Love Above All Read Online Free Page A

and this time they’d make certain
she was dead. Then they’d carry out their scheme to murder
Quentin.
    She sat up so quickly that her head began to
reel. Quentin put an arm around her shoulders to steady her, while
with his free hand he drew the blanket up to cover her breasts. His
long fingers brushed across her skin. Fionna smothered a gasp and
grabbed the blanket from him.
    “We left you unmolested,” Quentin said. “In
case you were wondering.” The corner of his mouth twitched, as if
he was repressing a smile.
    “We?” she repeated. The possibility that all
of his people had viewed her unclothed body sent the blood rushing
upward from her toes to the top of her head.
    “Braedon, my squire, helped me to undress and
bathe you. I assure you, he is a discreet young man.”
    “Only you, and one other man.” It was bad
enough, but certainly better than a whole troop of men staring at
her. She let out a long breath. But there was something else she
wanted to know and she wasn’t sure how to ask. “Did he-?” she began
and stopped, unable to say what she was thinking. She didn’t have
to say it; Quentin understood.
     
    “Did he keep you warm on the other side?” he
said, finishing her embarrassed thought. “No. You and I were alone
last night and as you will note, I am dressed.” He slid out of the
bed to stand before her in tunic and hose.
    “But I am not dressed,” she said, fighting
against a sense of loss at the removal of his warmth and strength
from her immediate vicinity. She ought to be glad he was no longer
hovering over her. Disturbed by her longing to have him return to
the bed, she made her voice cold and demanding. “What did you do
with my clothes?”
    “They were wet. Braedon saw to them. They
should be dry by now.”
    “Then have them brought to me.”
    “Not until you answer my questions.” He
caught her wrist, turning it over, one finger tracing the red mark.
“Who did this to you? Who tied you and threw you into the
Liddel?”
    Fionna’s mind was clearing rapidly. Her head
ached and her chest felt tight whenever she tried to take a deep
breath, but that was most likely the result of all the water
Quentin claimed she had swallowed and then brought up again. She
remembered everything, every detail of her ordeal, right up to the
log scratching her face. She lifted a hand to touch the spot. At
that moment, as she fully understood her situation, she began to
devise a desperate plan.
    Quentin had saved her life. He seemed to be
willing to share the credit with his companions, but Fionna had
watched a few chieftains leading their clans, so she recognized a
true leader when she saw one. Quentin was the man who had
discovered and rescued her. Therefore, she owed him his life in
return.
    “You needn’t be afraid,” he said. “I can
protect you. In addition to my two friends, I have men-at-arms with
me. Fionna, who tried to kill you?”
    “They must think I’m dead,” she replied, “so
I’m not in any immediate danger.”
    “I wouldn’t wager a single farthing on that
notion,” Quentin told her. “You are no peasant girl, to be
mistreated by a lord who knows no one will ask questions. Someone
will be looking for you.”
    “I’ve been told the Normans habitually
mistreat peasant girls.” She spoke without thinking because she was
preoccupied with the details of her plan. Almost immediately she
saw she’d made a mistake. Quentin’s face went utterly cold, his
high cheekbones sharp in the dim light .
    “Do you make a habit of insulting the men who
rescue you?”
    Though he spoke in a scathing tone worthy of
a great lord, still he did not raise his voice. Unlike Fionna’s
brothers, Quentin did not shout at her. Apparently, he was a quiet
man. He seemed to be a gentle man, too. So far he hadn’t handled
her roughly or threatened to beat her.
    “I’ve never been rescued before,” she
whispered. “Please forgive me. My brothers always speak
disparagingly of the Normans who