Enduringly Yours Read Free Page A

flatter yourself. I saw you almost every day, whether I wanted to or not. How close did you come to joining Edward?”
    “We all came close. John took an arrow in his left shoulder. We were glad it wasn’t his heart.”
    “And you?”
    “All superficial.”
    Her brows arched as if she did not believe him. He wanted to ask her if she’d like to examine him herself. It took him a moment to tuck the fantasy away. It would come back later, he was sure. Probably in his sleep when there was nothing he could do to stop it.
    He cleared his throat. “Jammed the fingers on my left hand, broke all of them. Healed up, eventually. They still hurt sometimes.” He flexed them. “Woke up next to a snake once. John cut off its head. We ate it.”
    Her nose scrunched.
    “All in all, I was one of the fortunate few. Anything else you wanted to know, my lady?”
    She eyed him.
    “I thought about you.”
    She picked up a stone and threw it into the water, effectively avoiding him. “I have some decisions to make. With my father incapacitated, I need to make them soon.”
    Was she was referring to whom she would marry? That she felt the need to weigh possible suitors cut. “I will be at Havendell as often as possible,” he told her. “You can always send for me at any time.”
    “Peter do not start this.”
    “I will not let Gilburn hurt you.”
    She twisted the end of her braid. “I am not your responsibility.”
    “To hell you’re not.”
    She jerked.
    “The day you are not my responsibility is the day I am laid out in a grave.”
    The blood drained from her face.
    “This is no game.” He softened his voice. “Gilburn is not the sort of man you should be playing games with anyway.”
    She made her way back into the woods, undergrowth snapping under the weight of her determination. Peter followed. Wrenching her skirts out of the way, and flashing more leg than she’d probably intended, she mounted her white gelding. Zipporah reined the horse around to face him, metal on the bridle clanking. “Do not follow me. Sir Gilburn’s men are vigilant. We cannot be seen alone together.”
    “Wait.” He took a hold of the reins.
    “There is nothing more to say.”
    “I just want to know one thing.”
    “What?”
    “Why did you come here?”
    “I told you. To be alone.”
    “But why here ?”
    They used to fish at that very spot, which was why he had gone there in the first place.
    “You did not go to the clearing, did you?” she asked.
    He looked over his shoulder. They had shared their first kiss in a clearing not far from there. Just what was she suggesting? That he was in the habit of bringing other women there?
    He looked at her again. “I have been home for a fortnight and you think I came here for a dalliance?”
    “You did not answer my question.”
    “And neither did you answer mine.”
    “Promise me that you will not go there. Swear to it by your knighthood.”
    “Zipporah.”
    “Swear it!”
    His tongue felt like lead. “I swear.”
    Peter let her horse free and she rode away. He watched her for a moment, then decided not to leave her unguarded. He needed to make sure she made it back safely.
    Peter did not trust Gilburn. He had trained with him, and competed against him at the Mêlée—a mock battle fray where the only rule was to try and not kill one another. Gilburn did not possess the sort of control necessary for a man in his current position of authority. He was an arrow in a bow, cocked back and ready to fly at any moment. The last thing Peter wanted was for Zipporah to get in the way.
     
     
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Three
     
    Zipporah nudged her gelding with her heels, settling him into a steady canter back to the castle.
    Why did he have to be at the lake? She couldn’t escape him. Peter. To her dismay, he still drew her, but she was wiser now. She knew better than to allow herself be carried away by him—with him.
    Didn’t she? Of course she did. She had