The Beloved Scoundrel Read Online Free

Why had she consented to come with Draken? She knew the answer. Alex was ill. Alex must have warmth and shelter, and it had seemed worth any risk to see if this man could give it to him.
    “Stay where you are, Gregor.” Draken turned to her as the giant stopped on the fifth step. “No one will hurt you. I gave you my promise.”
    And he had not lied to persuade her to come with him, she remembered. He had given her a choice, and she had made it. She mustn’t be a coward now.She threw her shoulders back and demanded, “Tell him to give me a blanket for Alex.”
    An undefinable expression crossed his face. “Very well.” He said to Gregor, “Go fetch a blanket for the lady.”
    He nodded his shaggy head and loped back down the steps to a giant of a horse. He opened a saddlebag and took out a sheepskin blanket. He turned, took the stairs three at a time, and stopped before Marianna. “Here.” He thrust the blanket at her and smiled with surprising sweetness. “I’m Gregor Damek, and I know I’m an ugly monster of a fellow, but I don’t eat children. I promise you.”
    In that terrifying visage, his hazel eyes were gentle, and she felt the tiniest ripple of warmth go through her as she took the blanket. “My … name is Marianna,” she said haltingly.
    “Take the blanket to your brother,” Draken said to her. “We’ll set up camp at the north edge of the town. There will be hot food and a warm fire for you both.” He turned and started down the steps. “If you decide to trust me.”
    He had come for the Window. She couldn’t trust anyone who wanted the Window to Heaven. Yet he was English, and why would an Englishman want the Window except for the reason he had given her? Perhaps she could trust him … a little.
    “Wait.” Her hand went to the fastening at her throat. “Your cloak.”
    “Return it to me later.” He mounted his horse with loose-limbed grace and lifted his hand to his followers. He was not dressed as they were; his tight dark blue trousers, intricately tied cravat, and fine coat reminded her of the kind of clothes Papa had wornwhen he had visitors from England. Yet, curiously, he did not look out of place with these men. She had a sense he possessed that same wildness, but it was controlled, channeled, as theirs was not.
    The hollow clatter of hooves echoed on the cobblestones as the horsemen turned north. He was leaving her, once again letting her make a choice. The knowledge brought a sudden lift of spirits as she clutched the sheepskin blanket to her breasts and hurried back up the steps.
    W hat a frightened little dove.” Gregor’s expression was sad as he looked back over his shoulder at the doorway through which Marianna had disappeared. “There are so many wounded children in this land. It hurts my heart not to be able to help them.”
    “That ‘little dove’ nearly emasculated me,” Jordan said grimly. “I assure you, she’s far more falcon than dove.”
    Gregor’s eyes twinkled. “Then you did try to mount her. For shame—and in a holy church too.”
    “I mounted her, but not in the way you mean. She tried to kill me with an iron candlestick.”
    “Because you frightened her. Her brother is inside the church?”
    “In the garden.”
    Gregor frowned. “I will go and get them. They may be too frightened to approach us.”
    “No, let her come to me.”
    “But I think—”
    “The Window to Heaven was shattered,” Jordan interrupted. “It’s completely useless.”
    Gregor gave a shocked exclamation. “Who?”
    “Well, we know it wasn’t Nebrov. I suspect it was broken accidentally when he tried to capture the town.”
    Gregor grimaced. “I would not like to have been the officer in charge of the troop who made that mistake. I wonder why he didn’t secure Talenka before he marched on to the capital.”
    “Arrogance. He thought he would wrest the entire country from King Josef and then have all the time in the world to steal the Window to Heaven. It was