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feet for Jon, and slipping them inside his leather boots.
    It was like a dance with his three squires. All knew what to do, and moved with rhythm and grace until the task was complete.
    “Your helm, sir,” Fletch said handing Michael his helmet.
    He hated to wear the darn thing. It enclosed his entire head and face. Its length was so long it came nearly to his shoulders. Slits were made for his eyes, ears and mouth, but the whole thing threw him off his senses.
    Grasping its cool metal in his hand, he mounted Black and headed for the lists. His destiny was almost in his grasp.

 
     
    Chapter Three
     
    B ack, ramrod straight, knees pressed rigidly together and hands folded in her lap with fingers squeezing so tightly they were going numb, Elena stared straight ahead. She dared not move. Although she kept her face still and clear of emotion, inside she gritted her teeth, sucked her tongue to the top of her mouth. Her stomach rolled, and tilted this way and that.
    Oh, Michael.
    As she blindly watched the men in the lists, Elena replayed her interlude with Michael years before. Their desperate attempt to handfast , their heated kiss. She was certain that had been him near the merchant’s tent. There was something different about him now …taller he seemed, stronger, broader. A combination of all those things, and something inside her awakened. A chill swept its way through her body—or was it warmth? Somehow it was both, she was hot and cold. Her insides melted, but at the same time her skin prickled with excitement, her breasts swelled, the tips puckering against her bodice. Thank the Lord in Heaven she insisted on wearing whalebone stays to hide her body, else everyone would have seen her shameful reaction.
    Even now her face flamed. She made a motion with her hand and one of her ladies immediately began to fan her.
    “Are you not well, my lady?” she asked discreetly.
    Elena shifted her eyes from the lists, meeting her lady’s gaze and then just as quickly averted them. “All is well. Perhaps I am a little overheated from the sun.”
    The sun was high in the sky, its searing rays reflecting off men and horse’s armor, weapons, spurs and jewels that bedecked those around her. She was glad to be under the canopy away from the glaring heat. How did the knights fair? If her husband weren’t who he was , she might have asked him, but instead she kept her mouth shut and offered a silent prayer that none of them succumbed to the unforgiving sun.
    “Shall I fetch you a cool drink?”
    “ Aye , thank you.” How she desperately wanted to confess that even a cool drink wouldn’t quell the heat that kept rising inside her. Her heart pounded, a trickle of sweat slid its way down her spine. Greedily she gulped the cup of cider her maid handed her. Usually a drink she enjoyed on hot summer days, the liquid was tasteless as her mind could only focus on one delicious treat at a time.
    Michael. How many years had she dreamed of this moment? How many nights had she lain awake wondering if they would ever see each other again? And Kent… how many times had he roughly taken her that she’d only been able to escape by imagining herself lying in Michael’s strong arms?
    She suppressed a shudder, noticing the earl had indeed turned to look her way. She tilted her head in his direction and lowered her lashes as he expected her to do. Even through her lowered gaze she could see the expression on his ruddy face. Brows furrowed, mouth almost snarling, cold dead eyes. He despised her, was annoyed with her presence. Why the man had married , she wasn’t sure. Well, actually, she was sure. None of his previous marriages had been fruitful—there were no heirs. The man was desperate to leave a son behind him. She dare not snicker, for even after several years of marriage there had never once been a change in her menses. She’d even sought out the local herbal woman and taken dose after dose of fertility teas to no avail. She wasn’t