Free Knight In My Bed by Sue-Ellen Welfonder

he knew.
    Impervious and proud, he sat upon the edge of her bed, peering at her, his steepled fingers slowly tapping his chin, his cold expression signaling he knew exactly what disturbing thoughts troubled her heart and creased her brow.
    Mother Mary, but he unnerved her.
    His piercing gaze made her feel as if he'd pinned her to the tapestried wall behind her, affixed her there with the brute strength of his supercilious stare.
    Of a sudden, the lacings of her gown seemed over-tight and an uncomfortable heat welled inside her. Quickly, lest he see how thoroughly he unsettled her, she glanced pointedly toward the shuttered windows.
    Anywhere but at him.
    The moment she looked away, he must've moved, for his chain made a loud clinking sound. An aberration in the thick silence hanging so heavily in the chamber, the noise sent a twinge of guilt straight to her core.
    A trace of guilt shot through with a good dose of frustration.
    Guilt at keeping her plan a secret from the elders.
    Frustration, that their own stubbornness made such a deceit necessary.
    Both emotions curled 'round her heart with startling tenacity, squeezing so fiercely she almost gasped. She would have, too, was she not keenly aware of the MacLean's penetrating stare. His all-seeing gaze had waxed bolder and she needn't look at him to know it.
    She kept her own attention firmly trained on the closed shutters. Driving rain still beat down with a vengeance, and the dank, wet smell of water-sogged wood and cold, damp stone pervaded the chamber, but the worst of the storm had   moved on. The loud cracks of thunder came with less frequency and each resounding rumble sounded more distant.
    If only the tempest brewing inside her would pass as swiftly.
    But the MacLean's sheer proximity rivaled the might of any storm. His compelling presence proved greater, more daunting, than the wildest gale ever to pound this windswept side of Doon.
    Bound or nay, he exuded raw male power.
    A shiver swept over her. One that had scarce little to do with the damp chill seeping in past the rain-drenched shutter slats. Steeling herself against his annoying ability to rile her, she stiffened her back and reached for her tankard of mead.
    And another oversized chunk of green cheese.
    She wouldn't let him spoil her appetite, nor allow his overbearing self to wreak havoc upon her emotions. She need only give him her body. Isolde ate the cheese and reached for more. Her heart would remain pure ... untouched.
    Unsullied.
    Hers.
    Feeling somewhat better, she washed down the cheese with a hearty gulp of the sweet-tasting mead.
    "You fair astound me, milady," came her captive's deep voice, honeyed and smooth, yet still laced with unmistakable mockery ... and totally spoiling the taste of the thick mead flowing innocently down her throat.
    Isolde set down the tankard at once. "How so, milord ?" she challenged him, placing the same irreverent emphasis on "milord" as he' d used when addressing her as "his lady."
    His mouth curved in a slow smile that would've been devastating in its sheer potency had its warmth reached his eyes. Instead, his dark gaze flicked coolly over the generous helping of roasted seabird she'd piled high on the thickslabbed trencher of brown bread set before her.
    Embarrassment flooded her. She hadn't realized she'd taken such a large portion.
    "For a maid, you are possessed of a most hearty appetite," Donall the Bold commented. "I am wondering if all your appetites are so ... healthy?"
    Her breath caught at the hidden meaning behind his dry observation. She might yet be virtuous, but she was by no means ignorant. And what she hadn't known about the things men and women do together, the joy woman, Evelina, had told her.
    In great and shocking detail.
    Determined to ignore her rising agitation, and especially the way his false smiles made her blood quicken, she lifted her spoon, intent on finishing her soup.
    "I haven't eaten since yestermorn," she said, and her stomach growled