“Then you know that your actions and words were not of your own will. Just as mine were not. I will petition to have this annulled.”

“You must do so to the archbishop. Let me think … ah, that would be Stratford.” His eyes sparked with wicked amusement. “I have sent a messenger to him already, to let him know what has transpired. If he objects to this marriage, you will not need to petition at all, and the wedding will never take place. If he finds it convenient to his plans …”

“If he does, it will make no difference. There will be no wedding, and this betrothal is not legitimate.”

“In the eyes of the world, it was most legitimate.”

“You have managed to deceive the world, but you know the truth. This was despicable. I thought you a better man.”

That provoked him. Jaw tight and eyes burning, he strode to her and grasped her shoulders. “I will not let you endanger yourself through complicity with Carwyn and his plans. Nor will I let you put me in the position of having to hand you over for judgment as a traitor. Deceiving you last night was an easy choice, Nesta, once I weighed my options.”

She stuck her face up at him. “Very neat to your mind, no doubt, but despicable all the same. Now, hear my resolve, Marcus. I will not let you make me into a war prize that you subdue through marriage. I will not allow nonsense like passion divert me from what I must do. Bride or not, defying you will also be an easy choice.”

She shook off his hold but did not move away. She would not give him the satisfaction of thinking she feared him. She met his fiery gaze with her own glare while their wills silently battled each other.

One piece was missing, and she needed to know just how much of a knave he had been. “I have no memories of the night. Was there anything more than that one betrothal kiss?”

“You offered but I refused.”

“How chivalrous.”

The firm line of his mouth did not soften. “It was not chivalry, but pride. When I take you again, I want you to remember it.”

“That memory will never be made. That kiss is all the warmth you will get from me in this false alliance.”

She put all of her outrage into the repudiation. He didn’t even blink. If anything, a hint of amusement softened the stern set of his face. The eyes gazing at her became those of a man who assumed he could have her if he wanted to.

She resented those possessive lights, and the confidence they implied, and his assumption that he could make her weak. She resented even more, however, how the connection began casting a little spell that made her heart sparkle.