Free The Bride Gift by Sarah Hegger Page B

me!”
    Helena snorted in disgust and pushed both her hands against Colin’s chest. “You left me there with a man so angry, he could have snapped me in two.”
    He staggered backward, then inched away until his shoulders hit the wall behind him.
    Helena followed, too angry to care that he winced as his spine made contact with the unforgiving stone.
    “But you are fine,” Colin sputtered as she advanced. “There is not a mark on you.”
    “No thanks to you!” Incensed, she wound her fingers in his tunic and dug her nails into the wool. “I could have been beaten or killed, but you would not have known. You were running forward too fast to look back.”
    “Let go of me.” Colin grabbed her hands and yanked, uncaring that fabric tore. He gripped her wrists hard. Colin was slim, but strong.
    Helena tried to pull free. He tightened his hold and shook her. “How dare you demean me?”
    “You left me there, alone!”
    His hands fisted to the point of pain around the thin bones of her wrists. His face darkened into a scowl, his eyes narrow and glittering. “I had no choice!”
    She could see him building into one of his rages, but the desire to placate him, to calm him, was not within her. Righteous anger blazed instead. “You had a choice. You chose to be a coward.”
    “How dare you!” He thrust her away; she lost her balance, staggering backward into the wall. “You are a bitch.” Colin loomed over her. Spittle flecked around the corners of his mouth. “Do not ever call me a coward.”
    He raised his hand as if to strike her. Colin’s rages were rare but legendary within the keep.
    Helena braced for the blow. She refused to flinch before him. She had saved his miserable skin this morning and he’d repaid her by leaving her to face Guy’s wrath. Now he thought to abandon everything?
    “Coward.” Helena spat the word at him.
    The blow snapped her head to the side. Heat exploded across her cheek. The edges of her vision went black. Fury clawed at her belly in the sudden silence. Not since they were children had he dared as much.
    Their breathing was harsh in the deathly stillness.
    “You struck me—” Helena could barely form words. Her fingers shook violently as she raised them to her throbbing cheek.
    “You called me a coward.” Colin edged away from her, shock and sudden guilt clearly visible on his face.
    “I am glad I am not to marry you!” Tears burned the back of her throat, but she would not shed them. “You are not worthy to be my husband.”
    Anger won and Colin’s face tightened. He advanced on her again.
    Helena faced him squarely. Let the miserable churl do his worst. Let him dare to strike her again.
    “Sweet Mother of God, what is going on here?” Bridget demanded from the entrance to the hall. “They can hear you two squabbling in the next borough.”
    Colin stopped with his fisted hand poised mid-air.
    Bridget’s eyes darted from one to the other and lingered on Helena’s face. “Did you strike her?”
    Colin slowly retreated, but his eyes still blazed.
    “What possessed you to raise your hand in this way? Roger would have had you strung up for this.”
    “Roger is gone,” Colin snapped.
    “Aye.” Bridget fixed him with a piercing stare. “And fortunate for you that he is.”
    Silence reigned, before Colin finally dropped his gaze to the floor.
    Helena’s cheek pulsed with pain. She wanted to rage and cry all at once.
    Bridget turned Helena’s chin with gentle hands. She clicked her tongue. “That it should come to this.”
    “I beg your pardon, Nell.” Colin stared at his hands as if he’d never seen them before. “I struck you and I am most truly sorry.”
    “Is it bad?” She spoke to Bridget instead. The rending within her breast would spill over if she allowed it. Deathly calm strangled her voice and left it devoid of expression.
    “It will mark for sure,” Bridget replied.
    “I shall leave,” Colin mumbled in a voice rife with emotion.
    Helena could only