Rexanne Becnel by My Gallant Enemy Read Free Book Online Page B

he ordered curtly. “What did you think to find by searching my belongings?”
    “I … I only … It fell—” Lilliane stopped her babble abruptly. She took a deep breath. “I came in to prepare your bath and—”
    “She has neither tub nor water,” the man called Dunn scoffed.
    “They’re on their way,” Lilliane snapped back at him as her anger returned.
    “That’s of no matter,” Sir Corbett cut in. “The fact is you’ve shown yourself to be a thief or, even worse, a spy. I’ll have neither in my household.”
    “Your household!” Lilliane sputtered. “Your household! You’ve no rights to Orrick—”
    “Hold your tongue!”
    Sir Corbett’s thunderous command stilled her words momentarily, and it was during that quaking silence that a timid knock sounded.
    Sir Corbett’s man opened the door with a jerk, and the group of servants in the hall seemed to tremble as they viewed the two warrior knights. Their mistress’s pale face did nothing to strengthen their resolve, and it was only the threat inherent in Dunn’s gesture for them to enter that prevented them from fleeing.
    The silence in the room was dreadful. Dunn watched keenly over the procession of servants bearing tub, water, soaps, and bath linens. Sir Corbett, in contrast, ignored the rest and kept his eyes trained on Lilliane. Conscious of his steady stare, she fought to regain her composure.
    Orrick was her home, she told herself. She understood the need to have a strong and just lord to see to its well-being. Neither Aldis nor Santon would do; she would not argue her father on that score. But neither would this hard and suspicious knight do, she vowed. Unable to prevent herself, she lifted her downcast eyes to him.
    She was immediately sorry. Sir Corbett’s expression was no less forbidding. His tall, muscled form was no less threatening than before. But his dark eyes had cleared to an even gray and they were slipping now over her trim figure in interested scrutiny.
    She’d been frightened of his anger before, but of a sudden Lilliane felt a far different sort of fear. Trying to restrain her panic, she clasped her arms tightly around her waist and licked her dry lips. But at precisely that moment Sir Corbett lifted his gaze from the fullness of her breasts to her face, and his eyes seemed to heat as he watched the swift darting movement of her small pink tongue.
    She looked away at once. But it was only a matter of seconds before the servants were dismissed and she was once again alone with the two knights.
    “See to your own quarters now,” the dark knight bade his man, although his eyes did not veer from Lilliane. “And see guards well posted in the camp.”
    “I’ll make a pallet in the hall at your door.”
    “It won’t be needed.”
    “Damn it, Corbett! Isn’t this chit’s pilfering proof enough that it is needed?” Dunn stared balefully at Lilliane. “She may be a small enough threat, but think you that Orrick’s sons-in-law will take your presence here lightly?”
    “Neither of them look to be much opposition. Besides, I think our curious little maid may prove quite a boon.” Sir Corbett smiled and revealed white even teeth. Yet Lilliane felt no relief at his smile; she was sure it bode ill for her.
    “If you mean to bed her, it may be precisely what was intended.”
    Corbett laughed out loud. “She would no doubt fit quite neatly beneath a man. But I’ve no intention of spoiling the marriage before it’s done. No.” He caught Lilliane’s wrist in his large palm and pulled her closer to him. “She shall assist me at my bath and nothing more.”
    There was something in his touch that disturbed Lilliane, although his grasp did not actually hurt her. She tugged at his hand, trying vainly to be free, but he only caught her chin in his other hand and tilted her face up to his. “You’re the chit from this morning, aren’t you?” he asked. Then he turned to Sir Dunn without waiting for an answer. “She came