Keeper of the Dream by Penelope Williamson Read Free Book Online

had never been able to follow it when spoken rapidly.
    He spoke to her now though, drawling the words. He told her what he wanted to do to her and she understood him very well. “Keep away from me, you Norman cur!”she cried, and was not surprised when he laughed. She had sounded ridiculous even to herself.
    He pushed off the doorjamb and took a step into the vault. Arianna flung the quern at his head. It sailed two feet through the air and landed on the packed dirt with a dull thud.
    He stopped and eyed the hand mill with a quirk of one blond brow. Then he laughed again. “You’ve got spirit. I like that in a woman. My bitch of a wife is as timid as a hedge hen.”
    He took another step. Arianna pressed back against the wall and swallowed the terror that rose in her throat.
    He stopped when he was a hand’s breadth away from her. This close she could smell him—sweet wine, sweat, and a spicy perfume. Fine lines radiated around his eyes and the skin below his cheekbones looked sallow and slack.
    She eyed the distance to the door. But he barred the way to escape. She shifted the tiniest bit to her left. When he didn’t appear to notice, she shifted a bit more. If she could distract him but a moment …
    “You should not be doing this if you are married,” she said. “ ’Twould be a grievous sin.”
    His eyes glittered with mockery. “Ah, but sinning is such fun.”
    He lifted his hand. Arianna froze, but he didn’t touch her. Instead he reached up to his neck and unclasped the gem-studded crescent brooch that fastened his mantle. He pulled off the heavy silk-lined cape and let it slither to the floor, then held the brooch out to her. “I always pay my women first. I find it makes them much more generous in turn.”
    A fury engulfed Arianna, freeing her from her paralyzing fear. “Norman swine! I’d kill myself first!” she cried, knocking his hand aside.
    His gaze left her momentarily, to follow the brooch as itrolled, glittering in the dim candlelight, and Arianna ran for the door.
    He snagged the trailing edge of her mantle, swinging her around and slamming her back against the wall, pressing the length of his body against hers. His breath washed over her face. “So you like to play the ravished virgin, do you?”
    He kissed her hard. She tried to twist aside, but he clasped the sides of her head, holding her in place. His tongue slid between her lips and she gagged. She arched against him and he laughed into her mouth, pushing his thigh between her legs. She felt his erection and terror filled her. She fought harder, and he pressed harder, banging against the golden mazer that dangled from her waist.
    “What the hell?” Grasping the bowl by one of its handles, he wrenched it off her belt. He threw it across the vault and it struck the stone wall with a loud clatter.
    But he had given her the space she needed. Arianna had nine brothers and they had taught her how to fight dirty. She slammed her knee up hard into his crotch.
    He gasped and fell to his knees, cupping himself. Arianna sprinted for the door.
    His hand snaked out, grabbing her ankle, and she crashed to the floor. She struck her head against the metal band of an ale keg and a jagged bolt of pain streaked across her eyes. For a second they both lay there, while his wheezing breaths filled the vault, and Arianna struggled to keep from passing out. She tried to jerk her ankle free of his grip, but his fingers only tightened. Black dots danced before her. She shook her head and the black dots bled one into the other, her vision dimmed. She saw the smooth, rounded edge of the stone quern and she stretched out her hand, her fingertips not quite touching….
    A pulsating, glowing light suddenly filled the opendoorway in front of her. A lambent mist rose from the ground, swirling upward.
    “No …” Arianna shook her head hard, trying to clear it of the swirling mists. God help her, she couldn’t be having a vision now. There wasn’t even a pool of