“Dearest Father,” she began out loud. “Please protect my husband from the wicked schemes and merciless tip of his enemies’ blade. I know I’ve already asked You tonight to punish him severely, but I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want him to suffer in any way. Amen.”
She opened her eyes and tilted her head up the length of Gareth’s leather clad legs. She hadn’t heard his approach. He knelt in front of her, and she found herself staring into his eyes.
“Are you hungry?” he asked in a considerate tone.
She shook her head no and began to turn away from the warmth in his eyes. The last thing she needed to do was like him even more when he could be dead in the morning.
He touched his fingers to her cheek to draw her gaze back to his. “Don’t worry over me, Tanon. I’ll return to you unscathed.”
“My, but you’re arrogant,” she pointed out.
The corners of his mouth hooked into a smile that was so wondrously sweet, it tempted her to smile back.
“And quite brutish too,” she added. “You should know that I considered slapping you earlier. I’ve never slapped anyone before, and I would have had to have gone to penance for it.” She narrowed her eyes on him. “You do have churches in Wales,oui?”
“Aye, but I would have deserved it, so there would be no penance due.” His smile faded and his expression grew serious again. “Tanon, I’m not accustomed to…”
What? He thoughtto himself. Not accustomed to groveling? To worrying over the tender feelings of a woman? To feeling possessive, even jealous that she thought another man handsome? He was a prince, and the deadliest warrior inCymru. He groveled to no one! Nay, not even when Dafydd had left him in the dungeons without food for over a se’nnight did he turn into such an abject pansy. He was commander of over four hundred men in Deheubarth, and not a single one had ever dared speak to him the way this woman had.
No one had ever prayed for him either.
“Not accustomed to what?” she asked curiously.
He ran his hand over his jaw looking at her. How was it possible that gazing into her eyes made him feel so powerless and weak? He had trouble breathing around her. Even when she questioned his every request, he ached to touch her.
“To apologizing.”
“Oh,” Her lips relaxed into a smile and she gave his hand a reassuring pat. “I will help you get accustomed to that.”
“I’ve no doubt you will,” he said, his humor restored by the sweet innocence she possessed.
“Besides, you’ve much more pressing concerns to worry over tonight.”
“Aye, I do.” Like how to keep his mouth and his hands off her another second.
When he folded his knees and moved to sit behind her, she startled and almost moved away. He closed his arms loosely around her middle and stretched his legs out on either side of her. She didn’t resist but let him mold her to his chest.
Gareth removed the wimple from her head and inhaled the hint of lavender that clung to her hair. He listened to the delicacy of her breathing, relished in the feel of protecting her. In a few hours his life would return to what he knew best. What he had trained his entire life to do. Fight. Kill. Win. Tomorrow he would know if one of his men had betrayed him yet again. But tonight he simply wanted to hold the woman he had married for peace. The woman who made him forget about war.
Chapter Thirteen
Tanon’s eyes flutteredopen two hours later. The sky was still cloaked in darkness, but Gareth and all but one of his men were gone. She sat up, her heart racing wildly in her chest.
“Have they gone then?”
Propped against a tree close to where she had slept, long legs stretched out before him, Cian nodded. “I’m to guard you and your nurse with my life.”
Tanon looked around. Her voice had roused Rebecca from sleep, but beyond the soft amber hue of the fire, she could see nothing else.
“Fear not, lady,” Cian reassured her when a small sound of panic parted her lips. “’Twas my brother, Madoc, who taught me to fight.” He held up his palm to stop her when she stood up. “I must insist that you remain on your pallet.”
“But it’s so dark. How will they see?” She went to him wringing her hands together until they ached. “They weren’t supposed to leave until dawn.”Why didn’t Gareth bid me farewell?She closed her eyes and said another prayer that God would keep Gareth and his men safe.
“His suspicions against one of us have been raised,” Cian explained quietly, his furrowed brow darkening his eyes when she began to pace in front of him. “If he’s correct, then the traitor hasn’t gone back to Winchester, but has returned to warn his comrades about our attack.”
“Bleddyn?” Tanon asked quietly.
Cian nodded. “Striking before our enemies expect it will give us a better chance at victory since there are so many.”