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and a groom, lying entangled in a stall of the stables, their bodies joined and arching in intense pleasure as they rutted. The image had stayed with her, and now it returned in vivid detail, except the man with thrusting buttocks was Grendell and the woman beneath him, moaning in her pleasure, was Melina.
    “Melina!” Her father’s shout as she ran into the castle made her jump guiltily. He was coming toward her, the beamed ceiling of the great hall rising high above him, the walls crowded with sharp and nasty looking weapons and wild animal heads. Her father appeared worried, as he often did these days, and when Melina moved to curtsey he caught her arm and hurried her toward the curling stone stairs that led to the upper chambers of the castle.
    “Lord Saunders has been seen on the road. He’ll be here before nightfall. Go and change into your best gown, and braid your hair,” he added with a frown.
    “You look unkempt, girl. Do not give him a distaste for you. We need this union if we are to hold on to our home.”
    “Father, I . . .”
    “What is it, girl?” he cut her short.
    The worry was drawing lines on his face and shadows in his eyes. This land was not his, had never been his. He had taken it by force when Melina was a child, and now he had to make alliances with men like Lord Saunders to hold it. He had to use his own daughter as part of the bargain to hold on to his ill-gotten gains.
    “Nothing, father.”
    He wasn’t listening anyway.
    Melina
    could
    have
    caught
    his
    attention; she could have made him listen. What if she told him what Grendell had done in the garden? Instead she fell silent, merely hurrying to do his bidding. She told herself she would just have to make sure she did not get too close to Grendell again, not until she was safely wed to Lord Saunders.

A n d t h e n a sneaky little thought
jumped into her mind:
    What if you were marrying Grendell instead? What if it was Grendell who would lie next to you in your marriage bed instead of Lord Saunders?
    Of
    course
    she
    dismissed
    that
    immediately, relegating it to the depths of her soul, where she kept a l l the dreams and wishes she’d grown out of once she became a woman. Such things were not possible in the real world and she’d best get used to being bedded by Lord Saunders because that was where her future lay.

    ***
Melina bathed in the rose petal scented water brought up to her chamber by her servants. The warmth soothed her and once she was wrapped in her robe, she lay down a moment upon her bed.
    She didn’t mean to fall asleep, but she’d been up since before dawn seeing to the household preparations for Lord Saunders’ arrival, and the feasting that was to take place that night.
    In the warmth of her bed, w i th her body relaxed, pleasurable dreams began to trickle into her head.
    Grendell was looming over her, naked. She’d seen naked men—as lady of the castle it was her job to bathe her father ’s important cronies and guests, although she only soaped their backs before the maid took over. It was a courtesy
    and as a young unmarried woman she was not expected to fully comply.
    Now, as Grendell smiled down at her, she saw how young and strong and handsome he was. He ran his hand along her body, pushing impatiently at her robe. His roughened palm lay heavy upon her thigh, and then slid toward her hip. His own thigh, thick with muscle and rough with manly hairs, pressed between hers. His smiling mouth came down upon her half naked breast, tongue twirling about her peaked nipple.
    Melina cried out and awoke.
    The next moment she was sitting up, blinking, at the sound of the door banging open and there, filling the doorway, was her bodyguard. He looked fiercesome, ready to protect her against all dangers, but when he saw it was only a sleepy-eyed girl, confusion filled his face.
    “Melina?”
    Her fair hair spilled over her shoulders, her robe revealing more of her naked body than it was covering.
    Dark eyes jerked to