Free Vow of Seduction by Angela Johnson

raised an inquiring brow in askance.
    Kat blushed with embarrassment, cursing her momentary weakness. She covered up her mortification with a comment. “You say you spent four years in a Saracen prison before you escaped. Yet you appear strong of limb and muscle. I find it odd, is all.”
    Alex pulled her to an abrupt stop. Surprised, Kat swung her gaze to him. Staring down at her, his blue gaze grew heated and his sensual lips curved in a wicked grin. The combination singed her blood and sent butterflies scurrying to life in her belly.
    “‘Strong of limb and muscle’ you say.” His voice deepened. “As you have explored for yourself, you know my arms are strong, but how can you be positive all of me is as well? Unless…Would you care to examine the rest of my muscles as you did my arm? Just to be certain?”
    Kat’s lips pinched tight at his irreverent wit. “Fine. Answer me not. ’Tis of no import to me.”
    Alex straightened and started walking again. When he spoke his voice was devoid of emotion. “The fortress where I was held was a work camp. We toiled away every day, hauling heavy stone blocks quarried from a defensive ditch around the castle walls.”
    Kat saw the river landing up ahead even as she marveled at the horrors Alex must have suffered, the frustration he no doubt had felt knowing he had the means to obtain his release but unable to convince his Saracen gaolers. The experience had changed him, made him harder, more ruthless, no longer the charming, carefree young man she married.
    Her ears heated as outrage consumed her. She hoped the bastard who had sent Alex to a living hell was dead!
    “Do you know who attacked you?”
    Alex tensed beside her, but then immediately relaxed. “Nay. I didn’t see who knocked me out. I have learned it happened the same night an assassin stabbed Edward with a poisoned dagger. I think it most likely the two incidents were related.”
    Willow trees and tall grasses lined the west bank along the river landing. A flat-bottomed barge, rowed by several men, came alongside the embankment and bumped up against the stone stairs. The pole man stepped out, moored the boat, and then waited near the landing to carry his passenger down the Thames. Kat inwardly breathed a sigh of relief, glad that Alex would depart shortly and free her of his troubling presence for the rest of the day.
    The pungent odor of the river wafted on the mild breeze. A section of her hair that had come free fluttered across her face, tickling her cheek. Kat pushed the wisp of hair behind her ear and stopped.
    “I shall bid you good day, Alex.”
    He turned to her. His big warm hands clasped hers gently. A callused thumb stroked her fingers. Then suddenly, Alex’s right hand tightened on hers. Clutching her fingers, he raised her left hand and stared down at it in an oddly tense silence. “Where is your wedding ring?” he asked, his eyes dark with anger.
    Kat tugged her hand to free it. “What concern is it of yours?” she snapped.
    Alex tugged back. “Because you are my wife!”
    She kept her voice lowered and hissed. “Nay. You never wanted me for your wife . You made your wishes clear on that score the day you left me. I took off the ring then and have not worn it since.” Kat raised her chin defiantly. “I saw no reason to be shackled by a symbol that proclaimed me your wife when you had no intention of fulfilling your vows.”
    Alex tugged again and unprepared, Kat stumbled against him, her arms caught against his hard chest. “But there you are wrong, wife. I aim to fulfill my vows, in every way ,” his voice rumbled in a seductive purr. He pulled their bodies flush before his lips swooped down on hers.
    His kiss was not forceful or demanding, otherwise she could have resisted his advance. Instead, his soft lips molded hers in a gentle caress, coaxing her lips apart. Her mouth melted and he took stealthy advantage. His tongue entered the warm cave of her mouth, giving Kat a brief taste