Immortal Love Read Online Free PDF Page A

breath of relief.
    Striding to his great steed, he mounted and
sat rigidly, his chest heaving. When he suddenly moved his horse
toward her, she instinctively tried to step out of its path, but
couldn’t before Dominick scooped her up in his arms and planted her
firmly on the saddle in front of him.
    His men broke the circle around them.
    “Ha!” he shouted to the horse, spurring it to
breakneck speed toward Godwin.
    Rage nearly blinded Dominick. Never had
anyone talked to him in such a manner. To call him mindless was
beyond comprehension. And when Eleanor’s eyes filled with
smoldering hate and deception, the desire to force her compliance
had swelled inside his mind.
    Riding toward Godwin he knew he was holding
her too tightly, but it was either that or give in to the desire to
throttle her. Instead he chose a breakneck ride to spend the
tempest raging within him. The sound of Aries’ hooves pounding the
ground beneath them kept in time with the pounding in his ears.
    He bent his body low, forcing her down in the
saddle. Her small hands gripped Aries’ mane, even though there was
little chance of her falling off since Dominick had a death grip
around her waist. Soft tendrils of hair brushed his cheek, yet he
was too angry to care.
    She would do as the king ordered and he would
see it done.
    He couldn’t douse the angry fire that blazed
within him. Once inside the bailey walls, Dominick dismounted with
Eleanor in tow toward the chapel.
    The priest was already waiting.
    “I want Martha, my maid,” Eleanor said as she
stubbornly stuck her chin out.
    Relieved that Eleanor was cooperating, he
turned to one of his soldiers. “Bring her maid to the chapel.”
    At the arrival of Martha there was a
commotion outside as a man tried to break through the crowd of
soldiers.
    “Who is that?”
    Eleanor looked to the back of the church.
“Martha’s husband. They are both like family to me.”
    Dominick turned to his men. “Let him in.” The
man burst forward and pulled Martha into his arms.
    Dominick’s anger finally began to cool as he
watched the couple hold one another. He looked back at Eleanor. He
would never know that kind of love. The woman who stood before him
burned with hatred. And yet for a moment as she watched her
servants, he saw something in her eyes. Love. Love for the two
people that were arm in arm.
    A longing came over him. For a heartbeat he
wished she would look at him that way. But when she turned back
toward him, he saw only an expression of contempt. Unwilling to
look on such abhorrence again, he turned her toward the altar.
    They knelt while the priest administered the
service, each speaking their vows almost inaudibly.
    Finally, it was over and he placed the ring
on her small hand. He’d had it made just before he left to fulfill
the king’s decree. It was a ruby set in a gold band with two ivies
circling the stone, meeting as one, a symbol of their union.
Dominick felt an ironic laugh in the back of his throat. He hadn’t
imagined a union such as this.
    It was time to kiss the bride. Eleanor looked
as though she would rather be slapped than kissed by him. He
lowered his head and gently pressed his lips to hers. She didn’t
back away as he had expected she would. Her lips were soft and
warm, and he was tempted to deepen the kiss, but knowing how she
felt about him, he quietly pulled away.
    She looked at him in surprise, but it was
gone in an instant, replaced with a mask of indifference. He was
relieved it wasn’t the animosity he expected. Letting his hands
drop from her, he looked back at the small congregation of
witnesses.
    His brother didn’t look like a well-wisher.
He didn’t understand the reason for following William’s orders.
Dominick wasn’t completely sure himself. He only knew he was weary
of war, weary of wandering and desired to plant his feet in one
place.
    “I would never have left your land and its
people unprotected.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I would never