Page 123 of An Empress of Fire & Steel

Gideon’s throat bobbed like hers. “I see the quandary you are having over sending away your female help.”

Something flashed in her eyes, but it was gone as fast as a travelling star. Her petite throat bobbed. “What I need you to do is take the robe from me as I pull the dress up.” She blinked. “Got it?”

Her voice was higher than normal, and it made him want to chuckle.

Hiding the amusement on his face at her predicament, he nodded and said, “Got it.”

He threw her a smile too.

“Good,” she replied with a small smile of her own. “I wouldn’t want any awkward moments between an empress and her guard.”

Gideon felt his lips twitch again, and his gaze followed her as she moved to a place where her back faced him, stepping into the dress that was sprawled out on the floor. He shifted and stood just behind her, not too close.

“Where would you like me to take the robe from?” he asked.

She threw a look over her shoulder at him like he had grown a third eye. “My body.”

Gideon bit into his lip, subduing his smile. “No, what I meant was,” he said softly, “where is an appropriate place for me to take the robe from first?”

“Oh!” She turned away from him, but he could see the redness of her cheeks now that he was closer to her. “Just anywhere, really.”

He placed one hand on the small of her back. “Is here okay?”

She loosened the belt for him, her voice low. “Yes. There is fine.”

“Okay,” he said, gripping the material on her warmed skin. “On three.”

“One, two…” Her voice wavered slightly.

He got ready to pull.

“Wait,” she yelled, causing Gideon’s heart to almost combust.

“Close your eyes,” she sputtered out.

He did as he was told.

“Three.”

He pulled the loose robe from her body and stood with his eyes closed until instructed otherwise.

Gideon heard a few scuffles and then one curse that had him trying not to show his teeth in a smile.

“Okay,” she said a few moments later. “You can open your eyes now.”

He did, casting the robe onto her bed. The majority of her navy-blue gown covered the front of her body, but her back was open completely, baring her creamy skin. Gideon squinted as he took in a scar that dragged down her spine a few inches. It wasn’t completely healed, but it was in the process of it, and it looked like a claw had tried to dig out her heart from behind.

Her head spun round to see him gawking at her wound.

“It’s disgusting, isn’t it?”

Her words punched him. He didn’t like how small her voice was.

“I didn’t know you had a scar like this,” he said, unable to stop himself. “But no, it’s not disgusting at all. Believe it or not, I have seen much worse.”

Her face paled, but she kept her chin raised, her hair swept around to one side, clutched in her hand. “The demon who had been sent to kill my sister…it wasn’t a high demon, but it was clever enough to know who its prey was. It had its target marked. And I got in the way of it. The healers of my coven tried their best to mend my skin, but after the death of my sister, their empress…it’s hard to mend something when you are broken inside.” She cleared her throat. “Plus the demon magic had rooted itself deep. Too deep.”

“You tried to protect her.”

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