She swallowed hard as he walked closer. ‘Why would I do that?’
He shrugged. ‘Wilfrid already believes us to be lovers.’
Shaking her head, she said, ‘Not physically. I explained to him, you heard me.’
‘I know what you explained.’ Coming to a stop before her, he gave her a long look up and down. He wondered at how she seemed to trust him. He could hurt her now, quickly before the guards could get to him if he wanted. Did she even realise how she trusted him? Whether she did or not, he found himself liking that.
‘But you do not realise how beautiful you are. No man would be a lover to you in fondness only as you explained to him. Wilfrid might be physically deteriorated and he might have memory problems, but he is not a daft man. Were you mine, I would have you in my bed every night and again every morning.’ His voice had lowered as his words lit a fire in his belly. He had to clench his hands into fists to keep them from reaching for her.
She gasped and he did not miss the flare of heat in her eyes before she took a step back. ‘Nevertheless, we are not lovers and we will not be lovers. Wilfrid can think what he wants.’
‘Then I will ask that you stay.’
‘Why?’ She tilted her head to the side.
‘Because you are the only one I trust here.’
‘Why would you trust me?’
He grinned again. ‘Because I am not dead yet. I have no idea of the intentions of others, but you do not seem inclined to kill me.’
She gave a harsh laugh at that. ‘I can assure you the guards have been ordered by me not to harm you unless you give them reason.’
He glanced back at the two men near the door. They were not who he was worried about. ‘And Cedric? He also has been given this order and he abides by your decision?’
A look of uncertainty crossed her face before she smoothed out her features. ‘You need not be concerned with Cedric.’
Her assurance did not have the ring of truth. Cedric saw him as a threat. Cedric had stormed into her bedchamber in the early morning hours because he had found Rurik’s cell empty. He hadn’t forgotten the man had gone looking for him in the dead of night. Whether or not Annis realised it, Cedric would rather see Rurik dead than see him become a complication. Rurik had no doubt of that. ‘You are certain he will not come in the middle of the night and slide a dagger between my ribs?’
She glanced at the door and then back at him. ‘You will have a guard just outside the door. This chamber has no windows so there is no other way to gain entry.’
Lowering his voice so that only she could hear, he asked, ‘And you are certain that the guards are loyal to you and not Cedric?’
She opened her mouth to speak, but then sent a quick look to the two men standing inside the open door. She was not certain. She might want to believe it, but there was something there that made her hesitate. As a woman, there were bound to be warriors who were loyal only to Cedric. Gratified to find that his hunch had been right, he drove the point home. ‘I would prefer to have you as my own personal guard.’
Her troubled gaze lighted on him briefly before going to the bed. She looked very much like a reluctant bride who was about to be forced to endure a wedding night.
‘You have my vow that I will not touch you. Unless you want me to.’ He could not help but add that last part.
‘I would be a fool to accept your vow on anything.’
She was right. Not that he would touch her against her will, but that he was willing to say almost anything to get the answers he wanted. Before he could challenge her, she said, ‘If I stay here with you, you will be chained.’
‘No.’ He said the word so harshly that she straightened, clearly stunned by his vehemence.
‘You must. You cannot expect me to sleep here, to lower my guard, based solely on your word that you will not touch me.’
‘I will not be bound again.’ The very idea of it set his blood to boiling.
‘If you will not agree to be bound, then I will not stay.’ Her chin went up a notch, a move he was coming to know meant that she was holding her ground.
‘Then I will be so loud that no one will get any sleep tonight. I am certain I will be louder here than below stairs.’
Anger flared to life again in her eyes. ‘Then I can bind your mouth.’
He stared at her, trying to determine if she was bluffing. He knew that his captivity did not sit well with her. She was not glorying in her ability to hold him prisoner. Would she actually see him gagged for the night? ‘You would not.’
Whether it was his direct challenge or her own guilt at keeping him captive, he could not say, but something made her walk behind him to the guards.
‘Make certain everyone believes I am in my chamber for the night. No one is to know I’m in here. I’ll tell Goda that I am not feeling well and do not have need of her tonight.’ Relief lightened his shoulders. She was staying. But then she mumbled something to the guard and it was so low that he could not hear enough to make out the commands. One of them ran off as she turned to him.
‘Chains, or we do not have a deal.’
Chapter Ten
The look of satisfaction that adorned Annis’s face as the guard pulled the leather restraint tight on Rurik’s wrist was unmistakable. Rurik knew that he had got under her skin and this was her way of getting her revenge. Thank the gods
