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As he’d lain on the grass, panting from exhaustion, all he had been able to think about was how she would have been devastated by the loss of her beloved sisters and how relieved he was to have spared her that awful pain.

Christopher was not a selfish man, but he could not claim to be entirely selfless either.

Yet he had jumped into that river without thought for his own safety or expectation of a reward.

It had seemed like the right thing to do.

The two brothers glanced at one another, as if trying to decide what to make of his tale, then nodded.

“You have my gratitude for what you did.” Lord Sheridan said eventually.

“Please.” Christopher waved the words away. “I did what anyone in my place would have done.”

“You know very well that not everyone would have been willing to put themselves in danger for two girls they didn’t know, much less able to actually save not only one but both of them.

On behalf of my wife, Esyllt, who would never have borne the loss of her daughters, I thank you.

For my part, I thank you for having spared me the worst heartache a man can endure.

I’m not sure how I would have lived with the knowledge I had lost another two of my children. ”

The man’s voice had become slightly hoarse, betraying a depth of emotion that twisted at Christopher’s guts. He’d heard how Connor had lost a wife and two daughters before marrying the Welsh woman the king had selected for him.

“Please,” he repeated. No one should have to go through that pain. He, who had never had what anyone would call a family, understood it better than most. “I’m glad to have been of help.”

“I, too, would like to thank you for what you did. My nieces are very dear to me,” Matthew Hunter said, coming forward, as if to allow his brother a moment to recover.

The two men had always been very close, Christopher knew.

The proof of their bond caused his chest to tighten.

What wouldn’t he have given to have such a loyal brother by his side …

He cleared his throat, determined not to let his emotion show. “As I said. Think nothing of it.” Having genuinely not meant to use the incident to his benefit, he was getting uncomfortable.

Matthew nodded, as if to signify the subject was closed. “Do you need to go to the main hall to get warm before you leave? A fire is blazing in there. I can ask for spiced wine to be brought to you.”

So much for not being allowed to put a foot inside Sheridan Manor . Christopher smiled. Mere days after the threat had been issued, there he was, being offered refreshments like any prestigious guest.

“No, I thank you. Sir Alexander will be waiting for me. The day is warm enough. I’ll dry off in no time riding on Warrior. He goes like the wind.” He patted his faithful horse’s neck. “Go and see to the girls.”

Without waiting for his dismissal, he hoisted himself back onto the saddle and trotted off toward Audley Castle.

Later that day, as he was galloping back toward Throckmorton, Christopher’s heart started to beat in the same rhythm as his horse’s hooves.

That shape in the distance, white against the green backdrop of the trees …

Could it be what he thought it might be, who he hoped it was …

Yes, it was a woman sitting on a log. And not just any woman.

The slight figure crowned with a riot of curls could belong to only one person.

The one he wanted to see.

The sight brought a welcome warmth to his chest. Though his clothes had dried long before, as predicted, he’d not quite managed to shake off the cold of the river, and he’d just been wishing for the tenth time that he’d asked Alexander to lend him a cloak for the ride back home.

In the blink of an eye, thanks to the woman waiting for him, he forgot about the cold wrapping around his bones and smiled.

Warrior was brought to a halt next to Angel and tethered before he went to Sian, who’d stood up from the log at his approach.

His heart leaped anew at the sight of her.

He had guessed she would come to him, but he had not expected it to be today.

It was late already. Had she waited on that log all day for him to appear?

Damnation, why had he stayed so long at Audley Castle?

“Little Lamb, what are you doing here?” he asked, making his way toward her. He expected her to offer her tearful thanks for saving her sisters.

Instead, she threw herself into his arms.

“Oh, Christopher!” she cried out, her mouth pressed against his chest.

It was the first time she had called him by his name, and the warmth in his body became an inferno.

What the hell? That was absurd! Christopher was his name.

Why should hearing it provoke such a reaction?

It was not as if she had just dropped to her knees in front of him and started to unlace his braies.

“It’s all right,” he said awkwardly, not knowing what to make of the situation.

“’Tis not all right … The girls … My sisters … Little Seren … Dear God, Christopher, you saved them, both of them, you realize that? I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how I, how we all would have borne it if they had?—”

“Hush,” he told her, placing a hand at her nape. She was getting frantic, and he had to calm her down. His head bowed of its own accord, and before he knew what he was doing, he’d placed a kiss on her soft hair.

It felt good to have her against him. From the start, that woman had been like no one else.

She seemed determined to see only the good in him, to trust that the bad was only a facade, to believe that he could be trusted, no matter what others thought.

And perhaps because of it, he felt almost worthy in her presence.

“I thank you for coming, but you shouldn’t be here on your own, especially at this time of day.

It’s too dangerous,” he chided, looking over at the horizon.

Dusk was slowly descending, stealing all the pink in the sky and replacing it with velvety purple.

Even if she had wanted to see him, she should have set off for home long ago.

By the time she reached Sheridan Manor again, it would be pitch black.

“I had to see you. I had to thank you for what you did. You no doubt think you did nothing worthy of note, but I—and everyone in my family—know different,” she murmured, her mouth still against his chest. Against his heart.

“You saved more than the girls today. My father has lost two daughters already. It would have been unbearable for him to lose two others in such tragic circumstances.”

“I know, but he didn’t lose Gwenllian or Seren, so there is little point lingering over what could have been.

How are they now?” He hoped they weren’t feeling the worse for their bath in the cold water.

He, a grown man, had found it hard to shake off the cold, so he could not begin to imagine how two slender children would fare.

But he knew they had been well taken care of.

With luck, they were feeling better than he was.

“They are mortified to have caused everyone such worry,” Sian said with a sigh.

“They were so appalled at their folly that Father didn’t even have the heart to scold them, thinking—quite rightly—that they had learned their lesson the hard way.

I am certain they will never go to the river unaccompanied again.

Which brings me to my second message of thanks. ”

With those words, she drew away from him. Her eyes were glinting in the fading sunlight, almost as clear as crystals or even diamonds. It suddenly occurred to Christopher that she was very beautiful. Not just pretty or intriguing or easy to be with but beautiful.

This was quite a shocking discovery to make after so many days spent in her company. Little Sian Hunter was a beautiful woman, one he might have wanted to bed had he met her in other circumstances.

Unsettled by the thought, he asked, “What is this second message?”

“Jane asked me to thank you. She feels responsible for the girls’ misadventure, and, having already lost two sisters, one of which was her own twin, she could not have borne another such loss.”

Sian waited while Christopher seemed to absorb the information. What would he tell her?

Please, do not make any scathing comment about Perfect Little Jane Hunter having finally faltered , she prayed silently. Please, let me see the proof you are not the rogue everyone thinks you are but a good man.

“Tell Jane she doesn’t need to thank me.

As I told your father and uncle, I’m just glad to have been there.

It is not so often I get to do something right.

” He rubbed the back of his neck. Had he been anyone else, she might have thought he was embarrassed.

“And she is not to feel responsible for the girls’ mishap.

They told me as we were riding back that they had wilfully disregarded her instructions to wait for her before going to the river.

She could not have known they would be so reckless. She has nothing to blame herself for.”

It was then that Sian knew for sure Christopher was the husband she wanted, the man she loved, and the person she had hoped he would be.

He was a good man, the only one she wanted.

“Thank you.”

He tapped a finger on the end of her nose in a surprisingly playful gesture. “Think nothing of it. Come now, I will ride with you back to Sheridan Manor before people start to wonder where you are.”

He was right. After the fright her parents had suffered earlier that day, it would not do to make them think a third daughter had gone missing. Before she could hoist herself onto her saddle, she turned to Christopher, who had already vaulted onto Warrior’s back.

“Christopher?”

“Mm?”

What did she want to tell him? She had no idea. Perhaps she had wanted only to say his name out loud again. It felt intimate. Right. She shook her head and placed her foot in the stirrup.

“Nothing. Let’s ride.”