"It's getting dark, you'll need a lantern."

"I was about to light one."

"I'll do it. Don't leave him." She moved quickly to a lantern hanging on a post near the door. On a ledge below was a flint and stone. She struck them together, flame flared, and a moment later she was carrying the lighted lantern to Galen.

He could see the shadow of her limbs through the thin blue batiste of the high-waisted gown she still wore.

She set the lantern on the ground beside the bucket and admired the horse. Her hand stroked his muzzle. "He's beautiful. What's his name?"

"Selik."

"What happened to Telzan?"

"I use him for breeding now. Selik is one of his colts."

"He's very gentle. You don't expect that quality in a stallion."

He gazed at her curiously. "And what do you know about stallions?"

"Not enough. I need to learn more." She knelt beside him. "Was the snake poisonous?"

"Yes, but it was only a glancing strike."

"What salve are you using?"

"An herbal mixture of mustard grass and rye."

"Have you tried mixing mint with it?"

"No."

"It cools the flesh, which makes the animal able to tolerate greater heat from the cloth."

"How do you know?"

"I experimented with several herbs when one of the Count's mares developed a strain." She reached past him, unwound the cloth from around Selik's ankle, and gently stroked the horse's ankle. "Just look. Have you ever seen such delicate bones?"

Her bones were far more delicate, he thought. He felt as if he could crush her with one careless caress. He could see the tracing of blue veins at her wrist, and the steady pounding of the pulse at her temple a few inches from his own. "Exceptional."

"One has to wonder how ankles such as those ever manage to support all that weight." She dipped the cloth in the bucket and squeezed out the excess moisture. "We're going to need more very hot water."

"I'll get it." He stood up, took the bucket to the door, and threw out the water, then turned and strode over to the kettle and filled the bucket again. "What count?"

"Hmm?" Her brow was knotted in concentration as she wrapped the ankle. "Oh, the Count de Sanvene. He owned the estate next to the convent. He had a fine stable of horses, but not one to compare to this boy." She sat back on her heels to look admiringly up at the stallion. "Do you have many horses like Selik?"

"No horse is like another."

"I agree."

"The sisters let you visit the Count?"

"Not at first. I had to sneak away." She grimaced. "I can't tell you how many times I was caught and sent to the Reverend Mother for discipline."

"How old was the man?"

"I don't know." She shrugged. "I never asked him."

"Guess." Galen heard the sharpness in his voice and tried to temper it as she glanced at him in surprise. “Young?"

She shook her head. "He had grandchildren, I think."

Galen felt a little of his tension melt away. He brought the bucket of steaming water to her side. "You liked him?"

"I liked his horses." She nodded. "He was quite irritable at first, but when he saw I could be useful around the stable, he became almost pleasant."

"Almost?"

"Well, he didn't shout at me anymore, and he visited the Mother Superior and convinced her to let me come twice a week."

"How did he do that?"

"He assured her he would watch over me, and he told her I had a healing talent with animals. He also said he was sure Saint Francis of Assisi would have approved of my helping the beasts." She chuckled. "It was the first time I'd ever been compared to a saint. The Reverend Mother was very surprised."

"So the good Count acquired a new stable boy?"

"I didn't mind. I loved being with the horses. They made the convent bearable." She turned to him, her face alight with eagerness. "Someday I'm going to have a fine stable and breed horses like Selik and Telzan."

He found his gaze following the graceful line of her throat down to the upper swell of her small breasts bared by the low neckline of her gown. Her fair skin possessed an incredible sheen. He wondered how soft it would feel to the touch.

"And I'll have dogs and perhaps carrier pigeons." She took the bandage from Selik's ankle. "Don't you think that would be a happy life?"

"No fashionable salon?"

Her laughter rang out. "What would I do with a salon? I cannot imagine anything more boring than sitting around reading poetry and discussing Voltaire and Rousseau."

The strong herbal smell mingled with the scent of lavender and soap that emanated from her. He bent closer, letting the fragrance invade his senses, and felt an urgent quickening in his loins. He had not expected this to happen so quickly. Dammit, he did not want it to happen yet. His body was readying itself to enter her— and she was more aware of his horse than of him.

She glanced at him. "We can't leave for Sedikhan tomorrow. Selik won't be ready."

He went still. "The next day will do as well." He waited for a moment and then asked casually, "I take it this means you agree to the arrangement?"

"Of course." She looked at him in surprise. "You knew I would."

"Let's say I thought there was a reasonable chance."

"Say what you like. You knew I wouldn't be able to resist what you offered." She dipped the cloth in the hot water. "I think the poison is drawing, but not enough. We'll have to keep bathing it and applying fresh salve for most of the night. I'll take the first watch. You go rest."

"I can do it alone."

"Why should you? It's better with two."

He did not argue with her. He needed to have her powerfully united with him, and this shared experience would be an important beginning. He smiled and rose to his feet. "You're right, most things are better with two." He strolled over and sat down on the fresh hay spread in the empty stall across from Selik's. "You take the first two hours. I'll take the next two." He drew his knees up and linked his arms loosely around them, his gaze on Tess Rubinoff. She moved with a neat, economical grace, every motion purposeful and full of vitality. The short puffed sleeves of her gown revealed exquisitely formed bare arms flowing into small, capable hands that were wonderfully gentle as she touched the horse. What a rare blend of strength and fire lay beneath that delicate exterior. Small women had never appealed to him, yet he felt the muscles of his stomach clench painfully as he thought how tight she'd be around him as he plunged in and out of her body—

He tried to rid himself of such thoughts as he drew back into the shadows and leaned his head against the rough wall. He did not want Tess to become aware of his body's reaction to her at the moment. She was filled with soaring hope and plans for the future—precisely the emotions he had hoped to arouse in her.

* * *

She was being lifted from the straw of the stall and carried.

"Sacha?" she murmured sleepily.

"No. Shh, go back to sleep. I'm only taking you to your chamber."

Galen. Her eyelids felt too heavy to open. "Selik?"

"He'll be fine. It's almost morning."

Cool air struck her face as Galen carried her out of the stable. She roused. "You'll have to change to cold compresses now to take the swelling down."