The High Sheriff of Huntingdon Read Online Free PDF

and she was no match for h i m . She couldn’t breathe, her body felt crushed, and for the first t i m e in her life she considered whether she might faint.
    It was almost an abstract notion. She thought about it, and as she let her mind drift, his kiss changed ever so slightly. He slanted his mouth across hers, and there was less brutality and more wooing. No l o n g e r was she shoved against the wall; instead he’d slid his arm around her shaking shoulders, pulling her up into his arms, and for a moment she began to melt beneath the unexpected sensuality of his kiss, the heat and strength of his b o d y. She wondered if s h e was supposed to kiss him back, and how she would go about such a shocking thing.
    “There you are, cousin.” A familiar voice broke through the roaring in her ears. It took her a moment of dreadful coldness before she realized that he no longer held her. She was leaning up the wall , her knees shaking, her hands trembling, eyes still shut. She opened them to s e e the h a nd s o m e face of Gilles De Lancey.
    Alistair had turned his back on her and she had no idea whether he had suffered any reaction to the power of that k i s s. “What do you want, Gilles?” he said in a bored voice.
    “I hadn’t realized you were … er… occupied. The ladies were asking for you. I can tell them you are otherwise engaged.”
    The sheriff waved a negligent hand. “That’s the thing about wives, Gilles. They’ll keep. Make sure she finds her way back to the tower with no side trips. And see what you can do about the crone who was supposed to watch her.”
    He sauntered a w a y with deliberate nonchalance. El speth stared after him, furious, a ffro n t e d, relieved. She put a trembling h a n d to her mouth, realizing it was damp and swollen. She never knew men kissed like that. She wasn’t sure s h e liked it.
    The only answer was to have him try it again. Half t h e problem had been that she wasn’t expecting it a n d he was furious with her. Maybe s h e could get him to kiss her again, this time when he wasn’t angry, when she was ready for it, so that she c o u l d decide whether s h e cared for it or not. She suspected she could grow to like it very much indeed.
    However, it seemed as if the high sheriff of Huntingdon was always in some sort of rage. And if that first kiss was anything to go by, it w a s uncertain whether Elspeth would ever be quite ready for it.
    “R e a d y to return to your rooms, my lady?” Gilles De Lancey said in h i s mellifluous voice, all g e ntle concern.
    Elspeth glanced up at him. He was a very handsome man, with his blond hair, his strong b o dy, and his pretty face. M uch more handsome than her husband. Yet El speth had not the slightest interest in seeing how his soft, slightly plump l i p s tasted.
    “Ready,” she said coolly, moving out in front of him with all the grace of a queen. They traversed the keep in silence, climbing the long winding stairs with deliberate care. It wasn’t until they reached the landing outside her rooms that Gilles De Lancey finally spoke.
    “I worry about you, my lady,” he murmured, pausing to take her hand. His own were so different from the sheriff’s. Strong and calloused, but oddly small against her own. “My cousin is not quite…sane. I would hate to s e e you suffer for his…oddities. ” He kissed her hand, and she had the strange urge to snatch it away. “I am at your service, good lady.”
    She was being foolish. D e Lancey was the only friend s he had in this castle of enemies. She didn’t dare offend him. “There is nothing to worry about,” she said calmly, letting her hand rest in his.
    “Forgive m e , lady, but I know my cousin far better than you do, and there is a very great deal to worry about. I will do everything within my power to keep you safe. You must trust me, my lady.”
    She didn’t. It was that simple. Despite his warm smile, his handsome face, and his earnest, affable manners, she didn’t