Free A Knight in Tarnished Armor by Jill Barnett

sword flashed with deadly precision, but when he sheathed his sword and drew out the crossbow he'd purchased, the knight stopped cold, turned his mount around, and rode away so fast it was almost as if he had never appeared.
    William was in a better mood after that.
    Soon the sun had slipped down behind the trees and the moon had risen in the dusky sky. A cart with nail studs clicked over the stones of a small bridge and haymakers were walking home with their long pitchforks resting on their shoulders.
    William rode off the highway and over toward a grassy hillock.
    "I thought the inn was this way," Linnet said.
    "It is!"
    She turned her palfrey and followed. "Then why are we traveling this way?"
    "Consider it a surprise," he said with an edge of challenge, and he spurred his mount and disappeared over the hillock.

    If she hadn't already been in love with William, she would have fallen the moment she saw the tent. 'Twas a tent from the Midsummer's Fair, the largest and finest tent she had seen. Made from brightly colored fabric with red and blue and yellow stripes, it had pennants waving from the sharp peaks at the top and corners.
    But when he pulled back the flaps and she saw all the pillows—stacks of pillows to replace the ones she had lost to the rain, she threw herself into his arms and cried.
    He stiffened. "Why are you crying? I had thought to please you."
    She sniffled. "You did. You do."
    His look was so intent that her breath caught.
    "I'll leave you to sleep," he said, then pulled back the flap on the tent. She stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Where are you going to sleep?"
    "Outside," he said gruffly. He still wore the mail shirt and other light armor he'd bought.
    "This is marshland. There's fog on the damp ground. You'll tarnish your armor."
    He gave her a long look, then rubbed his finger over her jaw and across her lips. He tucked a knuckle under her chin and said, "If I stay in here, I think I'll tarnish more than my armor."
    She closed her eyes, knowing this decision was hers. She opened them and looked at him. "‘Tis midsummer's eve."
    "I know," was all he said.
    "A time for magical things to happen."
    "Aye."
    The silence hung between them. Finally he started to leave.
    "William!"
    He turned back.
    She took a deep breath, then whispered, "I love you." A moment later she was in his arms, his mouth on hers, a nd he lifted her off the ground.
    "Linnet," he murmured. "M y sweet bird, Linnet. God, how I want you."
    He laid her back in the pillows and joined her. Their clothes fell away, slowly, leaving time to savor each discovery, each soft new touch, each whisper of love against her skin, against his ear. Her name was a prayer on his lips, his name a promise as yet unfulfilled.
    For long moments h e would just look at her and she had never felt so cherished in her life. When he touched her and kissed her, he did so as if it were the most important thing he had ever done. He used his tongue deeply in her mouth and taught her how to respond, how to touch him. He loved her breasts, her belly and lower with his lips and mouth and sent her to the stars more times than she could imagine. He kissed and stroked her feet and legs, and in between until she was hoarse from crying out.
    She wanted William, wanted to spend every moment with him, wanted this powerful loving between them to last forever. She told him, the moment he entered her, after the pain that made her gasp. And as soon as she spoke the words she could have sworn there were tears in his eyes.
    He taught her loving, taught her caring, taught her tenderness and patience and spent eternal moments to assure her pleasure. ‘Twas the most profound moment in her lifetime when she cried out and his life poured into her.
    And when their breath slowed and their bodies cooled, he wrapped her hair around them and brought his lips to her ear. "You have sunset in your hair, my love. Sunset."
    She smiled. "Does that mean it's going to rain?"
    He laughed, a