Magic in His Kiss Read Online Free Page B

you.”
    The very idea that Sister Claire had lingered outside the door apurpose, to overhear Nicole’s conversation with Rhodri, was preposterous.
    “Sister Claire is to be the next abbess. Never would she do such a thing.”
    “So you say.”
    “You have a most suspicious nature, Rhodri ap Dafydd.”
    He smiled without a hint of humor. “Then that is to my advantage. A good trait in a warrior, is it not?”
    Nicole conceded the point. “Then I should be suspicious of your purpose, should I not?”
    Now he laughed. “Be assured, my lady. Had not Connor sent me to convey his offer, I would not have stepped foot on English soil, much less journeyed so far into enemy lands.”
    That she could believe. He’d risked his neck by playing messenger for Connor. Did that make Rhodri brave, or a fool?
    Brave, she decided. Welsh bards weren’t fools.
    Rhodri had never before played his harp for a group of nuns, one of whom lay prone on a narrow cot, beads in her frail hands.
    He sat on a stool near the head of the cot, delighted the merry melody he’d chosen to play brought a soft smile to the abbess’s thin lips.
    The power of music, whether to calm an upset child or stir men into battle frenzy, had always intrigued Rhodri. As a boy, he’d sat at his father’s feet, watched those nimble fingers pluck at the strings, and felt the force of each song played.
    He’d craved that power and learned his craft well. When playing the harp he’d inherited from his father, Rhodri was confident in his ability to stir whatever emotion he chose to draw forth in whatever audience he played for.
    Today was no different. As he intended, Mother Abbess smiled, and the nuns kneeling on the floor had given up their praying and listened, enthralled, to the music.
    Except Nicole de Leon.
    She stood on the other side of the cot, paying him utterly no heed, her gaze steadfastly fixed on Mother Abbess. Rhodri doubted Nicole heard a note but blamed her lack of enchantment on her concern for the abbess and her familiarity with harp music. Unlike the other women, whom he now held in thrall, Nicole had spent her childhood in a household blessed with its own bard, so the music wasn’t new to her.
    He hoped she also pondered his suggestion that she should take refuge in Wales. Nicole had declared the offer impossible to accept, but while still in the receiving chamber, he’d sensed her plea for a bit more time to decide.
    And now, in the infirmary, Rhodri saw who truly bound Nicole to Bledloe Abbey. Mother Abbess. No royal command, nor religious conviction, could bind her as thoroughly as her devotion to the dying nun. Nicole would balk at leaving the abbey while Mother Abbess yet breathed.
    Nicole’s loyalty might be commendable, but he hoped the abbess wouldn’t take much longer in her dying. A day’s delay in removing Nicole from the abbey he could countenance. But longer?
    Rhodri plucked the song’s final note, allowing it to fade before beginning a gentler, softer tune. His heart beat a little faster when Nicole turned her head slightly to reward him with an approving smile. The glint in her large brown eyes confirmed that he played a favorite song.
    A man could become entranced by those lovely eyes, lose all sense of time and whereabouts. They’d fascinated him as a youth and held no less appeal for him now.
    When Nicole entered the receiving chamber, he’d been briefly stunned to see how the adorable little girl had bloomed into a beautiful young woman.
    Not even the black of Nicole’s robe could dim the ivory-hued glow of her heart-shaped face. Nor could the unshapely garment completely conceal the allure of her up-tilted, firm breasts or her nicely rounded hips.
    And when, as now, her rosy mouth blessed him with a smile, he felt a tug on his innards he thought he’d possessed more wisdom than to feel.
    Even as he attempted to pay more heed to the harp than the temptation to further notice Nicole’s charms, he conceded that if they