Vengeance 02 - Trust In Me by Lana Williams Read Free Book Online

that was now his, including his lovely cousin, Elizabeth. His body hardened as the image of her swept through his mind. Those long, graceful limbs would soon be wound around him, her soft skin and generous curves his for the taking.
    Their blood relation was of no matter. Second cousins often married. He’d wanted her since her sixteenth year.
    Each time he visited Amberley, his desire for her grew. All of that unapproachable elegance made him burn. Soon she’d be his. Her warm brown eyes would fill with passion as she clung to him, begging him to take her.
    Aye, and how he’d make her beg after the cool treatment he’d gotten from her during his last stay at Amberley before taking Crefton to the tournament.
    He rubbed a hand over his groin to ease the ache there, then laughed in anticipation. The rich holding, the woman – prosperity would be his at last.
    He would prove he was not the wastrel his sire always claimed him to be. His father’s sword lay beside him on the bed, the hilt wrapped with the form of a writhing dragon, its green jeweled eyes sparkling at him in the candlelight. When he claimed Amberley, he’d finally feel he’d earned the right to carry his father’s sword. To call it his own.
    With a smile, he looked at the dark corner where the maidservant hid. “Are you the one with the brown hair?”
    Slowly, she rose and stepped closer to the bed. “Aye, my lord.”
    Gerard eyed her closely. She was too short and too stout, but she had the right color of hair. That was all he needed to pretend she was Elizabeth. “You’ll do.”
    “Excuse me, my lord?” Her voice shook with fear just as he knew Elizabeth’s would.
    His breath came faster as he pictured his elegant cousin fighting him. His loins ached with need. He patted the bed beside him. “Come here. I find that I am in need of you after all.”
     

Chapter Five
    Nicholas rubbed his hand over his face as he waited for dawn to arrive, still fully dressed on his pallet in the hall. Another sleepless night was not what he needed after he’d already passed two nights running about the countryside.
    He hoped exhaustion was the cause of feeling as though he’d lost his mind.
    How could bare toes and bread have brought him to this? He shook his head. He’d touched Elizabeth as planned, but rather than bringing forth a vision, her proximity had brought forth desire.
    Just the memory of her features bathed in soft light, her large brown eyes looking up at him, and their too-brief kiss, were enough for his mouth to go dry, for longing to course through him. His attraction to her was unwise, ludicrous in fact. His attempts to charm her had failed utterly, for she’d charmed him instead.
    He needed to concentrate on the task at hand, the first of which was a delay in their departure from Amberley.
    At first light, he woke Brom, speaking quietly so as not to disturb the other occupants slumbering in the hall. “I want another day here. We’ll tell them you’re still unwell.”
    Brom nodded. “What should I say is wrong if asked?”
    “Lay the blame on your stomach.”
    Stephen woke as well, and Nicholas informed him of the plan.
    “We didn’t discover much of anything last night,” Brom told him. “If your brother was here, no one is talking about it.”
    “Mayhap it was kept a secret,” Stephen suggested. “I’ll visit with the men-at-arms again to see if I can loosen anyone’s tongue.”
    “Do so with care,” Nicholas warned him. “We don’t want to rouse suspicion. Keep your distance from Sir Kenneth as he acts suspicious of us already. We must all watch for Lord Crefton and Lady Elizabeth.”
    “Shall I stay in the hall?” Brom asked.
    “It would be easier to feign illness in privacy,” Nicholas advised as he thought it over. “Seek the stables. Find an empty stall in which you can rest.”
    “I’ll bring food to you,” Stephen offered. “Then I’ll see if the men are training in the bailey.”
    The morning passed slowly