Rafael sat and stared at the fire long after Ceara had retreated to his tent, watching the moon rise and battling his rampant urge to claim what was legally his own. He told himself to remember the greater good and was unconvinced.
’Twas Matteo who finally dared to sit beside him, doubtless because Matteo knew his dark moods better than any other.
“A man might conclude you did not want her,” that warrior said lightly.
Rafael snorted. “Only a fool would imagine as much.”
“Yet you are wed. She is yours to take.”
’Twas true enough. “But then she would not be mine to put aside.”
Matteo snorted at this. “Few men would feel the constraint.” He gestured to the camp. “Particularly those of our trade. We come. We take. We vanish with the dawn.”
Rafael was thinking of one man’s conquest and d
