The Ghost Read online

  She pulled inwardly on his arm while the other hand pushed against his jaw to rotate his head. Using this simple yet elegant maneuver she was able to swing him around to change their positions, so it was he who was now pushed against the wall. His surprise enabled her to break free and step back.

  It was done without a blow or strike. Her goal had been to gain her freedom, not hurt him, though she could have easily done so. And maybe even wanted to. But she didn’t want to draw too much attention to her unusual skills.

  In that she failed.

  Alex slowly unfurled the hand that had been clenched around the hilt of his dagger. Despenser had been a few seconds away from having it buried deep at the base of his neck.

  Alex wouldn’t have missed. His skill with the blade was what had eventually earned him his place in the Highland Guard.

  He couldn’t ever recall feeling the urge to kill so powerfully. It had been bad enough when Despenser’s mouth pressed against hers the first time. But when he’d kissed her again and Alex saw her struggling to break free, the urge had come over him in a red, primitive haze that even now still pounded through his blood.

  Had she not extricated herself from his hold, Alex would have killed the king’s new favorite. Happily. A man who would force himself on a woman deserved nothing less.

  Perhaps in that Alex and his former partner were more alike than he realized. The vehemence of his reaction was unexpected. He’d never experienced the kind of hatred that Boyd had felt after his sister’s rape—hatred that had fueled his vengeance against the English—but maybe he’d had a taste of it now.

  Actually, he wasn’t altogether sure his blade still wouldn’t end up in the bastard’s back—or gut, for that matter.

  Despenser took a threatening step toward her. “What the hell? How did you—”

  “Wait!” She darted away from Despenser. “I heard something.”

  Alex stilled. Had he made a noise?

  “You heard nothing,” the other man growled. “I paid the stable lads a shilling each to see that we were not disturbed for a while.”

  Alex had seen the two boys guarding the door not long after Despenser and Lady Joan had gone inside, which is why he’d slipped into the barn through the door on the opposite side used to bring the hay inside.

  He couldn’t believe it when he’d seen her go in the barn with him willingly. Didn’t she realize what would happen?

  His mouth fell in a hard line. Of course she did. And he was a bloody fool because he thought the kiss they’d shared might have meant something. It had to him. He hadn’t realized how much until he’d seen her in another man’s arms.

  “So you were planning something,” she said.

  “Of course I was,” Despenser replied angrily. “Any fool would have known what I planned. And whatever else you might be, Lady Joan, you are no fool. So either you are a tease or you had another purpose for leading me into believing you wanted to bed me.” His eyes narrowed. “Which is it?”

  Despenser had stopped advancing on her, and she stood to face him. Surprisingly, given the circumstances, she didn’t look threatened or scared. Actually, she looked confident and strong.

  Alex frowned.

  “Neither,” she said with a bold lift of her chin. “I just do not believe we will suit.”

  “You do not believe we will suit?” Despenser repeated incredulously. “Who the hell do you think you are? Since when does a bastard slut turn down one of the most important men in the realm?”

  Alex’s hand returned to his dagger.

  He wasn’t alone in his anger, although only a slight tinge of pink in Lady Joan’s cheeks betrayed her fury as she responded to the taunt. “Since right now. I am sorry to have disappointed you, Sir Hugh, it was not my intention. But there is no reason to be cruel. We have been friends a long time.”

  The young knight’s eyes blazed. Clearly, friendship was the last thing he was thinking about. Alex silently begged him to make a move. Give me an excuse. His hand was practically itching.

  But she stopped him. “There’s someone else,” she blurted.

  “Who?” The other knight demanded angrily, echoing Alex’s thoughts.

  She bit her lip, her hands twisting a little before her. “I’d rather not say.”

  Despenser eyed her with disgust. “You do not need to. I’ve seen the way you look at Seton. It’s him, isn’t it?” Alex froze. Was it true? He couldn’t believe it when she nodded. Despenser cursed angrily. “You sure as hell don’t waste any time, do you? Had your bed grown so cold in a week that you needed to fill it with the first man you could find? I’m just surprised that he took you up on your offer. Seton isn’t known for dallying with whores.”

  That might have been the excuse Alex had been waiting for, but Joan shifted just enough to block his direct line to Despenser.

  “It’s not like that,” she said softly.

  Sir Hugh must have seen something in her expression and gave a harsh laugh. “Unrequited lust, is that it? I’m not surprised. From what I know of Seton, he holds himself to rigidly high standards for a Scot. Still, he must have ice running through his cock to refuse a tasty piece like you in his bed.”

  Alex wasn’t sure how much more of this he could take. Only knowing the embarrassment he would cause her prevented him from revealing himself right then and wiping the crude words from Despenser’s mouth with his fists.

  Joan stood in silence, but Alex sensed she was just as furious and anxious to defend herself. So why didn’t she? Perhaps she just wanted it over? If that was the case, it worked.

  Despenser closed the distance between them. She tensed at the same time as Alex, but there was no cause. The young knight walked right past her. “When you realize your mistake do not bother trying to correct it. It is too late.”

  “I am sorry.”

  “Save your apologies,” he said. “I do not wish to hear them.” He smiled coldly. “But I assure you, you will be very sorry.”

  The threat wasn’t subtle, nor was it meant to be. In rejecting him, Joan Comyn had just made herself a dangerous enemy, and she appeared to know it as well.

  She sank down on a bale of hay with a heavy sigh and a distinctly worried look on her face. Perhaps sensing her mood, the dog trotted out of the stall to collapse into a ball by her feet. For a creature that had caused so many problems for Alex’s former brethren, it sure was a lazy little blighter. But Alex was almost jealous of it a moment later when Joan absently reached down to stroke it gently between the ears.

  Alex should probably leave her alone. But it seemed he wasn’t very good at doing what he should do when it came to Joan Comyn.

  “Despenser will not forget the slight,” he said, emerging from the shadows where he’d been watching.

  She jumped to her feet. The dog that had roused a garrison barely lifted its head in Alex’s direction—apparently its watch days were at an end. Joan recovered quickly and rounded on him. “I knew I heard something! You were spying on me!”

  Alex didn’t deny it. “It wasn’t intentional. I was coming back from the river after practice when I saw you come in here with him alone. Damn it, Joan, what were you thinking? You had to know the danger and what could happen. He could have . . .”

  The words were so repugnant he couldn’t even get them out.

  “Yes, I know ex—” She stopped. For a moment she looked haunted—devastated—but then the familiar defiance returned to her eyes. “I do not need you to protect me, Alex. I can take care of myself.”

  Ignoring for the moment that she’d used his given name—and how much he liked hearing her do so—he wanted to argue but realized he couldn’t. She had extricated herself. Quite well actually. Her movements had been smooth and polished, as if it were something she’d done many times before. Perhaps she had. But something else about it niggled. Something familiar.

  He frowned. “Where did you learn to do that?”

  Joan knew that she’d made a mistake. Her third or fourth of th