Free Cast Love Aside by Flora Speer Page A

thinking, acting out of
simple male instinct, he touched his tongue to hers. She made a
soft noise, not quite a whimper of desire, yet something more than
a sigh. She didn’t fight what he was doing, but welcomed the
intrusion.
    His wits spinning, Magnus drew back to stare
at her. One kiss, and now he knew he'd never be able to substitute
another woman for her.
    “Oh, Magnus,” she whispered, her fingertips
lightly caressing his bristly cheek.
    “Magnus? Is the splinter out?” The cabin door
opened and Braedon appeared. He looked from Magnus to Lilianne and
his expressive eyebrows rose. A slow grin spread across his
handsome face. “Yes, I can see that the removal was
successful.”
    “What is it?” Magnus growled, wrenching his
gaze from Lilianne's flushed face.
    “Sorry to interrupt,” Braedon said, still
grinning, “but I thought you'd want to know.”
    “Know what?” Magnus demanded irritably.
    “Erland is awake.”

Chapter 5
     
     
    “Untie me at once.”
    Erland snarled the words at Magnus the
instant he stepped into the larger cabin. The fact that Erland was
lying on his side, unable to move, probably didn't help matters
from his point of view. What the count surely intended as haughty
defiance sounded more like whining. Magnus regarded him with
distaste.
    “You’ll get no ransom from me if you persist
in mistreating me this way,” Erland continued his complaints. “King
Louis will have your head for what you've done to me.”
    “Oh, never fear, you will be ransomed.”
Magnus was intensely aware of Lilianne directly behind him, and of
Braedon crowding through the door. Crossing the cabin to Erland's
bunk, he considered his prisoner. “However, I doubt if either you
or King Louis will like the price of your freedom.”
    “What price?” Erland demanded.
    “I regret to say, you will have to wait until
later to learn just how valuable you are to us,” Magnus told
him.
    “Where are you taking me?”
    “To England, of course.” Magnus spoke with a
smile that anyone who knew him would have recognized as dangerous,
though Erland couldn’t have understood it. “Then, I want to speak
to your king as soon as this miserable ship docks!” Erland
demanded.
    “No.” Magnus put cool satisfaction into the
denial
    “I insist upon a meeting!” Erland jerked his
head and shoulders, trying to sit up without using his bound arms.
He fell back on the mattress, his eyes blazing, his mouth pulled
into a grimace of pain. “I'll kill the man who gave me this
headache!”
    “After we arrive in England, you may speak to
King Henry's representative.” Magnus spoke softly, making the
promise into a threat. Erland understood; Magnus saw the
comprehension in his face. Erland expected to be tortured. Good.
Let him think so.
    At that moment Magnus experienced another of
the chills that had plagued him intermittently since the day when
he’d first learned of his brother’s plight. Did the cold running
along his spine mean that Desmond was being tortured? He tried not
to think about the possibility.
    “Lilianne!” Erland exclaimed, turning his
attention to her. “You traitorous bitch! You conducted these men to
my private room at the manor. What did they offer you if you would
help them?”
    “Uncle,” Lilianne began, but Erland cut her
off before she could answer him.
    “As for you,” he shouted at Alice, who had
risen from her bunk and was retreating toward the door, “is this
the thanks I get for taking you away from an endless round of
scrubbing convent floors and washing dirty linens? Answer me, you
stupid females! What are the two of you doing here?” On that last
question Erland raised his voice to a roar.
    Alice began to shake, pressing herself
against the door jam for support. William placed a comforting hand
on her arm.
    Lilianne's back stiffened as if she was
preparing to withstand further assault. But then, while Magnus
watched with growing admiration, she went on the attack.
    “Uncle, cease