Knight Errant by Rue Allyn Page B

to recognize it or not, I have Edward’s permission to force you back to England anytime I so choose.” He stepped closer, hoping to intimidate her.
    Juliana eased backward until the interior wall of her quarters halted her.
    “You see. Escaping your fate is impossible.”
    Her smile never faltered as he stalked her, and she gave a dismissive little cough. “We are on board a ship, sir. Where would I go?”
    “I have had enough.” He grabbed her by the shoulders, pulling her to him so she could not mistake his meaning, so she could read the determination in his eyes. “You do not know what you risk. Two old women and a pair of servants cannot protect you from the dangers that await here or in Sicily. Save near the ocean, the climate there is hot. The terrain—mountains, plains, swamps—is hostile. With Aragon and Anjou at war over Sicily itself, even the cities are unsafe. You will be defenseless there. Nor can anyone shield you from me.”
    She stared at him. Simply stared, her heaven-blue eyes alight with a sultan’s treasure of emotions, her smile fixed firmly in place. Then she cast her eyes down to where their bodies pressed together and from there to his hard grip on her arms. “So it would seem.”
    Robert followed her glance with his own. He dropped his hold on her and stepped back. Horrified at how near he had come to doing her violence, he turned to leave.
    “Wait.” The word was a caress.
    He felt her hand, soft, on his shoulder and turned back. “Take care, Juliana,” he growled. Raw emotions tumbled through him, like demons released from hell. Shame, pride, need, and hurt, all doing battle at once. And over everything, fear that he would fail to keep her safe, that she, too, would come to harm when he could prevent it.
    “I but offer you a kiss of peace.” She lifted on her toes until her lips reached him.
    Her mouth slid over his. The gentle pressure thundered in his blood like an avenging angel, putting all his demons to flight. He gave back the kiss and felt her tremble. To steady her, he placed his arms around her. Then he deepened the kiss. Took her full lower lip between his teeth and tugged.
    She gasped and opened her mouth. He licked at her hot, inner softness. She sank into him. Her hands grasped his shoulders, then slid upward into the hair at the back of his neck. His palm brushed across her breast.
    “Mmmm.” She pulled him closer, and her tongue answered his.
    His knees buckled. He would have fallen with her to the floor had he not somehow found the cot.
    The cot. Dear God in heaven. What am I doing?
Robert let go of Juliana as if he held living flame in his arms. She fell back against the bed, looking for all the world like a maid eager to be tumbled. She had indeed come to harm at his hands.
    “Forgive me,” he rasped and fled the room. The demons had returned.
    • • •
    Shortly after disembarking at Palermo, Juliana scanned the dockside area but could find no sign of Robert. Berthild and Gretle had settled themselves beneath the canopy of a portside shop with the cook standing before them.
    “Sisters, have either of you seen Robert this morning?”
    “No, child, I have not.”
    “Indeed, nor I.”
    Where could the wretched man have gotten to? On shipboard, he’d been too present both physically and in her thoughts. Now that she needed him, he couldn’t be found.
    Luigi came and gave her a letter of introduction to his uncle, who could help smooth her way in Palermo. Then the captain took his leave and strode toward his ship.
    “What did our erstwhile captain want?”
    Startled, Juliana’s shoulders jerked. Had she conjured Robert by thinking of him? She shook her head at the fanciful thought and turned to speak with him. “I did not see you approach.”
    “I know. You were too busy saying farewell to your sea captain.”
    “He is hardly
my
sea captain.” How could Robert make such a ridiculous accusation? He was the one she’d been kissing when she should have