“Tales of my exploits?”
“Perhaps,” she said.
“May I ask your name?”
“You may ask, but the answer is not your concern.”
“Not yet,” he said in a tone that had coaxed numerous wenches out of their corsets.
She ignored the tone and the insinuation, and looked over his men instead.
“I’ve never seen bandits in such fine attire. Matching even,” she said.
“There’s no need to be slovenly,” Bregovi said. “Even in bandit trade.”
“Banditing isn’t a trade,” she said.
“You give a kiss. I give passage. The bargain sounds like a trade to me,” he said with a wink.
“Why not demand coin or jewels?”
“Like this one?” He held up the broach.
“Yes, even that hideous thing would do you more good than a kiss.”
“I think you underestimate the good a kiss can do.”
One of her dark brows hitched up. “You obviously don’t have much practice with princesses.”
“Why? Don’t they kiss well?”
“They don’t play with bandits in the woods.”
“And their lives are poorer for it, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Hardly.”
“Well, what do you suggest, my lady-in-waiting? How would you direct a bandit who merely wants a little affection? Someone to tend to his less monetary needs?”
“Oh, for the love of the gods,” she said in a delightfully exasperated tone. “Barmaids from here to the wetlands would line up to tend to your less monetary needs.” As if she’d not intended to say as much, her face flushed as pink as a sunrise.
“And why would that be?” he asked.
“I’ve heard they like arrogant rogues,” she said, her eyes glinting.
Laughter burst from him. He couldn’t remember the last time a maiden had sassed him. “Perhaps you could steer me in the direction of such a wench. Until then, my demand stands.”
She turned to the guardsmen. “Surely, you can overtake them.”
The men shot uncomfortable glances between her and him.
“Anyone?” she said. “Are you all cowards?”
The men shifted, no doubt wanting to correct her on that.
“It’s just one kiss,” faithful Stiles said, shooting warning glances at his men.
“What if they demand more? If he—”
“I won’t,” Bregovi said as Wolfe cleared his throat loudly.
“If he does?” she asked Stiles pointedly.
“My men will intervene, milady,” Stiles said.
She wiped her hands on her gown as she glanced among his men again. Some of the bravado had left her. Ah, hell, she looked scared. He’d have to tell her. Wolfe nodded as if indicating he was about to do the honors. Then…
“One kiss and we pass?” she said.
What was that? Had she agreed to a kiss from those berry-ripe lips of hers?
Ignoring Wolfe’s louder cough, Bregovi said, “You have my word.”
“That’s as comforting as an executioner’s last assurances,” she said, studying their surroundings, perhaps looking for an exit.
He waited. Letting her decide the next move.
Finally, she took in a long resolute breath as her misty blue eyes pinned him in place. “Very well, collect your kiss.”
* * *
Bregovi’s left brow shot up, then a smile crept across his face. Kate worried he had caught onto her plan, but his lazy step forward reassured her he had not. Reaching as if to embrace him, she quickly pulled his rapier from its sheath.
Men on both sides cried out in alarm.
Bregovi grinned. She wished he’d stop doing that. Smiling at her. On her sixth escape attempt, she’d met a dockworker with a sharp jaw, powerful build and grin that sparked wicked thoughts. No man had ever topped him. Until now. The bandit had the kind of face and form that drove sculptors to marble and maidens to sin. How annoying.
“Still want that kiss?” she asked, circling him, rapier at the ready.
“Absolutely,” he whispered in a husky tone, starting a slow circle of his own.
An unsettling wave of pleasure washed over her, causing her to misstep. The emotion was not her own. It appeared that while the spell successfully blocked her from using her Gifts, it did not prevent others’ emotions from reaching her unbidden. She had also felt a surge of anger when the brawl had broken out at the inn the day before, and her mood had not matched it.
Could this new emotion have come from the bandit? His eyes were alight with something akin to fascination, and the word had been soft on his lips. Full, ripe lips. Suddenly her stomach pitched as if she were at sea.
Addled. The spell must have hindered her senses too. Or perhaps it was the taste of freedom. And at the thought of tasting, her bent mind contemplated what flavor his lips would hold. Completely addled. He’s a bandit. He has probably eaten raw trout with those lips. It was the most disgusting image she could envision with his green eyes dancing before her.
Taking a breath, she reminded herself he was keeping her from her future. “I suggest you and your band of cretins depart.” Staring square into those sparkling eyes, she tested the blade with a few elaborate swipes, then tapped his arm before he’d even seen it coming.
Guards and his men jumped forward.
He raised a hand to stop them. “If we do not?”
She gave him her most devious grin and brought her weapon to sparring stance. Delicate pink stones adorned the hilt in an ornate rose pattern. Obviously stolen.
He nodded to Wolfe. It fit that the two were associates, for the foreigner had the confident manner of a man who got whatever he wished and a face that guaranteed he’d get whomever he wished as well.
“You can’t mean to fight her,” Wolfe said in his odd accent.
Bregovi motioned for the weapon.
Wolfe tossed him another rapier, which Bregovi caught by the handle with ease.
“I hope the hellcat takes you,” Wolfe said.
“Traitor,” Bregovi replied as he rested the thin blade on his shoulder. “May I propose jousting rules?”
“Which would be what exactly?” she asked.
“The first to pin the other with blade or strength wins the bout and their boon,” he said.
“I and my party get passage?”
“I get that kiss.”
“Fine.”
Kate positioned her body with open ground behind her to ensure he didn’t have the initial advantage of forcing her into brush or trees. And through a gap in the forest, she caught a glimpse of Florian’s castle gleaming in the distant sunshine, sprouting turrets like giant trees reaching for the heavens. Truly a stone’s throw away.
“Magnificent. I would ask you to clasp hands on it, but I doubt you’d oblige. I suppose I will have to rely on your honor. Can I trust in that?” he said with a wink.
Her honor? Infuriating man. She sprang forward, her blade meeting his with a quick tap. He blocked each strike as she forced him backward toward a cluster of trees.
“Impressive,” he said, then, in the space of a blink, spun to her right.
She turned to keep him in her sights, but the man was light of foot and had her twirling in circles before she knew what he’d been up to. After freezing her steps to halt the dizziness, she felt the firm smack of his blade on her bottom.