Velvet Song (Montgomery/Taggert 4)

“I’m sure you will.”

Her chin raised a fraction. “And what will you do when I offend you?”

“Rage at you. Get very, very angry. Threaten to murder you.”

“Oh,” Alyx said in a small voice, blinking back tears. “Then perhaps—”

“Alyx, I want you, not someone who will agree with my every word.” He swallowed, grimaced. “You were right to go to the King.”

“And what about Roger Chatworth?”

For a moment, Raine’s eyes shot fire. “You were wrong about him. If I’d killed him, then Miles wouldn’t—”

“If you’d killed him, then King Henry would have killed you!” Alyx shouted up at him.

“I could have done away with his body. No one—”

“You would have probably felt the need to confess your sins in public,” she said with disgust. “No, I did the right thing.”

Raine started to say something but stopped. “Perhaps you’re right.”

“I’m what?!” Alyx said, aghast, then saw Raine’s dimple. “You’re teasing me.” She set her jaw.

Raine, with a deep laugh, pulled her into his arms, held her when she tried to pull away. “It seems we’ll never agree on everything, but perhaps we can agree to work together. Will you just discuss what you plan before you do it?”

She considered that for a moment. “And what if you tell me not to do something? I think perhaps I should do it the way I have done.”

“Alyx,” he said in almost a growl, then began to laugh. “Alyx, Alyx, Alyx.” Laughing, he tossed her into the air, caught her. “I think we shall always quarrel. Are you willing to live with that?”

“We wouldn’t quarrel if once in a while you’d think before you acted. Just once you should think about tomorrow. If you’d stopped to consider what you were doing maybe you wouldn’t have led the king’s men against . . .” She trailed off because Raine was nibbling her neck.

“I am a man of passion,” he murmured. “Would you like me to change that?”

She tilted her head to allow him better access. “I might be able to stand your passion. Raine!” She pulled away to stare at him and she was very serious. “Will you leave me again? If I do something you dislike will you leave me and our children alone?”

His eyes too turned serious. “I will make a vow to you, Alyxandria Montgomery, a vow as sacred as any oath as a knight. I will never again leave you in anger.”

For a moment she watched him, searched his face and finally she smiled, threw her arms about his neck. “I love you so very much.”

“Of course I may lock you in your room, put you under guard, whatever I must. But I will never again ship you off to my brother to let him deal with my problems.”

“Problems!” she bellowed beside his ear. “I am a joy to your family. You are the one who has broken their hearts. You are a great, stubborn—”

Raine rubbed his battered ear. “Ah, the delicate voice of a woman, as soft as a spring morning, as gentle as a—”

He stopped because Alyx planted her mouth on his and he forgot about words.