the establishment, trying to make her escape. He even let her go for a few seconds.
    She made it out to the street and was running as fast as she could, which wasn’t much of a threat. Hugo took off after her, chasing as she ran ahead of him, her red dress floating behind her. It was extraordinarily light material.
    Enough now, he said and picked up speed, reaching her and clasping his arm around her, pulling her back. She struggled against him, kicking wildly, but his arm had her clamped to him. "Come now, Mistress Chanderling. Enough of that."
    "Let go of me!" she demanded.
    He held her tightly to his bare chest, and they were drawing attention from some of the Cathayans, but he knew they wouldn't interfere. "We both know that isn't going to happen. Now you can walk back, or I can carry you over my shoulder. You choose." Even standing behind her, he saw her mouth tighten. She wanted to argue. "Fine," he said and whipped her around, bending down and forcing her onto his shoulder again.
    "I'll walk," she uttered, hitting him on the back. Without clothes and mail, he could feel it now, but it wasn't enough to bother him. He felt the warmth of her along his shoulder and her hands on his back as she pushed herself up.
    "Too late," he said and strode back the way they'd come.
    "Please just let me go."
    "It doesn't matter how many times we have this discussion, the outcome isn't going to change."
    He had to duck to get her through the entranceway to the travelers’ inn they had stayed in, where he dropped her unceremoniously onto a ledge around the courtyard. "Perhaps I should tie you up."
    "No," she said.
    "If you are going to cause me trouble every few minutes, I will." He stared her in the eye as he moved back to the well, letting her know that he wasn't beyond doing it. He might actually save himself some trouble if he did. The defiance shone through her eyes, making him

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