Free Claire Delacroix by My Ladys Desire Page B

his vow on the same day as making it!” she declared. Her words clearly stung, for he inhaled so sharply that his nostrils nearly pinched shut.
    And then the knight was perfectly composed once more. It was as though she had imagined his fleeting response, but that realization was an unnerving one. All the same, Gabrielle would not back down.
    “What flight of womanly fancy is this? I have never broken a pledge!”
    “That kiss last eve was no flight of fancy and neither was it welcome! You swore agreement to a match in name alone, and only a potential one.”
    The knight glanced to either side, then he leaned closer and lowered his voice. “My lady, this is neither the place nor the time appropriate for this discussion.”
    “Ha! I wager that you will never find the time or the place to discuss your breach of our agreement.”
    “Breach?” Yves visibly ground his teeth, then continued with low urgency, his gaze boring into Gabrielle’s own. “I made no breach of our pledge—”
    “No? That kiss was far beyond the terms.”
    “That kiss,” Yves said through his teeth, “was for your benefit alone.”
    Gabrielle nearly gasped aloud at his audacity. That he would put such a thought into words astonished her. “Well, you do have a lofty opinion of your allure, sir!”
    “And I had thought you a woman of uncommonly clear wits!” the knight muttered in frustration. He shoved one hand through his hair and glanced down at her once more, irritation now blazing in his amber gaze.
    “You remarked yourself on the need for confidentiality.” His tone had dropped to a low rumble that made something deep within Gabrielle quiver.
    She would have rather died than give any sign of his effect upon her, though. “You take your idea of confidentiality rather far for my taste, sir!”
    “My lady!” The knight audibly ground his teeth, then leaned even closer and spoke in a low murmur. “There are those within this keep who might suspect the count’s tale. Indeed, I heard whispers of as much last eve.”
    Gabrielle could not tear her gaze away from the intensity of his own.
    “The count, you may have noted, is convinced that I takeyour offer because I am smitten with your charms.” Yves’ lips twisted, as though they shared a secret Gabrielle’s stomach plummeted to her toes with the certainty of what that secret must be.
    “We both know that is not true. However, it seemed fitting to promote the tale,” he concluded.
    But Gabrielle’s pride would not let the matter pass so readily. They might both know how completely ridiculous the count’s belief was, but it was beyond churlish for Yves to have stated the truth so flatly. So annoyed was she with his poor manners that it took her a moment to realize the import of what he said.
    Then she glared at him. “You kissed me on purpose,” she hissed with incredulity. “You did that purely to fuel gossip.”
    Yves nodded, evidently proud of what he had wrought. “It seemed best for you. We would not want speculation to travel beyond these walls.”
    “Knave!” Gabrielle slapped the smile from the knight’s face for the second time in less than a day. “How dare you tarnish my reputation purely to serve your own ends? Have you any idea what people have said to me this morn? What manner of woman do you imagine they think me to be, taking a lover en route to becoming a bride of Christ?”
    Gabrielle spat on the stable floor, and the knight took a step backward in obvious astonishment. “Take that for your favor! And spare me any further ones of its ilk!”
    With that, she grasped the pommel and stuffed her foot into the stirrup. She hauled herself into Methuselah’s saddle by force of will alone. It certainly was not an easy task, but Gabrielle was angry enough to accomplish the deed.
    She looked down at the knight to find his hands on his hips once more, his cheek blazing crimson from her blow. “You are not thinking reasonably about this,” he said with unexpected