The Legend (10 page)

"I shall.... I shall
agree!" she breathed as his mouth released her.

He grinned, his eyes half-lidded
with lust. "Promise?"

She could barely nod and her eyes
opened slowly; she was positively dazed. He continued to smile at her and
brushed her lips with his own, gently this time.

"Truly?” he murmured. “No
regrets?"

She blinked and swallowed hard,
her lucidity returning. "I said I would. What choice did you give
me?"

"None at all," he said
honestly, kissing her deeply once more. "I may not be ready for marriage,
and mayhap you aren't either. But I shall be damned if another man will have
you. I would regret it sorely if my father married you to another."

She sighed raggedly, gazing into
his sky-blue eyes. "Why?"

His grin turned wolfish.
"Because you are a tasty morsel and I intend to have you all to myself.
Besides, you are so beautiful that I shall find you very pleasant to look at in
years to come."

She stared at him, regaining her
senses bit by bit until she realized he was holding her aloft without any
trouble whatsoever. Her booted feet dangled a dozen inches off the ground and
she attempted to release him, but his grip held her fast.

"Put me down, Alec,"
she said quietly. The severity of her wanton behavior was bearing down on her
and she was suddenly ashamed and confused. Moreover, she had just agreed to
marry him and she wasn't at all sure how to feel about it.

"As you wish, my lady,"
he complied, but not before kissing her again. Good lord, he could melt her to
the core with his sweet kisses.

He took her hand and led her over
to the fire where the pot was boiling furiously. Still dazed, Peyton sat on the
stump stupidly as he fussed with the contents of his satchel.

"We will break the night's
fast with broth and bread and then I shall take you back to Blackstone,"
he said.

Peyton stared at him, taking
another look at his profile. She'd noticed that he was handsome before, but she
did not stop to realize precisely how handsome. His features were sculpted and
perfect, lending credit to his aura of pure strength. In spite of his size, he
moved with awesome grace and agility. It was an extremely pleasing combination.

This man is to be my husband
, she thought as if the full
impact of the idea had just occurred to her. She felt defeated and giddy at the
same time.

"Which way did Ivy go?"
he asked, putting the broth into a tin cup.

"South, to the woods,"
she replied dully, still caught up in her own thoughts.

"We will go and search for
her, then," he handed her the broth and a hunk of brown bread. "'Tis
not safe for her to be traveling the woods alone, although from what I have
seen she can take care of herself."

Peyton sipped the broth and
devoured the bread; she was starving. Alec stood several feet away, chewing on
a large piece of bread and looking thoughtful. "Are your sister's ideals
on marriage the same as yours?"

"Very much so," Peyton
said firmly. "She doesn't like men."

Alec snorted, chewing. "My
sister's ideals are much the same."

"I did not know you had a
sister."

Alec finished the bread and
brushed the crumbs off his hands. "I have a younger sister and an older
brother."

Peyton drank the last of the
broth, feeling warm and satisfied by the food. Alec cleaned up the remnants of
the meal and stashed them away in his satchel.

Dousing the fire, he emitted a
piercing whistle from between his teeth and the charger bolted from its grazing
spot in the bramble, trotting towards his master. Peyton watched, impressed, as
the massive horse came to a halt and Alec strapped the bag onto the saddle.
When he was finished, he turned to Peyton expectantly.

"Shall we go, lady? My
father will be most anxious to see you."

Begrudgingly, Peyton rose.
"Most anxious to take a tassel whip to my backside, I shall wager."

Alec grinned as he held out his
hand. "If he is going to lash anyone, 'twill be me. And I shall take your
lashes for you, have no fear."

"Why do you say that?"
she put her hand in his, feeling the heated energy flow between them. How on
earth a touch could affect her so powerfully was baffling.

Alec lifted her onto the
destrier, avoiding her gaze. "Because I.... well, it's not important. He
shall be ecstatic to hear that you have agreed to our betrothal."

He was evading her question and
she reached out her hand, pulling his great head up to face her. Timid fingers
absently touched his stubbled jaw. "Because why? If we are to be married,
my lord, I will demand one thing from my husband. That you always be truthful
with me. I do not like secrets or lies."

He met her gaze, feeling himself
being devoured by her great sapphire eyes. She was so very fragile and delicate
in appearance, like a beautiful blossom. But her words were sound and firm, and
he was compelled to agree with the philosophy; honesty was an important trait
in a marriage. He cleared his throat, forcing reluctant words to his lips.

"Because I was running away.
I was fleeing north because my father and I had an argument."

Peyton looked at him closely, seeing
his sheepish expression. A faint smile creased her lips. "Because of
me?"

He nodded hesitantly. "I did
not want to marry you and he was insistent that I accept the betrothal. Hell, I
took to the woods because I thought the soldiers on the road had come after me.
'Twas only by chance that I came across you."

Her smile broadened. "Then
it would seem that your father will be glad to see the both of us."

He returned her smile sheepishly,
embarrassed at his admission.

"I still Do not want to
marry you," she said after a moment.

"And I Do not want to marry
you."

"Then why are we agreeing to
this betrothal?"

He looked thoughtful a moment.
"I do not know. I suppose because I must marry eventually, and so must
you. We might as well marry each other and breed an entire keep full of
Summerlin heirs."

"We will be living at St.
Cloven. It is not that big."

"It will be after I have
expanded the base. I have got big plans for my keep, my lady."

"It's my keep, my
lord."

He lifted an eyebrow at her,
moving to mount the charger. "Not for long."

He mounted behind her, settling
himself in the saddle and then pulling her soft bottom onto his thighs. She
squirmed innocently to find a comfortable position, but Alec was quickly
succumbing to misery; feeling her supple backside against his thighs and groin
was torture at the very least. He waited with thin patience, biting off a groan
as she fussed.

"Are you finished?" he
demanded weakly.

"Aye," she replied, but
she shifted one last time and brushed against his semi-arousal and he grunted.
"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he growled.
"Cease your fidgets so that we might be home before sundown."

"But your thighs are like
rocks," she sniffed. "'Tis as if I am sitting on the stone
floor."

His thick arm snatched her
against his hard chest, stilling any further movement. "Enough."

He was preparing to rein the
horse from the small clearing when there was suddenly movement through the
trees ahead of them. Alec stiffened, moving to unstrap his crossbow, when a
familiar warrior burst through the trees and headed straight for him.

"Alec!" Ali bellowed.
"Where in the hell have you been? Your father is distraught!"

Alec watched impassively his
friend approached. "I was.... out looking for Lady Peyton and her sister. I
have only just come across her. How did you find me?"

Peyton's eyebrows rose slightly
at the lie, but the knight simply nodded his helmed head as he reined his
snorting charger next to them.

"I heard you whistle for
Midas, of course. Greetings, demoiselle," Ali dipped his head to Peyton.
"Lord Summerlin will be glad to see that you have survived your adventure
whole."

"Her sister took to the
south, through the woods. Make yourself useful and go find her. I shall return
Lady Peyton to Blackstone."

Ali shook his head, resting a
massive gloved hand on his thigh. "I am afraid of her, Alec. Can I not
take Lady Peyton while you search for the sister?"

"Whelp," Alec grumbled.
"What is it about Lady Ivy that frightens you? She is a lovely girl."

"She is indeed, but she can
best me in a fight, I know it. And she will most certainly not come peacefully,
which could only result in my severe injury or worse."

Peyton could sense the humor
between them and was therefore not offended by the insult dealt to her sister.
In fact, it was the truth.

"I tell you a secret about
my sister, my lord, " she said to Ali. "She has a weakness on her
left side. She focuses on the right."

Underneath his visor, Ali
grinned. "Thank you, demoiselle. I shall remember to blindside her. We
have not yet been introduced, but I am Ali Boratu."

"Sir Ali," she greeted.
"I remember you from last night."

"It is not 'Sir' Ali, but
simply Ali," he corrected her. 

Peyton looked puzzled. "I....
I apologize for the mistake, but I assumed you were.... you are not a
knight?"

"Nay," he said flatly,
turning his attention to Alec. "You are mother is raging, Alec. Mayhap you
should return immediately and soothe her. You left without a word last night
and she is in a foul mood, and the ladies disappearance has exacerbated her
terribly."

Alec grunted. "Mother is
always aggravated."

Ali suddenly flipped up his
visor, wiping his damp forehead and Peyton's mouth went agape with surprise.

"You are the black
man!" she blurted.

Ali looked at her as if she had
just accused him of being a leper. His onyx eyes bulging, he ripped off his
gauntlet and let out a high-pitched scream at the sight of his naked hand.
"My God! I am!"

Alec grinned as Ali played off
Peyton's shock. Peyton, however, was too consumed with the dark vision before
her to lend credence to the humor of Ali's jest. Instead, her jaw hung slack
and she continued to gaze at him as if beholding Lucifer's demon. She'd never
seen anything like him in her entire life and was understandably astonished. It
was a moment before she found her tongue.

"Where.... where are you
from?"

Ali was smiling in response to
Alec's humorous reaction, glancing at his friend over Peyton's head. "My
family is from a land very far away, demoiselle."

She closed her hanging mouth, but
her expression was decidedly wary. She could only see his eyes and a portion of
his face through the raised visor and wondered if the complete picture of him
was more animalistic than human. The prospect was terrifying and fascinating at
the same time.

"How did you come to
England?"

Ali's smile faded; he could tell
from her furrowed brow that she was preparing to view him as every other woman
did. Like a beast. She did not have to utter a word regarding her thoughts; he
could read them easily. Mind-reading had become a practiced talent for him.

His in-bred bitterness made an
instant, familiar appearance. "Not by cage or animal caravan, I assure
you. I was born in England. England is my home."

Her shock subsided somewhat with
his biting response and she sought to ease his displeasure. Even if he was a
peculiarity, she had no desire to offend him. "As England is my home as
well. I apologize if I offended you by asking. It's just that I have never seen
a black.... man before."

Alec's own smile had long since
faded as he watched Ali react to Peyton's inquiry. As was usual, he refrained
from intervening simply because Ali was better adept at handling discrimination
than he was. But listening to Peyton's even reply to Ali's biting statement, he
found himself praying that the woman seated before him would somehow be
different than the rest.  

God only knew he was used to the
way women treated Ali; it had never varied much from woman to woman; if they
weren't outright denouncing him as an ape, they were showering him with a
peculiar blend of pity reserved for cripples and orphaned children. Both
reactions usually spurred a deep anger within Alec, a fierce protectiveness to
defend his friend from the cruelty of the fairer sex. 

He did not want Peyton to follow
the familiar path. He found that he wanted her to accept Ali for what he was;
no reservations, no questions, no hesitation. He did so want his future wife
and his best friend to be companionable, and he realized with dismay that it
was because he couldn't bring himself to hate her. Bad temper, bitterness and
all, he did not want to hate her.

Ali, too, was studying Peyton
guardedly. Her answer to his harsh reply had been honest and calm, a
combination rarely seen where it pertained to him.  His natural reaction was to
protect himself, to remain aloof and to prove to the woman that nothing she
could say could harm him. But, somehow, the sapphire blue eyes weren't
immediately intent on harming him, and that in itself was very puzzling.