Read Devil's Angel for Free Online Page B

fabric doing nothing to conceal the contour and feel of her body from him. Long and lean she was, with just a hint of softness to her sharp edges. A month of good food and kind living would round her out, making what was desirous now a torment later.
    It was all he could do not to groan aloud. The Valkyrie nuzzled at him the way one of his wolfhounds asked for a pat on the head. Was this the same woman who had just screamed because she wasn’t able to kill a man? Why did that not seem to matter anymore?
    Conor had been aware of the Angel as an adversary, a warrior and a prize. Now he was aware of her as a woman. And that made her even more dangerous.
    Dangerous. Conor had to remind himself of that. This was not a meek maiden, despite the way she clung to him. She was a warrior in a woman’s flesh, a warrior as ruthless as he.
    Erika shivered as the bloodlust left her veins. The Devil—Conor, she reminded herself—held her away. Staring into his eyes, she felt something unfathomable surge up from her toes and launch itself at him, charging the handbreadth of air between them.
    He licked his lips. Erika watched in fascination as his tongue swept from one side of his mouth to the other. Did he taste the same things she had?
    Belatedly she realized that he was speaking to her. “Erika? Did he hurt you?”
    Blinking out of her stupor, she glanced up at him. The silver of his eyes was dark with genuine concern and another indefinable emotion. “I did not give him the opportunity,” she replied, and couldn’t resist adding, “Does that disappoint you?”
    Light gleamed in his silvery eyes. “It does not. Does that disappoint you ?”
    Erika was amazed at his bantering tone. He couldn’t be evil. Not evil at all. Why was he called Devil? “Why did you stop him?”
    Thunderclouds gathered in his features. “I have done many things, but condone rape is not one of them.”
    “But you let him go!”
    His jaw hardened. “Rhuaidri lost his brother in the slaughter at Dunlough village. Grief can drive a man to madness, and rash action.” Had that happened to him, Erika wondered. Still, she understood. She had only to look at the last seven years of her life to know how grief drove a person. “It is the same for a woman.”
    “You need not fear crossing paths with him again.”
    A rush of warmth swept through her, engulfing her senses yet again. He was protecting her! Only Olan and Lars had ever tried to protect her before. Tightness settled in her chest.
    He cleared his throat. “And…you no longer need to fear for your life, Lady Erika. I know you tried to help my people, not harm them.”
    That obviously was not an easy thing for him to admit.
    Again she stared into his eyes, struggling for truth against the wariness. He still held her loosely in his arms and the awareness of it, of him , was sweeter than honeyed mead. “Are you truly lord of that village?”
    His eyes were solemn. “I am.”
    She sighed, the last of her rage sifting from her. It was difficult to release, especially against someone she had attempted to kill days earlier. “I am sorry,” she whispered, knowing it was inadequate but knowing no other way to convey how she felt about the loss of his people.
    Conor believed her. Her expression, her luminous eyes, declared more than words the sorrow she felt. “How did you come to be near Dunlough?”
    The startling lavender gaze shuttered. “We were on our way to Donegal, to find a ship to take Larangar to Anglia. When we saw the raiders attack, we stopped to help.”
    Despite the fact that it put her life in danger, despite the fact that safety lay a few hours away, Erika had stopped to help people she did not know. “Why?”
    She stared at him in surprise. “We could not ride by while innocent people were being hurt. Even the defenseless should have someone to defend them.”
    Conor knew he had just been given insight into what drove the Valkyrie. Had there been a time when she was without defense,