Claire Delacroix by The Rogue Page B

bemused smile that curved his lips. Time stopped as we stood there, enraptured with each other, trapped by our own desire. I felt a trembling begin in my belly, a trembling that only Merlyn could awaken and that only he could sate. He slid his fingers into my hair, cupping my face, stroking my cheeks with his thumbs.
    His eyes are grey in their midst, Merlyn’s are, grey around the pupil and blue around the rims. They darken to the hue of the sky at the first appearance of the stars when he is impassioned, as they darkened in that moment.
    I thought he might kiss me, indeed I expected as much, but he stepped abruptly away, releasing me so quickly that I stumbled. He strode to the gaping portal, then glanced back over his shoulder at me, his expression inscrutable.
    “There has been too little trust in our match, and too much left unsaid.”
    “We have no match,” I said sharply. “We have not had one these five years, for I could not trust a man who makes his trade in falsehoods.”
    “Perhaps I have reformed my ways.”
    “Perhaps the moon is wrought of cheese.”
    “Trust me now.” Merlyn extended his hand to me. “For the first time and the last. You, chère , hold the key to my survival.”
    I was disappointed, if you must know, that Merlyn merely found me useful, and more disappointed that he had not touched his lips to mine.
    “You are not the first to desire something of me, Merlyn Lammergeier, nor will you be the last. I am disinclined to do what is convenient for you.”
    Merlyn’s gaze remained intense. “But I will wager that I am the first prepared to compensate you for your aid.”
    “Abed?” My tone was arch.
    “If only it were so simple.” He smiled wickedly, then sobered. “I have surrendered Ravensmuir to you in anticipation of your aid. Surely it is a price worthy of your favor?”
    “And if I do not aid you?”
    He grinned then, the reckless rogue who once had made my heart skip. “Then I shall indeed return from hell,” he vowed. “If I am not dead, then I shall have no heiress. This holding shall return to my hand again once my existence is witnessed anew.”
    Fear clutched my heart that Tynan should be denied security again. “I will not permit it!”
    Merlyn’s smile disappeared and he spoke with resolve. “You shall have no choice. Take the matter to any court in the land, and you will lose. A will is only enacted when a man is dead.”
    He was right and I knew it. I looked away and his tone turned dangerously thoughtful.
    “I half-believed that you would spurn Ravensmuir, for you are a woman of high principle. I feared that all my planning would come to naught. Indeed, chère , your enthusiasm to return to the place you fled so hastily is a great surprise to me.”
    Merlyn snared me with Ravensmuir, and, though he knew his bait had worked, it was clear that he did not know precisely why. My thoughts churned as I avoided his gaze.
    If I told him why I had accepted his legacy, he would guess the greatest secret that I had. And I was not prepared for Merlyn to have yet another weapon in his arsenal.
    Aware of his watchful gaze, I shrugged with apparent insouciance. “I have missed the comforts of wealth. Perhaps Ravensmuir suits me as well as your death did.”

Merlyn’s eyes narrowed.
    I smiled pertly at him. “Perhaps you should tell me your tale here.”
    He offered his hand again. “It is not safe.” This he said with such force that I believed him. “Trust me, chère .”
    I met his gaze and saw the plea he could not articulate. He did need me. I knew then that I would go with him, though I refused to examine why.
     
    * * *
     
    Merlyn smiled as I stepped toward him, then caught my hand in his. His grip was strong and I only shivered slightly in trepidation when he pulled me closer. He bade the dog to remain, then reached into the shadows and pulled the wall of the stable back across the makeshift portal. Some latch not apparent to me settled in place with a