Free The Herald's Heart by Rue Allyn Page B

the time you sang that horrid song, you knew I listened.”
    His lips turned up. He stepped between her and her view of the bed’s occupant, then pulled the bed curtain closed.
    She wanted to strike the grin from his face. “And then you stood up, while I watched. Did you enjoy it? Did it please you to flaunt your nakedness like any bawd?”
    “I think it more to the point to ask if you enjoyed it.”
    “Y ... You ... you ... know I could not.”
    “Why?”
    “’Tis unseemly.”
    “You could have left,” he said blandly.
    “With you to see me, and all the world to know I was in the room when you bathed?”
    “If you shout any louder ’twill be known all the same.”
    “You wished to insult me.” She reined in her voice.
    “Nay, I do not insult women.” His tone became hard. “’Tis not uncommon for serving women to assist nobles when bathing.”
    “It isn’t as if they are ...” Aware she was about to reveal that she, too, had been naked, Larkin stopped.
    “Yes? If they are what?” He invited her to finish.
    Larkin opened her mouth to speak, then shut it. What could she say?
If they are naked in the same room with you, as I was.
She couldn’t say that. Nor did she want to renew their argument over who she was. ’Twould only anger them both, and she was already angry enough.
    Why, oh why had she not simply announced that she was in the bath when she’d first realized he was in the room? The reason hardly mattered now. She could not, would not, admit her actions, especially not in front of a woman who shared his bed. “You have company,” she sniffed and turned to go. “We can discuss your vile behavior another time.”
    “Nay.” He reached the door first and blocked her way. “We will discuss my vile behavior now.”
    “Not in front of her.” Larkin tossed her head in the direction of the bed.
    “Not in front of whom?”
    “That woman, the one you called Cat,” Larkin whispered. Of course, he could be so casual about taking a whore in his bed. “What you do is your affair, but I need not remain here to witness it nor offer my own actions for a whore’s amusement.” She tried to push past him.
    “Wait a moment. You think I whore here in my ... the earl’s bed?” His eyes lit with humor as he asked the question.
    “Yes,” she hissed. “In the hallway, I heard you laugh with her about your bath.”
    “I think you must meet Cat.”
    Larkin sucked in a breath. “I will not. ’Tis bad enough you flaunt her.”
    Talon chuckled and grasped her arm. “I flaunt no one, and I insist that you give a greeting to Cat.”
    Larkin tried to shake him off, but his grip, though gentle, was iron, and she could not break free. “Nay, please you. I do not want ...”
    Over her protests, he dragged her to the bed and pulled the curtain aside.
    When she refused to look, he turned her so she could not avoid seeing the bed and its occupants.
    “Oh you poor dear things,” she cried on seeing the mother cat and her newborn kittens. She reached out to stroke the tabby’s soft fur. The cat hissed. “’Tis all right,” Larkin crooned. “Do not fear. I’ll not hurt your babes.”
    “I tried that earlier and got scratched for my pains.”
    “Do you not know better than to come between a new mother and her babies?”
    “I only wanted to move her to the sheepskin before the fire.”
    Larkin eyed the sheepskin, stroking the cat all the while. “’Tis a good place for her. But you’ll not get her there this night.”
    “Why not?”
    “The kittens are very fragile just after birth. Their eyes are not even open yet. She will guard them with her life, if she believes them threatened.”
    “Then where should I sleep this night?”
    “Wherever you like, but ’twill not be in this bed.”
    “Would you take me into yours, sweet Larkin?”
    She stared at him and sputtered. “N ... nay. I will not.”
    He leaned forward, one arm braced against the bed frame. With his free hand, he caressed her cheek,