Free Sin and Surrender by Julia Latham Page A

smile.”
    She couldn’t stop staring at him, at his broad shoulders and long arms as he leaned back on the bed they’d just shared.
    “And then she invited me to her bed.”
    Her smile faded and she blinked at him. “Just like that?” she asked with dismay. No wonder he had such a bad impression of women, and what feats they were capable of.
    “Just like that.”
    “You must have been quite the young pup, all desperate and needy.”
    He laughed rather than take offense.
    “And being a man, you did not resist,” she continued.
    “Nay, I did not. She taught me everything I needed to know to please her.”
    Juliana spoke without thinking. “But did not the League teach you that?”
    His eyes widened. “They taught you about intimacy?”
    She wanted to refuse to discuss her foolish outburst, but that would only make him more interested. All she did was laugh. “Wouldn’t you simply love to imagine that?”
    He narrowed his eyes, but when he said nothing more, she almost sighed her relief. Someone knocked on the door, and she quickly went to lift her bag.
    He took it from her. “Let the servants do that.”
    And he was correct, of course.
    As they left Ware, she could not stop wondering about the mysteries surrounding his childhood. He’d had but two years when his parents had died. No one would have recognized him a few years later. He should have been free to learn about the world, to be with people, even if only occasionally.
    But the League had kept the three Hilliard boys isolated, alone. Reluctantly, she began to see that that might make a man like Paul long to see more of the world.
    After a morning spent sloshing through mud and avoiding holes, they lined up in single file to cross a small wooden bridge. On the far side, she reigned in her horse until Timothy caught up to her.
    He eyed her, his expression concerned. “Roger told me what happened in the night, and that you performed well.”
    “He had the situation well in hand. I did little.”
    ” ‘Tis only the beginning, where danger is concerned. Men both for and against the king will have reason to want Paul dead. Satisfied am I that he has you at his side.”
    “At least
someone
feels that way,” she murmured, shaking her head.
    “Your pardon?” he asked, watching her too carefully.
    “Nothing, sir.”
    They rode on side by side, letting the motion of the horses lull them both. She glanced at Timothy when at last he took a deep, satisfied breath of the country air.
    “‘Tis a good thing the weather seems clear today,” he said, “because we will make camp this night. Our position will be far more precarious than within the walls of an inn.”
    “We will keep careful watch,” she said firmly.
    He nodded as if he expected nothing else.
    She hesitated, then spoke her mind. “Timothy, Paul told me a story today, but I cannot believe it true.”
    “One never knows with Paul,” he said, shaking his head.
    She squinted into the sun as she glanced at him. “He said Robert ran away to see a girl.”
    He shrugged good-naturedly. “Boys will be boys.”
    “I received the distinct impression that Robert—and his brothers—had never seen a girl before that.”
    Timothy’s smile faded to one of faint melancholy.
    “You know I cannot discuss a Bladesman’s past, Juliana.”
    “But … why would he have never seen a girl? It simply doesn’t make sense. Unless he was never permitted to leave the fortress. And I do understand the threat of death they were under, but …”
    She let her voice trail off.
    Timothy sighed. “Paul did not discuss it with you?”
    “Not the reasons, nay.”
    “He knows the League rules.”
    And she had not followed them, for she’d told Paul of her past, felt compelled to, as if she needed him to know the truth. Had she been trying to drive him away, make him wary of being associated with her? His reaction had been to take off his clothes, deliberately forcing
her
away.
    It was all such a puzzle, the way they