Scoundrel's Kiss Read Free Page B

relaxed stance. The heft and weight of the weapon was
a homecoming, more familiar than the billowing robes he wore. But the contrast
gave him pause, that place where the white linen at his wrists draped over
gleaming steel.
    "You have responsibilities,"
Pacheco said, his voice devoid of the previous flash of anger. Cold now.
Threatening. "You made a vow—not to me, but to God."
    Yes. One of three. He would abstain
from violence.
    The second vow, obedience, pressed down
on the backs of his hands. The sword grew twice as heavy, then heavier still,
until it dropped from numb fingers. The muffled clang of metal against the swept
earth floor rattled into his bones.
    "Come away now." Pacheco
tugged his sleeve.
    Atop the auction platform, the strange
slave girl yelped. Surprise marred her peaceful features as a man grabbed her
around the waist. Gavriel recognized him as one of the patrons who had been
prepared to bid for her. The sleepy-eyed slave laughed, but when her captor did
not relent, she struggled to escape his clutching arms.
    "Ada!" The boy intruder
fought past one more guard to within a body's length of the platform. Blood stained
his tunic. "Stop him!"
    Gavriel jumped onto the platform
without thought and thrust out his leg.
    The abductor and his comely treasure
took a tumble, rolling down a trio of steps near the rear alcove. Startled
musicians stopped short with a screech of dissonant instruments. Her arms and
legs flailing beneath the man's weight, the woman fought with unexpected zeal.
She shrieked in an unfamiliar language and kicked free of entangling skirts,
hooking a boot heel into his calf. He slapped her cheek with the back of his
hand.
    But she would not be contained.
    She slammed a knee between his legs and
thrust the howling man aside. On all fours, she scampered past fleeing patrons
and screaming harlots to find the sword Gavriel had dropped. She stood, wiped a
mess of tangled hair from her forehead, and raised the weapon in a convincing
stance. Someone had taught her how to hold a blade.
    Perhaps the boy warrior who fought to
reach her side.
    She began to laugh again and swayed to
a rhythm the frightened musicians had stopped playing. Her purloined sword
dipped. Gavriel hopped off the platform, intent on pulling her from danger.
    "Down!" the boy shouted.
    Gavriel dropped to the floor and
dragged the woman with him, flinging aside her weapon. A squeal of metal
sounded above their heads where the boy used his curving blades to deflect a
dagger—a dagger aimed at Gavriel's neck. The thwarted abductor wanted his
prize back. Two parries later and the man dropped dead beside Gavriel and the
slave he still held
    She smiled up at their champion.
"Jacob!"
    The boy named Jacob panted. A riot of
sweaty black hair curled across his brows. He caught Gavriel's eye. "Can
you take her out the back?" he asked in Castilian, his accent thick and
unfamiliar.
    "Can you fight free on your
own?"
    Jacob only nodded, turning to defend
against another guard.
    Gavriel hauled the woman to her feet
and hoisted her over one shoulder. She fought him just as she had fought the
eager patron. Wild limbs struck his back and kicked the air in front of his
face. He squeezed tighter. Some detached part of his brain recognized the curve
of her backside and the deep satisfaction of using his muscles to keep her
close.
    Woman and man.
    He flinched at the thought, but not at
the chair flying past his head. It crashed into the nearest wall and
splintered. Spongy pillows gave way beneath his feet as he picked through the
messy brawl toward the alcove. Although he wondered about the boy's success
against the armed hordes, he dared not look back. The temptation to exchange a
flailing female for the cool power of a blade might be too great.
    Pacheco and Fernan awaited him in the
alley behind the brothel. The stench of fetid but temperate night air was a
welcome change to the heated poison of smoke and perfume. Gavriel's infuriated
burden used the