He crossed his arms over his chest and inspected her. A glint, no more, of the other way it was about him and her entered his eyes, but his annoyance burned it away.

“I can make quick work of this in other ways, Nesta. I could threaten to hang the bard. If the price of his life was her hand, do you think Genith would continue to withhold it?”

The suggestion horrified her. Not just because Genith might submit, but also because she might not.

She resented his using such a bluff. She stuck her face up at him. “If this is between you and me, leave innocents out of it. Besides, you will not do that either. In fact, I do not think that you will coerce her in any way.”

“Do not goad me by counting on my being weak, lady.”

“I do not accuse you of weakness, but of honor. If you were a man who forced women, you would have already forced me.”

It was a mistake to say that. She knew it as soon as the words blurted out. His expression darkened more, but a new danger slid through him. A sensual power flowed, shading and sharpening his anger with her, giving it a new edge.

Their mutual craving was suddenly, starkly there, absorbing her, trying to pull her across the narrow space separating them. Its intensity frightened her. It also excited her.

She could see him grabbing her, pulling her to him, kissing her with the confident possession he had in the cottage, obliterating her control and dragging her into abandon.

He did not reach for her. Her relief was tinged with a disappointment that horrified her.

He did not touch her, but neither did he retreat. He made no effort to quell what had risen between them and it remained thick in the air, an enlivening, threatening lure.

“As you can see, there would be no forcing to it, Nesta,” he said quietly, cruelly naming her weakness to him. “To imply there would be is dishonest of you. Nor is it goodness or honor that restrains me. You are my king’s woman and my future wife’s sister. To take you would be both stupid and contemptible.”

That certainly laid it out baldly. Not only the desire but also her expected compliance, and the impossibility, and impracticality, of ever acting on what wanted to happen between them.

A wistful sadness welled inside her chest. He had said nothing that she did not already know. A foolish corner of her heart ached at hearing it put into words, however. That uncontrollable part of her was shameful, and potentially very perilous. Unfortunately, it appeared to be growing, and making her more stupid with each day.

“It occurs to me that the easiest course is to lock you away, so that Genith does not have you whispering in her ear. With a little time away from your influence, I think that she will come around.”