Free A Knight's Vow by Gayle Callen Page A

Henry."
    "As I have done nothing to you." His words dripped with triumphant sarcasm, but she saw the flaw.
    "You think you have done nothing?" she said, feeling righteous anger surge to replace her fear. "Every one of your ancestors conspired against mine—your father savagely wounded mine! It is only a matter of time before you show your true Bolton heritage. After all, look what you did to your betrothed."
    "And what do you think I did?" he demanded, coming to his feet to tower over the tub.
    Anger seemed to war on his face with bewilderment. He must be wondering how she discovered his dark secret.
    "That is between you and your priest," she said calmly, taking up the cloth to begin soaping her legs.
    "According to you, it is between you and me."
    Bolton leaned over the tub, resting his hands on either side of her. Isabel refused to look up. Though her hands shook, she continued to wash.
    "Why is that, Angel? What made you judge and executioner?"
    "My family's pain!" she cried, and stared up at him with all the hatred she could muster. But it wasn't much. Why now should she doubt her father's words? She couldn't get past these new feelings rising to take hatred's place, this awareness of him as a man and not a villainous monster. His body filled her gaze, the cool scent of him overpowering the soap. His breath bathed her face, and his eyes caressed her with a searing heat. He was her husband now.
    Taking a shaky breath, Isabel looked away and continued to wash. The silence stretched on forever, tense and uneasy. Still he hovered above her. She buried her face in the soapy cloth, scrubbed her neck, but she was beginning to run out of unintimate places to wash. She finally hesitated, staring at the cloth.
    "Wash your hair," he murmured.
    With a shock she realized he leaned even nearer. She had a sick feeling if she didn't continue, Bolton would be only too happy to finish for her. Holding her breath, she quickly dipped her head back in the tub, soaking the heavy mass until it was plastered to her body. Stinging water blurred her vision as she
    opened her eyes. If she sat up any higher, she'd bump her head against his face.
    Trying to ignore him, she lathered her hands with the soft soap and quickly ran them through her hair. She heard Bolton take a deep breath.
    "You're not finished yet," he said, his hoarse voice making him sound like a stranger. "You've just spent five days in a dungeon. Your hair is like a rat's nest."
    She gritted her teeth. "This is a perfectly acceptable hair-washing."
    After pushing his sleeves up to his elbows, he thrust his hands in the tub by her feet.
    "What are you doing?" she demanded, her voice sounding higher than normal.
    Without a word, he took the soap away from her and rubbed it all over his big hands. She stared in shock, half-mesmerized, half-appalled.
    "What do you think you're—"
    Bolton grabbed her head between his hands and began to scrub.
    Isabel desperately tried to push him away, but without rising from the tub, all she could give him was a good soaking—not to mention yanking on her own hair.
    "Leave me be! I can finish!"
    "You've not had much practice washing, have you?" he said dryly.
    She grasped his wrists and pulled.
    "Angel, the more you resist, the more painful this will be."
    Stamping down her burning humiliation, she finally let go of his arms and submitted. Oh, she would make him suffer endlessly for this. He scrubbed hard, shaking her whole body. She thought it was all over when he stopped, but from behind her he poured a bucket of steaming water over her head.
    Isabel cried out her outrage.
    "Oh sit still. I cannot believe a great warrior woman such as yourself has trouble with a simple bath. Now let's soap your hair again."
    Two more times he made Isabel submit to a scalp-mauling. She hoped she had hair left. Finally he stepped away and she sat huddled in the water, shivering.
    "Your bath is getting cold, my lady. I suggest you wash the more private areas you