Free What A Rogue Wants by Julie Johnstone Page B

whether to
excuse himself or hide and save her the embarrassment of knowing
he’d witnessed her and Thorton.
    She squared her shoulders. “I’ve not
wounded you yet, you swine, but I swear if you grab me again, I’ll
use my dagger.” Now that was definitely an interesting choice of
words to elicit a man’s desire. Maybe they played at prey and
hunter.
    “ Come, Lady Madelaine.
Don’t make me use force. This could be pleasant for both of
us.”
    Grey’s heartbeat sped up a notch.
Something wasn’t right.
    Lady Madelaine raised the dagger
higher. “If your hands are on me, I vow it will not be
pleasant.”
    Thorton lunged across the table, and
true to her word, Lady Madelaine plunged the dagger straight down
toward the man’s leg. “You bitch,” Thorton cursed loudly, causing
the only servant remaining in the room to flee.
    Red covered Grey’s vision. He kicked
the chair blocking his path out of the way. The wood splintered as
it hit the table with the force of his anger. He was beside Lady
Madelaine in four long strides. Her eyes smoldered, but her body
shook. Grey pushed her gently behind him and faced
Thorton.
    Thorton jerked the dagger out of the
wood and material of his trousers. The material ripped as the
dagger let loose. “You saw it, Adlard. The bloody bitch tried to
stab me. You’re my witness.”
    “ I did not try to stab you,” Lady
Madelaine spat. “I gave you a reprieve with my generous warning. If
I intended to stab you, believe me, the dagger would have pierced
flesh.”
    Grey snatched the dagger from Thorton
while studying Lady Madelaine’s grim face. Her words as well as her
aim impressed him. “I saw you try to accost her.”
    “ The hell you say. She
wants me.”
    Grey glanced back at Lady Madelaine.
“Do you want this man?”
    She shook her head. “Unless you count
wanting him dead.”
    He smothered his laugh as he turned
back to Thorton. “It’s too bad she decided to be generous, Thorton.
In my opinion, you deserved a dagger in your leg, at the least.”
Grey wanted to kill the man for trying to force himself on her.
Grey curled his fingers into fists. “If you ever touch her again,
I’ll not be near as generous as the lady. But take heart, I know
just where to strike with a dagger to make your death quick.” He
touched the pulsing vein on Thorton’s neck. “My father considered
teaching his sons all means of self-defense of the utmost
importance.”
    Thorton shoved Grey’s hand away. “I
won’t forget this,” the man snarled.
    “ Neither will I,” Grey
promised.
    Thorton opened his mouth as if to say
something else, and Grey raised the dagger challengingly. “Shall we
test my lessons?”
    Thorton spat on the floor and slammed
out of the room. Grey gripped the dagger, trying to calm himself
and slow the blood roaring in his ears and his painful
heartbeat.
    Lady Madelaine rested a hand on his
arm. “You can release my dagger now, Lord Grey. He’s
gone.”
    Grey relaxed his hold and handed the
dagger over. A witty reply laced with sexual innuendo was on the
tip of his tongue, but when he looked into her warm, anxious eyes
his witty reply was gone. “Were you afraid?”
    “ Yes. Were
you?”
    The honest admission and question
surprised him. Honesty at Court was so novel. “I wasn’t afraid for
myself.”
    “ For me?”
    “ Yes.” With a start he
realized he was telling the truth not merely trying to seduce her.
“What if I hadn’t been in the dining hall? What if Thorton had
ravished you? I’d hate to think anyone had you against your
will.”
    Her cheeks redden. “I do try to avoid
him.”
    “ You need to tell the
queen.”
    She shook her head.
    Damnation. He understood. The queen
disliked her. She could very well use the information against Lady
Madelaine. And the other ladies-in-waiting definitely would. “Do
you have a brother?”
    “ No.” She seemed amused by
his questions. He ran a hand through his hair, wild thoughts
careening in his head.
    “