He nodded. “It went well indeed.”
To be truthful, she’d enjoyed the past quarter hour immensely. Standing next to Bram as an equal, rather than squaring off against him. Speaking together, instead of over each other’s words. As they’d addressed their friends and neighbors, the air had hummed with a pleasant chord of harmony, and she’d almost felt as if . . .
She dropped a step back, cocked her head, and peered at him.
“What is it?” he asked, looking self-conscious.
“It’s just . . . You look very lordly, all of a sudden. Standing there in front of the keep, addressing all the villagers. It’s as though you were born to the Rycliff title, instead of gifted it a week ago.”
“Well, I wasn’t.” His brows drew together. “My father was a major general, not an earl of any sort. I don’t mean to forget that, ever.”
“Of course not. I didn’t mean it that way. Your father was a great man, and naturally you’ll always be proud to be his son. But that doesn’t mean he couldn’t be proud of you today, does it?”
He had no reply to that. After a prolonged pause, he said, “I’d best go ready myself for drill.”
“Yes. I suppose I should be going, too.”
As he began to walk past her toward the keep, she once again noted the slight hitch in his gait. An impulse seized her. “Wait.”
She could have reached out to catch his arm or his shoulder. But no. She had to go pressing her hand flat against his strong, solid chest. Realizing her mistake, she snatched it back—but the thumping echo of his heartbeat lingered on her palm.
A furtive glance around her indicated that no one had observed the bold gesture. Not this time, at least. But judging by the hot blush scalding her cheeks, Susanna knew she was going to have to work very hard to keep her attraction to Bram below notice.
Which made her next words imprudent as anything.
“There’s one other task we need to address. One not on the list.” She still clutched the paper in her hand and spoke low. “Something that requires the two of us to work together. Alone.”
“Is that so?” Surprise—and desire—flared in his jade-green eyes. “I can’t deny that I’m intrigued. Name the place and time. I’ll be there.”
“The cove,” she murmured, sending up a prayer that she wasn’t making an enormous mistake. “After dark. Tonight.”
Twenty
Stars blanketed the clear night, and the moon hung large and yellow in the sky. A fortunate thing, or Bram would have had no light by which to pick his way down to the cove. He kept his eyes trained on the path, careful not to misstep. As a result, he reached the pebbled shore without any idea where—or even if—he would find Susanna. He didn’t see her anywhere along the beach.
Perhaps she hadn’t been able to slip away. Perhaps she’d changed her mind about meeting him. Perhaps she’d never intended to meet him at all, but only meant to play him a clever trick.
A soft splash drew his attention.
“Over here,” he heard her call.
He approached the water’s edge. “Susanna?”
“I’m here. In the water.”
“In the water?” His eyes adjusted to the darkness. There she was, his alluring mermaid, submerged to her neck in the sea. “What are you wearing under there?”
“Come join me if you want to find out.”
Bram had never shucked his clothes faster. He stripped straight down to his skin. This wasn’t one of Spindle Cove’s warm, sunny afternoons. He would have a long walk back to the castle, and he didn’t want to make it in sopping wet clothes.
“Damn, this water is cold,” he said, testing it with his toes.
“It’s not so bad tonight, truly. You’ll grow accustomed to it.”
He dashed into the sea, knowing it was better to douse himself all at once than to draw out the torture by slow degrees. He met her some distance out from shore, in a place where the water line hit him mid-abdomen. Unable to get a good look in the dark, he gave her shoulder an exploratory grope.
When he caught a handful of rough fabric, he groaned. “Not the wretched bathing costume.”
She laughed, a husky, arousing laugh.
Blast it, he knew he shouldn’t press matters too far. But she was so close, and they were finally alone again. He couldn’t resist doing what he’d been wanting to do all day. In a quick move, he pulled her close, wrapping arms and legs about her slender form. Holding her tight.
In his arms, she went utterly still. He felt her every muscle go rigid as steel.
“Bram. What are you doing?”
“I’m embracing you. It’s cold.”
“You’re . . .” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “You’re naked.”
“Sorry, I forgot my bathing costume.” He chuckled. “You’ve seen all there is to see of me already. And there’s no one here but the two of us.”
“Precisely.”
“Then why is it we’re whispering?”
Peeved, she said aloud, “I don’t know.”
He teased her ear with his breath. “We could warm each other.”
She made a frustrated noise and pushed away. “Be serious, please. We’re here for a reason.”
“Believe me, I know I’m here for a reason. The reason is you.”
“No. The reason is your knee.”
“My knee?”
“Yes. I know it’s been paining you. If you’re going to make it through these next few weeks, you need to care for it properly. And if you’re determined to return to field command after that . . . Well, I’m equally determined to send you back with as much strength and stamina as possible.”
“I am strong.” His pride was piqued. “And you should know, I have abundant stamina.”
With a dismissive noise, she moved away. She swam a few strokes to a nearby boulder, reaching for something. The way the mysterious object rattled, he imagined it to be some sort of chain. When she returned carrying it just at the water’s surface, he caught the gleam of metal in the moonlight.
“What is that?” he asked, peering at it. “Some sort of medieval torture device?”
“Yes. That’s exactly what it is.”
“God. I was joking. But you aren’t, are you?”
“No. I borrowed it from my father’s collection. There’s an ankle cuff, and this ball is attached. It’s deuced heavy. Here.” She dumped the ball into his hands.